text: % PBN 2.1 % EXPORT %Content-type: text/x-pbn; charset=ISO-8859-1 %Creator: BridgeComposer Version 5.22 %PaperSize 1,0,0 %Margins 1000,1000,1000,1000 %Font:Event "Times New Roman",12,400,0 %Font:Diagram "Times New Roman",12,400,0 %Font:CardTable "Arial",11,400,0 %Font:Commentary "Times New Roman",12,400,0 %Font:FixedPitch "Courier New",10,400,0 %Font:HandRecord "Arial",11,400,0 %PageOrientation 0 %BoardsPerPage 1 %GutterSize 500,500 %GutterLines 0 %PageHeader 0 %EventSpacing 0 %Center 1 %Float 0 %JustifyText 0 %PlayFormat 0 %ScoreTable Border Shade %PipColors #000000,#ff0000,#ff0000,#000000 %PipFont "Symbol","Symbol",2,0xAA,0xA9,0xA8,0xA7 %CardTableColors #ffffff,#ffffff,#aaaaaa %UseCardTableFontSize 0 %ScoreTableColors #e6e6e6,#000000 %HtmlSpades entity,"http://bridgecomposer.com/suitimg/s.gif" %HtmlHearts entity,"http://bridgecomposer.com/suitimg/h.gif" %HtmlDiamonds entity,"http://bridgecomposer.com/suitimg/d.gif" %HtmlClubs entity,"http://bridgecomposer.com/suitimg/c.gif" [Event "01/11/11 Sectional Tournament at Clubs"] [Site ""] [Date "2011.01.05"] [Board "3"] [West "Tony"] [North "Steve"] [East "Pete"] [South "Brad"] [Dealer "S"] [Vulnerable "EW"] [Deal "S:K65.K86.Q765.Q76 842.Q9754.KJ8.A9 97.AT.AT932.K543 AQJT3.J32.4.JT82"] [Scoring ""] [Declarer "S"] [Contract "1NT"] [Result ""] {The vulnerability kept East - West out of the auction. West lead the \H5 to the 10 and jack, ducked by South. Taking the heart suit in isolation, this makes sense. Looking at that vulnerable \SK, not so much. I switched to the \SQ, ducked, and \S10 - the \SK held. South can come to seven tricks, if he can bring in four diamond tricks, with three tricks in the majors. (However, accurate defense will now set the contract, with four spades and a trick in each other suit - that duck at trick one was likely to prove fatal.) There are two basic lines that make sense, in the diamond suit: 1. Take two finesses through dummy, either (a) lead the queen, hoping to pin the jack in East, or (b) lead low, intending to insert the 10 and hoping for the king to pop up in front. These plays appear to have the same chance of success, about 75%. They win any time either honor is onside, including a 4-0 split. They lose when both are off, including \DKJ doubleton. 2. Lead the A, and then low to the Q. "Suit Combinations" in The Official Encyclopedia of Bridge, 5th Edition says this line is best, at 78% - it improves to 83% if the \D8 is held. This last number is what Brad remembered - he took this line and went down three. The Encyclopedia notes that if East would play the king from \DKx, then the percentage play is to run the 10 off dummy - if this loses to the jack, run the queen next: 84% (94% holding the \D8). I hope I would be up to smoothly ducking the king from \DKx, if Brad pulled the 10 off dummy - would you? I suspect that at our club, this line would have been excellent. Paul Wendt notes that once East, who did not overcall, displays a strong spade suit, line 1(a), leading the Q, becomes a strong favorite. It does not take much to change the odds. - Pete Matthews} [Auction "S"] Pass Pass 1D Pass 1NT AP [Application "BridgeComposer; Views=001F"] [DoubleDummyTricks "76598765986783467835"] [OptimumResultTable "Declarer;Denomination\2R;Result\2R"] N S 6 N H 5 N D 9 N C 8 N NT 7 E S 7 E H 8 E D 3 E C 4 E NT 6 S S 6 S H 5 S D 9 S C 8 S NT 7 W S 7 W H 8 W D 3 W C 5 W NT 6


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Meredith Berger, DVM, Associate Veterinarian
Dr. Meredith Berger obtained her Bachelor of Science in Animal Science degree from Cornell University in 2004. She received her veterinary degree from Ross University in 2008. After spending two years in private practice, she then completed a small animal medicine and surgery internship at Fifth Avenue Veterinary Specialists. She has been working at South Shore Animal Hospital for the past two years.
Dr. Berger's interests include: toxicities, trauma, transfusion medicine, and surgery.
Outside interests include: horseback riding and spending time with her family, including her dog, "Susan," who was rescued from Saint Kitts.

subset: commoncrawl


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New Kentucky based show released by one of I-tunes longest broadcasting video podcasters and Louisvillian Chaz Rough
It's definitely not too early to start planning your new year's eve on the Urban Bourbon Trail!
Down One Bourbon Bar's photo-op-tastic front window has been featured in the December 2013/January 2014 issue of National Geographic Traveler Magazine.
The Evan William Experience promises to be, well, an expirience
The "bourbon boom" has prompted the Louisville Convention and Visitors Bureau to expand the Urban Bourbon Trail to twenty new restaurants in the area.


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- Filed Under
Daniel Berger decided to attack - and the decision paid off beautifully.
Tied for the lead with two holes to play at the Seminole Intercollegiate, the Florida State sophomore went on the offensive. He birdied the 17th hole and then drained a short par putt on No. 18 to claim the individual title.
Berger finished with a 3-under 69 to move to 11-under for the tournament. That birdie pushed him one stroke ahead of teammate Chase Seiffert and Mississippi State's Joe Sakulpolphaisan, who each finished 10-under. ...


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Randy Blythe
Punk/Metal Supergroup Teenage Time Killers (Dave Grohl, Corey Taylor & More) Eye Early 2015 for Debut
The Corrosion of Conformity-led band, which also features Dave Grohl and Corey Taylor, among others has just signed with Rise Records.
Interview: Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe Survives Czech Justice System to Write for the Ballet
Randy Blythe goes from being charged with manslaughter to scoring a ballet. Find out the journey with our interview and with the new Lamb of God doc, 'As The Palaces Burn.'
Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe Fully Cleared In Fan Manslaughter Case
Blythe was found not guilty by Prague's Municipal court in March, but the state prosecutor appealed the verdict. Now the singer is appealing for safer rock shows.
Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe Acquitted Of Manslaughter
Lamb of God frontman Randy Blythe was found not guilty of manslaughter in a Czech courtroom this morning. "I am a free man," he announced. Last summer the singer spent five weeks in a Czech […]
Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe Resumes Manslaughter Trial In Prague
The controversial trial in Prague where Lamb of God lead singer Randy Blythe is facing manslaughter charges resumed today (March 4) after adjourning in early February due to an ill witness, among other issues. "And […]
Lamb Of God's Randy Blythe Returns To Czech Republic For Manslaughter Trial
"I am calm and prepared," posts Randy Blythe to Instagram account. "Thanks for your good thoughts and prayers. Have a nice day y'all." The Lamb of God singer made the trek back to the Czech […]
Rock's Most Shocking Stories Of 2012: Green Day, Beastie Boys, Against Me! And More
The history of rock is all but defined by shocking moments, from Elvis Presley famously being filmed from the waist up on his first Ed Sullivan Show appearance in 1956 through the storied and sordid […]


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Poll: The Miami Dolphins travel to Houston to face the Texans on Sunday. Do you think the Dolphins will finally break into the win column this weekend?
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Latest Stories
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About This Comic
- Summary
Set in the Dark Ages of the DC Universe, a barbarian horde is massing to crush civilization. It's fallen to Madame Xanadu and Jason Blood, the man with a monster inside him, to stand in their way - though the demon Etrigan has no interest in protecting anyone or anything other than himself! It'll take more than their own power to stop an army fueled by bloodlust and dark sorcery, and some very surprising heroes – and villains - will have no choice but to join the fray!
Life Span: September 2011 - August 2013
Superhero Comic
DC Comics
Issues in This Volume
Issue 23
Demon Knights #23
Aug 14, 2013
FINAL ISSUE! The Knights are running out of options as they try to protect the Holy Grail! Plus, the fate of the Black Diamond is revealed!
Issue 22
Demon Knights #22
Jul 10, 2013
While trying to protect the Holy Grail, the Demon Knights are attacked by Vandal Savage and an army of giants!
Issue 21
Demon Knights #21
Jun 12, 2013
The Knights are ready to complete their mission-but what happens to the world when Vandal Savage and Etrigan the Demon gain control of the Holy Grail?
Issue 20
May 8, 2013
After decades of questing, the Demon Knights have a lead on the resting place of the Holy Grail-but are they ready for what they'll have to fight through to get it? And has time run out on one knight's immortal life?
Issue 19
Demon Knights #19
Apr 10, 2013
What undead menaces threaten the lives of the Demon Knights?


text:
Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) Medications »
"What are the different types of rheumatoid arthritis treatments?
Rheumatoid arthritis responds most effectively to treatment when it is initiated early. It is then easier to treat and easier to respond to treatments. Medications used "...
Arava Consumer (continued)
Drug interactions may change how your medications work or increase your risk for serious side effects. This document does not contain all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share it with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop, or change the dosage of any medicines without your doctor's approval.
Before using this medication, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all prescription and nonprescription/herbal products you may use, especially of: warfarin, rifamycins (e.g., rifampin), drugs affecting the liver (e.g., methotrexate), cholestyramine, other drugs that weaken the immune system (e.g., tacrolimus, cyclosporine).
Because teriflunomide (used to treat multiple sclerosis) is very similar to this medication, do not take it while you are taking leflunomide.
OVERDOSE: If overdose is suspected, contact a poison control center or emergency room immediately. US residents can call their local poison control center at 1-800-222-1222. Canada residents can call a provincial poison control center.
NOTES: Do not share this medication with others.
A skin test to check for tuberculosis should be performed before you start this medication. While taking this medication, laboratory and/or medical tests (e.g., liver function, blood counts, blood pressure) should be performed periodically to monitor your progress or check for side effects. Consult your doctor for more details.
MISSED DOSE: If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember. If it is near the time of the next dose, skip the missed dose and resume your usual dosing schedule. Do not double the dose to catch up.
STORAGE: Store at room temperature at 77 degrees F (25 degrees C) away from light and moisture. Brief storage between 59-86 degrees F (15-30 degrees C) is permitted. Do not store in the bathroom. Keep all medicines away from children and pets.
Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more details about how to safely discard your product.
MEDICAL ALERT: Your condition can cause complications in a medical emergency. For information about enrolling in MedicAlert, call 1-888-633-4298 (US) or 1-800-668-1507 (Canada).
Information last revised April 2013. Copyright(c) 2013 First Databank, Inc.
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Get the latest treatment options


text:
Scrabble word: CIRCUMVENT
In which Scrabble dictionary does CIRCUMVENT exist?
Definitions of CIRCUMVENT in dictionaries:
- verb - surround so as to force to give up
- verb - beat through cleverness and wit
- verb - avoid or try to avoid fulfilling, answering, or performing (duties, questions, or issues)
- To surround (an enemy, for example); enclose or entrap.
- To go around; bypass: circumvented the city.
- To avoid or get around by artful maneuvering: She planned a way to circumvent all the bureaucratic red tape.
There are 10 letters in CIRCUMVENT: C C E I M N R T U V
Scrabble words that can be created with an extra letter added to CIRCUMVENT
All anagrams that could be made from letters of word CIRCUMVENT plus a wildcard: CIRCUMVENT?
Scrabble words that can be created with letters from word CIRCUMVENT
10 letter words
8 letter words
7 letter words
6 letter words
5 letter words
4 letter words
3 letter words
2 letter words
Images for CIRCUMVENT
Other Resources
SCRABBLE is the registered trademark of Hasbro and J.W. Spear & Sons Limited. Our scrabble word finder and scrabble cheat word builder is not associated with the Scrabble brand - we merely provide help for players of the official Scrabble game. All intellectual property rights to the game are owned by respective owners in the U.S.A and Canada and the rest of the world. Anagrammer.com is not affiliated with Scrabble. This site is an educational tool and resource for Scrabble & Words With Friends players.


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Mon-Fri: 7am-1am EST / Sat-Sun: 7am-11pm EST
If you placed an order on ApplianceHelp.com the order is still valid and you can check on its status and make changes here on PartSelect.com. Click here for more details.
ApplianceAmana Refrigerator
Level of DifficultyEasy
Time to do repair30 - 60 mins
Age of Appliance1 - 4 years
Tools Nutdriver
2 out of 2 people found this instruction helpful
unPLUGED THE REF. FIRST..I removed the ice maker, then i removed 6 screws that was holding the panel covering the fan assy. body and houseing on. then i removed the panel. after removing the panel i removed 2 screws that was holding the fan assy. on, removed the electrical wireing, then i reinstalled the electrical wireing, reinstalled the fan assy. replaced the panel cover,reinstalled the ice maker pluged the unit back in and away she go
Help other customers find the most helpful instructions.
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Part Number: PS2004191


text:
Alexander, Although I do not believe that any standards actually document this, it is my understanding of the standard web page processing model is that you have single-threaded access to the DOM. Even with Microsoft's next-generation user interface system, XAML/Avalon, there is only one "user interface thread", even though you have have any number of other threads such as multiple threads talking to Indigo communications services. Similarly, in the standards-based world, my understanding is that you have single-threaded access to the DOM, but it is very possible to have other threads within your scripting engines, assuming the programming language supports threads; however, usually the extra threads need to access the main DOM thread one at a time. Jon At 08:00 AM 12/11/2004, Alexander Adam wrote: >hi! > >I got a quick question about the SVG 1.2 Implementation. Is it possible to >have threads in scripts? This should be seriously considered, e.g. if you >want to work with a lot of data in the background. > >thanks! > >Alexander Adam >Project Manager >EvolGrafiX Europe >http://www.evolgrafix.com - firstname.lastname@example.com >Phone: +49 991 3831718Received on Sunday, 12 December 2004 18:17:47 UTC
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.3.1 : Wednesday, 7 January 2015 15:29:25 UTC


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Bike Share!
Is there a better way to be nice to the environment and be good to your body than by riding a bike? No way Jose!
Europe has been bike sharing for years with great success, big cities like Copenhagen, Amsterdam and Paris just to name a few. We're finally catching on with cities like Washington D.C. and even Miami leading the way.
Boulder launched BCycle this past week, it's the smallest city to ever create a bike sharing program. Will the experiment work? I sure hope so.
Videos are fun, here's a quick rundown of the program.
And here'a video about the Copenhagen program I filmed many moons ago.
Loved it? Leave a tip!
4 Responses to "Bike Share!"
Duzer, Great job and great sound effects! BCycle ::: whoo-hoo! It's all about making it easier. BCycle shows bike sharing is working just by being one of the newest bike sharing programs to start up. Bike sharing programs remove obstacles and get people into biking as a serious transportation choice, not just "alternative" transport as a novelty. Pedal power to the people. Vote for Duzer as video doc producer of the year! Next step: wire social networks into the already digital bike sharing infrastructure and get exponential returns. You heard it first here on Elephant Journal!
[…] Bike sharing in Boulder, Colorado is now a reality. […]
I was just in Denver and wrote for momentum magazine about the bicycle sharing program there! It is epic! I love Bcycle! http://momentumplanet.com/blogs/opinions/denver-a…. Good stuff.
[…] back of their hands. The ones without bikes you can thank for contributing to the success of the Boulder Bike Share. If they have money, they probably wear a lot of Patagonia products that are made from the recycled […]


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Case Turns iPad into Giant Game Boy
Skip to storyLootiful's retro-tastic iPad case will make your iPad 2 look just like a first-gen Nintendo Game Boy. The polycarbonate snap-on back plate turns your sleek, modern tablet into the taste-wasteland of beige, gray purple and yellow that was all the rage back in 1989.
While the case isn't yet ready for sale, Lootiful already sells a smaller version for the iPhone 4 for a reasonable $18. You can pre-order the case "soon," though. And with Nintendo's continued refusal to put its games on non-Nintendo hardware, this might just be the closest you'll get to playing Mario on your iPad. At least until Nintendo is forced to pull a Sega, I guess.
iPad 2 Game Boy case [Lootiful via TUAW]
See Also:


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Reader comments are listed below. Comments are currently closed and new comments are no longer being accepted.
You made a statement now stand over it.
I always found the reverse gear in French cars to be quiet efficient.
But not quiet as speedy as French opinions and the mentality of slow, stop and reverse.
Morning All,
I sat back for a few days and noticed a new mindset developing.
It seems to me that P.I.G.S. now contains the countries of Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain.
The I orginally stood for Ireland.
Is this a chance of mindset from the European markets with reagrds to Ireland and its very slow but forward movenment.
Nice to hear opinions.
Since Standard Chartered recent vigorous denials of wrongful dealings with Iran, til its recent payment of a large fine, several French, British, German and Italian banks have been stepping up to tacitly acknowledge their guilty transactions.
It is a shame that it takes an impending war, partly caused by their greedy behavior, to get them on the right side of the issue. So yes, the US sub-prime mess caused endless problems, but nothing worse than the one characterized by Standard Chartered.
These bankers are out of control. I think the example of a few of them with lampposts and ropes might encourage the rest.
These banks violated not only UN sanctions against Iran but EU sanctions.
The question is why was there not any oversight from British, French, German & Italian authorities to catch their own banks shady dealings with Iran.
And why was it the Americans who exposed it and took action while their own countries did nothing while those banks violated UN & EU sanctions against Iran.
But the damage has already been done.
Ireland has lost some of its best & brightest citizens who have immigrated in droves to Canada, USA, Australia etc.
These are the people Ireland needed the most to rebuild and prosper but it has lost some of its best brains due to the debt crisis in Ireland.
How are you my friend? Yep, you guys did a good job. No bout about it. But by all rights, Italy's should be in pretty good shape too. Which tells you something's rotten in Denmark, and the fish do always start to stink form the head up.
So, let us hope that a whole lot of change is on the way for the rest of us as well, or some heads are going to have to roll here, and I for one am waiting with popcorn in hand!
Of course none of these pandering politicians can afford to have a failed nation on their doorstep. It's so much more about the geopolitical implications then anything else. So, in the end, it has to work, because failure is not an option.
Those highly secret strategic military installations in Greece are leased. Nobody's in their right mind is going to chance having them fall into the wrong hands.
It's just that we aint there yet. Delays, delays, delays, and more delays. Nobody stupid enough to go whole hog. As you very well know, money's scare commodity in this here economy. Those that have it, need to seek to keep the advantage.
That said, I imagine Germany will be coming to the rescue soon. Not the cavalry mind you. More like Merkel arriving on a slow department store escalator:
Merkel: "Ohp! Greece is dieing. Pull her head out of the water, so we can can continue the questioning."...laughs
"Those that have it, need to seek to keep the advantage."
Keep? Hell, try increase their advantage. Money do flow like water baby. Guess where it's been flowing as of late?
So, glass half full guy that I be, hopefully when Germany decides to help for real, she'll have a lot of money to do it with...laughs
HOLD YOUR BREATH A LITTLE LONGER GREECE!!! GURGLE, GURGLE... HELP IS ON THE WAY...laughs
Oh, I neglected to mention. Happy Labor Day weekend to all of my American friends. Alright, that 's enough of this Europe up, Europe down crap. Time to burn some meat on the grill!
Don't get all holy, Emma. Remember, Americans decided to drop ALL charges against their own very powerful and corrupt GS. So much for your American 'exposing and taking action'.
As an American, you will be able to tell us why this happened; anything to do with the Democratic Party?
The British banks Barclays and HSBC have been heavily prosecuted in the UK and sanctions taken against their executives. No trans-Atlantic holier-than-thou was necessary for this to be done. There was no "exposing" at all from the Americans.
I'll take a stab at that Junior:
1. The banks rule
2. In America, like in Germany, like in Greece..., as it concerns the two main parties, we have a little something going on here that I like to call the illusion of political choice.
Pander (fake) left, pander (fake) right, get in office, do the bankers bidding, and do the hokey pokey and you turn it all about...
I'm not complaining, because I like my money to be safe and insured in the banks that I choose keep it in. Also, my time frame to make more, should I be so misfortune to lose it all (perish the thought), is shall we say, a bit limited.
So yes, I see what's going on, but no, I don't want to change much, because amongst other things, nobody's going to come along and build a better mousetrap, for lack of a better term, and it's gotten so I'm adequately good at avoiding the pitfalls of the current system.
But do let Greece out though, so they can devalue. Only a fool would choose to keep their money there. So, if there are fools, well then, you know what they say about a fool and his money.
For me, it's all about Zorbas' well being you see. But that's just me. The rest of you can continue your crusade for justice and rightful causes as you see fit...laughs
Where did Pumper go? I gave him that recipe for sardines and he took it and ran. Can't say I blame him. At least you can eat sardines.
Despite a crime wave, fifty Chicago police are sent to Democrat National Convention. Speaks for itself, doesn't it?
Looks like emma finney has gone in for deleting posts. I am reposting this on the advice of the moderator:
Chicago is descending into chaos. Thirteen people were shot in the space of
thirty minutes the other day. Two people have been shot within one block of
Obama's house.
Hundreds of gangs are running amock, carving up large swathes of the city
into no-go zones. Groups of youths are randomly attacking people in the most
affluent shopping areas of the city.
Society is coming apart at the seams. The effects of the fiscal and economic
crisis are not far off and can easily be imagined.
Unsustainable pensions of government unions sap the strength of the state of
Illinois. State IOUs are crippling hundreds of small businesses that keep the
state's institutions running.
California and several other states are not far behind.
Other than that, Obama's home town is flourishing and the double dealing,
strong arm tactics, smoke-filled room politics of the ward bosses that raised
Obama to prominence are a testimony to the American genius for shooting
itself in the foot.
We all know that the real estate sub-prime bubble wiped out much of the value of the homes of the entire US middle class.
Guess who was one of the pioneers of the sub-prime bubble?
Why, Barack Obama, of course!
In 1996 he filed a class-action lawsuit against Citibank on behalf of 186 African-Americans, claiming that the bank denied mortgages based on skin color. The bank caved and gave mortgages to these unqualified borrowers.
Today, fifty percent of those claimants have lost their homes or are in foreclosure. A further forty percent are in dire economic straits.
And don't forget that Glass-Steagall, that placed a wall between commercial and investment banking, was abolished in the presidency of Bill Clinton, which led to the 'too big to fail' banks and the bailouts to oblivion we are currently witnessing.
Between the presidencies of these two Democrats was a Republican, George Bush. In 2003 he invaded Iraq. While I don't defend the motive, cost or lost lives, he established the only working democracy in the Arab world. And, given the intimate shared history and geography of Iraq with Iran, he gave the Iranian Green Movement a powerful example that may yet lead to the establishment of a moderate government in Iran.
I am not a Republican. I only want the lesser of two evils.
But, to console the mindless socialists that congregate at this waterhole, and who never let a fact get in the way of a good bleat, repeat after me: 'It's Bush's fault and Romney is a businessman, It's Bush's fault and Romney is a businessman, It's Bush's fault and...'
"Where did Pumper go?"
He's under heavy sedation in a padded cell at a clinic in Garmish Partenkirchen. The final realisation that there is no subsidiarity in the EU, that there will be no 'Europe of nations', that 'unity through diversity' is' a sick joke and that the EU can never resemble the Swiss federation has sent him completely off his rocker.
Not that he was ever "on" it at the best of times.
It wasn't me Viva, you may have noticed my posts about crime rates in the USA falling which were below your remarks also vanished. In fact I believe that whole thread has vanished because you took Josh to task for his nonsensical remarks.
It was busybody Josh again.
Hi Racist,
Italy is no caymen Ireland!
Italy does not assemble ipods at sweatshops. She is no tax heaven for multinationals!
Although Fiat is a symbol of poor quality, still there are many Italian companies that shine on good reputation: Ferari, Lamborghini, Guchi, Sachi, Prada, to name several. There are no such companies in European Caymen Ireland!
Where exactly on the world atlas is "Caymen Ireland"?
Next to "European India" I would hestiate to guess
Nice economic facts there in your post!
Name one country which is self sufficent!
Argentina has the highest drug production and usuage in the world.
619,000 homeless.
62% of Argies openly express "raccist" views.
"I love the Jeu"
"Most ghettoes are AfroAmerican"
And you call me "raccist"
Where exactly do you go to "sarfaree" a bull?
"This type of collateral is not collateral"
"Debt makes Debt"
Government cencorship of ISP's in Agrentina.
'The Falkland' yes, they are British, always have always will.
I'm sick of counting.....
Remember the day I had to explain the difference between banking and sovern debt?
Remember the day I explained how pharmaceuticals work?
Remember the day you stated beef and wool are massive revenue generating industries, more so than biopharma or pharmaceutical plants?
Remember the 20 billion of Elan?
The stake held in Janssen by Elan?
Go back to facebook where you can chat with your barstool buddies.
All this because your dress wont fit.
Even pumper turned on you.
Zobra my friend,
How are you?
Hope all is well?
Pumper is after having a nervious breakdown from dealing with us inferior European sallywags.
Your comments always make me laugh no matter how stressful a day I'm having.
Doing just fine Bud. Good to see you laughing. I figure it this way: Once you get it, like you and I do, it's best to put a spin on it, to at least get a good laugh out of this whole single currency mess.
After all, idiotic ideological economic thought begs to be addressed, and I feel it's my God given duty, to throw all blow hard fools, a good verbal beating every now and again...laughs
Take la vy for instance: More meaningless statistics then you can shake a stick at. I don't even read him anymore. I just get the old rubber stamp and ink blotter out, and stamp the fool...WRONG!!! In the boldest of print.
Here's a thought! Perhaps we can all petition the Mods for a WRONG radio button, instead of this useless edit button, which never seems to work.
The way I figure it, who has time to waste on long winded replies, when WRONG IS JUST PLAIN WRONG...laughs
There is no FINLAND , SWITZERLAND ICELAND ENGLAND OR ANY LAND BUT AWE RAE ALL IN IT Tuesday, 04 September 2012 We have not seen many good days and there are none for some time European shares fell on Tuesday as investors turned cautious in the run-up to a European Central Bank (ECB) meeting, with the Swiss market lagging after figures showed an unexpected contraction in the country's economy. The FTSEurofirst 300 index fell 0.3 percent to 1,088.20 points, while the euro zone's Euro STOXX 50 index was flat. Expectations the ECB will firm up a debt-buying scheme to fight the euro zone's debt crisis have driven an equity rally since late July. But the People's Bank of China appears to be resisting calls for more aggressive measures based on past experience: the huge stimulus enacted in response to the 2008 global crisis fuelled inflation and a wasteful spending boom. "We are all waiting for more monetary policy to come out," said Linus Yip, strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong. "We are all waiting and hope the PBOC will do something." I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
Labor Day? You a (shudder) Red? This is not the Morning Star!
"Where exactly on the world atlas is "Caymen Ireland"?"
Not too far from the Anglo-Caribbean Islands... those so convenient money laundromats close to the European shores.
Nope, I'm neither red nor blue. It's all a grey area with me. You see, I leave the symbols to the symbol (simple) minded.
That's not to say that I don't have a favorite football team. But suffice it to say, football is where the blind alliances stop for me.
PS - Why, do you have any pictures of me flying a red kite on May Day? Alright, I'll come clean. Afterwards, I marched down Times Square in the Proud to be Gay Parade, dressed quit fashionably I might add, in nothing but my red Speedos.
Now there's a photo op not to be missed! Shhh, don't tell the wife. It will be our little secret that I'm a closet swinger. Perhaps I missed my calling, and should run for the Senate here, to be closer to my peers...laughs
Ah Alas,
The French have arrived.
One would do well to remember it was the French afterall that spearheaded this monoply currency the "Euro". Brow beating Germany into the belief a united Germany would only exist under French conditions.
I guess you are part of the 17.9% that vote La Front Nationale?
"I guess you are part of the 17.9% that vote La Front Nationale?"
It's _Le_ Front National. I can't figure why you would "guess" that, except for terminal intra-aural thickness. Is it because of my jibe on Anglo-Norman islands? I was unaware they were populated by a minority race. Anyway money laundering bankers belong to no specific race and prey on all. (I use the word race in its sociologic construct meaning, as it has no biological or genetic worth whatsoever).
You made a statement now stand over it.
I always found the reverse gear in French cars to be quiet efficient.
But not quiet as speedy as French opinions and the mentality of slow, stop and reverse.
What is "typical" is the recurrent use of the word "typical", which signals a very "typical" mindset: ascribing a person's qualities and faults to some group he belongs to. "typical French" is the favorite argument of French-bashers. Maybe you are one? very close to the racist mindset, of course.
As for changing my argument, you must be very thick between the ears. I did not change a word of it; I EXPLAINED it to you.
In other words, I utterly wasted my time.
So the road of insults it is.
While Germany was readying the Reich for war the good old French stood around have garlic bread and cheese smelling contests.
Sipping on fine wines and squatting over holes in the ground pretending all is well in her own fairytale.
Instead of firind around insults learn to fire bullets.
The Reich may not of steamrolled you so quickly that way.
Even to this day you bow to your master in Berlin.
How about this great change of direction Hollande suggested?
Merkel let him know who boss was
I still don't get your point. Not that I'm interested. What a sad little nobody you are.
lets start with facts the 17 nation euro was a bad idea because it deliberately stopped devaluation and national central bank options but returning to national currencies during a crisis is also impractical and risky its more practical and less risky to stump up a few B euros and buy bonds after that who knows certainly not me so stop writing these essays - right ?
The Finns should pull out. Greece will be a constant drain. It is unable to change because it is a failed state. And since Greece won't leave the Euro, the prudent countries, who have their house in order owe it to themselves to pull out. - Or not join in the first place.
It may interest you to know that Josh-Germany has been trashing the republican party as racists and comparable to fascist parties in Europe. see link below.
Right a country who depends so much on foreign trade should embrace the break up of the EU, from which it gets so much trade.
Well after exploiting the EU market to the maximum they cannot expand any further so they are looking for new markets.
Remember an export driven economy always needs new markets. Exports make up 50% of Germany's GDP. This makes Germany very vulunerable to events outside its borders.
A sudden property bubble bust in China as expected will have a devastating impact on German exports. It seems China too has quite a number of ghost towns and unused airports which could rival Spain's.
Germany is at the mercy of its markets. Not a very good place to be.
"It seems China too has quite a number of ghost towns and unused airports"
At least, the Chinese get their Airports done in time. Have you read about the disaster about the new airport in Berlin and it's delays?
The Krauts are not what they used to be. Right now, they do well because they import cheap crap from Eastern Europa and China, glue it together and put a "Made in Germany" sticker on it.
But they have lost their edge - look at BER Airport... If they can't get such a prestigious project in their capital city done, what can they get done???
"Society is coming apart at the seams."
Your anti-Obama histrionics has made you hysterically funny.
The USA currently has the lowest crime rates since 1968. It was during Obama's era that the great crime decline began.
I think his programs to help the poor & needy has something to do with it - I know this will drive you crazy ; )
"In 2009 America's crime rate was roughly the same as in 1968, with the homicide rate being at its lowest level since 1964.
"Overall, the national crime rate was 3466 crimes per 100,000 residents, down from 3680 crimes per 100,000 residents forty years earlier in 1969."
Obama's programs to help the poor and needy? Are you referring to the ballooning of the food stamp programs?
What would help the disadvantaged is a job, any job. Instead, there are millions fewer employed today than four years ago. Meanwhile the federal deficit has exploded by forty percent, cloaking the true nature of our fiscal health and making the day of reckoning all the worse.
Or are you referring to his de facto legalization of illegal immigrants, knocking millions of American citizens off the lowest rung of employment?
Of course none of this is Obama's fault. To imagine that you would have to consider him a human being. And the little brass god you and the media have made of him is anything but that.
What is deeply embedded in Obama's bones is the goal of making the US pay for its unjustly-acquired affluence. Parallel to that is Obama's effort to reduce US stature around the world. He is succeeding admirably with both.
We have his own words that he will appease Russian demands on missile defense after he is reelected. How do you think that sits with our allies around the world?
How does the media call him to account? By promoting his beer recipe released by the White House yesterday, and telling the world about a plaque recently placed in Chicago, memorializing where he and Michelle had their first kiss.
Does anyone care where this facebook president got his ten million dollars net worth? Only two million of it came from book royalties. He has acquired wealth, and the media is stupifyingly not interested in how the President of the US got rich.
But how Romney made his millions, that's another matter. He is one of those evil businessmen.
This irrational and corrosive attitude of the media is a hallmark of our times and is coming home to roost as we speak.
And your whitewashing of US problems, all the while banging the drum on Germany's imperfections is simply ridiculous. Evenhandedness would serve you better.
"And your whitewashing of US problems, all the while banging the drum on Germany's imperfections is simply ridiculous. Evenhandedness would serve you better."
How true!
"We have his own words that he will appease Russian demands on missile defense after he is reelected. How do you think that sits with our allies around the world?"
When our allies don't care about their own defense, why should you? Our allies are certainly rich enough to build their own missile defense. The EU's GDP is bigger than the USA's GDP.
You mentioned the deficits exploding and yet you want to spend billions more on missile defense? Nope missile defense is not a priority for US security, it is a priority for Europe's security, let them pay for it and build it themselves.
You are just enabling their 60 year old drug habit of taking advantage of the USA. Except for Britain and France, none of the other European countries even meet the 2% military spending obligations of Nato. They happily let the US foot the bill for their defense while their military budgets are slashed and they use the money for the welfare of their citizens.
You may have noticed they are very good at getting other people to foot the bill for their expenses, be it browbeating Brazil & India to contribute to IMF eurozone bailouts funds while they have the money to fund it themselves as Geithner and the Canadians have said so openly and refused to contribute to the 4th or 5th IMF eurozone bailouts.
PS: Telling the truth about the decline of crime rates in the USA is not whitewashing of US problems.
To support China's current economic growth of 7.6% for 1.3 bill people and absorb their export agenda means decline and stagnation in the industrialized countries output including Europe. This perilous path was initiated by the USA pathological fear of Kremlin's atheism. Ironically, it was the China's communist longevity the Washington wise men should have feared more.
Disloyal multinationals are now shipping their products great distances from China to the same infrastructure that they have abandoned and left with excess capacity.
The US foreign policy initiative aimed at splitting China from the USSR was an obvious choice for straightforward geopolitical reasons, back in the days when MAD and the communists' stated goal of global domination defined much of international politics.
Central to the American effort was offering the prospect of economic incentives to China, combined with a hardline military response to communist aggression.
Fear of atheism was hardly the primary reason for the US opposition to the insurgencies raised up by the Kremlin around the world in the days of the USSR. And the notion that China is today even remotely communist, rather than merchantilistic is puzzling.
As for your characterization of the US 'pathological fear of Kremlin's atheism', I suggest it was as much the Kremlin's visceral hatred of religion that fueled the animus.
Multinationals do indeed strip Western intellectual property and sell it to China among others. And as you suggest China will pay a high price for its too-rapid pace of development.
As it stands, Chicom just may be the only possible savior for your beloved EUstan.
Don't you worry your little head about the US, just get off our government teat.
I use atheism which contrasted the US moral values of the 50th, as a substitute for ideology and it of course encompasses private ownership and market driven economy as oppose to state controlled economy. The Washington actually feared this ideology rather than Russian physical control of the American life which would have been a preposterous eventuality.
Now we face the symptoms or the consequences of the Nixon's Chinese detente. The remedy is obvious the Chinese imports should be subject to surcharge tariffs as long as Renminbi value is kept artificially low.
Time to revive this flagging thread, groaning under the weight of facebooking inanities as it is, and steer it back on-topic to more noble heights, leavittoviva.
You are shirking in your duty and digress. You merely grazed the surface when you alluded to it in your merry Paree assignment. But now you must blow the whistle on what lurks beneath.
It is high time to confer on those very places in which the contacts were made that brought us to this ugly pass.
Don't you think, for the sake not only of the beleaguered Finns, that you should be telling us more about the state of that no-man's-land into which you cast a baleful eye on in Paree, the very location that hatched the threat of the "EUSSR" against those trusty Finns who are struggling in the net of this article's title at this very moment?
Yes, I'm talking about those evil-smelling places you visited in Paris which represent the Achilles heel of the western civilisation that you purport to defend: freedom, self-determination and democracy.
Not for nothing did communist Russia, China, or corporatist Japan muster their crack troops in these dark places in which to exploit the weakest link in the west to be found among the fudge packing skulkers that have always gathered in Paris, and above all in those perverted euro institutions-made-in-France, that have wrought such havoc and now threaten the very core of western civilisation.
Most readers are not of the mettle that would venture to that zone, the very genesis of the eurodoom that spawned the deadweights van Rumpiys, Borossas and Barniers.
So quit this shirking and folderol, and share your revelations before it's too late!
The face of the West's modern cities has assumed the complexion of its former colonies. This suits the majority of politicians, whose guiding impulse is the cultivation of patronage among the receiving class. The corollary of this is that politicians aim to obliterate the taxed class through greater and greater exactions.
The results of their coming success can be imagined.
The most advanced example of this behavior is the EU, which has advanced beyond the mere crushing of individuals to the oppression of nations.
Unquestionably, France, Europe's source and most adept exemplar of the pursuit of the extinction of the means of production in the West, offers a view of the future to every tourist to their Disneyland-like capital.
There are a few shrinking enclaves of natives left in Paris, which teems with all the nations of the earth. And despite the most fastidious indoctrination, it is evident to all that the natives are aware and not altogether pleased with the product of their leaders' wisdom.
Those who are either fatuous or cynical enough to acclaim the current situation either are the recipients or the administrators of the largesse milked from the taxed class; or a member of that most interesting species, the self-hating Frenchman.
And before the indignant exponent of 'diversity' gets on his high horse, remember: it is the net recipient class that is growing by leaps and bounds in the West's prostrate cities. The end result is evident, the West is finished. See Disneyland and die.
When Pres. Nixon launched his ping pong diplomacy in 1971 it was 'because of Vietnam' rather than because of a "pathological fear of Kremlin's atheism".
In 1971 support for the war had hit rock bottom at home. Only 30 percent of Americans thought that the war is winnable or that it was 'morally justified'.
Plus, it was foreseeable then that Communist China will replace Taiwan in the United Nations and - even more important - become a permanent member of the United Nations Security Council (which actually happened 1971 as well).
Nixon's diplomatic offensive prepared his visit to the Red China in 1972, which was the door-opener for the diplomatic relations between the two nations that followed. Diplomatic relations with China were, at that point, simply a political 'necessity', given Nixon's troops-withdrawal considerations from that area.
Western business just followed the 'path of the water' when China opened economically after Mao's death. China was then the world's largest untapped market.
But I agree with you that China is the avoided elephant in the room ... and not Russia (which fears China too).
LaVy...further to your point on US/China thaw; at the time of Nixon's overtures to China the Vietnam War was essentially lost and it was only the question of honorable exit. The Nixon advances to China have had no effect on the events that you have mentioned the UN membership or the Security Council.
It was the simple reason to damage the Russo-China relation according to the line "my enemy will hopefully become my friend's enemy". Unfortunately this proposition has obviously failed. In retrospect the CIA has failed in the assessment of the strength of Russian vs. Chinese communism and the evidence is obvious now. Cheers.
A phoney summer calm may come to an abrupt end in September with decisions by Germany's Constitutional Court and the Bank threatening to plunge the eurozone back into crisis. A series of high-risk dates are etched on the minds of financial analysts, first among them Thursday's ECB governing council meeting at which the central bank is expected to detail how and when it may step in on a larger scale to tame struggling countries' borrowing costs. ECB chief Mario Draghi's statements indicating that the central bank was going to play a greater role in the euro zone's rescue efforts was a key reason markets kept calm throughout August. I have learnt silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers. -Kahlil Gibran, mystic, poet, and artist (1883-1931) thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
Can it work that is what we want to see? EU Commissioner Michel Barnier said on Friday that eurozone banks would gradually come under the remit of a new common supervisor with a complete shift over for all 6,000 lenders on January 1, 2014. Barnier is leading preparations for plans for a common supervisor, which was part of a wider agreement on letting the new eurozone rescue fund directly rescue lenders instead of forcing countries to seek a full bailout. There are disagreements between the 17 eurozone members as well as the wider European Union over how fast and how far to centralise the current system which relies on national supervisors. "We never envisaged a global switchover from one day to the next to direct and integrated supervision," Barnier, the EU's internal markets commissioner, was quoted as saying in the French business daily Les Echos. He said any banks which receive support from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund should immediately come under the purview of the new regulator, which is hoped will begin operations on January 1, 2013. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
Can it work that is what we want to see? EU Commissioner Michel Barnier said on Friday that eurozone banks would gradually come under the remit of a new common supervisor with a complete shift over for all 6,000 lenders on January 1, 2014. Barnier is leading preparations for plans for a common supervisor, which was part of a wider agreement on letting the new eurozone rescue fund directly rescue lenders instead of forcing countries to seek a full bailout. There are disagreements between the 17 eurozone members as well as the wider European Union over how fast and how far to centralise the current system which relies on national supervisors. "We never envisaged a global switchover from one day to the next to direct and integrated supervision," Barnier, the EU's internal markets commissioner, was quoted as saying in the French business daily Les Echos. He said any banks which receive support from the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) rescue fund should immediately come under the purview of the new regulator, which is hoped will begin operations on January 1, 2013. I thank you Firozali A.Mulla DBA
By using massive amounts of debt to create the illusion of wealth, Western societies have left themselves vulnerable to the collapse of confidence in the markets.
The results of this loss of confidence are already coming home to roost, and will continue to occur gradually so long as politicians can manipulate expectations. But at some point systemic collapse is inevitable. Whether de facto or through mechanisms like inflation, debt repudiation will accelerate economic decline, creating a vicious cycle.
This is nothing new. But the difference between the ongoing ecomomic failure and past similar events is one of magnitude and resilience. The size of the current debt is so huge and embedded in so many nations, and so much real wealth has already been absorbed by the demands of debt, that the current collapse will take down the entire global system and plunge our societies into a deep and potentially irreversible depression.
The awareness of this calamity will become broadly evident as our standard of living declines and social programs designed to feed, house and care for the most vulnerable shrink and fail.
Who then will care for the sick and aged? When government is incapable of providing, what social system is designed to step in and alleviate the suffering? Individual consciences will provide much assistance but large gaps will remain, insuring that a horrible end awaits many of our most vulnerable.
The Catholic church, that much disparaged organization, will then reassume a larger role. The Catholic church today maintains the world's largest network of schools and hospitals. Other Christian bodies will also become more prominent in the field of charity. Ironically, it will be the church reassuming its primitive character that will be a hallmark of the coming economic abyss.
When the French Council asks for German money not a lot of thinking is necessary.
The German Court, on the other hand, has to do a lot of head scratching before parting with their money.
I hope I reconciled the debate here :)
Junoir Aug 30th, 17:40
Re Merkel in Beijing (Le Monde), you wrote:
"Euro-zone member countries can be proud and grateful that their unelected leader is doing their thinking for them and explaining decisions made for which they have not voted".
Extraordinary isn't it? The proud French who take themselves so seriously can't "do" irony, can they? No safety vlave there:)
In effect, through their wonderful "EU" they are creating the same mood as in 1936 with another socialist government, as unemployment soared while they were all bleating "I wish les boches would come over and sort us out so we can be like them under Adolf", which is effectively what Hollande has done by allowing the FU with Germany.
How can that possibly work between two such disparate economies? We'll see soon enough … :)
Public sector "jobs", CAP, – plenty job slashing on the way; French women breaking new records of pharmaceutical gobbling; crime soaring.
Ugly place to be in, la Belle France nowadays –a morose people with no sense of humour to carry them through (as the French posters on this blog amply demonstrated) …
I expect holiday makers too will be giving it a miss:)
They've really got it made with their clever "faire l'Europe" stuff haven't they?
Uh - Hin! Hin! Hin!
@ Junoir (at Aug 30th, 09:02)
Your cynicism knows no bounds. Shocking! LOL
As for lying around on the beach: We're talking about a GERMAN COURT (stress on both words), not a FRENCH COUNCIL - which means the judges work ...
a) less efficiently (it's a cliché that the Germans are more efficient than the French: the opposite is true in my experience) and
b) meticulously to the degree of bordering on the absurd - read on.
The German court's rulings can be up to 150 pages long, complete with a few hundred footnotes, followed by a dissenting vote of the overruled minority of another 30 or so pages.
The verdicts of the French constitutional council (which includes such legal authorities as Messrs Giscard d' Estaing, Chirac, Sarkozy) seldom exceed two or three columns. I'm not kidding you.
So no beach for the Germans.
I read an interview with the president of the German court in which he complained how he hadn't eaten a proper meal in a month, camping out in his office while his clerks worked night shifts in the library. They were allowed to wake him up when they'd come up with some sensational finding (God doesn't exist!), of course. And that was about a month ago. I wonder whether the poor fellow has taken a shower since.
Yawn.. the rest of the world doesn't really give a damn about the rulings of a German court.
Funny why an "American" like you should be so obsessed about it. Americans are not affected by any German rulings. Period.
Your obsessive interest in German courts is very strange indeed for an American.
Sounds like your honourable members ought to get their leg over, let their hair down a bit and have a few beers and laughs. Ho, ho!
Why not stick to the Lisbon Treaty which forbids bail-outs anyway? That's basically what the GCC is deciding on, isn't it, yes or no to bail-outs?
Fully agree about the French Conseil Constitutionel, btw, some of whose members aren't even lawyers.
Why wonder it takes such a long time?
Did you ever try to think/reason in German?
"not a FRENCH COUNCIL - which means the judges work"
Thank you for French bashing in your first line, sparing thoughtful readers the chore of reading further.
buddy, relax, and read on. There were three dots (...) after the excerpt you quoted, and the whole passage read:
"We're talking about a GERMAN COURT (stress on both words), not a FRENCH COUNCIL - which means the judges work ...
a) less efficiently (it's a cliché that the Germans are more efficient than the French: the opposite is true in my experience) and
b) meticulously to the degree of bordering on the absurd - read on."
I was mocking the Germans (I'm half-German), not the French. If you continue being so serious, people might think you French have no sense of humour. Which isn't true, of course. You just hide it well;-)... .
The Karlsruhe region is actually best for wine, with wine-growing areas all around: Rheinhesse, Baden, Alsace, Pfalz (clockwise). But instead of making the best of it, those super-judges feed themselves on filtered coffee, candy bars and pizza quattro stagione ... .
At least the French conseil constitutionnel's members got their priorities right. (And "l'Allemagne payera", anyhow, so who cares about France - hein, Dominique? Just kidding.)
I stand corrected. But some disambiguation was indeed needed.
It's the judgement all of Europe (and in fact, all of the financial world) is waiting for, dumbo, even if your local "Wichita Eagle" didn't report much on the issue.
No worries - you simply quit reading to fast;-). Bonne nuit.
@ Junoir
On my only trip to Paris 25 years ago I met a type of woman I never saw anywhere else. They are called 'dames pipi', strapping, Amazon type broads, renowned for their obnoxiousness and foul appearance who 'run' the larger public toilets.
Terrified "customers" are greeted with a bark and immediate threats that no change will be given. At a wash-basin in a toilet at CDG airport I started to brush my teeth. Another bark. "You no read?" the slattern screamed , pointing to a notice above in French and English, which said that wash-basins were for hand washing only. Moving to one of the toilets, she then proceeded to hammer on the door asking the unfortunate occupant if he "wanted to spend the night there" and she had "other things to do" (???)
So I ask the French contributors to this thread, do they have any 'dames pipi' neighbors and friends? Can a 'dame pipi' be a wife, a mother? Are they ex-prisoners? I was later told that the 'dame pipi' at the Eiffel Tower was a world legend for offensive, insulting behavior.
"At a wash-basin in a toilet at CDG airport I started to brush my teeth. Another bark."
Do you know why? Because "dames pipi" considered brushing toothless mouth ridiculous.
"Do you know why? Because "dames pipi" considered brushing toothless mouth ridiculous"
Ho, ho!. A funny posting from Ayatollah Seven and Three Quarters.
Stop it! My sides are aching, my ribs are cracking. I'll soon be rolling on the floor.
ho, ho!! Nearly as witty as Woofwoof.
You see, I did not know that you can chuckle. There is a hope.
"The hate campaigns in France against the US started in 1945 and only ended when Sarkozy came along. Don't waste time denying it."
You're right, Crammerboy, I don't waste my time with fanatics, especially those brainwashed enough to actually believe Sarkozy when he whined "they call me Sarko l'Américain". Entirely made up, of course.
So you are a fanatic too?
After all if you deny that bashing America does not exist in France it will qualify you as a fanatic too.
The French educational system encourages parrot-wise learning, not critical thought.
They need not worry, because according to Le Monde headlines today they acquiesc under German tutelage with resignation. 'Let Germany do our thinking for us':
"Europe IS Germany"
"For the rest of the world, Europe IS Germany". Merkel is in Bejing speaking in Europe's name, leaving the French with two choices, submit completely to Germany, as under Vichy, or break the F/G alliance and go their own way. Either way "it's Germany rules, OK".
Le Monde 30th Aug.
This explains Dominique's double standard:
French bashing of America - OK
American bashing of France - NOT OK
Probably he is totally unaware of his supreme arrogance in having this mentality.
Yes, I read about that too. Merkel is in Bejing to 'speak in Europe's name' and to reassure the Chinese of Europe's determination to overcome the sovereign debt crisis, consolidate the €, make it a solid currency once more and explain the reforms being undertaken.
Euro-zone member countries can be proud and grateful that their unelected leader is doing their thinking for them and explaining decisions made for which they have not voted
"if you deny that bashing America does not exist in France"
Careful with your double negatives, they make you sound even more nonsensical than usual.
Bashing America does exist in France. It is not, however, and never was, official Government policy. It was never carried out in the open and endorsed by Parliament like in the shameful freedom fries episode, for which we're still waiting for some kind of regrets from the House of Representatives (the US never apologizes, that we well know). Excuse me for not "wasting my time" further with you - and do look up double negatives.
Difficult, short of accessing the article, to know which is the paper's text, and which is your own ranting. From the contents and (lack of) style, most of the post.
1. People here seem to not know or ignore that 50% of the EZ trade with China is from Germany.
2. The Chinese are pragmatic. Why would they not primarily want to talk to the one nation is is 50% of their trade - instead of the 16 other EZ nations that make up the other 50%.
3. It is not Germany's fault that some nations, and especially France/Italy, totally missed the boat on China.... (That Greece and the like would miss the boat was clear form the start, but France and Italy would have had a chance).
4. If France would be even close to the trading weight of Germany, of course it would be invited. And France would of course think, in this case, that this would be its God-given right.
Your points are interesting although they could bear some challenging. But I fail to see how they can be a response to any of my earlier postings. Specifically, I was questioning Birtnick's way of reporting on whatever Le Monde may have written, his post being far from enlightening or even, probably, honest.
Throwing insults does NOT cover up facts.
As trying to weasel your way out of a hole you put yourself into shows.
Always under the thumb the poor French.
Hense the expression "French rifle for sale, never fired, dropped once"
We can go down that road if you want lol
Please spare me your adolescent lolling and do tell, please, which hole I put myself in.
Not my fault you cannot read. But I'll be glad to clarify if you tell me what you find objectionable in my posts.
It is the French's sacred duty to civilize the great unwashed.
I have no doubt you fully master the French Bashing for Dummies manual. I've been through it with livelier brains than yours, but on other forums, as TE forums are supposed to stay civil.
"Sad Nobody"
Yet you still try to justify yourself to me.
Good to see you don't fold up like the French of old.
Like I siad, more time learning to fire bullets less time looking in the mirror and you may graduate from being the whipping boy of Europe.
What's thats?
You surrender yet again
Coming from a country which spent most of its existence beneath an iron Brit talon, begging for French assistance and squandering it, when granted, with ill-planned countryside tumults predictably ending at the gibbet, you sure have a loose mouth. Whipping boy status was way above your collective station as Their Lordships' doormats.
Please remind me again of the great military victories of your country, besides blowing up a retired viceroy.
No wonder you don't advertise your citizenship.
Euro will die not with a bang, but with a whimper.
Die already mopo!!! Haven't you spread enough misery already?!
Not that I care. :-)
But I do wish they'd throw up some drama. Economy sucks and we all can use some free entertainment.
We're content with throwing up, period, when reading the likes of you.
It's not dieing. The Euro's here to stay for all current members like it or not.
If it's drama you want, watch the soaps on the idiot box...laughs
Greek Swiss bank accounts to be taxed. That's another step in the right direction, but the Greek government must get on point and speak with one voice as it concerns the privatization drive as well.
Also these pandering Northeastern European politicians must stop speaking about a Grexit as well. As who in their right mind will invests a plug nickel in Greece if there is even the slimmest chance of a Grexit?
"We're content with throwing up, period,"
Did you throw up too when French intellectuals said worse things about America?
Worse than "die already, mopo"? Quote them then!
But I guess for you it's a kind word of encouragement.
To me it's a vile squeak from an unidentified rat hole, accompanied by your equally vile cheering. And again I challenge you to find a mainstream equivalent in France.
You stated that you live in a Canadian igloo so why this preoccupation with the USA...you know there are still KKK bands Sherryblack.
@ Josh
"I can sense some excitement building up about the forthcoming German "Bundesverfassungsgericht" ruling".
Yes, Josh, I'm gripping the edge of my seat waiting for the GCC to say "yes, we'll have a little bit of ESM but not too much", a decision the honourable members will have "reached" by having "scrutinised" the different laws over the last 2 months while lying around on the beach.
Having found no law which says 'some funding for lazy bastards, yes; too much funding, no", they'll decide to toss a coin.
Are you prophet? In fact there are only two outcomes:
Either the Bundesverfassungsgericht will strengthens the rights of those to which the bill is presented to be paid (e.g., the German taxpayers and their representatives, which could also sit in the parliament in Straßbourg/Luxembourg), or the potential payers will be even more keen to try to evade paying taxes (and potentially emmigrate) since Germany will have ended to be democracy.
"Only two outcomes"?
The first outcome can be discounted since, whatver the BVG may deliberate, you must realise that the German taxpayers and their representatives, "which could also sit in the parliament in Straßbourg/Luxembourg" are not represented there at all. Do you really believe that Martin Schulz represents anything but the "EU" agenda - therefore least of all the Gerrman taxpayer:)
Those institutions simply rubber-stamp the diktats coming from the "Commission" which serve the Brussels €-agenda only, not that of the German/Dutch/Finnish/British/Danish etc. taxpayer. That's the setup.
The second is no outcome because it is nothing new, bust yes it will accelerate the process of tax-evasion and emigration.
Then being optimistic there are 1.5 outcomes. The 0.5 stands for strengthening the rights of the parliaments in Berlin and/or in Straßbourg/Luxembourg (anyway its mensual moves from Straßbourg to Luxembourg and vice versa are a waste of money, for which those who decided to do so should get an according cut in their pension). You're totally right the Mr Schulzes et al., are strong in spending other people's money, without asking were the cash comes from.
Agreed about the two courts the other is having two parliaments and the moving of the staff ETC from one to the other its just another waist of European tax payers money that Brussels loves to waist.
Don't feel bad. Greece ended to be a democracy about two years ago, and America 30 years ago.
Democracy's dangerous stuff! the elections will go on though. You will still have at least two viable choices. One we shall call frik and the other frac.
Shhh, don't tell anyone. Actually, it's even safe to cry it out from the highest tower. Most people never catch on, even when told, and many amongst us are making a killing in the markets, so why should they push for change.
Look at Viva. He's all excited about the elections. We all have our Achilles. Mine's chocolate.
The last man to participate in a real democracy here in US was Jimmy Carter,and he was totally ineffectual. Perhaps The corporate master plan had not been drafted yet. Or it had, and President Carter chose to ignore it. Either way, Jimmy read from his own script, and the outcome was, well, let us just say, a tad shy of exceptional.
NOBODY, will ever dare to try that again. Obama didn't dare to try it. You got to read form the corporate play book. The banks rule baby, and of course they have extended their influence to European political affairs as well. No surprises there.
So, without question, you should all know what the outcome of the German Supreme Court decision will be, and where this is all heading.
My advice, marry a Greek, like I married a German, and you wont feel so bad, if and when, your tax dollars start to be spent indirectly, in the far away land of Greece.
So far though, suffice it to say, you ain't paying squat. You're protecting your banks investment in Greece with loans for close to nothing, and believe you me, up to now, the Greek people have been feeling your thriftiness.
That's what you fear. It is only now, that you are being asked to create a viable transfer union, and in the end, the New World Order, will force your institutions to do so.
I have no horse in this race, but to ignore the probable outcome, would be foolish.
"the rights of the parliaments in Berlin"
- the rights of a democratic nation state can be strengthened, but you missed my point about "Straßbourg/Luxembourg": zombie-parliaments - no room for optimism there:)
The latter institutions were not designed for democracy, they were designed for the "Mr Schulzes" etc.
The "EU" has no intention of being democratised, and has no right to send unelected tin-pot buffoons like Borossa or Ashton around the world to lecture others about democracy.
You must give your eurobot politicians hell, just as we in Britain must.
We are having some success in that the two major parties now know that they cannot win an elction on a pro-EU ticket. The people also are now alert to false-skeptics like the unloved PR blancmange Cameron.
PS - Hell, for better then close to nothing. Your banks are backstopped, and continue to role over the Greek debt to keep it viable, at a profit, in the form of interest on the loans.
Will the the German Supreme Court shoot the German banks in the foot, to avoid further European unification, in the form of a non intrusive transfer union, one in which, an adequate portion of the debt of all European nations is guaranteed. I think not.
The edit button stinks, so I will add just one more thought. The only question I have is: For the sake of the whole of Europe, why wasn't the ECB allowed to guarantee an adequate portion of each member nation's debt earlier?
It's rhetorical in nature. I already know the answer. One major fact can no longer be ignored though. And that is: There is no such thing as a monetary union, without it also being a transfer union. So, that left us with two choices here, one of which is no longer viable.
1. Never enter into a transfer union with poorer nations then your own. Too late for this option.
2. Create a transfer union, but delay it for as long as possible. This has been Germany's choice, and I for one, do not blame her for delaying.
The German tax payer will not directly pay for the further integration of Europe. The German standard of living will be eroded however, but this will happen over generations, not overnight.
Tsipras or Golden Dawn anyone? I thought not. Real democracy is dangerous stuff. The Spartans understood this.
Contrary to what some might believe, American was not modeled after ancient Athenian democracy? Much more like a Spartan Republic.
The Founding Fathers could trust this fledgling nation to the likes of an idiot electorate.
Of course life in ancient Athens was not all milk and honey either. For instance, you could vote to ostracize someone you did not approve of out of the Polis.
Which brings another thought to mind. What ever happened to la vy? I'll never tell..laughs
Outcome 0.5: In fact Germans are not much complaining to pay for others - we always did so even though in history mostly for the oddities done by our ancesters - which c.f., still makes an extra 1500.- Euro on my annual tax bills, called solidarity tax to bring up Eastern Germany, and the supplements to pay pensions for WWII victims to which we feel we are obliged to pay - but it is the first time in history that in principle the 'others'(as said not only the Europeans) need to ask us before digging deeper into our pockets. Never, ever we will allow this deeper digging before we are not asked and if the Bundesverfassungsgericht decides differently, then watch the evening news in TV; there will be a revolution of the tax payers in Germany.
Outcome 1.0: Also money printing by the ECB (a more soft form of compulsory surrender) in whatever form will inevitably lead to escape of capital from the Eurozone, just as the rich southern Europeans already successfully exercise (and of which Germany partly profits). Just inspect the rate of the different state bonds.
So everthing with moeny is about confidence, and simply while earning a 1000.- Euro per month and spending 1010.- Euro makes the market more nervous than earning a 1000.- Euro spending 990.- Euro per month, the therapy for the affected economies is at hand. By the way a fact which is not because of Angela's assumed tyranny, but she simply spells out and tries to practise - not too successful thought - this simple truth.
I think Angela held out for as long as she could. The German economy was firing on all cylinders, and she was right not to do anything to compromise that. But now that things are cooling down, the business cycle if your will, she understands that to continue down this obstructionist road indefinitely, will bring the whole of the global economy to it's knees, and thus the Germany manufacturing economy as well.
So, I believe further integration is coming. Truth be told, I also believe Merkel had always planned to do whatever is necessary to save the Euro, but not too quickly. She's obviously didn't get to where she is, by being stupider then me...laughs
If I were one of the German people however, I would have never agreed to enter into this monetary union. I would have insisted on keeping the DM. But I doubt that this was a decision that the German voter got to make directly via a referendum for instance.
Although I'm not certain about that. Like most here, it's come to the point where I write a lot more then I care to research. but to my benefit, at least I care to acknowledge that. Or as my friend Pumpernickel is fond of saying: "I'm just here for the beer"...laughs
That said, I still believe that the people of all of our nations, do not get to make the important corporate decisions that effect them for themselves. This is why I say what I said above, regarding democracy, the democratic process, and the illusions of political choice, if you will.
Over time, this monetary union will of course erode the German standard of of living, and improve Greece's. Germany has already fallen form 3rd in the world to 18th. Probably in large part due to the German reunification project.
Keep in mind though, Germany will not be asked to do for the whole of Europe, what you did so willingly for her own East Germany.
Although I do remember West Germans complaining about East Germans. It's human nature. Of course it's OK to complain, especially if you always do the right and difficult thing in the end.
But I can certainly see why the German people would be reluctant to take on this European unification project. For me it's easy.I make no such distinctions. My son's half German.
So, Germany, having a relatively high standard of living, has nowhere to go but down, and Greece's standard of living is now so low, she has nowhere to go but up.
I blame the decrease in all of our standards of living mostly on the decision to open up China however. Yes it created new markets, but it also created too many mouths to feed, and the inflationary pressures associated with that.
I lost my first business here in America to the Chinese. Others made money, I lost. This is always the way of things. Some win, some lose of course.
So, in closing, granted the delay in creating a non intrusive transfer union has created a whole lot of suffering, but we Greeks are use to this. And, if it works in the end, we must all thank Germany and the German people.
Let us wait for it to work first though, eh?...laughs
Sorbas you totally wrong in thinking Germans are 'so reluctant for unifiying more Europe'. The reverse is true, but there buts
that mostly comes with questions will future Europe be democratic, how will the economy run (and certainly we will not concur to defict spending due to traumas related to german history), what is share of power, please remember here the identity of Germans is reagional rather national (if oyu understand what I mean), which motivates well our federalism et cetera.
Now the decisive question comes: What state/people in Europe is willing to transfer more power and control to Europe, which c.f., we will need in order to successfully run a joint currency et cetera. Being more to the point: Would Greece, or France or whatover country you may wish to select like to idea of European super-controllers being stronger than the national government, or even parliament?
So this questions need to be answered...
"Would Greece, or France or whatover country you may wish to select like to idea of European super-controllers being stronger than the national government, or even parliament? So this questions need to be answered..."
Well, a lot of them have had a rather"thin" tradition of democracy (including Germany except its exemplary one - albeit imposed from the outside - post 1945):
so the FPIIGS might happily surrender their sovereignty to an outside body in Brussels that is equally corrupt as their home-grown administration, since the Brussels apparatus has the dirigiste, non-transparent French stamp all over it.
However, where there has been a solid tradition of home-grown democracy i.e. the Scands, NL and Brits, these would need a lot more convincing or some incredibly clever propaganda before they could even consider entrusting government to the institutions of Brussels with their atrocious records of waste, non-transparency, anti-democratic reflexes and corruption.
On a "Brussels" basis, Europe will never be unified.
I replied at the top of the page. No more rabbit holes for me.
Yes of course. A fiscal, monetary and political union is in order here. Nothing less will suffice. In America it's the old question of federal vs states rights.
I for one have always been a proponent for a strong federal government. Europe's a fledgling monetary union. In it's infancy no less.
So, we shall see. Plan for the worst, and hope for the best I always say.
I have a feeling it will all work itself out in the end though, because unscrambling the eggs, against the backdrop of the predatory markets, is not a viable option.
All hell would indeed break loose. Too unpredictable to try to take it apart now. That, and it will be downright too expensive. It's like any marriage. In the end, it's cheaper to keep her.
Although that young Brunet who works the check out counter at the grocery store down the road looks mighty fetching to these old eyes...laughs
"And hopefully drive the French embassy to - at long last - exercise its right to sue for libel."
Now don't go on giving the American embassy in Paris ideas. They could probably win trillions in libel damages and wipe off the deficit.
On what grounds? Do I hear candidates calling each other "American"? Do I see mainstream media making up horror stories about capitalism gone wild across the pond?
"Do I hear candidates calling each other "American"?"
Who invented the term "Sarko the American" ?
"Do I see mainstream media making up horror stories about capitalism gone wild across the pond?"
Making up? Can you provide the links?
Well also it depends on your political beliefs.
If you believe that it is okay to rob the poor of Brazil and India to pay for the richest part of the world through IMF eurozone bailouts, than it is not making up horror stories about socialism in Europe or France it is the truth.
Robbing the poor of the 2nd world to maintain Europe's lavish welfare states through IMF eurozone bailouts will certainly qualify as an horror story in the rest of the world but perhaps not in high & mighty "humane liberal socialist" France. Why don't the Europeans cut back on their lavish welfare programs to fund IMF eurzone bailouts?
Sorry about that.
So the only way to bash a country is by calling each other "American or French" or by having horror stories about their political systems.
Are you saying that French bashing of America does not exist?
If yes, than you have just made an a*** of yourself and will qualify not just as a fanatic but a stupid fanatic.
Love the way you shift subjects just to keep dodging issues.
Remember I started this thread to highlight a poster's call to kill Europe.
You sought to defuse the issue (since you obviously agree with that post but could not come out in its defense without exposing yourself for what you are, a rabid Europhobe) by shifting to the entirely unrelated subject of American bashing in France, a tired chestnut if any.
Now you're shifting again to some tripe about Brazil and the IMF.
What next? Sorry, I'm not following you on that inane display of sophistry gymnastics.
Do you, or do you not, agree with somebody calling for Europe to "die already"? please answer, or be quiet.
As I told Crammerboy, SARKO HIMSELF did. To ingratiate himself with his US audience during a state visit. And never caring about the slandering lie he was making about France - a true neocon to the core, lies are his stock in trade. (That's how Besson, the ex-Socialist who joined him for a ministry, once described him: "a neocon with a French passport". That's the closest anybody ever came to calling him "Sarko l'Américain", and it is not the same thing at all, because the French can distinguish between neocons and Americans.)
Now the thread has gone to the dogs.
Stop the presses! Battle lines being drawn! Restaurants in one Vermont town automatically add 18% to French speakers' bill because 'they are bad tippers'.
@ Viva:
"Hollande is leading France into a giant toilet bowl of vichyssoise. When he's through you won't know where Greece ends and France begins. But will it really matter anyhow? Cheese is cheese."
If I were the GOP (and since Mitt Romney claims "corporations are people", I could easily be), I'd run ads depicting "Life in socialist France" up and down the swing states (maybe not the culinary part, but everything else). That should do the job.
Did I mention I find the fiscal conservatism of Paul Ryan quite appealing? I believe you social conservatives are all Neanderthalers* stuck in a dark age of human development whose limitations libertines like myself cannot even begin to fathom, but there's nothing wrong with keeping a tight lid on public expenses and shutting down a few useless government agencies. Call it fiscal conservatism, call it austerity, call it Ryan plan or Merkel memorandum - I'm all for it.
The hell with the starry-eyed socialist bunch à la Hollande and the allotted spendthrift bums à la Portuguese Pedro and Italian Joe! Half a continent gone south (literally) is enough for my taste!
* (Whose namesakes, incidentally, used to roam the German pastures close to where Pumpernickle says he lives, so there's the missing link between the two of you.)
And your idea of enlightened policy is exploiting and taking advantage of other countries for the benefit of Germany first and Europe second.
Opportunistic, selfish, & crude mercantile policy is what Germany practises while morally preening about human rights.
Just hope and pray the despotic Assad doesn't use chemical weapons on its own people. Amazing how a brutal despot like Assad amassed a stockpile of poison gas. Who sold it to him?
Even if the German/European media tries to cover it up, the New York times will expose it to the whole world.
BTW, has Somali contributed to IMF eurozone bailouts?
Gee, you must be so proud that the Europeans browbeat Brazil and India to contribute to IMF eurozone bailouts while millions live in proverty in those countries to pay for the stupidity of Europe in allowing Greece into the eurozone.
So please spare us your morally preening about the republicans. They don't hold a candle to the Europeans when it comes to greed and lack of concern for the poor.
"I'd run ads depicting "Life in socialist France""
And hopefully drive the French embassy to - at long last - exercise its right to sue for libel. The notions that Republicans entertain about France are nothing short of ludicrous. Why don't they insult other countries for a change?
"Why don't they insult other countries for a change?"
Because other countries, in Europe anyhow, do not have a tradition of being anti-American as France does. The hate campaigns in France against the US started in 1945 and only ended when Sarkozy came along. Don't waste time denying it.
Since then Germany has overtaken you as Europe's most anti-American nation.
Socialists aren't 'starry-eyed'. They are more like animal husbandmen. The care, feeding and housing of human cattle is their occupation.
Employment of the cattle isn't vital to the socialists' purpose. Rather, encouragement of the herd's promiscuous breeding through subsidies, lax public education and a regular dole makes the herd docile and productive of votes, the only product required of the herd by the socialists.
That is until a few generations of the herd are raised without mores, fathers or even mothers. Then the streets become battlegrounds and the politicians become confused. To wit, the cities, suburbs and now even the rural areas of America are descending into a hell of disintegrated families, lawlessness and drugs and no one seems to know how to stop it.
Maybe Europe hasn't experienced this aspect of socialism. Their older culture has deeper underpinnings. However their social malaise does extend to the legitimization of joblessness as a by-product of technology and economic change.
So instead of Europe remaining a premier center of vibrant enterprise, socialism punishes the soul of the unemployed European worker and lowers the expections of Europe's youth, who have to accept a life of drift and indolence on the dole.
'But we have freed men from toil. Do you want children to go hungry?' Children, no. But labor- any honest toil- ennobles man. And hunger concentrates the minds of governments as well as individuals. For if enough people in a society become exasperated with the lack of opportunity, governments will be made to listen.
Is the West doomed to decline because of the deadening debt piled up by successive socialistic governments? To answer that, I must venture into the realm of metaphysics.
The free market, the antithesis of socialism, as put into practice in the twentieth century, before its distortion by financial interests, requires individual virtue. Without that, man is prone to become merely a cog in a wheel of governmental oversight, lacking a sense of of his higher being.
If this individual virtue, this vision is not found in religion, from where does it spring?
For the West to survive a religious revival is essential. Christianity is the only viable option. Without a return to Christ, the West and all its ideals will perish.
Socialism requires only adherence to dictates of the husbandman and the dogma of the perfectibility of the individual, which founders all too soon on the realities of human nature.
On the other hand, the free market, requiring that individual virtue is reestablished as the paramount concern of government, is the West's guarantor of the preservation of the family, the advancement of education, the provision of opportunities of employment for all.
In the final analysis socialism is merely a huge borrowing mechanism which cripples the initiative and straitens the possibilities of the people.
For the West to survive, Obama must be swept out of power and America's fiscal house put in order; and Europe must seize the nettle, whatever that entails, to overcome the bane of sixty years of state socialism. The revival of faith in the West must follow quickly or we are lost.
Hello! Is this Viva?
OK - a few things need to be said in defence of Euro-socialism - just because nobody else does these days...
Americans have several misconceptions about us.
1) The welfare state (we call it the "social state") in Western Europe (as opposed to Scandinavia, the Balkans or ex-Soviet Eastern Europe) was PREACHED by the Socialists - but in fact IMPLEMENTED by Christian Democrat parties for the most part. That means one has to read Papal Encyclicals to understand its theory. In particular, the quite invasive clergy always preached that citizens had a RIGHT to receive assistance, but a DUTY to self-disciplined. So there was never money gifted without strings and conditions. THERE IS NO SUCH THING AS A FREE LUNCH remains as true in Social Democratic societies as it does in America.
So for example, first-time home buyers in my region may receive up to €150 per month for ten years to help pay the mortgage, but you may not sell or rent out your home for ten years - upon penalty of repaying all the monies gifted.
University students may receive 5000-6000 per year need-based bourse, but only 6 months after the END of the school year (i.e., you have to spend your own money first - and if you don't have it, tough.) There are many other small examples.
2) The US was able to get away without creating a national health insurance because "nobody" died during WWI and WWI. Instead, the creation of national health insurance plans was logical and ineluctable in Europe after millions had died serving their respective Fatherland/Motherland/Homeland.
3) In much of Europe, what was left of industry was nationalised after the war. In reality, there was not much choice, since so many industrialists had been killed either by the Nazis or the Soviets or the Partisans, etc.
Those times have changed - many in Italy agree today that nationalising our electric companies in the early 60's was necessary to guarantee electricity for everyone - and at the same time, privatisation is/has been correct today, as market conditions have changed.
4) America has been gifted with immense natural resources - much more than most European countries. Poverty in America traditionally meant leaving settled areas to live on the frontier or in the woods. In Europe it meant joining a revolutionary party.
We built a social state after the war because it was seen as the best way to prevent political radicalism leading to war.
I still believe that is true. The Greeks today are very nervous about 20% employment, because they fear a coup d'etat by the military is around the corner (and they also suspect the Germans want a coup d'etat in Greece).
5) America is just plain wrong about a few things - a private health insurance system plainly does not work. Doesn't provide care to all, isn't efficient and forces doctors to be unethical/dishonest. And if America is so anti-Socialist, then it's time to end public pensions in America.
6) The idea that Christianity and Socialism are against one another belongs either to the 1800's or the 1950's at most recent. In reality, Christian Socialism is a strong strain in Europe. Remember Christ chasing the money-changers out of the temple?
7) Having said that, yes there are Ethics outside of Christianity: Plato, Socrates and Aristotle.
8) Americans always seem to associate Socialism with Free Love and anti-Families. Most European Leftists see American Capitalism as anti-Family.
Italian Communists were staunch defenders of family rights, and found common ground with the Vatican for decades in virtually prohibiting factories from working midnight shifts ("Good Christian fathers should be at home with the family in the evenings, not being forced to work crazy hours by the greedy Capitalists").
9) Creating a permanent under-class of "welfare" dependents was never an aim or a particular problem in Europe. State assistance is designed to resolve problems of housing (the local municipality builds and offers cheap alternatives), public transport was built to substitute autos, pollution and individual petrol expense, students were supported through university to produce a large professional class able to run and govern an economy.)
10) Italy is something of an exception in Europe for two reasons: a) the State was never particularly efficient, and therefore neither could citizens depend much on the Social Services - and b) the Vatican always opposed the creation of structures that risked being "parallel" to the Family. Ergo, no day care centres as in the rest of Europe: either Mamma or Grandma must stay at home to take care of the kids (not coincidentally, we have the lowest birth rate in the world with this system).
BTW, regarding "family" values: in Italy, if a citizen runs up debts, say for hospital expenses, and cannot pay, the State can go after other family members UP TO SECOND COUSINS to demand payment.
Not coincidentally, Italians are sick and tired of "family values" with this system.
"BTW, regarding "family" values: in Italy, if a citizen runs up debts, say for hospital expenses, and cannot pay, the State can go after other family members UP TO SECOND COUSINS to demand payment.
Not coincidentally, Italians are sick and tired of "family values" with this system."
Are you kidding me?
I know they do this kind of stuff in Singapore, but their society isn't as individualistic as Western societies supposedly are.
There. Feeling better? thanks for the laughs anyway.
Religion, family, market. You a Teheran bazari?
"Amazing how a brutal despot like Assad amassed a stockpile of poison gas. Who sold it to him?"
Before you start looking for useful idiots (like the Poles) to dig up bogus French warheads in the Syrian desert, educate yourself about the source of Syria's unconventional weapons stockpile.
"Syria began actively gathering materials and know-how for its chemical-weapons programme in the 1970s and '80s, but has never signed up to the Chemical Weapons Convention. It has received assistance from a number of countries, beginning with Egypt, the Soviet Union and North Korea. European firms have also been accused of supplying Syria with chemical precursors and dual-use items. Following a series of unverified allegations in 2005, Iranian involvement in Syria's chemical-weapons programme was corroborated recently following the publication of US government cables by WikiLeaks. Iran is thought to have sent chemical precursors and equipment, and assisted in weapons and facility design."
This time your lies won't be so easy... people have gotten wise to you. You're never shy with "accusations" but where's the follow-up? oh, waiting for the NYT? Pity, Judith Miller no longer contributes.
"I know they do this kind of stuff in Singapore, but their society isn't as individualistic as Western societies supposedly are."
I haven't heard of any cases where such a debt was thusly prosecuted... I think this is because there was once a law that has simply become out of date with current morals. It is also possible that this law was abrogated a few years ago (or not). In any case it is a thing people talk about here, so it still represents active fears.
This country, like much of the southern Mediterranean, has absolutely 19th century values regarding personal debts. People with debts are shunned. We are not Americans. ;-)
And, as you imply - and you are not wrong - we are not entirely a western society either.
the Brits are the most tolerant people, it's a daily experience
hey, the Mod, you should inquiry what 'francophobia' means in Wiki
Sorry how many French voted for the National French in this years elections oh yes france a pagan of virtue
Congratulations on your tabloid article which gives us NO examples of racist acts, but instead tells us of a certain percentage of British people who admit to having made racist remarks or harbored racist thoughts at some time. Anyway, most of their criticism is directed at the government's immigration policy. So what?
A bit feeble, don't you think, even coming from you, a proud citizen of France where so many people vote for an openly xenophobic party? A country which feels so threatened by the presence of 20,000 Roma on its territory that it CAN'T HANDLE and HAS to deport, using the summer vacation to do so, when "no-one is watching"? A country that kept the 'Harkis' in camps for a generation? A country with a fancy capital surrounded by miles and miles of black/Arab ghettoes? A country that hypocritically has no statistics on the number of members of ethnic groups on the pretext that 'all races are equal' and no distinction should be made? A country where no members of the ethnic minorities figure among its parliamentary representatives?
The UK is a generation ahead of France in its handling of race relations, but you can't be expected to know that.
When historically the treatment of foreigners in France even begins to equal the way they have been treated in the UK, then we might talk.
Until then.....have a nice day.
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