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I have difficulty parsing this. Are you giving up all hope?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 12:02:41 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Seed comment (4.00 / 2)

No, I'm not giving up hope. The lack of functioning administration does not mean the economy can't pick up from its dreadful dreadful state.

I am just saying that it will take a long time to develop an effective state apparatus.

I have also been saying that Syriza can cynically enact reforms that will have little to no impact on the daily lives of people. If this is what gets the money flowing from Europe, then perhaps they should do it.

For instance: labor reforms.

And when the economy improves, just go steal the German labor regs playbook and say, "We like the German way of doings this so much, we decided to adopt German policy on labor in total."

This would be cynical from the Greek POV, but it will only cost them ideological points.

by Upstate NY on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 02:29:21 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Seed comment (4.00 / 3)

One thing Greeks CAN do is stand up for themselves and at least retain some self-respect, which is incompatible with going along with austerity. So far this has rallied popular support and bought time. The more of that the better. The longer they have to pass and implement legislation the better off they will be if it comes to a Grexit. The longer they stay in the EZ AND implement sane economic policies the more bullets into TINA's body. Hopefully a head shot at the end. The EZ powers that be are caught between preserving their relative prosperity and power and seeing the base of that power being eroded. The longer this goes on the better.

There is an old maxim from contract bridge. If there is only one lay of the cards that allow you to win the hand, assume that it is the fact and play for the win.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 12:51:56 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Seed comment (none / 0)

The installments plan:

talos:

Passed in parliament today

by generic on Fri Mar 20th, 2015 at 08:14:28 PM EST
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Re: Seed comment (none / 0)

Can someone translate it? Google Translate is too confusing, all I get is that the creation of the electronic platform should take 20 days at least.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 04:54:26 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Seed comment (4.00 / 4)

The main thing is that KKE voted against the law, Potami abstained. This bill included the new laws against triangular tax fraud, that I mentioned elsewhere.

There are two bills with a fiscal / "reform" angle coming up that I know of: The health bill that will abolish tickets for entry to public hospitals and clinics, hire something like 3000 nurses and staff and give access to public hospitals to everyone regardless of their insurance status.
The other bill is the labor reform bill that actually, will reintroduce collective bargaining, increase the minimum wage by law (in two stages 680 by the end of the summer and 751 by mid-2016), reinstate wage maturity laws, reimpose limits to mass firings etc.

Both of these bills are expected to be submitted to parliament by Easter (April 12)

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 07:23:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The main thing is that KKE voted against the law, Potami abstained.

No, I mean, what are the contents of the law in detail (other than the triangular tax fraud law)? For example, which electronic platform is to be established in at least 20 days (if at all)? Does this mean that the planks of the de-facto parallel currency are being put in place?

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 09:57:20 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Η αναπληρώτρια υπουργός Οικονομικών Νάντια Βαλαβάνη είχε εξηγήσει ότι πρέπει η ρύθμιση να ψηφιστεί άμεσα «επειδή θα χρειαστούν πάνω από 20 μέρες για να δημιουργηθεί η ηλεκτρονική πλατφόρμα, και αν πάμε με κανονικές ημερομηνίες θα έχουμε χάσει τον Απρίλιο». Επίσης είπε ότι πρέπει να δοθεί παράταση στα κριτήρια χάραξης του αιγιαλού ώστε να μην χαθεί η προστασία του δημοσίου συμφέροντος.

This part comes out garbled. The last sentence seems to be about provisions to protect public interests in the triangulation law, but what the rest says is pretty unclear.

by generic on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 10:07:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

German row over middle finger of Varoufakis takes absurd turn

No that's bad writing. They are referring to some subclause in the law, that protects coastlines and beaches from construction, and that had to to do with a change in the property tax laws I think

The road of excess leads to the palace of wisdom - William Blake

by talos (mihalis at gmail dot com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 07:37:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

This will not end well... (none / 0)

Host Jan Böhmermann claimed his team had used digital editing software to insert the indecent gesture. Then it showed another clip it said was the original, in which Mr Varoufakis made the same remarks but without the gesture. A regretful Mr Böhmermann told his audience they were behind the "fake" Stinkefinger footage.
"Sorry Mr Varoufakis, we won't do it again," he said
It didn't take long, however, until the fake was itself revealed as a fake.
The original footage of the event does appear to show Mr Varoufakis showing the Stinkefinger. The finger-free "original" as shown on Neo Magazin Royale was, in fact, the doctored one. Still following?

Index of Frank's Diaries

by Frank Schnittger (mail Frankschnittger at hot male dotty communists) on Fri Mar 20th, 2015 at 05:49:13 PM EST

Discussed in detail here.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Fri Mar 20th, 2015 at 06:31:09 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This will not end well... (4.00 / 2)

Böhmermann falls for fake moderator.

by generic on Fri Mar 20th, 2015 at 09:40:28 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This will not end well... (none / 1)

More meta:

(For those not speaking German: in this version of the new Downfall video, the fake subtitles turn the man with the laugh convulsion into Böhmermann's cutter who laughs about the stupid reactions.)

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 04:08:25 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: This will not end well... (4.00 / 6)

For the benefit of those not wanting to read through the linked discussion: the satirist actually explains the point of his satire both at the end of the fake-fake video and at the end of his subsequent YouTube statement. Here are both:

From 7:48 in in the original video:

Es trifft aber wirklich ein Nerv. So sind wir Deutsche halt. In einem Jahrhundert zweimal Europa verwüstet, aber wenn man uns den Stinkefinger zeigt, dann FLIP-PEN WIR AUS. Dann kennen wir keine sachlichen Diskussionen mehr. Wenn uns ein Griche den Stinkefinger zeigt, dann FLIPPEN WIR AUS. Denn wir sind Deutsche.		But it really strikes a chord. But that's how we Germans are. Devastating Europe two times within a century, but GOING NUTS when somebody's giving us the finger. Objective debate is then out of question. When a Greek gives us the finger, we totally freak out. Because we're Germans.
Lieber Redaktion von Günther Jauch. Yanis Varoufakis hat Unrecht, ihr habt den Video nicht gefälscht. Ihr habt den Video einfach aus dem Zusammenhang gerissen, und einen Griechischen Politiker am Stinkefinger durch den Studio gezogen, damit sich Mutti und Vati abends halt schön aufregen können: "Der Außländer. Raus aus Europa mit dem! Er ist arm und nimmt us Deutschen das Geld weg! Das gibts ja wohl gar nicht! Wir sind hier die Chefs!"		Dear editorial staff of Günther Jauch, Yanis Varoufakis is wrong, you haven't doctored the footage. You simply took it out of context, and gave the Greek politician the runaround by pulling on his middle finger, so that in the evening Mom and Dad could pursue their passion of being outraged: "The Foreigner. Ot of Europe with him! He is poor and takes away the money from us Germans. That's just not possible! We are the bosses in here!"
So, that's what you did. Und der Rest ist von uns... [Lächeln]		So, that's what you did. And the rest was our contribution... [smile]

From 0:35 in in Böhmermann's video statement:

Niemals würden wir die notwendige journalistische Debatte über einen zwei Jahre alten, aus dem Zusammenhang gerissenen Stinkefinger und all diejenigen, die diese Debatte ernsthaft öffentlich führen, derart skrupellos der Lächerlichkeit preisgeben.

We would never expose the necessary journalistic debate over a two-year-old, out-of-context middle finger as well as all those who have conducted this debate publicly in all seriousness to ridicule in such an unscrupulous fashion.

The fact that 99% of the MSM commenters (as well as forum commenters) missed these only underscores his point about superficiality.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 04:40:11 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Er...

(especially as the article doesn't back up the claim.)

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 02:18:40 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The theatre of the absurd: Varoufakis' (disputed) rude gesture

Only it turned out that Boehmermann was indulging in some drawn out satire. The video that Neo Magazin Royale posted 'without' the finger was actually the 'doctored' one.

It turned out according to who? Twitter noise, apparently.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 02:36:12 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Selective memory (none / 1)

Truth to tell: in my memory, having watched the video posted here a month ago, Varoufakis only said "stick the finger to Germany", without performing the gesture. I just went back to look again. Oops.

I also misunderstood Böhmermann's "you haven't doctored the footage" to mean, not you (Jauch), but us (Neo).

So my above comments are

Sorry.

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 08:45:00 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Böhmermann is the one who "discovered" the finger video in the first place:

(after 3'40")

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 08:48:10 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Selective memory (none / 1)

Which was what made it so believable. You even got a video interview with the man who filmed the event where he mentions Böhmermann by name "It is one thing if comedians like Jan Böhmermann..". Which is easily explained by the video above of course, but some things are too funny not to believe.

by generic on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 09:40:21 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I also misunderstood Böhmermann's "you haven't doctored the footage" to mean, not you (Jauch), but us (Neo).

No misunderstanding here, that's what he said.

by generic on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 01:18:55 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I understood it to mean "we doctored the footage with the finger that you used".

It's all too subtle for me...

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 02:02:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

He lists what Jauch did and then ends with "..and everything else was done by us"

by generic on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 02:36:58 PM EST
[ Parent ]

And "what Jauch did" is

Dear editorial staff of Günther Jauch, Yanis Varoufakis is wrong, you haven't doctored the footage. You simply took it out of context, and gave the Greek politician the runaround by pulling on his middle finger, so that in the evening Mom and Dad could pursue their passion of being outraged: "The Foreigner. Ot of Europe with him! He is poor and takes away the money from us Germans. That's just not possible! We are the bosses in here!"

(DoDo)

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2015 at 05:53:18 AM EST
[ Parent ]

EU mandarin Declan Costello faces Greek wrath over `ultimatums' letter

turned out? It was pretty obvious.

by IM on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 01:18:22 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Did the hawks blink first? (none / 0)

To me it seems like the Greek government played hardball because they expected the hawks to blink first.

I completely agree. IMO, it is based on the relative losses each side would incur from a Grexit. Things would get worse for Greece. But they are very bad and would get even worst by following the pact. The difference being that now Syriza would have fallen on its own sword to serve the masters of austerity. But it could be catastrophic for those who were driving the Troika and nobody really knew just how bad. They had a pretty good situation and could end up being seen as the fools who destroyed their economies and currency. So the highest level politicians reined in the austerity horses and the Troika came to a halt. It is what I have expected since the first blink, when Merkel put her hand over Schauble's face because he wouldn't blink. In effect, she blinked for him. Now it will really begin to get interesting.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 01:30:57 AM EST

Technocrats (none / 0)

Migeru earlier linked to this article:

Declan Costello, a Galway-born economist, heads up the European Commission's mission to Greece as part of its hated troika of lenders.
Alexis Tsipras, Greece's bellicose prime minister, this week lambasted Costello for writing a letter to the Greeks in which he appeared to put pressure on the country to stall a parliamentary vote on a suite of anti- poverty measures. "Some technocrats are trying to scare us with ultimatums," Tsipras complained.

But for me the interesting part is the following story which I missed:

Costello, who won't have been impressed to have had his letter leaked to Channel 4, has form with the Greeks. During the high-wire negotiations last month for a new credit lifeline for Greece, Costello was accused by some Greeks of drafting a leaked memo that was supposed to have been written by the Greek finance minister.
As Athens horse-traded with Brussels over a set of proposals, a copy of a letter outlining Greece's commitments, ostensibly written by the minister Yanis Varoufakis, got out.
Some internet sleuth then had the genius idea to check the metadata on the leaked file, which suggested that the memo was in fact drafted by Costello, and not the Greeks.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 04:58:31 AM EST

Re: Technocrats (4.00 / 2)

No, Varoufakis communicated the letter in Word format, probably, and Costello created a PDF of it. That version of the file was the one that was leaked. It doesn't prove Costello leaked it. Some people even went to the extreme of implying Costello had written it, which is even less likely.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 05:00:54 AM EST
[ Parent ]

I find that Zero Hedge claimed that the pdf would have inherited the Word file's authorship, but he must be wrong as Varoufakis himself confirmed that he sent it in .docx and Costello did the conversion.

BTW, could a fellow editor please add tweet embedding to the User Guide?I keep forgetting the method and can't find the threat where it was given.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 06:12:06 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Technocrats (4.00 / 4)

It is really hard to believe that this is what is passing for discourse in the papers.

No, you can't analyze the economics of the situation. You must parse the insults and sleuth through MS word.

by Upstate NY on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 11:13:09 AM EST
[ Parent ]

? There is only one paper involved (Irish Times) who only reported sloppyloy on something going on on the blogs, where "Tyler Durden" of Zero Hedge thought that Varoufakis's leaked list is too much of a climbdown and the authorship made him think that it was a disinformation campaign by Costello.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 12:01:52 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Oh, I know. I was speaking in general of fingers and everything else.

by Upstate NY on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 12:26:55 PM EST
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Re: Technocrats (4.00 / 3)

What are poor journalists to do? Here's an EZ government talking stuff that's off limits. That's not in a journalist's job description. So... Oh! Look over there! Bruce Willis! A finger!

by afew (afew(a in a circle)eurotrib_dot_com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 12:41:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

The MSM is almost entirely owned by the very wealthy, 90% of whom are very conservative and, so, most of the coverage of subjects sensitive to very wealth conservatives is either not allowed or is turned into off-putting and/or mis-drirecting trash via well understood propaganda techniques.

"It is not necessary to have hope in order to persevere."

by ARGeezer (ARGeezer a in a circle eurotrib daught com) on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 12:59:33 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Ah, then you just commented in the wrong sub-thread.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 02:54:44 PM EST
[ Parent ]

I'm confused. On my screen, it it is showing up in the right thread.

by Upstate NY on Sat Mar 21st, 2015 at 05:59:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

For "discourse in the papers" and Fingergate, this would be the correct sub-thread.

_{*Lunatic*, n.

One whose delusions are out of fashion.}

by DoDo on Sun Mar 22nd, 2015 at 07:29:43 AM EST
[ Parent ]

The "everything else" is in the right thread.

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2015 at 05:50:50 AM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Technocrats (4.00 / 3)

During the high-wire negotiations last month for a new credit lifeline for Greece, Costello was accused by some Greeks of drafting a leaked memo that was supposed to have been written by the Greek finance minister.

Actually, even that is a misinterpretation of what happened. The Greek that "discovered" the authorship of the leaked memo was Yannis Koutsomitis, a conservative who thought he was embarrassing Varoufakis by proving that the policies came from Brussels after all...

A society committed to the notion that government is always bad will have bad government. And it doesn't have to be that way. — Paul Krugman

by Carrie (migeru at eurotrib dot com) on Sun Mar 22nd, 2015 at 05:50:04 AM EST
[ Parent ]