Books. Bikes. Boomsticks.
“I only regret that I have but one face to palm for my country.”
Monday, May 21, 2012
One of life's little ironies...
So Greece's profligate habits are threatening to drag the Euro under. Germany, the only wino at the bar keeping a squinty eye on the tab, is urging some restraint on Greece's part, which makes the Jerries the no-fun bad guy of the story.
It may be unclear at this point if the Greeks are really willing to put the brakes on spending, but it looks like reality is sounding Last Call regardless of whether or not Alexis would like another round of Ouzo shots:
Well, yeah. Not with all the incipient rioting that's looking likely in Greece. I have no plans to take a quick holiday in Mexico, either. I could set a couple grand on fire and cut off my own hand, if I felt like having that sort of party.
What perlhaqr said. Do you think that Hans Dietrich and Petra, your average German tourists, want to be walking down the street chatting about where to eat dinner, only to be surrounded by a small mob who blames them for all Greece's problems? Me neither.
Imagine how the world has changed. Here's a European crisis going on, might bring the whole thing down, and the voice of sanity and reason is coming from Germany.
Somewhere, Kaiser Wilhelm is crying in his excellent beer.
Well, seems like 30% of the people with enough money to book a vaca read the news. Kinda bummer to show up in "historic Greece, the homeland of democracy" when the prols are rioting becuz their welfare checks got cut off. People here might take note to NOT book a vaca to Illinois, Kalipornia or New Yawk. Think of what a bummer it would be to be in Oakland the day the entitlement checks bounced because there was no "there" there.
After pulling out of the Euro, Greece will, as a mark of their sincerity, park a large wooden horse by the central bank, with recommendation that it be taken inside .
What would be the Spanish, Irish, Italian, or Portugese counterpart to a Trojan Horse? Inquiring minds want to know.
The Irish screwed up by speculating foolishly on ever inflating real estate values.
They are now paying the price of the government bailout of the spendthrift banks that pushed the madness, but are the only people paying off their debts ahead of time. And, they didn't want the bailout money the EU forced on them.
The Mick Government figured they had enough in the rainy day fund to pull through without Brussels, barely, but Brussels forced them to take it by ratcheting up the required amount of reserves.
Basically, they wanted to teach the uppity pink people to play by the rules and stop cheating with tricks like working hard, putting in 60 hour weeks, and only taxing at 11%, business or personal. It was embarassing, seeing former farmers turning into computer millionaires and buying more upscale Kraut rolling iron per capita than anybody else in the EU.
Now, the best education system in the world is pumping out thousands of programmers and computer engineers each year, and watching them emigrate to Australia.
Virtually every computer sold in Europe in the last 25 years has Irish innards assembled into a locally made shell, but the new computer market in Europe is tanking as the economy withers.
Time to send all the Poles and Lithuanians home and start having the locals pulling potatoes out of the ground again.
A pity. With all that money and education floating around, they had finally learned how to make a good salad.
Old Joke: Why can't you get a good salad in Dublin? They don't know how long to boil it.
And France isn't going to be far behind (Greece that is)...
ReplyDeleteAnd the only good thing about that is that it makes the US look good.
ReplyDeleteMind you we're discussing drunks, one is lying in the gutter puking, and the other is grasping the light pole in a death grip and feeling nauseous.
(The Chinese drunk is tipsly standing in his own and wondering drunkenly why no taxi will answer his summons, 300 yards down a dark alley.)
I gotta say I like ouzo, but not as a shot. Mix it with either water, or a lemon/lime based soda/squash/cordial.
ReplyDeleteDoes anybody know the Greek for the German words "cheapenskaten" and "buzzenkillen"?
ReplyDeleteWell, yeah. Not with all the incipient rioting that's looking likely in Greece. I have no plans to take a quick holiday in Mexico, either. I could set a couple grand on fire and cut off my own hand, if I felt like having that sort of party.
ReplyDeleteWhat perlhaqr said. Do you think that Hans Dietrich and Petra, your average German tourists, want to be walking down the street chatting about where to eat dinner, only to be surrounded by a small mob who blames them for all Greece's problems? Me neither.
ReplyDeleteImagine how the world has changed. Here's a European crisis going on, might bring the whole thing down, and the voice of sanity and reason is coming from Germany.
ReplyDeleteSomewhere, Kaiser Wilhelm is crying in his excellent beer.
Well, seems like 30% of the people with enough money to book a vaca read the news. Kinda bummer to show up in "historic Greece, the homeland of democracy" when the prols are rioting becuz their welfare checks got cut off. People here might take note to NOT book a vaca to Illinois, Kalipornia or New Yawk. Think of what a bummer it would be to be in Oakland the day the entitlement checks bounced because there was no "there" there.
ReplyDeleteAfter pulling out of the Euro, Greece will, as a mark of their sincerity, park a large wooden horse by the central bank, with recommendation that it be taken inside .
ReplyDeleteWhat would be the Spanish, Irish, Italian, or Portugese counterpart to a Trojan Horse? Inquiring minds want to know.
What kind of world do we live in when Germany is the voice of reason in Europe? Stop the world, I wanna get off.
ReplyDeleteThe Irish screwed up by speculating foolishly on ever inflating real estate values.
ReplyDeleteThey are now paying the price of the government bailout of the spendthrift banks that pushed the madness, but are the only people paying off their debts ahead of time. And, they didn't want the bailout money the EU forced on them.
The Mick Government figured they had enough in the rainy day fund to pull through without Brussels, barely, but Brussels forced them to take it by ratcheting up the required amount of reserves.
Basically, they wanted to teach the uppity pink people to play by the rules and stop cheating with tricks like working hard, putting in 60 hour weeks, and only taxing at 11%, business or personal. It was embarassing, seeing former farmers turning into computer millionaires and buying more upscale Kraut rolling iron per capita than anybody else in the EU.
Now, the best education system in the world is pumping out thousands of programmers and computer engineers each year, and watching them emigrate to Australia.
Virtually every computer sold in Europe in the last 25 years has Irish innards assembled into a locally made shell, but the new computer market in Europe is tanking as the economy withers.
Time to send all the Poles and Lithuanians home and start having the locals pulling potatoes out of the ground again.
A pity. With all that money and education floating around, they had finally learned how to make a good salad.
Old Joke: Why can't you get a good salad in Dublin? They don't know how long to boil it.