Posted on 11/01/2011 9:43:00 AM PDT by mojito
Germans expressed fury and frustration at Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou's shock decision to call a referendum on the latest aid package, with some saying the gamble would push Greece out of the euro zone.
"You can't help thinking that they should be grateful as Europe is trying to help," said Konstanze Pilge, a 26-year old student, walking near the Brandenburg Gate in central Berlin. "Now it looks like they are going to mess things up."
Papandreou dropped his bombshell on Monday evening, less than a week after European leaders agreed the outlines of a second bailout for Athens.
"It just goes to show once again what a huge mistake it was not to throw Greece out of the euro zone at the start," said Wolfgang Gerke, a banking professor and president of the Bavarian Financial Centre think tank.
Europe's paymaster Germany and its partners in the euro zone were taken by surprise by the announcement.
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
“They bought their tickets, they knew what they were getting into....I say, ‘Let ‘em crash.’”
I think a referendum on fiscal matters is prohibited by the Greek Constitution. I could be wrong though, its just something I read on ZH.
Anyway it’s a great idea. The feckless Greeks will finally get pinned to a democratic decision, and will either adopt the drachma - or watch in dismay as Germany adopts the Deutschmark and Italy recreates the Lire.
This stuff is stirring up some long held resentments between Greeks and Germans from WWII. This is what Merkel was warning about a week or so ago in her speech when she said this mess could lead Europe into another war.
Hmmm...we could be about to see the first F-4 vs. F-4 dogfights in history...
Just sayin’. My money’s on Germany. And no, I don’t think this is funny, but it’s laugh or cry.
“Rome” is about to fall again, and for the same reasons as before. And the Al Qaida types will be glad to pick up the pieces...if the Russians don’t move in first.
*As with nearly all things there are exceptions. For example, the Bad Dürkheim wine festival. While wearing a hillbilly hat and quaffing pails of white wine one marauds about whacking random passersby with a squeaky mallet and shooting strangers with a squirt gun. Of course for fun to maintain proper efficiency this must only be done at the correct time and in specified areas...
Ohi Day (also spelled Ochi Day, Greek: Επέτειος του «'Οχι» Epeteios tou "'Ohi", Anniversary of the "No") is celebrated throughout Greece, Cyprus and the Greek communities around the world on October 28 each year, to commemorate Greek Prime Minister Ioannis Metaxas' (in power from August 4, 1936, until January 29, 1941) rejection of the ultimatum made by Italian dictator Benito Mussolini on October 28, 1940.
Did you all know that 97% of Germans will kill someone if told to do so by the Government, and only 94% of the folks in the US. Result of several studies done during the 60’s.
Deliveries in the rear.
In classical Attic Greek the word for "no" was spelled ou or ouk--I think the iota is a later addition for emphasis.
Mussolini's idiotic decision to force war on Greece was not only a tragedy for Greece but for all of the Balkans--Hitler felt he had to come to Mussolini's rescue when the Italians proved unable to defeat the Greeks, and therefore the Germans forced the Romanians, Bulgarians, and Yugoslavs into the Axis (when the Yugoslav government that signed the pact with Germany was overthrown the Germans invaded Yugoslavia and occupied the more strategic parts of it while letting their allies annex or occupy other parts). But for that, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Albania might never have experienced Communist dictatorships and Greece wouldn't have had a nasty civil war after the end of WWII.
Because it is the Germans, Fwench, and English who hold most of the Greek debt.
****
"Surely, you can't be serious."
Throughout the world the takers out number the producers. What cannot go on forever will not. Since it all has to crash eventually, is it better to happen now, or later.
It appears that the story has changed, again.
But this is what Iceland did. It was in their constitution.
Smart Icelanders. The public should not be held to the debts the politicians made with all their vote buying.
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/so-europe-fixed-again-referendum-basically-dead
Why not? Elections have consequences, maybe if people thought things through more when they vote, we wouldn't have been stuck with Obama.
These debts are mostly high roller bets called CDS.
They win, they get their money.
They lose, we pay.
That is what is happening. These are so called “insurance” that is not “insurance” that caused the taxpayers of this country to pay for TARP in the first place. The conterparties of AIG were given 100% on the dollar for LOSING bets. It is also what is causing MF Global to be bankrupt now. Losing bets. And OUR banks are full of losing bets on European banks.
THAT is not what our congress approved of.
I am just trying to make an issue that this country’s citizens are not responible for what is happening that is not well known here at FR.
There is already concern another Lehman is about to happen.
Can you say TARP II??
remember what happened on October 28.
That’s when the Italians gave Greece the ultimatum to surrender or face invasion.
****
"Looks like I picked the wrong week to quit sniffing glue!"
not as stupid as you would think:
under the euro= slavery and loss of sovereignty
force concession from EU = leverage to keep euro alive
The Germans need the euro, the French need the EU.
There is a class of Greeks have never forgotten (or fogiven) WW II.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.