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A whole island pretending to be blind...: New book reveals how Greeks cheated THEMSELVES into ruin
DailyMail.com ^ | 3 July 2015 | Flora Drury For Mailonline

Posted on 07/03/2015 8:10:40 PM PDT by Rockitz

Greece in teetering on the brink of ruin - and it is hard not to feel sympathy for the pensioners crying in the street and the mothers facing empty supermarket shelves.

Yet those reading a new book may find themselves feeling a little less compassionate towards the Greeks. It reveals an eye-popping catalogue of benefits scams and tax avoidance schemes that have robbed the public purse.

James Angelos' The Full Catastrophe: Travels among the New Greek Ruins lays bare the corruption which filtered through all levels of society - from the islanders who pretended to be blind, to the families who forgot to register their parents' death and the doctors who 'earn' just €12,000 a year - yet live in Athens' most exclusive neighbourhood.

It was the rumours of an 'island of the blind' which first bought Angelos, a journalist, to Greece in 2011.

He had heard that on Zakynthos, something like two per cent of the population were registered blind.

All was not quite how it seemed, however, and it transpired that 61 of the 680 'blind' residents were quite happily driving around the island.

In fact, an astonishing 498 of those 680 were not blind at all - or even partially sighted.

But being 'blind' had its advantages - in particular, the €724 paid in benefits once every two months, and a reduction in utility bills.

..........

(Excerpt) Read more at dailymail.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; Extended News; Foreign Affairs; Germany; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS: alexistsipras; europeanunion; france; germany; greece; greekcrisis; greekorthodox; jamesangelos; nato; orthodox; pages; syriza; thefullcatastrophe; unitedkingdom; zakynthos
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>By Created, do you mean by man or by God?

I mean what it means it the context of Romans 1:25+


101 posted on 07/06/2015 10:40:19 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

Nope, it’s all mine, 100% - and yeah, all my teen kids friends are jealous of it as well...their dads don’t have it.

But the fact that you can’t believe it just validates all of that....


102 posted on 07/06/2015 10:40:26 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: drpix
Who is left who actually needs "food pantries" to feed them? How are these "food pantries" not also being scammed by those taking the food and/or scams of those running them?

For the most part, food pantries do not check whether the person coming in grabbing food is actually "needy". So you have middle-class scammers grabbing food there, so as to have more disposable income for other things.

You also have people on Food Stamps going to the pantries, getting most of their staples there, then using their food stamp allotment for steak and lobster (which they can sell). I would not be surprised that there are a number of cooks/housekeepers working for the wealthy "off the books", who do shopping for their employers, paying for it via food stamps, and pocketing the cash their employers give them for shopping.

103 posted on 07/06/2015 10:41:02 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come fokquote>r you.)
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To: HLPhat

It doesn’t mean anything in the context of Romans 1:25 - except in a very indirect vague way.

So it’s now time for you to STFU or answer your own questions....and then I’ll comment. Who knows, we may agree, but it’s clear it’s your STFU or PTFU time.
Now.


104 posted on 07/06/2015 10:42:55 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>But the fact that you can’t believe it just validates all of that....

I believe it looks phoney.


105 posted on 07/06/2015 10:43:05 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: DoodleDawg
I saw something on the news this morning where tax avoidance in Greece runs close to 90%. They really do need to get their own house in order before blaming the rest of Europe for their problems.

They can shift from income tax to harder-to-evade taxes like VAT/sales-tax, real estate tax, etc.

106 posted on 07/06/2015 10:43:47 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (You don't notice it's a police state until the police come fokquote>r you.)
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>It doesn’t mean anything in the context of Romans 1:25

Created Thing doesn’t mean anything in the context of Romans :25.

Because C. Edmund Wright, Columnist Suuuuuper Genius says so. Uhuh.

What did it mean in the context of the the 1st commandment and the worship of the Golden Calf?


107 posted on 07/06/2015 10:47:02 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

Look, clearly you cannot answer your own questions. You keep repeating your questions, but will not explain.

I told you my theory as to why it doesn’t mean anything in context of 1:25 - you have not responded in kind. Obviously you can’t.

So I have won the debate because you won’t even answer the question. I win by default.


108 posted on 07/06/2015 10:50:20 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>I told you my theory as to why it doesn’t mean anything
>>in context of 1:25

“It doesn’t mean anything in the context of Romans 1:25 - except in a very indirect vague way.”

That’s your “theory”. LOL.

The 1st Commandment is pretty clear how it relates - but evidently you can’t/won’t see past the facade of your own opinionated self-image to admit it.


109 posted on 07/06/2015 11:00:52 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat
Right. Each time they consolidate wealth and power. They don't ever get more poor. Their families continue to be in the top .01% (or whatever percent it is).

Now, however, they feel the can be a technocratic elite controlling every aspect of your life and world economies. If there is growth, they can slow it and ensure no one gets too wealthy.

110 posted on 07/06/2015 11:03:40 AM PDT by riri (Obama's Amerika--Not a fun place.)
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To: riri

>>Now, however, they feel the can be a technocratic
>>elite controlling every aspect of your life and
>>world economies.
>>If there is growth, they can slow it and ensure no
>>one gets too wealthy.

The technology has advanced, but the nature of those who’d abuse it hasn’t changed much since the Eunuchs of Egypt were propping their man-god Pharaoh’s up atop the State-establishment.

The mere articulation of that self-evident history raises the hackles of the farm’s self-appointed brainworks — which of course is why they’d like nothing better than to see the 1st amendment obliterated.


111 posted on 07/06/2015 11:10:57 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

in other words, you can still not even answer your own question.

You have embarrassed yourself on the hair, on the RINO charge, and certainly you must be some kind of wimp or blowhard to refuse to answer questions you have asked.

If you can’t answer the question, then you shouldn’t ask it. I have never refused to answer a question I’ve asked. Again, you’re a noob, so maybe you think this is cute. It’s not. You’re a sham.


112 posted on 07/06/2015 11:22:37 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>establishment book

“OUR LIVES OUR FORTUNES AND OUR SACRED HONOR”

I like that one.

Others, remind me of a tick embedded between the Left and Right arsecheeks of a RINOcerous.


113 posted on 07/06/2015 11:22:42 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

did you write that one?

you’re a child.


114 posted on 07/06/2015 11:23:19 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>in other words, you can still not even answer your own question

The 1st commandment answers the question of how Created Things relate within the context of Romans 1:25+

Compliance is symptomatic of a Godly Republic. But I wouldn’t expect a market/self-worshiping RINO to admit that.


115 posted on 07/06/2015 11:26:55 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

what a bunch of overly spiritual witchcraft voodoo flapdoodle.... What a pharisee. What a turn off to the lost you are.

That’s makes no sense...you still can’t answer it, but you want to make absurd accusations at me.


116 posted on 07/06/2015 11:30:04 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>That’s makes no sense...

 

Ex 20:3-6

3 "You shall have no other gods beforea me.

4 "You shall not make for yourself an idol in the form of anything in heaven above or on the earth beneath or in the waters below. 5 You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, punishing the children for the sin of the fathers to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, 6 but showing love to a thousand [ generations] of those who love me and keep my commandments.

NIV

Ex 32:7-8

. 8 They have been quick to turn away from what I commanded them and have made themselves an idol cast in the shape of a calf. They have bowed down to it and sacrificed to it and have said, 'These are your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of Egypt.'

NIV

 

Romans 1:25-26

25 They exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator — who is forever praised. Amen.
26 Because of this, God gave them over....

=================================

Because of what, gave them over to what?

 

 

 

117 posted on 07/06/2015 11:36:53 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

That’s a real stretch......real stretch. I mean, in that way, you can apply the First Commandment and the Romans verse to everything in life - which was my point when I said only in a general sense.

It does nothing to advance your argument with me, because we don’t disagree on the verses, but we certainly disagree on how to apply them. You think you understand the God and mammon thing, but you don’t.

The free market is the best way to organize the affairs of men, period. No other system on this earth are as compassionate in the end results. That in spite of the fact that there are cheaters in the system...people who game the system.

But all of world history, about which you are ignorant, proves that freedom is far superior to any state run economy.

As for Greece, it does not require me to exonerate EU to say Greece brought most of this on themselves. To talk about the mortgage meltdown, I never said the banks acted properly - all I said, and I stand by, is that GOVERNMENT was the catalyst. It always is in these deals. Then that starts the crony problem.

And that’s not putting mammon over God to say that, even though your witchcraft infested mind thinks so.


118 posted on 07/06/2015 11:43:53 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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To: C. Edmund Wright

>>only in a general sense.

Uhuh. So the SCOTUS only approved homosexual perversion of marriage in a “general sense”.

Sort of like cancer only invades a host in a “general sense”.

Romans 1:25+ clearly articulates a cause and effect.

Because of what, gave them over to what?


119 posted on 07/06/2015 11:47:47 AM PDT by HLPhat (This space is intentionally blank.)
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To: HLPhat

This has got nothing to do with the SCOTUS...and marriage. We weren’t discussing that you numb skull. There’s no disagreement there. Has not a dad burnt thing to do with GREECE.

You’re a legalistic no earthly good pharisee with very little perception and severe ADHD and focus problems.


120 posted on 07/06/2015 11:51:19 AM PDT by C. Edmund Wright
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