Athens buildings burn as lawmakers weigh austerity

Yahoo ^ | 2/12/12 | Harry Papachristou and Yannis Behrakis - Reuters

[NormsRevenge]

ATHENS (Reuters) - Historic cinemas, cafes and shops went up in flames in central Athens on Sunday as black-masked protesters fought Greek police outside parliament, while inside lawmakers looked set to defy the public rage by endorsing a new EU/IMF austerity deal.

As parliament prepared to vote on a new 130 billion euro bailout to save Greece from a messy bankruptcy, a Reuters photographer saw the buildings engulfed in flames and huge plumes of smoke rose in the night sky.

The air over Syntagma Square outside parliament was thick with tear gas as riot police fought running battles with youths who smashed marble balustrades and hurled stones and petrol bombs.

Government officials warned that Greeks faced "unimaginably harsher" sacrifices if parliament rejected the package, which demands deep pay, pension and job cuts, when it votes later in the evening.

But on the streets many businesses were ablaze, including the neo-classical home to the Attikon cinema dating from 1870 and a building housing the Asty, an underground cinema used by the Gestapo during World War Two as a torture chamber.

As fighting raged for hours, protesters threw homemade bombs made from gas canisters as riot police advanced across the square on the crowds, firing tear gas and stun grenades. Loud booms from the protests could be heard inside parliament.

"Tear gas has reached the parliament chamber," said leftist lawmaker Panagiotis Lafazanis.

After days of dire warnings and threats of rebellion, parliament began debating a bill setting out 3.3 billion euros ($4.4 billion) in wage, pension and job cuts this year alone, to secure funds Greece needs to avoid bankruptcy next month.

[Nailbiter]

Give someone who has been on welfare a long time a hammer, and it would probably just confuse them...

They might see a weapon, hit you with it and steal your valuables.

[bert]

I think perhaps you are an employee rather than an employer.

An employer did not expect a secretary to bring her own IBM Selectric typewriter to the job. The productivity improving tool was provided by the employer to boost profits