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Anyone who has lived in Greece can see why the question of default or a “haircut” is not a matter of if, but when. It is a wonder that crazy things have lasted as long as they have there. The symptoms are well known: Tax evasion is now an art form and a matter of pride; pensions are absurd to the point of caricature; the public sector is self-righteous, bloated, and inefficient; and what little industry there is does not meet European standards of efficiency and productivity. [....] Finally, there is no way out except either sudden or gradual default...

The crisis in Greece took another step forward today as opposition leader have asked Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou to step down. In response, Papandreou offered to resign. Unfortunately, Papandreou placed strings on the offer. Party Defections Reduce Papandreou's Majority to 4 VotesPapandreou's majority in parliament is a mere 4-5 votes out of 300. In recent days members of his socialist PASOK party have defected over austerity measures.With a slim and potentially vanishing majority, Papandreou is not in a position to be demanding much of anything. Indeed, his offer to resign with strings attached, increases the likelihood he will be...

Modern methods are slowly helping us build a history of the Heroic Age. The exploits of the Sea Peoples are perhaps not as distinctly preserved in the Greek tradition as those of the Achaeans who sacked Troy, probably sometime during the 1180s BC, with the nostos of Odysseus recently dated to 1,178BC. The lack of distinct information may be, in part, due to the fact that the Sea Peoples were active mostly away from the Aegean, and in lands where Greek colonization did not occur centuries later, and hence were cut off from the Aegean world. The memory of the...

Many countries have restrictions and requirements on doctors, nurses, lawyers etc. Greece carries the idea to extreme. According to Keep Talking Greece "closed professions" include beauticians, drama and dance school instructors, bakers, antiques dealers, insurance agents, insurance consultants, employment consultants, diagnostics centre staff, translators, divers, cameramen, driving school instructors, cab drivers, tourist bus drivers, newspaper stand owners, electricians, sound technicians, private school owners, tobacco sellers, gun manufacturers and sellers, hairdressers, private investigators, port workers, real estate agents, lifeguards, carpenters, financiers, opticians, auditors, movie/theatre director and even car mechanics. Restrictions will be lifted July 2. That is a much needed maneuver, and the...

Comparing Christianity and the New Paganism The most serious challenge for Christianity today isn't one of the other great religions of the world, such as Islam or Buddhism. Nor is it simple atheism, which has no depth, no mass appeal, no staying power. Rather, it's a religion most of us think is dead. That religion is paganism — and it is very much alive. Paganism is simply the natural gravity of the human spirit, the line of least resistance, religion in its fallen state. The "old" paganism came from the country. Indeed, the very word "paganism" comes from the Latin...

Featured Term (selected at random):ALPHA AND OMEGA A symbol witnessing to the divinity of Christ. Words spoken by Jesus of himself: "I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, who is, who was, and who is to come, the Almighty" (Apocalypse 1:8). This combined symbol is often used in conjunction with the cross and together are favorite symbols in ecclesiastical decorations on altars, walls, and vestments. All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

Weisenthal Center demands Theodorakis be stripped of International Music Prize; composer: "US Jews behind Greek economic crisis." Mikis Theodorakis, best known for composing the musical score to the film Zorba the Greek, recently declared on Greek television that he was “anti-Israel and anti-Semitic.” “Everything that happens today in the world has to do with the Zionists,” was one such comment. Another was “American Jews are behind the world economic crisis that has hit Greece also.” Theodorakis also blasted Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou for establishing closer relations with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who was guilty, he said, of “war crimes...

The Greek government has unveiled plans to construct a wall along its 128-mile land border with Turkey in order to tackle the influx of illegal immigrants. Interior minister Christian Papoutsis said the wall was a necessary measure after more than 100,000 people illegally entered the Mediterranean nation last year. But the plans - which have compared with the 650-mile barrier along sections of the border between the U.S. and Mexico - have been criticised by the European Commission as a 'short-term measure' that does not deal with the root of the problem. Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1343885/Greece-follows-U-S-example-building-giant-border-wall-illegal-immigrants.html#ixzz1A5Sq0itZ

The European Jewish Congress (EJC) called Wednesday for the Greek Orthodox church to remove the Metropolite of Piraeus, Seraphim, after the high-ranking priest sounded an anti-Semitic rant on Greek TV. Speaking on the morning show on Mega-TV, the largest television station in Greece, Seraphim blamed world Jewry for Greece's financial problems. "Mixing Freemasons with Jewish bankers such as Baron Rothschild and world Zionism, the Metropolite said that there is a conspiracy to enslave Greece and Christian Orthodoxy," JTA reported. He also accused "international Zionism" of trying to destroy the family unit by promoting one-parent families and same-sex marriages. Thirteen minutes...

Athens, Oct 7 (DPA) Civil servants in Greece embarked on a 24-hour strike Thursday in protest over the government's austerity programme, forcing the closure of public institutions, and the cancellation of dozens of domestic and international flights. Schools, municipal offices and universities were shut, while hospitals were operating on emergency staffing. Flights to and from the country were grounded for four hours as of 1200 GMT after air traffic controllers joined the strike. Greek airlines Olympic Air and Aegean Airlines cancelled 40 domestic and international flights. Other airlines were also affected, officials at Athens' International Airport said. More than 2,000...

Featured Term (selected at random):I.H.S. Iesus (Jesus) Hominum Salvator (usual interpretation), Jesus Savior of Men. Really a faulty Latin transliteration of the first three letters of JESUS in Greek (IHS for IHC). See Also: IESOUS HEMETEROS SOTER,See Also: IESUS HOMINUM SALVATOR,See Also: JESUS All items in this dictionary are from Fr. John Hardon's Modern Catholic Dictionary, © Eternal Life. Used with permission.

A CELESTIAL event in the 5th century BC could be the earliest documented sighting of Halley's comet - and it marked a turning point in the history of astronomy. According to ancient authors, from Aristotle onwards, a meteorite the size of a "wagonload" crashed into northern Greece sometime between 466 and 468 BC. The impact shocked the local population and the rock became a tourist attraction for 500 years. The accounts describe a comet in the sky when the meteorite fell. This has received little attention, but the timing corresponds to an expected pass of Halley's comet, which is visible...

Alexi Giannoulias, Illinois Democratic nominee for US Senator, [and member of the Greek Orthodox Church] supports homosexual marriage. Here’s the introduction from the Greek Star (a Chicago newspaper with Greek readership): Alexi Giannoulias, Democratic nominee for US Senator, shares why he supports the freedom to marry for all, including people of the same sex. This is something that many of his supporters, and especially Greek-Americans may be opposed to. ... He stated, “There may be many individuals that may not be happy with my particular stance”. The Greek Orthodox church does not allow, or support, same sex marriage. Giannoulias in...

This movie is a spin-off from Forgetting Sarah Marshall (2008). Jonah Hill is in both films, but as two different characters. Kristen Bell reprises her role as Sarah Marshall in a cameo.See more »

Possum Creek Stone and Anomalous Cherokee DNA Point to Eastern Mediterranean Origins In memoriam Gloria Farley Donald N. Yates DNA Consultants Keynote address for Ancient American History and Archeology Conference, Sandy, Utah, April 2, 2010 SUMMARY  Three examples of North American rock art are discussed and placed in the context of ancient Greek and Hebrew civilization. The Red Bird Petroglyphs are compared with Greek and Hebrew coins and the Bat Creek Stone. The Possum Creek Stone discovered by Gloria Farley is identified as a Greek athlete’s victory pedestal. The Thruston Stone is interpreted as a record of the blending of...

US Economist Fears Greek Debt Default in August Greece will eventually default on its debt because the country is highly indebted and the euro zone's approach towards saving it is the wrong one, Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics, told CNBC Friday. A restructuring of Greek debt could happen as soon as August, when the Balkan country is due to receive another tranche of funds from its lending agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the European Union, according to Weinberg. "You can't take a country that's over-borrowed and make it more creditworthy by lending it more...

This was supposed to have been the final triumph of John Maynard Keynes, the crisis in which governments actually did what he urged them to do during the Great Depression, the proof that an elite of puppeteers in control of monetary and fiscal policy could make the innumerable actors in economic life march wide-eyed toward recovery. Keynes' idea is simple; in fact, it is simple by construction, for it focuses on the very short term within a closed economy. If consumers won't spend, the government will spend for them; if businesses won't invest, the government will invest for them; and...

We've all been watching the video of the Greek riots of late. The coverage, even on Fox News, seems to be clearly implying that the Greek citizenry are angry over upcoming spending cuts due to Greece's horrific financial situation, need for EU bailout monies, etc. In effect, we are being told that this is just a bunch of spoiled brats who are used to sucking off of the public teat and are angry that their cushy pensions, etc. may be cut even slightly. Well, according to a conversation I had this afternoon, this is anything but the case. I have...

ATHENS—Greece's fiscal crisis took a new turn to violence Wednesday when three people died in a firebomb attack amid a paralyzing national strike, while governments from Spain to the U.S. took steps to prevent the widening financial damage from hitting their own economies. U.S. Treasury officials have been quietly urging their European and International Monetary Fund counterparts to put together a Greek rescue plan more quickly to contain the damage, it emerged Wednesday, as U.S. policy makers worry the continent's problems could undermine a U.S. recovery much as U.S. housing woes hammered Europe in 2008. In Spain, rival political leaders...

Potentially interesting development here. Germany may pursue some action against Goldman Sachs (GS) relating to the CDOs itself to a German bank. Remember, Germany already has hostility towards the company due to its apparent role in helping Greece hide its debt in order to gain entry into the EU. With Merkel on the ropes a bit due ot the Greek bailout, going after Goldman would probably be a smart political move.