Greece hit by new general strike

[Jimbuna]

This is the last thing I'd have thought they needed:

A 24-hour general strike is under way in Greece in protest at the nation's austerity measures.
Flights and ferry services have been cancelled, schools, government offices and tourist sites closed, and hospitals are working with reduced staff.
At least 16,000 people have joined protests organised by the main unions in central Athens.
The European Commission is discussing ways of propping up banks in Europe to protect them from the Greek crisis.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-15177457

[Alex]

Poor Greece...

[soopaman2]

I'm sure the wealthy tax dodging,citizens don't care. They have the police to protect them from the starving masses, kinda like Wall Street, and Egypt, and Spain... Wait I see a pattern here.....


Oh!!!!

People are sick of being exploited by their governments and so called "job creators"

Fight on! Everywhere!

Edit: My cousin corrected me over my shoulder. Ireland, and Britain are sick of this crap too and showed it just as openly as the others.

[BossMark]

Poor poor Greece, hope our bunch of idiots are watching and taking note what's going on there

[kranz]

Originally Posted by Alex

Poor Greece...

if your were a daughter of a military man and couldn't find a husband you would get a social aid(money). Add this to smth like 70-80 similar dumb welfare benefits and that should give you a really poor Greece.
edit: one more: taking showers when at work? money goes to you.

[STEED]

Italy is going down hill fast, last month S&P moved there credit down from A+ to A and today Moody's downgrades them from Aa2 to A2. Is Italy on its way to join Greece on the sinking ship?

[nikimcbee]

...so when does Germany invade? Maybe the third time's a charm?

[Jimbuna]

Originally Posted by STEED

Italy is going down hill fast, last month S&P moved there credit down from A+ to A and today Moody's downgrades them from Aa2 to A2. Is Italy on its way to join Greece on the sinking ship?

Quite possibly

[soopaman2]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

...so when does Germany invade? Maybe the third time's a charm?

What did they do wrong, except play by the rules as laid out to them?
Their system simply failed them.

I mean I'm sure the USA will park a few carriers in the Aegean sea for support Why not, we live for stuff like this!
But we will only hit government installations, and not the people.
(wisecracks about middle east deleted) So we slip up....meh

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by kranz

if your were a daughter of a military man and couldn't find a husband you would get a social aid(money). Add this to smth like 70-80 similar dumb welfare benefits and that should give you a really poor Greece.
edit: one more: taking showers when at work? money goes to you.

Poor poor Greece... the public sector certainly went on a spending spree. Absurd.

It's the poor poor Greeks, you know, the ones in private sectors that actually made money, that I'm symphatetic with.

[Penguin]

Well, you can push people only to a certain point until they explode.
The fact is, the ordinary Greeks already had painful cuts in the last 2,3 years, before another round started this year. There had also been protests, but not in this dimension and not with the media coverage we see today.

Another fact is, that like any government in the world, the Greek government looks out first for themselves, for their own servants, that's where ridiculous laws like the one kranz stated come from.
The difference between a government job and a job at a private company in Greece are enormous, not only in payment, but also in job security. In terms of money it is the difference between starving wages on the free market or good till very good pay in the public sector. Who can blame the ordinary people who did prefer to work for the state.

The government sector is of course blown out of proportions, in terms of employment and money. I don't see the fault at the ordinary Greek people, who just want to make a living, but in a corrupt government, who played big spender. And to this government goes all the bailout money, what a stupid joke, the equivalent in giving more booze to the alcoholic when he promises: "Ok, I'll drink less!"

So maybe it's time for the Greeks to **** everything up, decorate the street lights with the heads of the government and their banker buddies and start something new. I'll drink an Ouzo to that!

[nikimcbee]

Curious, what kind of manufacturing base do they have? (if any?)

[Betonov]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Curious, what kind of manufacturing base do they have? (if any?)

They don't need it. Tourism alone should cover it all

[kraznyi_oktjabr]

Originally Posted by nikimcbee

Curious, what kind of manufacturing base do they have? (if any?)

At my understanding that is nonexistent. I don't remember what it exactly was but most profitable private sector manufacturer was something along the line of bottle cap factory.

Another lunacy in gov jobs: their jobs are protected by constitution! Government can't fire their employees without changing constitution and making special laws. Currently they are circumventing this by moving employees to "reserve" in which case they have to pay "only" 60 % of employees wages.