Πατραϊκός, 26/12/2010
...
Τετάρτη, Δεκεμβρίου 29, 2010
Τρίτη, Δεκεμβρίου 28, 2010
η μεγαλύτερη πίπα όλων των εποχών
είναι χωρίς αμφιβολία η ταινία του Λάνθιμου "Κυνόδοντας".
Έχω δει πολλές παπαριές στη ζωή μου, αλλά αυτή ξεπερνάει κάθε προηγούμενο.
Ήταν τόσο τραγική η σύλληψη, τόσο φριχτή η εκτέλεση, τόσο κακές οι ερμηνείες, η φωτογραφία, όλα που την έβλεπα και καταριόμουν τους κριτικούς που της έπλεκαν διθύραμβους.
Αν αυτή είναι η αναγέννηση του ελληνικού σινεμά ψηφίζω ξανά και ξανά Γιάννη Δαλιανίδη
Δευτέρα, Δεκεμβρίου 27, 2010
Τίποτα δεν έχει σημασία
Αιτωλικό, Δεκέμβριος 2010
...
όλα περνάνε και φεύγουν σαν καπνός,
οι άνθρωποι, τα χρόνια, οι ζωές
σαν άμμος που κυλάει από χέρια παιδικά
ένα μεσημέρι του καλοκαιριού
κι εμείς είμαστε καταδικασμένοι να αγαπάμε δίχως να το γνωρίζουμε
...
Τετάρτη, Δεκεμβρίου 22, 2010
Τρίτη, Δεκεμβρίου 21, 2010
ΤΟ ΠΡΟΣΩΠΟ ΤΗΣ ΧΡΟΝΙΑΣ
Julian Assange at University College London, on Sept. 30, 2010.
Photograph by Max Vadukul
...
Τα πράγματα έχουν φτάσει πλέον στα άκρα
Ένα πολιτικό σύστημα, αποτελούμενο κυρίως από ανθρώπους που δεν θα μπορούσαν να πουν μια αλήθεια ακόμα κι αν η ζωή τους εξαρτιόταν από αυτό, φαίνεται αποφασισμένο να διαλύσει μια για πάντα όλα όσα θεωρούσαμε δεδομένα και κεκτημένα δικαιώματα.
Με μεγαλόστομες αρλούμπες, πολιτικοί όλων των παρατάξεων, προσπαθούν μάταια να ρίξουν ένα κουρέλι πάνω σε έναν αυτοκράτορα που όλοι αναγνωρίζουν ότι είναι γυμνός.
Αλύπητοι, ανελέητοι και θρασείς υπουργοί και υφυπουργίσκοι περιφέρονται στα τηλεοπτικά κανάλια και βομβαρδίζουν τους τηλεθεατές με απίστευτες βλακείες περί «εξορθολογισμού» και «νοικοκυρέματος» και «ανάπτυξης» και «ανταγωνιστικότητας» και «διαφάνειας» και «διαύγειας» προκειμένου να αποτραβήξουν την προσοχή τους από το γεγονός ότι τους καταδικάζουν σε έναν εργασιακό και κατ’ επέκταση κοινωνικό μεσαίωνα.
Χωρίς αιδώ αρπάζουν από τους μη έχοντες για να τα δώσουν όλα στους έχοντες και στις τράπεζες που ξαφνικά έγιναν κυβέρνηση και απαιτούν από επιχειρήσεις να κάνουν απολύσεις προκειμένου να τους δώσουν δάνεια με τοκογλυφικούς όρους.
Κλεισμένοι στις δικές τους προσωπικές Βερσαλλίες αναρωτιούνται γιατί ο λαός ψάχνει στα σκουπίδια για ψωμί κι όχι για παντεσπάνι. Την ίδια στιγμή οι επιχειρηματίες, ο ιδιωτικός τομέας που υποτίθεται βρίσκεται στην πρωτοπορία των καινοτόμων επενδύσεων εκμεταλλεύεται τα φονικά όπλα που του παραχωρεί η κυβέρνηση ανικάνων για εργασιακές «σφαγές».
Σχεδόν ένας στους τρεις έλληνες είναι άνεργος ή ημιαπασχολούμενος, ενώ την ίδια στιγμή οι επιχειρηματίες κάνουν τα πάντα για να αυξήσουν τους ανέργους χωρίς να σκέφτονται ούτε μια στιγμή πως αν όλοι φτωχύνουν κανείς δεν θα αγοράζει τα σκουπίδια που πουλάνε.
Κανείς δεν ρίχνει τις τιμές, κανείς δεν λυπάται για τον διπλανό του, κανείς δεν νοιώθει συμπόνια για κανέναν.
Περπατούσα τις προάλλες μέσα από βουνά σκουπιδιών σιχτιρίζοντας τη ζωή, το θεό, τα γένια μου, την κακιά μου τύχη και ό,τι άλλο μου ερχόταν στο μυαλό. Κατάλαβα ότι τα πράγματα έχουν σοβαρέψει όταν συνέλαβα τον εαυτό νου να μουντζώνει τα χριστουγεννιάτικα στολίδια στους δρόμους.
Εδώ δεν έχουμε να φάμε κι αυτοί μας κερνάνε ραπανάκια για την όρεξη.
Όλα εκεί έξω μοιάζουν με μια χύτρα ταχύτητας που έχει επικίνδυνα πλησιάσει στο σημείο να τινάξει το καπάκι και να μας λούσει όλους με τα κοψίδια αυτού του τέρατος που μαγειρεύεται εκεί μέσα.
Ναι, θέλω κι εγώ κάποιες στιγμές να κλείσω τα μάτια, να ξεχάσω όλα τα φιάσκα του τελευταίου καιρού και να βυθιστώ στη θαλπωρή των ημερών μακριά από δόσεις δανείων και μνημόνια και μνημόσυνα. Ποιος δεν θέλει;
Το ζήτημα είναι ότι κανείς δεν μπορεί.
Όχι όσο αυτός ο αγώνας των ζόμπι στο νεκροταφείο της πολιτικής απειλεί να μας μετατρέψει όλους σε Ροβεσπιέρους.
Όχι όσο τις νύχτες ακούγονται τα σφυριά που στήνουν τις γκιλοτίνες.
Δευτέρα, Δεκεμβρίου 20, 2010
Πέμπτη, Δεκεμβρίου 16, 2010
Τρίτη, Δεκεμβρίου 14, 2010
εικόνες από την Αθήνα του ΄50
κάτι μου λέει ότι θα ξαναγίνουν επίκαιρες ...
Legendary photographer Robert A. McCabe traveled as a Princeton undergraduate to Greece in June 1954, witnessing firsthand soaring unemployment (at the time of his visit, unemployment was hovering around 30%) and poor wages (those who did work were making a little less than a dollar a day).
McCabe recalls in his introduction to his book, Greece: Images of an Enchanted Land, 1954-1965, how unspoiled the landscape of Greece felt before all the tourists and development starting happening, which has forever changed the landscape in Athens.
He traveled extensively through the Aegean after that, from 1954-1965, to document fully the experiences, people and places there (he was, in particular, interested in Greece's iconic architecture).
Δευτέρα, Δεκεμβρίου 13, 2010
YEAP YEAP
In a cyber attack known as Operation Payback, a group of online activists called Anonymous targeted the websites of companies that had treated WikiLeaks like a bad smell. Visa, MasterCard, Paypal and Amazon have all had their websites, and in some cases their services, affected. Welcome to the world of the chaotic good. It is chaotic. But is it good?
These companies all considered that their association with WikiLeaks damaged their brand image, a reflection prompted in some cases by a helpful call from the US state department.
In essence they are trying to have it both ways: pretending in their marketing that they are free spirits and enablers of the cyber world, but only living up to that image as long as they don't upset anyone really important. At Amazon there is real confusion between the two roles: it refused to host WikiLeaks but continued to sell an eBook of the leaked cables online.
In essence they are trying to have it both ways: pretending in their marketing that they are free spirits and enablers of the cyber world, but only living up to that image as long as they don't upset anyone really important. At Amazon there is real confusion between the two roles: it refused to host WikiLeaks but continued to sell an eBook of the leaked cables online.
The hacktivists of Anonymous may be accused of many things – such as immaturity or being run by a herd instinct. But theirs is the cyber equivalent of non-violent action or civil disobedience. It disrupts rather than damages. In challenging the credit card companies and the web hosts in this way, they are reminding these businesses that their brand reputation relies not only on how the state department sees them, but also on how they maintain their independence in the eyes of their users.
Not all the targets of the internet activists are the right ones. The website of the Swedish prosecution authority, which is currently attempting to extradite Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks, on rape charges, and the website of Claes Borgström, the Stockholm lawyer representing the two women who made the allegations, were also brought down. As our interview with Mr Borgström makes clear, these women are going through hell: first for being the alleged victims of sexual assault, and second for being accused of involvement in some form of CIA honeytrap. The women's right to anonymity has been abandoned online as bloggers rake through their CVs. In Sweden, as in other countries, the burden of proof lies with the prosecution, and the test, beyond reasonable doubt, is set high. Far better would be to let the legal systems in Sweden and Britain take their course.
In times when big business and governments attempt to monitor and control everything, there is a need as never before for an internet that remains a free and universal form of communication. WikiLeaks' chief crime has been to speak truth to power. What is at stake is nothing less than the freedom of the internet. All the rest is a sideshow distracting attention from the real battle that is being fought. We should all keep focus on the true target.
Τετάρτη, Δεκεμβρίου 08, 2010
Δευτέρα, Δεκεμβρίου 06, 2010
πές μου ποιος μας κυνηγάει
On the beach. Watercolor on paper, Nov. 2010
πές μου ποιος παλιός εθχρός ....
...
Πέμπτη, Δεκεμβρίου 02, 2010
Παρασκευή, Νοεμβρίου 26, 2010
Ελλάδα, Ιρλανδία ...
Eating the Irish
By PAUL KRUGMAN
What we need now is another Jonathan Swift.
Most people know Swift as the author of “Gulliver’s Travels.” But recent events have me thinking of his 1729 essay “A Modest Proposal,” in which he observed the dire poverty of the Irish, and offered a solution: sell the children as food. “I grant this food will be somewhat dear,” he admitted, but this would make it “very proper for landlords, who, as they have already devoured most of the parents, seem to have the best title to the children.”
O.K., these days it’s not the landlords, it’s the bankers — and they’re just impoverishing the populace, not eating it. But only a satirist — and one with a very savage pen — could do justice to what’s happening to Ireland now.
The Irish story began with a genuine economic miracle. But eventually this gave way to a speculative frenzy driven by runaway banks and real estate developers, all in a cozy relationship with leading politicians. The frenzy was financed with huge borrowing on the part of Irish banks, largely from banks in other European nations.
Then the bubble burst, and those banks faced huge losses. You might have expected those who lent money to the banks to share in the losses. After all, they were consenting adults, and if they failed to understand the risks they were taking that was nobody’s fault but their own. But, no, the Irish government stepped in to guarantee the banks’ debt, turning private losses into public obligations.
Before the bank bust, Ireland had little public debt. But with taxpayers suddenly on the hook for gigantic bank losses, even as revenues plunged, the nation’s creditworthiness was put in doubt. So Ireland tried to reassure the markets with a harsh program of spending cuts.
Step back for a minute and think about that. These debts were incurred, not to pay for public programs, but by private wheeler-dealers seeking nothing but their own profit. Yet ordinary Irish citizens are now bearing the burden of those debts.
Or to be more accurate, they’re bearing a burden much larger than the debt — because those spending cuts have caused a severe recession so that in addition to taking on the banks’ debts, the Irish are suffering from plunging incomes and high unemployment.
But there is no alternative, say the serious people: all of this is necessary to restore confidence.
Strange to say, however, confidence is not improving. On the contrary: investors have noticed that all those austerity measures are depressing the Irish economy — and are fleeing Irish debt because of that economic weakness.
Now what? Last weekend Ireland and its neighbors put together what has been widely described as a “bailout.” But what really happened was that the Irish government promised to impose even more pain, in return for a credit line — a credit line that would presumably give Ireland more time to, um, restore confidence. Markets, understandably, were not impressed: interest rates on Irish bonds have risen even further.
Does it really have to be this way?
In early 2009, a joke was making the rounds: “What’s the difference between Iceland and Ireland? Answer: One letter and about six months.” This was supposed to be gallows humor. No matter how bad the Irish situation, it couldn’t be compared with the utter disaster that was Iceland.
But at this point Iceland seems, if anything, to be doing better than its near-namesake. Its economic slump was no deeper than Ireland’s, its job losses were less severe and it seems better positioned for recovery. In fact, investors now appear to consider Iceland’s debt safer than Ireland’s. How is that possible?
Part of the answer is that Iceland let foreign lenders to its runaway banks pay the price of their poor judgment, rather than putting its own taxpayers on the line to guarantee bad private debts. As the International Monetary Fund notes — approvingly! — “private sector bankruptcies have led to a marked decline in external debt.” Meanwhile, Iceland helped avoid a financial panic in part by imposing temporary capital controls — that is, by limiting the ability of residents to pull funds out of the country.
And Iceland has also benefited from the fact that, unlike Ireland, it still has its own currency; devaluation of the krona, which has made Iceland’s exports more competitive, has been an important factor in limiting the depth of Iceland’s slump.
None of these heterodox options are available to Ireland, say the wise heads. Ireland, they say, must continue to inflict pain on its citizens — because to do anything else would fatally undermine confidence.
But Ireland is now in its third year of austerity, and confidence just keeps draining away. And you have to wonder what it will take for serious people to realize that punishing the populace for the bankers’ sins is worse than a crime; it’s a mistake.Πέμπτη, Νοεμβρίου 25, 2010
we are left with no choice but to resist
"Tell the EU and IMF to Shove It!"
Memo to Ireland
By MIKE WHITNEY
Imagine that Yasser Arafat had succeeded in ending Israeli occupation and establishing a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza. Now imagine that 10 or 15 years later, new Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, agreed to hand over control of his country's budget to the IMF so his people's future would be controlled by outsiders. Do you think Palestinians would praise Abbas as a patriot or denounce him as a traitor?
Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen is Mahmoud Abbas. He's caved in to the demands of foreign capital and transferred control over the nation's budget to the EU and the IMF. Here's an excerpt from a November 24, article in Reuters:
"Ireland's teetering government will announce plans on Wednesday to cut welfare spending sharply and raise taxes to help pay for the country's catastrophic banking crisis and meet the terms of an international bailout.
The four-year plan to save 15 billion euros is a condition for an EU/IMF rescue under negotiation for a country long feted as a model of economic development that has become the latest casualty in the euro zone's emergency ward.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen told parliament no final figure had been agreed for financial assistance, "but an amount of the order of 85 billion (euros) has been discussed.
The finance ministry said the austerity plan would be published at 1400 GMT and posted on the official government website." (Reuters)
This is a black day for Ireland. The Irish people will now face a decade or more of grinding poverty and depression thanks to their venal leaders. As soon as the ink dries on the IMF loans, the second occupation of Ireland will begin, only this time there won't be armored cars and Paramilitaries in fatigues, but nerdy-looking bureaucrats trained in the art of spreading misery. In fact, the loans haven't even been signed yet, and already IMF officials are urging the government to cut jobless benefits and the minimum wage. They're literally champing at the bit. They just can't wait to get their hands on the budget and start slashing away.
And don't believe the hype about European unity or saving Ireland. My ass. This is about bailing out the banks. The bondholders get a free ride while workers get kicked to the curb. Here's a clip from the Financial Times that spells it out in black and white:
"According to data compiled by the Bank of International Settlements, the three largest creditors to the Irish economy at the end of June...were Germany to the tune of €109bn, the UK at €100bn and France at €40bn. These sums amount to 2 per cent of France’s gross domestic product, 4.5 per cent of Germany’s GDP, and 7 per cent of British GDP."
See? Another bank bailout. Ireland is being asked to cut to social services, slash wages, renegotiate contracts, and dismantle the welfare state so that undercapitalized banks in France and Germany can get their pound of flesh. But, why? They're the ones who bought the bonds. No one put a gun to their head. They knew they could lose money if Irish banks went south. That's the risk they took. "You pays your money, and you takes your chances." Right? That's how capitalism works.
Not any more, it doesn't. Not while Cowen's in charge, at least. The Irish PM has decided to bail them out; make all the bondholders "whole again." But who made Cowen God? Who gave Cowen the right to hand over his country to the IMF?
No one. Cowen is a rogue agent kowtowing to international capital. After he finishes his work in Ireland, he'll probably join globalist Tony Blair on the French Riviera for a little hobnobbing with the tuxedo crowd.
It's revealing to watch the way Cowen works, as though the interests of foreign bankers mean more to him than those of his own people. For example, the Green Party withdrew from the government last night calling for new elections, but even though the government is in a shambles, the slippery Taoiseach wants to stay in power long enough to push through a new 4-year budget that will leave Irish workers on the brink of destitution. Who is Cowen working for anyway?
This is from the Irish Times:
"Opposition parties have today stepped up pressure on the Government as it seeks to push ahead with passing next month's budget.
Fine Gael again called for an immediate general election and said the four-year budgetary plan should only be implemented by a Government which has a proper mandate....
"What is best for the country is that the negotiation about a programme for four years be done by a government which has four years to serve, that has a mandate from the public so that it has the authority and the credibility to not only develop and negotiate it but to implement it. I think that is in Ireland's best interest," he said. ("Opposition steps up pressure", Charlie Taylor, Irish Times)
The prospective belt-tightening measures will include the firing of 28,000 public employees, a boost in property taxes, a 10 percent cut in welfare benefits, and higher taxes on low-wage workers. Cowen believes that taxing low income families is preferable to making billionaire bondholders eat their losses. The whole thing stinks to high-heaven.
Is there a way out for Ireland? Economist Mark Weisbrot thinks so. Here's what he thinks should happen:
"The European authorities and IMF can loan Ireland any funds needed in the next year or two at very low interest rates....Once these borrowing needs are guaranteed, Ireland would not have to worry about spikes in its borrowing costs like the one that provoked the current crisis....The European authorities could scrap their pro-cyclical conditions and, instead, allow for Ireland to undertake a temporary fiscal stimulus to get their economy growing again. That is the most feasible, practical alternative to continued recession.
Instead, the European authorities are trying what the IMF... calls an "internal devaluation". This is a process of shrinking the economy and creating so much unemployment that wages fall dramatically, and the Irish economy becomes more competitive internationally on the basis of lower unit labour costs."
It's all de rigeur for the IMF. It wouldn't be an IMF program unless someone was starving. That's the benchmark for success.
Ireland doesn't need structural adjustment programs that shrink GDP, dismantle popular social programs and strip wealth from workers when low interest funding and fiscal stimulus can bring the economy back to life. This is politics not economics. The EU and IMF are using the crisis to push through their own agenda. Their real goal is to crush the unions, shred the social safety net, and roll back the gains of the Progressive Era.
The Irish people are left with no choice but to resist. Presently the Cowen government is collapsing. Bravo. Now it's off to the barricades to see if the damage can be undone. Ireland needs to withdraw from the EU and start fresh. It'll be a bumpy road at first, but there's no other way. Economist Dean Baker sums it up like this in an article in The Guardian. Here's what he said:
"Even a relatively small country like Ireland has options. Specifically, they could drop out of the euro and default on their debt....Like Ireland, Argentina had also been a poster child of the neoliberal crew before it ran into difficulties.
But the IMF can turn quickly. Its austerity programme lowered GDP by almost 10% and pushed the unemployment rate well into the double digits. By the end of the 2001, it was politically impossible for the Argentine government to agree to more austerity. As a result, it broke the supposedly unbreakable link between its currency and the dollar and defaulted on its debt.
The immediate effect was to make the economy worse, but by the second half of 2002, the economy was again growing. This was the start of five and a half years of solid growth, until the world economic crisis eventually took its toll in 2009."
The Irish people didn't struggle through centuries of famine and foreign occupation so they could be debt-peons in the EU's corporate Uberstate. Like Sinn Fein president Gerry Adams said, "We don't need anyone coming in to run the place for us. We can run it ourselves." Right. Tell the EU plutocrats to take their Utopian Bankstate and shove it.
Τετάρτη, Νοεμβρίου 24, 2010
σας θυμίζουν τίποτα όλα αυτά;
Wrecked by the Rescuers
Sinking Ireland
By DEAN BAKER
When a firefighter or medical team make a rescue, the person is usually better off as a result. This is less clear when the rescuer is the European Central Bank (ECB) or the IMF. Ireland is currently experiencing a 14.1 percent unemployment rate. As a result of bailout conditions that will require more cuts in government spending and tax increases, the unemployment rate is almost certain to go higher. The Irish people are likely to wonder what their economy would look like if they had not been rescued.
The pain being inflicted on Ireland by the ECB/IMF is completely unnecessary. If the ECB committed itself to make loans available to Ireland at low interest rates, a mechanism entirely within its power, then Ireland would have no serious budget problem. Its huge projected deficits stem primarily from the combination of high interest costs on its debt and the result of operating at levels of economic output that are well below full employment; both outcomes that can be pinned largely on the ECB.
It is worth remembering that Ireland’s government was a model of fiscal probity prior to the economic meltdown. It had run large budget surpluses for the five years prior to the onset of the crisis. Ireland’s problem was certainly not out-of-control government spending, it was a reckless banking system that fueled an enormous housing bubble. The economic wizards at the ECB and the IMF either couldn’t see the bubble or didn’t think it was worth mentioning.
The failure of the ECB or IMF to take steps to rein in the bubble before the crisis has not made these international financial institutions shy about using a heavy hand in imposing conditions now. The plan is to impose stiff austerity, requiring much of Ireland’s workforce to suffer unemployment for years to come as a result of the failure of their bankers and the ECB.
While it is often claimed that these institutions are not political, only the braindead could still believe this. The decision to make Ireland’s workers, along with workers in Spain, Portugal, Latvia, and elsewhere, to pay for the recklessness of their country’s bankers is entirely a political one. There is no economic imperative that says that workers must pay, this is a political decision being imposed by the ECB and IMF.
This should be a huge warning flag for progressives and in fact anyone who believes in democracy. If the ECB puts conditions on a rescue package it will be very difficult for an elected government in Ireland to reverse these conditions. In other words, the issues that Ireland’s voters will be able to decide are likely to be trivial in importance relative to the conditions that will be imposed by the ECB.
There is no serious argument for an unaccountable central bank. While no one expects or wants parliaments to micromanage monetary policy, the ECB and other central banks should be clearly accountable to elected bodies. It would be interesting to see how they can justify their plans for subjecting Ireland and other countries to double-digit unemployment for years to come.
The other point that should be kept in mind is that even a relatively small country like Ireland has options. Specifically they could drop out of the euro and default on their debt. This is hardly a first best option, but if the alternative is an indefinite stint of double-digit unemployment then leaving the euro and default look much more attractive.
The ECB and the IMF will insist that this is the road to disaster, but their credibility on this point is near-zero. There is an obvious precedent. Back in the 2001, the IMF was pushing Argentina to pursue ever more stringent austerity measures. Like Ireland, Argentina had also been a poster child of the neo-liberal crew before it ran into difficulties.
But, the IMF can turn quickly. Its austerity program lowered GDP by almost 10 percent and pushed the unemployment rate well into the double digits. By the end of the 2001 it was politically impossible for the Argentine government to agree to more austerity. As a result, it broke the supposedly unbreakable link between its currency and the dollar and defaulted on its debt.
The immediate effect was to make the economy worse, but by the second half of the 2002 the economy was again growing. This was the start of five and a half years of solid growth, until the world economic crisis eventually took its toll in 2009.
The IMF meanwhile did everything it could to sabotage Argentina, which became known as the “A word.” It even used bogus projections that consistently under-predicted Argentina’s growth in the hope of undermining confidence.
Ireland should study the lessons of Argentina. Breaking from the euro would have consequences, but it is getting increasingly likely that the pain from the break is less than the pain of staying in. Furthermore, simply raising the issue is likely to make the ECB and IMF take a more moderate position. What the people of Ireland and every country must realize is that if they agree to play by the bankers’ rules, they will lose.
Τρίτη, Νοεμβρίου 23, 2010
Δευτέρα, Νοεμβρίου 22, 2010
Παρασκευή, Νοεμβρίου 19, 2010
Πέμπτη, Νοεμβρίου 18, 2010
για ένα λεπτό ρε παιδιά ...
... μπορούμε σας παρακαλώ να κάνουμε ένα μικρό διάλειμμα και να μου εξηγήσει κάποιος κάτι που για μένα είναι σημαντικό :
ΜΠΟΡΕΙ ΕΝΑΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟΣ, ΕΝΑΣ ΟΡΓΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ, ΕΝΑ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ, ΜΙΑ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ, ΜΙΑ ΤΡΟΙΚΑ, ΕΝΑΣ ΔΙΑΒΟΛΟΣ ΝΑ ΜΟΥ ΠΕΙ ΠΟΣΟ ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΥΤΟ ΤΟ ΓΑΜΗΜΕΝΟ ΧΡΕΟΣ ΑΥΤΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΡΗΜΗΣ ΧΩΡΑΣ
ΓΝΩΡΙΖΕΙ ΚΑΝΕΙΣ Η ΟΛΑ ΑΥΤΑ ΤΑ ΜΕΤΡΑ ΠΑΙΡΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΜΕ ΒΑΣΗ ΕΙΚΑΣΙΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΙΕΣ ???
ΜΠΟΡΕΙ ΕΝΑΣ ΠΟΛΙΤΙΚΟΣ, ΕΝΑΣ ΟΡΓΑΝΙΣΜΟΣ, ΕΝΑ ΥΠΟΥΡΓΕΙΟ, ΜΙΑ ΤΡΑΠΕΖΑ, ΜΙΑ ΤΡΟΙΚΑ, ΕΝΑΣ ΔΙΑΒΟΛΟΣ ΝΑ ΜΟΥ ΠΕΙ ΠΟΣΟ ΤΕΛΙΚΑ ΕΙΝΑΙ ΑΥΤΟ ΤΟ ΓΑΜΗΜΕΝΟ ΧΡΕΟΣ ΑΥΤΗΣ ΤΗΣ ΕΡΗΜΗΣ ΧΩΡΑΣ
ΓΝΩΡΙΖΕΙ ΚΑΝΕΙΣ Η ΟΛΑ ΑΥΤΑ ΤΑ ΜΕΤΡΑ ΠΑΙΡΝΟΝΤΑΙ ΜΕ ΒΑΣΗ ΕΙΚΑΣΙΕΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΦΗΤΕΙΕΣ ???
Τρίτη, Νοεμβρίου 16, 2010
κάτι ξέρουν οι Ιρλανδοί
IRELAND ON THE BRINK...
[...]
Confused reports continued to swirl as Irish finance minister Brian Lenihan prepared to meet eurozone colleagues over dinner in Brussels on Tuesday night. Dublin has so far admitted to holding talks over "market conditions" with EU partners but insists that it is fully-funded until June and hopes to calm nerves with €6bn (£5.1bn )of budget cuts in early December.
Simon Derrick from the Bank of New York Mellon said the negotiations over Ireland's bail-out have been astonishing. "The creditors say please take the money, and the debtor says 'we don't want it'. It's very odd."
[...]
από την Ημερησία
Η πτώχευση της Ελλάδας είναι θέμα χρόνου εκτιμά ο Νουριέλ Ρουμπινί. Σε συνέντευξή του στο οικονομικό περιοδικό «Capital» ο διεθνούς φήμης οικονομολόγος-αναλυτής σημειώνει ότι την περίπτωση της Ελλάδας «τα δεδομένα μιλούν μια πολύ καθαρή γλώσσα».
Ακόμη και αν οι Έλληνες υλοποιήσουν το δρακόντειο πρόγραμμα περικοπών, «πράγμα για το οποίο πολύ αμφιβάλλω», λέει, το βάρος του χρέους σύμφωνα με την πρόγνωση του ΔΝΤ θα παραμείνει αισθητά πάνω από 100% του ΑΕΠ. Το παραμικρό εξωτερικό σοκ αρκεί για να καταστεί «ανεξέλεγκτο» το πρόβλημα του ελληνικού χρέους. «Για αυτό, το ερώτημα που τίθεται για μένα δεν είναι εάν θα πτωχεύσει η Ελλάδα, αλλά μόνο πότε», τονίζει ο κ. Ρουμπινί. Εκτιμά δε ότι ο ευρωπαϊκός μηχανισμός διάσωσης εκείνο που ενδεχομένως κάνει είναι «να καθυστερεί την κατάρρευση των ελληνικών ομολόγων - στην καλύτερη περίπτωση μέχρι το χρονικό σημείο που οι υπόλοιπες χώρες της Ευρωζώνης θα είναι σε καλύτερη κατάσταση», αναφέρει ο ίδιος.
Στη συνέντευξη στο Capital ο Ν. Ρουμπινί προειδοποιεί για τους κινδύνους που συνεχίζουν να υπάρχουν για την παγκόσμια οικονομία. Για τη γερμανική οικονομία παραδέχεται «επέστρεψε στο δρόμο της ανάπτυξης», αλλά σημειώνει ότι «βρίσκεται πολύ μακράν του επιπέδου προ κρίσης» και πρόκειται για «στατιστικό εφέ», καθώς και το 2009 το επίπεδο ανάπτυξης ήταν χαμηλό. Τα προγράμματα περικοπών που εφαρμόζουν η Γερμανία και άλλες ευρωπαϊκές χώρες το τρέχον έτος θα είναι «τροχοπέδη» για την ανάκαμψη.
...
Δευτέρα, Νοεμβρίου 15, 2010
Παρασκευή, Νοεμβρίου 12, 2010
σήμερα μου έστειλαν ένα mail
για να με ενημερώσουν για το τελευταίο επεισόδιο στο ξεκατίνισμα ανάμεσα σε δύο μεγάλες μορφές της ανωνυμίας, των φριχτών υπαινιγμών, της δολοπλοκίας, της ασημαντότητας, του ψηφιακού ξερατού, του διαδικτυακού παλιμπαιδισμού, της υπονόμευσης εαυτών και αγνώστων, του ψεύδους, των κρανιοεγκεφαλικών κακώσεων, της ψυχοπαθολογείας, της ιταμότητας και της μπίχλας ...
guess what
Ι don't give a shit
Τετάρτη, Νοεμβρίου 10, 2010
σκιαχτικό
Christopher Ketcham
TV Toxicosis: What the Stewart / Colbert News Clowns Are Really Up To
[...]
Some quick lab notes will suffice as a measure of the severity of the problem. Depression, angst, worry and sorrow are ameliorated for the duration of use, but only briefly, as the mild stimulant effect, the lightening of mood, the gentle euphoria, the amnesiac calm coupled with brain analgesis, wears off. Following as short an exposure as two hours – defined here as binge viewing – the subject is reduced to a pile of mental rubble. Mild to moderate depression, along with inability to concentrate or get anything substantive accomplished, follows hard upon the binge, a post-trauma often lasting several days.
Note the pervasive nature of the temptation to use. Upon seeing a television in most any public space, subject’s attention is drawn away from conversation, the drug exerting what can only be characterized as gravitational force. Eyes dart away from human interlocutors. In situations where the drug can be used recreationally in a safe enclosure, however – where the subject can relax in a chair or on a soft couch – the disorder can be documented fully. After multiple (2+) hours of use, subject’s mien and posture are negatively affected. There is a visible sagging of the jaw, the mouth hangs slightly limp. Skin tone and texture take on a sallow, damaged look. Blood drains from the face, and the flesh on the cheeks appears to loosen. Altogether, the face assumes a kind of death mask. Hair takes on a limp appearance, while the nostrils seem to get bigger. Shoulders slump, limbs are static, eyes retreat into the head and grow ringed. Mental acuity and general cognition are almost immediately, and drastically, reduced; brainwaves approach torpid, ie near comatose, activity. Subject sometimes cannot speak in answer to the simplest queries. The subject might be described at this point as approaching paralysis, though it was found on several occasions that the paralytic condition was broken almost immediately by any intimation of the curtailing of use; on at least one occasion, this researcher was attacked in a physical display of remarkable ferocity after he interrupted the experiment for dinner.
[...]
Τρίτη, Νοεμβρίου 09, 2010
απ' τα κόκκαλα βγαλμένοι
Ζούμε σε εποχές όπου τα γεγονότα ξεπερνάνε τους ανθρώπους και τις ικανότητές τους να αντιμετωπίσουν τα γεγονότα.
Ένας άρρωστος αέρας φυσάει στο μυαλό μου και μου φέρνει ρίγος.
Η όλη κατάσταση μου θυμίζει τους δυο φουκαράδες στο Τραίνο της Μεγάλης Φυγής, το οποίο με σπασμένα τα φρένα αναπτύσσει συνεχώς ταχύτητα, με προορισμό ένα τέλος που κανείς δεν γνωρίζει, κανείς δεν μπορεί να φανταστεί. Οι δυο φουκαράδες είμαστε εσείς κι εγώ κι αυτό το κάρο κανείς δεν είναι βέβαιος από πού ξεκίνησε και που πρέπει να πάει.
Πελαγοδρομώντας σε πλαστά διλήμματα υποθηκεύουμε το αύριο με μοναδικό κέρδος την αγωνία του σήμερα.
Τυφλοί, χωρίς μονόφθαλμους να μας οδηγούν, περιπλανιόμαστε στο χείλος της αβύσσου, ανίκανοι να κάνουμε πίσω, σαν αβοήθητο κοπάδι στην άκρη του Καιάδα.
Εν τω μεταξύ οι σαλτιμπάγκοι που μας κυβερνάνε βάζουν τα τελευταία καρφιά στο φέρετρό μας, πριν το πετάξουν στη χωματερή των ονείρων μας.
[btw 1 : δεν υπάρχει έστω και ένας άντρας σε αυτή τη χώρα να πάει να χώσει μια πατσαβούρα στο απύλωτο στόμα του Μπουμπούκου?]
[btw 2 : δεν αισθάνεστε υπερήφανοι ως πολίτες για το γεγονός ότι ο Ψιψινάκης είναι πρώτος δημοτικός σύμβουλος; ]
Δευτέρα, Νοεμβρίου 08, 2010
FUCK LOVE
Έχεις ερωτευτεί ποτέ; Φρικτό δεν είναι; Σε κάνει τόσο ευάλωτο. Ανοίγει το στήθος σου και ανοίγει την καρδιά σου και αυτό σημαίνει ότι κάποιος μπορεί να μπει μέσα σου και να σε κάνει άνω κάτω.
Χτίζεις όλες αυτές τις άμυνες. Φτιάχνεις μια πανοπλία για χρόνια ώστε τίποτα να μη μπορεί να σε βλάψει και τότε ένας ανόητος άνθρωπος, που δεν διαφέρει σε τίποτα απ’ οποιονδήποτε άλλον ανόητο άνθρωπο μπαίνει στην ανόητη ζωή σου …Του δίνεις ένας κομμάτι από σένα. Δεν το ζήτησε. Προφανώς έκανε κάτι ανόητο μια μέρα, σε φίλησε ή σου χαμογέλασε και από τότε η ζωή σου δεν σου ανήκει πλέον.
Η αγάπη παίρνει ομήρους.
Μπαίνει μέσα σου.
Σε καταβροχθίζει και σε αφήνει να κλαις στο σκοτάδι.
Kάτι τόσο απλό όπως η φράση «ίσως θα πρέπει να είμαστε απλά φίλοι» γίνεται ένα κομμάτι γυαλί που μπαίνει στην καρδιά σου. Πονάει. Όχι μόνο στη φαντασία σου. Όχι μόνο στο μυαλό σου. Είναι ένας πόνος της ψυχής, ένας πόνος σωματικός, ένας πόνος που πραγματικά σου ξεσκίζει τα σωθικά.
Τίποτα δεν θα έπρεπε να είχε τη δύναμη να στο κάνει αυτό.
Ειδικά όχι η αγάπη.
Μισώ την αγάπη.
Neil Gaiman, The Sandman
Πέμπτη, Νοεμβρίου 04, 2010
Τετάρτη, Νοεμβρίου 03, 2010
Τρίτη, Νοεμβρίου 02, 2010
σκόρπιες σκέψεις
Το πολιτικό σύστημα, αρνούμενο διαρκώς να ερευνήσει και να τιμωρήσει τα δικά του εγκλήματα έχει χάσει κάθε έννοια νομιμότητας
Έχει δίκιο ο Zizek όταν λέει ότι «εχθρός είναι η «δημοκρατία».
Είναι πλέον εμφανές σε οποιονδήποτε δεν είναι τυφλός ότι τα δύο μεγάλα κόμματα αποτελούνται στην συντριπτική τους πλειοψηφία από αχυράνθρωπους των συμφερόντων που έχουν καταληστέψει ετούτο το ρημαδότοπο ξανά και ξανά και ξανά και ξανά.
Την ίδια στιγμή κανείς δεν διαμαρτύρεται ίσως επειδή έχουμε περάσει πλέον στην εποχή της μετα-διαμαρτυρίας, όπου όχι μόνο δεν διαμαρτύρεται κανείς, αλλά και δεν αναγνωρίζει σε κανέναν άλλον το δικαίωμα αυτό : οι συμβασιούχοι του υπουργείου Πολιτισμού βεβηλώνουν τα όσια και τα ιερά, οι διαδηλωτές στο κέντρο εμποδίζουν το shopping και οι φορτηγατζήδες να πάρουν τα φορτηγά τους και να πάνε κάπου … κάπου αλλού … whatever
Με τον τρόπο σκέψης που επικρατεί έχω την εντύπωση ότι αν αύριο το πρωί η Τρόικα και ο Γιωργάκης αποφασίσουν ότι πρέπει να θυσιαστούν τα πρωτότοκα παιδιά κάτω των επτά ετών το πολύ – πολύ οι γονείς τους να μη δουν το Νησί εκείνο το βράδυ.
[Είπα Νησί και σκέφτηκα ότι οι έλληνες τηλεθεατές πλαντάζουν στο κλάμα για τους λεπρούς της Σπιναλόγκας την ίδια στιγμή που δεν δίνουν δεκάρα για τον διπλανό τους ]
Πρόκειται για μια τραγική μετάλλαξη, ένα ατύχημα της ψυχής, μια συναισθηματική αυτοπαράλυση; Δεν γνωρίζω.
Εκείνο που βλέπω είναι ότι όλοι μισούν όποιον τολμήσει να ψελλίσει το αυτονόητο : ΕΧΟΥΜΕ ΠΑΡΕΙ ΛΑΘΟΣ ΔΡΟΜΟ
Λες κι οι περισσότεροι άνθρωποι αντί για μυαλό διαθέτουν έναν πουρέ που το μόνο που μπορεί να κάνει είναι να μισεί οτιδήποτε του θυμίζει ότι δεν είναι ΟΚ να τρως πατατάκια και να βλέπεις τούρκικα σήριαλ
Παρασκευή, Οκτωβρίου 29, 2010
Τετάρτη, Οκτωβρίου 27, 2010
Παρασκευή, Οκτωβρίου 22, 2010
Πέμπτη, Οκτωβρίου 21, 2010
Τετάρτη, Οκτωβρίου 20, 2010
Δευτέρα, Οκτωβρίου 18, 2010
μια άλλη οπτική ...
Drug decriminalization policy pays off
By: Glenn Greenwald
October 14, 2010 04:46 AM EDT
Next month, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, a measure to legalize marijuana. Because no state has ever taken such a step, voters are being subjected to a stream of fear-mongering assertions, unaccompanied by evidence, about what is likely to happen if drug prohibition is repealed.
But it need not — and should not — be that way.
Ten years ago, Portugal became the first Western nation to pass full-scale, nationwide decriminalization. That law, passed Oct. 1, 2000, abolished criminal sanctions for all narcotics — not just marijuana but also “hard drugs” like heroin and cocaine.
This applies only to drugs for personal use; drug trafficking remains a criminal offense. There is now a decade’s worth of empirical data on what actually happens — and does not happen — when criminal sanctions against drug possession are lifted.
Individuals caught with drugs in Portugal are no longer arrested or treated as criminals. Instead, they are sent to a tribunal of health professionals, where they are offered the opportunity, but are not compelled, to seek government-provided treatment.
For those found to be addicts, tribunals have the power to impose noncriminal sanctions. But in practice, the overriding goal is to direct people to treatment.
By any metric, Portugal’s drug-decriminalization scheme has been a resounding success. Drug usage in many categories has decreased in absolute terms, including for key demographic groups, like 15-to-19-year-olds. Where usage rates have increased, the increases have been modest — far less than in most other European Union nations, which continue to use a criminalization approach.
Portugal, whose drug problems were among the worst in Europe, now has the lowest usage rate for marijuana and one of the lowest for cocaine. Drug-related pathologies, including HIV transmission, hepatitis transmission and drug-related deaths, have declined significantly.
Beyond the data, Portugal’s success with decriminalization is illustrated by the absence of political agitation for a return to criminalization. As one might expect for a socially conservative and predominantly Roman Catholic country, the decriminalization proposal sparked intense controversy a decade ago.
Many politicians insisted that a vast parade of horribles would be unleashed, including massive increases in drug use among youth and the conversion of Lisbon into a “drug haven for tourists.”
But none of those scary scenarios occurred. Portuguese citizens, able to compare the out-of-control drug problems of the 1990s with the vastly improved situation now, have little desire to return to the days of criminalization. No influential politician advocates doing so.
Though Portugal’s population is far smaller than that of the United States, more than 10 million people is hardly insignificant. But far more relevant than population size is that Portugal in the 1990s — like the U.S. today — had an exploding drug problem. And the more the nation criminalized, the worse the problem became.
Decriminalization became politically tenable when the Portuguese Parliament convened a commission of apolitical experts charged with determining how the country could best address its spiraling drug problems. The commission found that decriminalization was the best policy for reducing drug-related harms, and events have now demonstrated the wisdom of that recommendation.
It may sound counterintuitive that decriminalization can improve drug problems. But Portuguese drug officials, with a decade of experience with decriminalization, understand the reasons for that causal relationship.
First, when a government threatens to turn drug users into criminals, a wall of fear divides officials and the citizenry and, thus, prevents effective treatment and education campaigns. Portugal’s top drug official has said the stigma created by criminalizing drug use and the resulting fear of government were the biggest barriers to effective education and treatment programs in the 1990s.
Second, treating drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal offense, means the right solutions can be found. Counseling is far more effective than prison in turning addicts into nonusers.
Third, when a government no longer spends inordinate amounts of money on arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning drug users, that money can instead be used on highly effective treatment programs, as well as services, like methadone clinics, to limit drug-related harms.
Whatever one’s views on liberalizing drug laws, our debate should be grounded in empirical evidence — not speculation and fear-mongering. As California voters make a momentous decision on drug policy, Portugal’s decade of decriminalization offers exactly the sort of rational examination that has been sorely lacking.
Glenn Greenwald, a contributing writer to Salon, is the author of the Cato Institute study “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies.”
By: Glenn Greenwald
October 14, 2010 04:46 AM EDT
Next month, Californians will vote on Proposition 19, a measure to legalize marijuana. Because no state has ever taken such a step, voters are being subjected to a stream of fear-mongering assertions, unaccompanied by evidence, about what is likely to happen if drug prohibition is repealed.
But it need not — and should not — be that way.
Ten years ago, Portugal became the first Western nation to pass full-scale, nationwide decriminalization. That law, passed Oct. 1, 2000, abolished criminal sanctions for all narcotics — not just marijuana but also “hard drugs” like heroin and cocaine.
This applies only to drugs for personal use; drug trafficking remains a criminal offense. There is now a decade’s worth of empirical data on what actually happens — and does not happen — when criminal sanctions against drug possession are lifted.
Individuals caught with drugs in Portugal are no longer arrested or treated as criminals. Instead, they are sent to a tribunal of health professionals, where they are offered the opportunity, but are not compelled, to seek government-provided treatment.
For those found to be addicts, tribunals have the power to impose noncriminal sanctions. But in practice, the overriding goal is to direct people to treatment.
By any metric, Portugal’s drug-decriminalization scheme has been a resounding success. Drug usage in many categories has decreased in absolute terms, including for key demographic groups, like 15-to-19-year-olds. Where usage rates have increased, the increases have been modest — far less than in most other European Union nations, which continue to use a criminalization approach.
Portugal, whose drug problems were among the worst in Europe, now has the lowest usage rate for marijuana and one of the lowest for cocaine. Drug-related pathologies, including HIV transmission, hepatitis transmission and drug-related deaths, have declined significantly.
Beyond the data, Portugal’s success with decriminalization is illustrated by the absence of political agitation for a return to criminalization. As one might expect for a socially conservative and predominantly Roman Catholic country, the decriminalization proposal sparked intense controversy a decade ago.
Many politicians insisted that a vast parade of horribles would be unleashed, including massive increases in drug use among youth and the conversion of Lisbon into a “drug haven for tourists.”
But none of those scary scenarios occurred. Portuguese citizens, able to compare the out-of-control drug problems of the 1990s with the vastly improved situation now, have little desire to return to the days of criminalization. No influential politician advocates doing so.
Though Portugal’s population is far smaller than that of the United States, more than 10 million people is hardly insignificant. But far more relevant than population size is that Portugal in the 1990s — like the U.S. today — had an exploding drug problem. And the more the nation criminalized, the worse the problem became.
Decriminalization became politically tenable when the Portuguese Parliament convened a commission of apolitical experts charged with determining how the country could best address its spiraling drug problems. The commission found that decriminalization was the best policy for reducing drug-related harms, and events have now demonstrated the wisdom of that recommendation.
It may sound counterintuitive that decriminalization can improve drug problems. But Portuguese drug officials, with a decade of experience with decriminalization, understand the reasons for that causal relationship.
First, when a government threatens to turn drug users into criminals, a wall of fear divides officials and the citizenry and, thus, prevents effective treatment and education campaigns. Portugal’s top drug official has said the stigma created by criminalizing drug use and the resulting fear of government were the biggest barriers to effective education and treatment programs in the 1990s.
Second, treating drug addiction as a health issue, not a criminal offense, means the right solutions can be found. Counseling is far more effective than prison in turning addicts into nonusers.
Third, when a government no longer spends inordinate amounts of money on arresting, prosecuting and imprisoning drug users, that money can instead be used on highly effective treatment programs, as well as services, like methadone clinics, to limit drug-related harms.
Whatever one’s views on liberalizing drug laws, our debate should be grounded in empirical evidence — not speculation and fear-mongering. As California voters make a momentous decision on drug policy, Portugal’s decade of decriminalization offers exactly the sort of rational examination that has been sorely lacking.
Glenn Greenwald, a contributing writer to Salon, is the author of the Cato Institute study “Drug Decriminalization in Portugal: Lessons for Creating Fair and Successful Drug Policies.”
Παρασκευή, Οκτωβρίου 15, 2010
Πέμπτη, Οκτωβρίου 14, 2010
δεν το γνώριζα
αλλά ξεφυλλίζοντας την σημερινή lifo ανακάλυψα ότι η συντακτική της ομάδα αποτελείται από 3,5 άτομα
τι να πω ...
...
τι να πω ...
...
Τετάρτη, Οκτωβρίου 13, 2010
σκόρπιες σκέψεις
3.5 Million On The Streets And Rising: As French Strikes Escalate, Just How Serious Is The Situation?
ενώ στη Γαλλία συνεχίζεται για τρίτη ημέρα η γενική απεργία που έχει παραλύσει τη χώρα στην δική μας ήδη παράλυτη μπανανία τα ξεπουλημένα συνδικάτα και τα παράλυτα ζόμπι - πολίτες απολαμβάνουν φραπέδες σε πανάκριβα καφέ χωρίς τίποτα να μπορεί να τους ξυπνήσει από τον ύπνο των αδίκων στον οποίο έχουν παραδοθεί χωρίς αντίσταση, χωρίς διαμαρτυρία, χωρίς κιχ ...
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The Guardian, Fri 10 Dec 2010 00.01 GMT