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Well, look who may be putting an end to Germany’s austerity fantasies:
François Hollande, the French president, has warned for the first time that the Paris-Berlin motor driving Europe could stall over deep differences on how to resolve the euro crisis, insisting on a climbdown by Angela Merkel in her emphasis on austerity and the surrender of national powers to tighten fiscal discipline.
…
He insisted France would “tirelessly” champion the growth agenda – “this compromise between getting out of debt and growth” – without questioning the need for budget discipline, which had been made “absolutely necessary” by the sovereign debt crisis. “Today, recession is as big a threat as deficits.”
Considering the global economy has been in a period of mass layoffs and tepid growth for five years, it’s nice to finally have a leader state this. It is simply shocking that he’s the only one really saying it…and at best one of the small handful actually governing that way.
And still Holland can only bring himself to say “as big a threat” as opposed to reality, where tepid or non-growth is a massively larger threat than deficits.
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Heh! Yahoo News gets a bit snarky over the media criticism put out by the Pakistani Taliban. They tried to murder a 14-year old female blogger and “Whuuh?!?!?” People are criticizing them for doing so!?!?!1!1?! The Pakistani Taliban feels the media is SO biased!
Two things:
1) This has been true for the whole time the austerity hawks have been getting their way
2) Recession isn’t “as big a threat” so much as it’s an inevitable result.
Bonus: If it was France and Germany instead of Spain and Greece, do you think for one second that either of them would accept surrendering national power? Yeah, me either.
The Taliban are also accusing the little girls of being spies for Britain and the west. The sad thing is that their followers will sycophantically believe them. This is the kind of thing that’s bound to happen when a 14th century society has access to 21st century technology. Gandhi was right to attempt to keep India from partition after independence, unfortunately there is no putting a leash on militant fundamentalists. Of any dogma.
Good morning, pups. Today we have Kristof and Collins. In “Scott’s Story and the Election” Mr. Kristof says the experience of a college friend who lacked health insurance has lessons for us and our country. Ms. Collins, in “Women and the Men Who Yell,” says the women of America enjoy a good pander as much as anybody else, but could we cut down on the shouting and barking?
Here they are.
The coffee and tea are ready, and I’ve got blueberry pancakes for breakfast. This morning the 2 male kittens head off to the vet to have their Power Balls snipped. (Fingers crossed that Bucky doesn’t sense what’s about to happen and not show up… That’s what he did before their first vet appointment for shots. Annoying little shit!) Have a great day.
Good morning all,
Marion, Scott’s American story is if you’re not profitable you’re not really a person. Imagine a country that has the talent and medicines to prevent so much pain, suffering and personal loss and doesn’t because of profit, that’s us.
How much of Scott’s share of the commanwealth was squandered on wars of corporate profit ?
Well, they’re waking up and realizing their jobs are on the line and they’re going to have to find some compromise between the 1% that finances them and the 99% who elect them.
Prediction: Austerity will continue to win over growth for at least the rest of the year. Thinking about it, austerity will win over growth as long as Merkel runs Germany.
Boxturtle (One guy with money will get heard more than 1,000,000 people with nothing)
I’m sure the GOP here in America knows JUST how the Taliban feels. All this media bias.
Their point is somewhat valid. You don’t read much about the drone strikes that kill children.
Boxturtle (The kid had a stick. He’s an armed insurgent)
For as long as Germany is given the dominant voice in Europe. They want to subjugate their neighbors and what they couldn’t do militarily, they seem bent on doing economically.
You spend a lot of time perusing Pakistani media? Look, I think killing anybody with drones is cowardly and should be outlawed and I think any children dying in a war is abominable but saying the Taliban’s “point is somewhat valid” in my opinion almost amounts to defending them. I have no idea how much coverage drone strikes get in Pakistan and unless you speak Hindi and follow the news over there, neither do you. The media in the United States is widely consumed but it’s hardly the only game in town.
http://news.yahoo.com/taliban-demands-unbiased-coverage-attempted-murder-14-old-190221609.html
“Now the Taliban are plotting terror strikes on TV stations and other media organizations, but local newspapers refuse to stay silent.”
Good don’t stay silent…. Hunt those responsible down and kill them.
The global recessions starts with Wall Street and what happens to America happens to the world. A consequence of fossil fuel use for transportation is gross inefficiency and the wasting of trillions of dollars of economic value domestically and globally, for generations. Driving has done to America what alcohol does to a drunk. Two things you can’t take away from Americans. Beer and Cars…. “I cant drive 55,” who the hell does and “Don’t touch my Bud Light!” COD Data clearly backs it up!
Nothing in life can waste 80% of it stored potential energy and sustain life.
Energy corporations and tentacled media outlets are as biased to the above assertion, as the Taliban’s claim of a biased media when reporting on attempted extinction by assassination of a 14 year old girl, seeking education and embracing life.
“Today, recession is as big a threat as deficits.”
Deficits and recessions sow the seeds and “media station attacks” have started world wars in the past. “Austerity” is wood for an eventual burning death sentence, much like any organism’s wasting of 80% of its stored potential energy or running out of gasoline on the Jersey Turnpike…. An extinction event?
There is no current growth agenda. There are many problems and many solutions to address those problems. Seeds need water and light to grow?
I can’t recall the last time a “media station” event occurred or who was responsible? Probably US?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_Jazeera_bombing_memo
I have a several friends in Germany. They don’t see this as economic war, they are simply tired of bailing out countries that won’t live within their means with their tax dollars. They look at Greece and see a tax system that’s a joke and nothing being done. They look at Italy and see the same thing.
The citizens aren’t trying to crush Greece, they just don’t want to throw good money after bad.
The German government would likely fall if they tried to force through a bailout without “austerity”, since austerity has been sold as the solution to governments that can’t/won’t tax.
Boxturtle (Greece can do whatever they want with their tax system, they still won’t collect)
Climate change is part of an ongoing extinction event that is entirely anthropogenic in nature and the speed at which it is proceeding makes the Great Dying at the end of the Permian look mild. I don’t believe that your great grandchildren will have great grandchildren.
Sound like Republicans to me. Think they would accept austerity for themselves?
Gotta go to work.
Not defending their actions at all (scum), but their point about media ignoring Drone deaths and then going nuts over a shooting is valid. When was the last time we read about a drone survivor shipped to England for treatment?
I don’t have a lot of sympathy for their whining, they’re getting the coverage they deserve. I wish the “collateral damage” of the drone strikes got the same sort of coverage worldwide.
Boxturtle (Pakistani media reports on drone strikes much better than US media)
Life finds a way.
I’m more worried about the Great Extinction that will occur when the kids finally figure out how thoroughly the Reagan generation trashed their future. They’ll hunt the olds down in the streets.
Oddly, they feel like they have already accepted Austerity for themselves. They see German unemployment worse than it’s ever been (even though still better than everywhere else). They see their taxes as too high and their tax money being wasted. They feel like they tried to help for a couple decades, but Greece, etc didn’t do their part.
They wish Greece the best, but they’re done. Odd how consistent that view is across the people I know, though it’s nowhere close to a valid statistical sample and it includes no 1%er’s.
Boxturtle (If elections were held today, someone more austere than Merkel would win)
The obvious solution, which is win-win for both Greeks and Germans and is lose-lose only for French and German banks, is for Greece to leave the Euro. I still think this is the end game. Hollande clearly now understands that letting some of the big banks fail will not do more damage to the economy than prolonging and deepening the current depression. Dreams die hard, though, and there remains ingrained resistance to the truth in conventional opinion. The difference between Europe and the US, however, is that outside the UK, the banks don’t own the government, which means the debate can be conducted more or less on the economic merits rather than over the distribution of the spoils.