Fatster’s news roundup from May 14, with links to stories on Europe, Scott Walker, Jamie Dimon, ICE, Cuba, Bahrain, Juan Cole, coal’s decline, health care, fishing, Mexican drug war, and more.

We’ll probably get the final word today, but I think it’s safe to say there will not be a Greek government forming out of the most recent elections. After the top three vote-getting parties each tried and failed to form a government, the Greek President made one last plea to amass a government of national unity among a clatch of parties. However, The Radical Coalition of the Left, or Syriza, never attended the talks.

The third-place party in the Greek elections, PASOK, has been given the opportunity to form a new government, after the first two parties failed in their efforts. Nobody expects PASOK to be successful, meaning that new elections will ensue, probably on June 17. By that time, decisions will need to be made on bailouts and budget cuts, and there will be no government in place to do it. This puts the bailout plan in significant peril, as well as Greece’s place in the eurozone.

The Greek public simply could not accept the forced depression they were being pushed into by their bailout masters, and the elections showed clearly that was over. So now the Germans are trying to talk themselves into the idea that Greece could exit the eurozone with no repercussions (for Germany).

Germany’s Angela Merkel dismissed newly elected French President Francois Hollande’s call to renegotiate the European fiscal pact to include growth measures rather than merely budget constraints. But as more Euro governments face electoral opposition to austerity, Merkel’s position will become increasingly untenable.

If the Washington Post doesn’t like the results, then an election must be “shrill.” That would explain the lead sentence of its lead front page story on the elections in France and Greece on Sunday. As with most WaPo articles on economics, this one is full of misconceptions and factual errors.

At this moment, politics in Europe is both more interesting and consequential than politics in the US. A case in point: newly-elected Francois Hollande just threw down the gauntlet with Germany, offering his ultimatum to Chancellor Angela Merkel on the future for Euro-zone financing.

Francois Hollande’s victory in the French Presidential election, which may actually mean less for policy in France than meets the eye – in the end, you’re talking about center-left versus center-right – nonetheless has significant repercussions for Europe and the rest of the world. This is one of the only countries Germany needs to at least pay attention to, and the “Merkozy” alliance is now broken.

Socialist candidate Francois Hollande has won the French Presidential election, defeating incumbent Nicolas Sarkozy, yet another political victim of the Eurozone crisis.

I am a white male. I grew up in a rural part of NE Ohio that was nearly all white middle class. Both my parents had college degrees and both worked in professional fields. My knowledge of and experience with those who are blue collar was limited to my aunt and uncle on my father’s side of the family and a few friends.

After my father passed away, my mother moved us down to South West Florida, which at that time was a mix of Northern transplants and Florida natives IE those born there. Nearly all of which were white and most middle to upper middle class. We mostly shared the same world views and ideals.