It's all Greek

In July 2012, the European Central Bank's president, Mario Draghi promised to do "whatever it takes" to stabilise the Euro. Since then the fears of a Euro break up have receded into the background. That is until now.


For some reason the current Greek government under Mr Samaros decided to bring forward the presidential election to later this month. The Presidency is a largely ceremonial role but if Samaros cannot get enough votes for his candidate Stavros Dimas, a general election will follow. It seems likely, fingers crossed for the Euro, that Mr Dimas will win the vote. However the uncertainty  ( and investors hate surprises unless they pop , buck naked , out of cakes ) has roiled the Euro .

In case there is  general election ,polls suggest that Alexis Tsipras, the populist party leader would win. Although he professes to he would like to remain in the Eurozone , Tsipras  is making promises on public spending and austerity measures that would make it hard for him to keep his aims intact.

The potential and political fall out from the GFC in 2007, made any alternatives to the Euro "scary biscuits"and most preferred to stick with austerity rather than risking meeting the devil they didn't know. Now that the world has not ended and the affected economies appear to be stable, although painfully slow and sluggish, the political risks seem less perilous. The inertia of Europe, economically, is a problem that is current and perhaps more urgent.

There are disgruntled murmurings within EU ranks over still  current austerity measures and apart from the discontent within the  PIGS (Portugal,Italy,Greece and Spain) there are also signs of ferment in France and Germany while the Anglo Saxon Press take pot shots at the "smudgy amalgam of European Politics" to quote Churchill.

It would seem that the nightmarish thrills that turn on business tycoons before they go to sleep is still around but being optimistic, the jitters

does present traders with "opportunities" to earn some extra moolah.

ΏΠΑ!

And when he was halfway in he was....

neither in nor out...

It's been a while coming but it seems as if the Brits are not happy with the EU. Of course, there was always the deep rooted suspicion of "foreigners" eg those who live across the Channel. It is hard for them to accept the concept of a system that operates fairly smoothly without class. Unfortunately for Mother England, class still exists, maybe not as pronounced as previously but still prevalent.

Now the British have developed a taste for French wine, French cheese, German cars and spaghetti but that's enough of a good thing. The pretty little houses en Provence and in Espana are also all part of the deal but again, enough's enough. The wealthy ones are sitting pretty. Now is the time to get serious.

Unfortunately for the "Continentals" the British also also fairly rigid in their concept of rules and how things ought to be done. Hence the finger pointing at the "PIGS" ( Portugal, Italy, Greece and Spain) whose system of book-keeping is somewhat akin to gambling. The Germans and Dutch are pretty rigid but somehow manage to function without treating blue or white collar workers as troublemakers. There's a gap as wide as grandma's bloomers between the divisive Anglo Saxon philosophy and the more inclusive European system.

Having narrowly survived the eventuality of Scotland leaving the Union, the UK is now paying the price of many wealthy nations with refugees ,both economic and political,  flooding their shores. It's compounded by the old colonial outposts now wanting a piece of the action and repayment for wealth extracted. 

When voting regarding EU membership comes along who knows what will happen?. In the meantime the UK is taking a much harder line with refugees , much to the chagrin of the EU.

A bit on the side......

..............or a bit of fluff




Something happens to some men, particularly those it seems in a position of power. They become a bit of a goose and have an affair which in the end usually ruins their career or brings about their downfall. This is the age of judgements where the social media can wreak a bit of havoc.
Not all men, of course, I hasten to add before being taken to task. 
In France a mistress appears to be the norm. The associated costs are probably a legitimate tax deduction! 
Previously in France, If a murder were committed , the motive for which was a straying partner the penalties were less severe as a "crime passionel" was considered to be a valid reason for murder. This however did end in France as the Napoleonic code was updated in the 1970s so that a specific father's authority upon his whole family was over.
In the U.S. crimes of passions have been traditionally associated with the defenses of temporary insanity or provocation. Historically, such defenses were used as complete defenses for various violent crimes, but gradually they became used primarily as a partial defense to a charge of murder which acts by converting what would otherwise have been murder into manslaughter.

C' est la vie.