Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

So 26 of the 27 EU members were able to come to a compromise.

Reminds me of the proud mother returning from watching her sons army passout parade.

Asked if she'd enjoyed it, she said "Yes, but everyone else was marching out of step but our Billy"

:mad:

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Disagree very strongly, but then again I always have been against a united states of France and Germany.

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It was funny to see that French dwarf, and Ann Widdecomb'e German doppelganger get all huffy, and push poor Dave out of the way, and literally give him the cold shoulder.

Bless 'em.

The sooner we're allowed a say, if we want to be part of this obscene circus, the better.

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And why would Croatia want to join this undemocratic bunch?
Having seen the recent shenanigins, you would stay as far away as possible if you had half an ounce of sense.

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I think I will read some of these:
Selected Speeches of Winston Churchill
Might come in handy during the next few weeks and months

Was one of the speeches,

Never have so many, owed so much because of so few.

we will fight them 'cos they're bitches.

WTF

Tomorrow, I shall be sober,
EU, Madam will still be ugly.

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I think so Less,
It will be interesting to see what happens with the Euro next. Where's my popcorn!
Maybe we should join Norway, they seem to do okay with out the EU

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Its time somebody actually stood up for Britten and told the French/German alliance to get stuffed, now all we need is a referendum and we could kick um into touch for good, to do what the hell they want with their Euros. Do you think we should lobby our MP and ask him to call for a referendum on the issue;) okay I'll get mi coat:rolleyes:

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That's a great idea. Hold on, isn't our glorious MP a cheese eating surrender monkey!

Yeah, O.K. A referendum, great, I'm all for it, but just to be sure I don't get conned into making a mistake, (after all it's a while since I've done this),
How do you spell,
'X'?

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yeh but yeh would have to be stupid to reckon Camerons done it fer Britain, hes done it fer the "Money People" of Britain, not oiks like us.:rolleyes:

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Ya and Brown would have sold us down the river again;)

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Yes he is trying to safeguard the interests of the 'square mile crew'.

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Anything to do with the EU...even the mention of it...puts my hackles up.....so my hackles have been on end all day today.
And that shrimp Sarkozy( I hate the gallic worm)...he's only looking out for his own interests - up for re-election next year.

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Just depends on whether the returning officer has a sense of humour or not:D

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Ya but from a blokes point of view his wifes all right:D

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Pathetic response as usual, :rolleyes: aint the balls to admit they are all the same- more so regarding Europe.

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Don't know what she sees in him.........ugly french git.
Maybe he has money.

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Cashy, they are all the same, not just in regards to Europe, but also in regards to the electorate here. I really thought(hoped) our MP would be different...now isn't that the triumph of hope over experience?

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is that not what i said?:confused::D

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Well its true, Brown or even Mr Ed would have been falling over themselves to sign on the dotted, at least Cameron had the sense to tell um to http://cdn.content.sweetim.com/sim/c...s/00020337.gif spin on it:D








http://content.sweetim.com/tbsig/sig.asp?img=ad1

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Or maybe, na we'll not go there:D

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Like them or loath them, Margaret, the businesses of the 'square mile crew' provide 11% of the governments total tax income(as well as the tax the 'crew' pay on their obscene salaries and bonuses).
If the Financial Transactions Tax is brought in the UK companies will pay 70% of the total raised in 27 countries! It was aimed at London by the Germans and French.
What would the companies do? They'd get out of the UK to Singapore,USA etc. What would we do without that 11% tax? More cuts, more job losses,more taxes? That would affect everyone!

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Think the figure that would be lost is about £54 billion Gordon

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Well said Gordon

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I was agreeing with you Cashy, and just pointing out that I had hoped our MP would be different...some fat chance:confused:

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Yes Gordon....I was listening too....through gritted teeth(well, no through my ears, but my teeth were gritted).....and yes they would leave us pronto. I truly think that is what the EU want to do....drop us in the brown smelly stuff that stains your clothes.
I actually don't care that they are giving DC the cold shoulder....now let's hope his own team give him some hot tongue when he gets back and we get a say in what goes on.

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Fer my money,thats the worst position Britain could be in thanks to Cameron, we hadn't that many,but we have now "Become Billy No Mates" in the E.U. n the fact he says No Referendum needed,will leave us well goosed anyway, Time will tell.:eek:

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Whatever the rights and wrongs of Cameron's actions, the fact is that our position in the EU has fundamentally changed forever. If we're in a minority of one, then what's the point of being in at all, handing over obscene amounts of money to an organisation which we have no say over? I reckon we should pull out, but, unlike Graham Jones, Bernard Dawson, Claytonender et al, I don't want to impose my will on the British people. I'm quite happy to have a referendum and abide by the outcome. Bring it on!

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Cashy with mates like that you don't need enemies.
Do you seriously think that countries in the EU are going to stop trading with us?
Anyway, the EU countries skew the criteria for contracts so that their own countries come out top of the pack anyway.
Do you honestly think that France Germany and Spain follow the EU rules and regulations as slavishly as the Brits?...of course they don't...they choose which rules suit them and follow those.
I think we have M.U.G.S. tattooed on our foreheads.....we pay in loads and get the least out of it.
I don't want to be in their gang,they don't play fair and they certainly don't play by the rules........and if they think someone has got one over on them, they take the ball and play in their own field.

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Exactly,whats just happened is the best possible reason to have one. imho

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Heard today on CBC radio, that some leading economists in Iceland are seriously suggesting that Iceland adopt a new currency: the Canadian Dollar:eek: They argue that the loonie would fit Iceland because both countries have resource based economies ... and it is backed by a political and ecomomic stability they don't see in Europe.

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I think what has happened in Brussels weakens the case for not having a referendum now.........and I think there are some heavyweight guys in the tory party who are putting their weight behind the cries that a referendum should be called.

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I quite agree n whilst i would love a referendum, i do think one would give em a get outa jail free card................ when europe goes arse up,they can then blame the british public.;)

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I've just been reading about the "eurosceptics" ... maybe the referendum is getting closer; perhaps it's on the way to becoming an inevitability. The referendum vote will be a hard fought one ... thing is, I can see the Labour party doing the wrong thing, just in order to score points against the tories:mad:

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Labour have already done the wrong thing in my view Eric.:mad:

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If there is any referendum on complete exit from the EU then it's a safe bet that the Tories will campaign for a no vote..labour and he lib-dems will do the same ..what do mean when you say Labour will do the wrong thing?

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The reality of what happend at this summit is that Cameron had no choice other than pull out of any treaty change in the EU..he was between the rock and a hard place..the hard place being some of his right wing backbence and the rock being the promise of a referendum on any treaty change.

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Anyone with any sense at all could see that this has been a train crash of a thing.....with no decisive leaders in the United States of Europe....no one prepared to grasp the nettle, all of them looking out for their own interests above the need for someone to step in and save something that they believe to be sacrosanct.

It has nothing to do with the British public....every time they have asked for a bigger hand out haven't we been there with an open purse.

It has to do with the vanity and pride of the two big players...the ones who would take the sovereignty of all the other nations and throw it in the bin.....France(Sarkozy - ain't fit to be a teacosy) and Germany(with that dumpling Angela Merkel).

Something like 3 months ago they, and we were told that there was just a six week time frame to save Europe from crashing.......and here we are twelve weeks down the line....what are they doing? Talking.....talking when they should be acting.
They say that Talk is cheap.......I think that pretty soon they are going to realise that it isn't cheap at all.

I don't think that there is one politician in Europe who knows how this mess can be sorted.

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The Eu has to take a large part of the blame too....in 14 years that I know of they haven't had a budget audited and ratified....if this was a business it would have gone belly up years ago.
There are two major problems with the EU.......1) it is corrupt - spends member countries money like water.
2) it is too big to control adequately - too much complex legislation....but having said that its' legisaltion isn't followed with the same conscientiousness by all member states.

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Whilst I applaud David Cameron's determination and refusal to bow to pressure from bully boy Sarkosy and Commandant Merkel, the one thing I now worry about is these monthly meetings that will be held of the 26 countries that have signed up to the agreement.

They will be taking important financial decisions affecting the UK - and the UK will not be there.

A bit like going to the shops and leaving yourself logged into Facebook. Who knows who will frape you while you're out!

:(

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Sums it up well, none of em want a referendum,including Labour.:(

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Maybe, for several reasons, expected better, or at least different from Labour.

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I really doubt Labour would have done anything, they had 12 years and seemed to agree on anything the EU proposed. So now we would be tied into them financially just waiting to bail out Franc or Germany. As I said Norway does very well without being in the EU as does Switzerland

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Why, its another station on the gravy train after they leave westminster, after all the Kinnocks did quite well in retirement didn't they;)

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This is a documentary on the history of banking, which reveals the background to the financial global mess we now have.
If you want to know 'where's the money gone?' - this will explain.
It also explains why the decision to veto the EU was to protect the bankers, not our sovereignty.
The Rothschilds Exposed 1/3 - YouTube
The Rothschilds Exposed 2/3 - YouTube
The Rothschilds Exposed 3/3 - YouTube

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too true i just cant get how some people are so out of touch with politics these days everybody knows the tories are financed by the finance sector the proverbial is about to hit the fan with this out of depth goverment;)

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I don't believe it, Cmon replying to a thread without the need to cut and paste. You are right it's all the Nasty Tories fault, Northern Rock, Selling our gold reserves off etc:mosher:

thinking about it, surely David Cameron should have signed up to the new improved Europe, after all that would have moved us a bit closer to the New World Order we keep getting told about

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and selling the banks at dirt cheap prices back to the finance sector ripping off the tax payer;)

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And who exactly oversaw the collapse of said Bank in the first place? you seem, to think that your beloved Labour have never ever done anything wrong.

After searching your history, I note you have never ever even once, commented against the last government while they were in power, very balanced.

You claim to read Private Eye, well you provide a link, I am a subscriber to it, yet you never ever came on hee over the years and mentioned the PFI joke, Tax offices being sold to offshore companied, NHS hospitals paying Billions in rent, schools etc by the last government, yet you start on about Mr Cameron helping out the bankers???
To think you call me and anyone who disagrees with your very red tinted view blinkered.

So we stay and sign up to the deal, we lose control of our budgets, have to bail out more countries and lose what's left of our sovereignty.
I cannot wait for your enlightened one line answer to this

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because the tories sold anything worth keeping in the eighties they started the rot with cuts crumbling schools hospitals squeezing who they claimed to support the house owner. i remember when i first moved down to lancashire in the eighties with people still having outside toilets and poverty all because they owned their homes god bless the nmw that stopped all the eastern europeans coming to this country working for a pound an hour the tories put in place what happened with the de regulation of the banks in the eighties they created a monster Margaret Thatcher - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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ah Maggie to blame. 4 pages in and we get to that .......again

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we,ll have to agree to disagree;):D but who think cameron could call for a snap election due to the popularity of his european policies.

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Fair point Cmon,
Yes if Diamond Dave called a election he might get the majority he wanted.
We will have to wait and see

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No doubt in my mind if Cameron called a snap election,he would walk it simple as, have just said the same thing in the watering hole to tealeaf,who by the way agreed, thing is though he wont i reckon, thats one thing he aint got the balls to do.;)

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Is that any different to the wall eyed scot who sold the gold reserves when he didn't need to?...had he kept hold of them we would be something like 54 billion richer.

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Very true Cashy, but we have not had any Prime Minister with balls since Maggie.

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Well you have proved time after time you are absolutely clueless about any form of politics, which is in keeping with a few of your countrymen and for Christs sack it's Government not goverment, why don't you down load a bloody spell check you lazy git:mad:

My Keyboard now completely useless, it's taken a while, but I think you timed your revenge perfectly.
How did you know I would just have taken a mouthful of coffee at the moment I got to the above statement?

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well i would but its a bit dark here:D frankfurt is a finiancial centre as well;)

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It's not just that. I've always believed, and I still do, that the best deal for the little guy is a social democratic party in power ... the best deal one can get in what passes for democracy today. Seems like New Labour is "new" only that it is no longer even mildly socialist, and it is not democratic ... They sold their principles to buy votes. Seems like politics has become a profession. Churchill certainly didn't see it that way ... for all his flaws he always acted in what he considered to be the best interests of Britain.

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Eric you are right...absolutely spot on. When Labour added 'new' to the name of the party, it ditched all the socialist ideals...those that working men, trade
unionists worked so very hard to instil in politicians way back when Labour was for the working man.
It courted those who had money, much as the tory party has always done.
I always thought the Tony Blair government was as tory as you could get....but they couldn't call it that could they?....they wanted all those who had been brainwashed (is that too strong a word?)while growing up to support them - New Labour bamboozled these people into thinking that the Labour party still worried about the working man, and had his interests at heart.

And politics has become a profession........it is almost like the oldest one in the world, where you can have what you want as long as you have the money rattling in your pocket...if you are poor, then you can go and whistle.

Now, where did I put my anti-cynicism pills?

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SACK???:confused::confused::confused::D

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Of course - needed to carry those loaves and fishes.

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Priceless, a spelling lesson from jaysay. :D:D:rolleyes:

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Karma sent, Jay. One of the funniest comments I've read on here for a long time! :D

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ye it was lol, lost the political argument so lets start on his punctuation :D:p

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Do they not use capital letters either in Frankfurt and never heard of a finiancial centre:confused:

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That will be fine as long as you aren't teaching him!

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New, Old or whatever you want to call um Eric, they've always made a pigs ear of the economy in my lifetime from good old Herold (this will not affect the pond in your pocket) to Gordon (just getting on with the job, of screwing the country into financial obscurity) Labour is the by word for financial mayhem, whichever way you dress it up, from red flag to red rose an unmitigated disaster

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Losing a political argument with you do me a favour, you have no argument to offer

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I know my short comings when in comes to the English language, but at least I do try to make what I post readable, that lazy scotch git won't even make the effort, when you start every post in low case makes you wonder which school he actually went to if any

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Cheers Wyn much appreciated:D

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None of the political parties have much to be smug about.

When in opposition they call the incumbents ill to burn, they slate their policies, tell them what they should be doing. But once these opposition get into power, do they change the things that were so wrong with the government they pulled to shreds?
No of course they don't, they sit back and continue with the job of the day, maintaining the status quo.

Do they put any effort in rectifying what was so wrong with the last government....?
No, they compound the issues by doing nothing.

Many governments have, in the past, used various ways to manipulate the unemployment figures.....because if you make it look like there are fewer out of work, then this is good for the economy(or makes it look that way).

I have a sneaking suspicion that this was why the incapacity benefit was brought in(if you know any different, then I am happy to be proved wrong).......if you were incapable of work through some tenous reason, then you didn't figure in the unemployment count.......YOPS was a similar political ploy....youngsters straight out of school were given meaningless jobs(that only lasted six months - then the employer waved you bye-bye in favour of the next young mug) so that it looked like all these young people were in jobs.

No one party is better than another for their track record in massaging figures to bamboozle the electorate.

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I wasn't keeping score of which political party did what back in the 70's and 80's....I was much too interested in raising a family and making a fist of my nursing career to take much notice of politics.

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Considering that Thursday's summit was supposed to solve the sovereign debt crisis affecting not only Europe, but the whole global financial system. It seems strange that all anyone can talk about is Britain saying "NO". Especially given that the decision to press ahead with treaty change, either with or without Britain, had already been taken by the Fuhererin and her court dwarf days before the summit took place.

It strikes me that all this hoo-hah and stage managed outrage is masking something. There is something that was decided on Thursday night that the Fuhrerin does not want people to notice. What was anounced was nothing more or less than a re-presentation of the Maastricht Stability Pact. Which, given that they all effectively ignored and broke it the first time round, begs the question of why they would think anyone would be convinced by it at a second run around the block. Perhaps the Germans think that everyone is as economically illiterate as they appear to be. Maybe they are right.

One of the things that was decided on Thursday night, which very few have commented on, is that the EFSF will now be constituted and run by people who are totally immune from prosecution - for any action they take. They will not have to pay taxes on their earnings and they will not be subject to any outside scrutiny whatsoever. Additionally, they will have the power to issue demands to member countries for whatever amount of money they choose and members have just seven days to make it available - in full -or else! There is also to be no accountability of how they choose to disburse the money they raise.

On the whole, I think that The PM was right to say "NO". To paraphrase Groucho, I am not sure I would want to be a member of any club that had these jokers as members. Though I am certain that the stated reasons for his "NO" were a cover for his real agenda. It nevertheless will have the unintended consequence of making an 'IN-OUT' Referendum harder to resist.

It is going to be an interesting couple of weeks.

Expect some big surprises just after Christmas.

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Good post Bob I just hope I get my surprises on Christmas day though;)

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For me, everyday I get a surprise, when I wake up and realise I'm still here!

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I think that some while back MargaretR suggested we wait for a long Bank Holiday weekend...and watch as the brown stuff hit the fan(my interpretation of what she said.....MargaretR didn't put it quite like that - but I think that is what she meant)...so you aren't on your own in thinking that A-B

I think this is what the chinese mean when they say that wish that you live in interesting times...their version of an insult.
I think we are going to live through some(for want of a better word)...interesting times.

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Tantalising A-B -give us a clue as to the kind of surprises - have you been polishing up your Crystal ball?:D

Should we be setting a date for the Party to end all parties, before the end of the world as we know it?

Seems a lot of wool is being pulled over the collected eyes of Europe...

Not helped by terrible translaton - on SKY News 24hr (Italian version) yesterday, The Daily Express headline:

"Britain Close to EU Exit"

"Close" was translated as "terminate", instead of "near to " -so effectively the message was that Britain has closed with Europe and is already pulling out!!

This became, as you said, the big story of the day....!

Today they are running " Cameron -hero of the Eurosceptics in Britain"

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"Has there ever been any degree of accountability as to where any of the EU money has gone? Or for that matter how it was raised?"

The EU accounts are actually audited every year, but have not been signed off now for 17 years, because of the amount of fraud -oops - misreporting found in them. The accounts are in theory open to inspection - in practise that is another matter.

The difference with the EFSF is that, for the first time, this inaccountability is enshrined in the treaty. They are not even going to make any pretence about democratic accountability or freedom of information.

From what I have read, once the dust has settled and the markets get their head around what has been decided - not much - they will, as the Nikei did on Friday, start selling fast. Then when the individual parliaments realise what has been agreed, one by one they will begin to raise objections.

Reading some of the comment in European broadsheets is quite instructive. They complain loudly that they are tired of Britain always vetoing their projects and reforms etc. We should, according to the comments, never have been allowed to join in the first place. Having said that, however, they seem quite contradictory in believing that although they have almost got what they say they wanted, Britain out, that Britain should have made more of an effort to compromise and stay in.

Pah! Europeans, they are beyond understanding.

But I think de Gaulle showed that knew us better than anyone might have guessed when he opined that, if it came to a choice between the continent and the open sea, Britian would, in the end, always choose the sea.

Well, they and we have made our bed, now we must lie in it. I have no doubt that our bed will be uncomfortable for a while but at least we won't have anyone nicking all the blankets and blaming it on us.

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According to what I have read this is the first time that Britain has used its veto.
As I said, it is always good to have someone you can blame for the ills of the Eurozone....but when all is said and done....it was never a good idea, the single currency....and it hasn't been about trading partnerships/conditions for such a long time now(it is all about politics,power the Great United states of Europe)...it is just that France and Germany do not wish to own up to that fact....they will hock themselves and their people into the ground, rather than decide that the experiment failed.

Yes, I think our bed is going to have a few French and German made lumps in it for quite a while to come.

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[quote=Acrylic-bob;955205
Pah! Europeans, they are beyond understanding.

But I think de Gaulle showed that knew us better than anyone might have guessed when he opined that, if it came to a choice between the continent and the open sea, Britian would, in the end, always choose the sea.

Well, they and we have made our bed, now we must lie in it. I have no doubt that our bed will be uncomfortable for a while but at least we won't have anyone nicking all the blankets and blaming it on us.[/quote]

I have given up trying to understand them - (the Italians at least) after 25 years here. They just have a different mentality and have never been able to comprehend the meaning of the saying "you can't have your cake and eat it". British "fair-play " is an alien concept - if you can get away with then it's "fair game" that's the way of thinking over here!

Britain's sea-faring legacy will stand it good stead for the future - the country has weathered many storms through the ages. No doubt this will blow itself out eventually one way or another.

"You make your bed and then you have to lie in it" was a favourite saying of my Grand-mother's, it's of typical of the stoical British nature. A while back though, a friend did say to me "You could always change bed" -must admit it was something i'd never thought of....:rolleyes:

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Fiscal Union is a long term project and does nothing to solve the problems that face Europe; stalling growth, unemployment and colossal debt.

It is said that austerity measures adopted in the PIIGS countries will have an effect opposite to that intended. How can you have growth, which you need to pay off the debt, when businesses are closing right left and centre? When the average person who pays taxes is out of work and instead of paying taxes to satisfy the debt is instead claiming benefits, which have to be borrowed thus increasing the debt?

I came across a good wheeze the other day. Have you ever heard of Hypothecation?

"…hypothecation is when a borrower pledges collateral to secure a debt. The borrower retains ownership of the collateral but is “hypothetically” controlled by the creditor, who has a right to seize possession if the borrower defaults." (reuters)

"Why do this? It’s in part about who gets to show what assets as still being on their books while others get to use said assets as collateral for their own loans. Which brings us to ‘re-hypothecation“. Who says an asset that has been “hypothecated” once can’t be “re-hypothecated”? Well actually no one. The UK and the US authorities have spent a decade removing any restraint of Hypothecation to bring us to where we are now.

So, Bank 1 has an asset. It badly needs cash because it’s nearly broke. It hypothecates its asset to bank 2. Bank 2 also needs/wants a loan.So it turns to bank 3 and says, I happen to have a lovely asset which I hypothetically control, would you like it? Bank 3 says great. So bank 2 gets its loan which it probably uses to make other loans, while the asset it got from bank 1 is re-hypothecated to bank 3. Now bank 3 hypothetically controls the asset. Bank 3 turns to bank 4 and does the same.
We now have 4 banks three of whom hypothetically control the original asset which is in fact still where it started, in bank 1 – a bank which was in such trouble it had to hypothecate its assets. Along the way, however, three banks have used the asset to get themselves loans and all of those loans rest on hypothetical control of the original asset. A pyramid of loans and obligations rest on a single asset whose control is now not at all clear should any one along the chain need to assert their control or need it back to pay off their debts – should anything go wrong in the the ventures into which they put the money they borrowed on the strength of the ‘asset’. And THAT my fellow citizens is why the bankers insist they get paid so much.
So now we have a whole new bag of questions. What assets do you think have been hypothecated and rehypothecated recently? European bonds perhaps? And which banks might be heavily involved and exposed to the trade? German banks and British Banks? French banks. American Banks?"


(Credit to David Monroe for the explanation)


This is only a tiny part of what has been going on and is still going on. Sooner rather than later in this game of pass-the-debt-parcel the music is going to stop.



Maybe it will be the market reaction to Thursday's summit that will stop the music. Who knows?
But whatever it is, the consequences will be catastrophic and global.

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It is a convoluted process .......not one I profess to understand fully, but isn't this the kind of thing that got Bernard Madoff incarcerated for fraud?

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The EFSF denies it is in an illegal pyramid style organisation....well, it would, wouldn't it?
EFSF Denies It Is An Illegal Pyramid Scheme | ZeroHedge

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

Surprisingly it is something I had heard of -a similar theory is explained in the Zeitgeist documentaries in the part about global finance.

If you know how to play Monopoly and have played it to death, you will have worked out that re-mortgaging your properties for a quick fix to your finances might work short-term, but in the long-term it's the way to lose the game...unless you are one of those "jammy" players who always throws a 6, has get out of jail free cards and gets past GO!

So it's all a financial merry-go-round, until it stops and everyone falls off!

You can have as much gold as you want to back up your loan system and print off as much "new money" as you like to make it seem like things are going well. At the end of the day it's a lack of resources and production which matter.

The old triangle, with solid manufacturing for wealth production as the base, has been turned on it's head and is about to topple over.

Will we go back to barter do you think - or as they propose in Zeitgeist an end to a monetary system and a utopian world where everyone can use the resourses and technology available and live a perfect life?:rolleyes::D

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

A laymans view to accompany A-B's very good example.

It is a slow day in a little Greek Village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted.
Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the taverna.
The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him "services" on credit.
The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveller will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveller comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism. And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works.

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

Perhaps in some of the PIIGS that might happen.

That is a forlorn hope, born out of youthful naivety. No, after a period of looting, rioting and general social disorder, a great many may die and several governments will fall, and then it will be back to business as usual. If we are lucky we will escape a war (though the americans may provoke one, like the overreacting queens they really are!).
Then brick by brick we will have to rebuild our lives and our society. I don't think it is possible to estimate how much will be lost or what will be left to rebuild with. Pension funds will be wiped off the face of the earth as will most of the stock market. Major insurers will also go the way of all flesh. But one thing is certain there will still be bankers. There will be platitudes aplenty but no apologies and they will be straining at the leash to do it all over again and there will still be politicians to aid and abett them. And we, like fools, will allow it. Because, like the Bankers and the Politicians, we are too stupid to learn from our mistakes and are thus condemned to repeat them.

The lesson of Dickens' A Christmas Carol seems very pertinent as the year comes to an end.

Can somebody email me some Prozac.....PLEASE!:(

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

The end of the EU in sight, as per my favourite trend forecaster.

Gerald Celente - on the euro collapse, trade wars & currency wars - YouTube

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

I think Margaret used the veto quite a lot when she had europe by the throat:D

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

Just noted this in The Telegraph..

"Mr Varadkar, Fine Gael transport minister in Dublin's coalition cabinet, said the UK's decision to veto the EU deal was disappointing but warned events would were likely overtake eurozone leaders in the coming weeks.

"I suspect events will overtake us over the next few weeks," he told national broadcaster RTE Radio One"

Perhaps not telling us anything that we don't already know, but still...

Varadkar. Good old fashioned Irish name that, eh!

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

Sounds like one of them poles Bob:rolleyes:

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

From the land of the depraved and the free...

"In early August, Congress just avoided default by raising the country's $14.3 trillion debt ceiling. As part of that deal, $900m in cuts were agreed on and a committee established to find another $1.2 trillion of savings by the end of November. Failure to do so would trigger automatic cuts in government spending, including the Pentagon. A day before the Thanksgiving holiday, the committee's 12 members admitted they couldn't agree.
The Pentagon is now facing a $500m (£319m) cut to its own budget from the start of 2013." (Telegraph)

How do we stop the cuts soldier?
Sir, start a war, Sir!
Well done soldier, America will be proud of you.

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

Can offer some Prosecco - as an alternative panacea of the masses!

(Actually I'd really recommend a decent Francia-corta...or failing that a Cà de Frati Lugana from Lake Garda!))

Get a case in for the party;):D

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

I do wish you'd stop mentioning the big "W" word though....:(

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

Actually, I've never been a fan of white wine, always seen it as too much of a girly thing. I used to be quite fond of a rich red Cote du Rhone, mixed with a half of Benelin, smashing stuff. Now I'm usually quite happy to curl myself around a bottle of gin, the drier the better.

Ok, just for you, no more 'W' word, promise.:D

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

I think you will find , Jaysay , that the veto has been used by only two people , Charles de Gaulle and David Cameron .

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

That is what I read too JCB....and that David Cameron is the first British PM to use it.

Re: Everybody's Out of Step.......
 

I usually think he's a bit of a prat, but Christopher Hitchens makes some interesting points, about the fiasco we're seeing unfold before out eyes in Europe.

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