90 seconds at 9 am with BNZ: Greece set to form govt of national unity as Eurozone crisis deepens; Italy next in firing line; Greens eye Kiwisaver 'public option'

Christov, I found a joke for you

 

 

Mother Superior solemnly announces to her flock: “Sisters, I have to tell you that there’s a case of Chlamydia in the convent.”

Pipes up a young novice: “Well, I hope its better than that f*****g Chardonnay we had last week!”

Interesting breakdown on 'Australia’s state and local governments on property taxes' - and the dependence. 

   

 

Europe's rescue fiasco leaves Italy defenceless The sixty days allotted to save monetary union have expired. The G20 has come and gone, yet no workable firewall is in place as the drama engulfs Italy and threatens to light the fuse on the world’s third largest edifice of debt.   http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/88730…   comments on above article  

moraymint

2 hours ago

  It's interesting to raise one's sights in all of this carry-on and look at what I call 'the big screen scene'.  If you're anything like me when you read yet another one of AEP's reports, you find yourself asking, "What is really going on here?".



Bear in mind that politicians don't usually ask this question: they're interested primarily in staying in power and, therefore, in a job for the immediate future (let's say 4 or 5 years or so).



No, what's really going on is happening on a truly grand scale, affecting our lives for decades if not a hundred years into the future.  We are witnessing and experiencing the 'catabolic collapse' of western developed societies.  It sounds dramatic, I know, but there is no other way of accounting for what's going on at the moment.



Catabolic collapse is, in essence, the self-reinforcing cycle of socio-economic decline driven by interactions between resources, capital, production and waste.  Not my analysis, of course, but that of John Michael Greer in his book 'The Long Descent'.  In essence, our productive capabilties are failing to match our societies' insatiable demand for capital.  The resultant crisis of capital (ie where we are now) is exacerbated by the underlying resourcing crisis that now exists (primarily energy scarcity; oil is still trading at over $100 per barrel), which in turn means that most capital is now being converted to waste.



We're in a self-reinforcing cycle of decline that no amount of money printing, bail-out funding and the madness of increasing-debt-to-get-out-of-debt is ever going to put right.



Unless and until our political elites comprehend what's really going on here, the situation will go from bad to worse to catastrophic.



Place your bets on how long it will take for, say, the British political elite to figure this one out. I guess my point is that, for me, our political class is currently performing like a bunch of mediocre corporals, when what we need is a first-rate, visionary general (a political Lord Slim, for example) and his highly qualified staff to see the wood for the trees and lead us out of this unprecedented predicament.



Meantime, for as long as our intellectual pygmies are in control, the prospects of us all being in for a very rough ride indeed grow by the day. Make sure that you and your family are well prepared for the next 10 - 20 years: they'll be like nothing gone before in peacetime (assuming peace prevails, and that's a tall order too).



Read more about catabolic collapse here: http://tinyurl.com/dxp3cbx  

Otsuka Duojinshi

3 hours ago

  What seems to be missing in the discussions?



It seems to me that there are  a number of subjects that each respective government refuses to acknowledge. Every argument made by the G20 advocates MORE - more of the same; as though if there is a massage here or a tweak there, so life can continue with profligate unions, socialism 'lite' (or heavy) depending upon the PIIGS under discussion.



In the US, California, Wisconsin, New Jersey are the beginnings of the real structural reforms that will be necessary to see our way through to a day where the parasitical are no longer the drain upon the productive that they are today. 



Our collective futures (in every country) will include the raising of retirement ages, indexing benefits for wealth and actuarial realities. It will also include a smaller public employee 'footprint' - that's not a right wing conservative desire - its simply a sensible calculation and acknowledgement of economic reality. There is no money.



California has a few bankrupt municipal governments hostage to pension inanities. Governor Moonbeam Brown version 2.0 has begun the dismantling of the public employee monstrosity, whose inception he presided over in 1973 as Moonbean version 1.0. These unions will not go quietly into the night without a terrifying fight. As will their PIIGS counterparts.



Note that the mere mention of any form of reform from Greece to France to fill in the blank ______ is accorded a blank stare of incredulity by any and all G20 leader. This is what is at the root of the 'markets' collective disdain and will continue until some effort of real reform occurs. It will be socialism's last gasp and last grasp. There is no more of other people's money to steal.



We live in interesting times.

I read this article over the weekend, Bazza from the AEP article above is onto it. A warning to us or perhaps a timely reminder.

 

 

 

BazzaMcKenzie

just now

  The core problem, and the reason China will not tip money into the EFSF was stated by Jin Liqun (http://english.aljazeera.net/p..., who chairs China's sovereign wealth fund:

"If you look at the troubles which 

happened in European countries, this is purely because of the 

accumulated troubles of the worn out welfare society. I think the labour

laws are outdated. The labour laws induce sloth, indolence, rather than

hardworking. The incentive system, is totally out of whack."



In other words, all the European countries, like the UK and US, have lived beyond their means for so long they have grossly damaged their economies, and their societies, and have incurred a level of unrepayable debt.



Because this threatens the fantasies of the Eurocrats, they are now attempting to force the PIIGS to live within their means (but not yet France and Germany) BUT within a monetary framework that guarantees economic shrinkage rather than economic growth, so living within their means  requires a perpetual decline in living standards -- until there is a civic explosion that junks the policy and junks the euro.

 "It is essentially a moral and ethical issue," said Deputy leader Annette King. herald

What about the parents who are unable to have children. Is it ethical that they should pay money over to those who pop them out like hot buns...because the money would come from taxes

Is there no limit to Labours willingness to use other peoples money to buy votes?

How many babies would be the limit...oh no limit....as many as you want under Labour...6 months parental leave paid for by whom...taxpayers of course...then three months later ..."POP" out comes another...6 months leave paid for by!....3 months later another sprog and another 6 months of money....."It is essentially a moral and ethical issue".....doh

Hey Annette, how about promising a payment to all the parents who cannot have children....buy their votes too 

..on many fronts !

In connection with messages that Israel/ USA are preparing a military strike on Iran, I recommend to regularly read: http://www.haaretz.com/

About latest developments in Fukushima and it’s consequences, I recommend:

http://fukushima-diary.com/2011/11/there-is-on-going-fission-occurring-…

Silent wars costing billions:

http://news.sky.com/home/technology/article/16099978

 "Spectacularly dreadful"

"Labour is promising to extend a $60-a-week payment( set up to help working parents) so social welfare beneficiaries with children will also get it.

But it would take seven years to phase in the change.

The poverty alleviation plan highlights the difference between Labour's bid to make life easier for sole parents and National's cracking the whip to get them into work." herald

"Highlights the difference"......sure does.....Labour want to make life on a social welfare benefit better....Annette King simply fails to understand....or does she understand only too well....is this Labour exposing its dirty tricks...its intention to beef up the size of the social welfare love labour voting block...