Greeks react angrily to latest austerity measures

Greeks react angrily to latest austerity measures, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Today the ruling PASOK party announced the latest round of austerity measures meant to put Greece financial house in order. Yet more increases in VAT (this time on basic food items such as bread and milk), a road tax hike, lower tax bands as well as a new privatisation plan.

In other words more of the same kind of policies that have brought about an economic decline unprecedented in post war years and created an army of desperate unemployed who are being left to the mercy of the marketplace. Despite German media reports to the contrary Greece's not a paradise for the jobless with fewer than half those without work entitled to unemployment benefit. While other help is available, at least on paper, bureaucracy and lack of funds means that many who require help do not receive it.

Despite the continued fall in the economy and a spiralling debt load Athens continues to follow the recipe led down by its IMF. EU and ECB creditors which has brought little but disaster and suffering to millions of Greeks on lower incomes.

Tomorrow there has been a call for a Spanish style street protests here in Thessaloniki (6pm Wednesday outside the White Tower) so it shall be interesting to see if people respond. On the one hand there is certainly enough anger and indignation in Greek society but the experience of 18 months of severe economic downturn has sapped people's will to protest.

ΚΑΡΤΑ ΜΕΛΟΥΣ ΖΙΜΕΝΣ - PASOK/Siemens Party membership card

ΚΑΡΤΑ ΜΕΛΟΥΣ ΖΙΜΕΝΣ - PASOK/Siemens Party membership card, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

More photoshop parody of those involved in the Siemens scandal in Greece during which 100 million euros was paid to politicians in return for contracts for the 2004 Olympic games in Athens. Despite the fact that this has cost the Greek people over 2 billion euros in added costs not one minister or MP has been charged, let alone been convicted of any crime so far. I guess membership (of parliament) really does have its privilieges.

"ΤΑ ΦΑΓΑΜΕ ΜΑΖΙ" - "WE'RE ALL TO BLAME"

"ΤΑ ΦΑΓΑΜΕ ΜΑΖΙ" - "WE'RE ALL TO BLAME", originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

The report of the Siemens bribery scandal was released today and as expected Greek parliamentarians are working hard to make sure that even the most outrageous abuses of political power are swept under the carpet.

Δεκάδες Ελληνες υπουργοί συνιστούν την Siemens - Dozens of Greek ministers recommend Siemens

Δεκάδες Ελληνες υπουργοί συνιστούν την Siemens - Dozens of Greek minister recommend Siemens, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

ξέπλυμα χρήματος μέχρι και στο μισό χρόνο.
Αυτόματη αναγνώριση όλων των κομμάτων


Launder your money in half the time or less!
Automatic recognition of all parties.

Yet another political scandal gets swept under the carpet by the Greek parliament. Today it was the Siemens corruption case involving accusations that the company spent millions in bribes to PASOK and New Democracy party officials in return for contracts for the 2004 Athens Olympics.

Greek politician, Theodoros Pangalos makes a new statement concerning civil servants - Νέα δήλωση του Πάγκαλου για τους δημοσίους υπαλλήλους

Νέα δήλωση του Πάγκαλου για τους δημοσίους υπαλλήλους, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

New statement by Theodoros Pangalos (the Greek PM's right hand man and party enforcer) concerning civil servants. Pangalos has managed to infuriate many Greeks with his explosive statements which have included announcements that public sector workers are a bunch of mongrels, voters corrupted politicians and that everyone is responsible for the current economic crisis since all Greeks had a hand in racking up the country's record debt load.

Translation of the cartoon caption

"But why so many?"

"Participation was on a voluntary basis."

ΠΑΣΟΚ - ΔΝΤ: I love you.

ΠΑΣΟΚ ΔΝΤ, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Το σήμα "PASOK" είναι εμπορικό σήμα της "International Monetary Fund" (εφεξής "ΔΝΤ").Μην χρησιμοποιείτε κανένα εμπορικό σήμα του PASOK κατά κανέναν τρόπο που εκφράζει ή υπονοεί σχέση με την εταιρεία Panhellenic Socialist Movement Greece, χορηγία, υποστήριξη, πιστοποίηση ή έγκριση. Μην χρησιμοποιείτε κανένα Panhellenic Socialist Movement Greece εμπορικό σήμα του κατά τρόπον που υποδηλώνει ότι η εταιρεία συνδέεται νομικά με την εταιρεία σας. Πρέπει να προβάλλετε της εταιρική σας επωνυμία πιο έντονα από οποιοδήποτε εμπορικό σήμα του PASOK σε όλα τα υλικά.

Laughing all the way to the bank

Laughing all the way to the bank, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

I took this picture of Giorgos Papandreou just after a PASOK campaign rally in Thessaloniki last year during the Greek parliamentary elections.

Instead of adoring party supporters the next time he appears in the city in September he will most probably be acompanied by 5 - 10,000 extra police officers to ensure that he and members of his cabinet are not attacked by the very people who voted for him just one year ago.

Stress test claims one Greek bank

The National Bank of Greece, Thessaloniki branch, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

The much hyped stress test of Europe's banking system is intended to ally fears in the world money markets over the ability of the continent's financial system to weather a meltdown. In the end just seven of the 91 banks failed to make the mark, five Spanish, one German and one Greek.

Athens is claiming this as proof of the rude health of Greece's banking institution and the state run TV channels are running the story as if it was a 5-1 victory in the World Cup. However, by strange coincidence the one institution that failed the test is the state controlled ATE (Agricultural Bank of Greece) which is also responsible for hundreds of million in loans to the country's two largest parties. The ruling PASOK party lead by Giorgos Papandreou owes 98,6 million euros whereas the opposition New Democracy party which was in power till last September has debts of 105 million.

In addition the parties also owe sizeable amounts to Piraeus bank which narrowly escaped the same fate as ATE. It seems strange that the two banks which fared worse in the stress test are the one so intimately associated with parties in government.

A mind more suspicious than my own might come to the conclusion that ATE and perhaps Piraeus have been used as a private piggy bank by those in power and that much of ATE's present weakness comes from the Greek State's chronic inability to maintain a distinction between the needs of the Party (whatever ideological colours it purports to fly) and the needs of the country.

Γιώργος Παπανδρέου - Giorgos Papandreou

Γιώργος Παπανδρέου - Giorgos Papandreou, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

With elections just days away the Greece's socialist opposition seems set to take power in the parliamentary elections this Sunday. PASOK leader, Giorgos Papandreaou addressed thousands of party followers in the northern port city of Thessaloniki, promising to bring drastic changes to the way the country is governed.

Although opinion polls have recently been banned by the government in the run up to elections, leaked reports on the internet put the ruling conservative party 7-8% behind their socialist rivals.

Giorgos Papandreou in Thessaloniki

Giorgos Papandreou, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Speaking at a press conference in Thessaloniki today. For more pictures click here;

http://www.demotix.com/news/greek-campaign-heats

PASOK party rally in Greece for the 2009 European elections

PASOK party rally in Greece for the 2009 European elections, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

Giorgos Papandreou addressing PASOK supporters in Thessaloniki, Greece

Giorgos Papandreou addressing PASOK supporters in Thessaloniki, Greece, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

ΠΑΣΟΚ - Με την ευγενική χορηγία της Ζίμενς

ΠΑΣΟΚ - Με την ευγενική χορηγία της Ζίμενς, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"Reinhard Siekaczec, a former executive at the German electronics giant, which supplies equipment to Greece’s state telecoms operator, gave damaging testimony at a trial in Munich earlier this year. He said that “commissions” worth 8% of the contract’s value were paid to Greek politicians and senior executives through a network of offshore companies. The total amount exceeded €1 billion, he claimed. Most of it apparently went to officials from Pasok, which held power from 1993 to 2004, but the New Democracy government elected that year approved a contract worth over €40m for security equipment for the Athens Olympics.

Nikos Zagorianos, a prosecutor investigating the Siemens affair, is shortly to go to Germany. One former Pasok official, Theodoros Tsoukatos, has admitted that he accepted €400,000 from the local Siemens boss as an election contribution in 1999, when he was a prime ministerial aide responsible for collecting political donations. Amid the furore, Kyriakos Mitsotakis, a New Democracy deputy who is the son of a former prime minister, recently paid an overlooked bill for a switchboard that was supplied to his private office by Siemens, after a copy of the invoice was printed in a Greek newspaper."

http://www.economist.com/world/europe/displaystory.cfm?story_id=12209248

Giorgos Papandreou

Giorgos Papandreou, originally uploaded by Teacher Dude's BBQ.

"Georgios Papandreou (Greek: Γιώργος Ανδρέα Παπανδρέου) (born June 16, 1952), Greek of Greek-American origin, has been leader of the Panhellenic Socialist Movement (PASOK) party since February 2004. "The son and grandson of Greek prime ministers, he was Minister for National Education and Religious Affairs two times (1988-1989 and 1994-1996) and Minister of the Foreign Affairs from 1999 to 2004. In 2006 he became President of the Socialist International"

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Papandreou_(junior)

This was taken less than two hours ago when Papandreou was speaking to reporters in Greece's second city, Thessaloniki.