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I have just got back from Corfu in Greece, a country that I visited many years ago. Greece has nearly always been ruled by Socialists and is now bankrupt. $Billions have been squandered on their, (Like ours) massive, top heavy, public sector, with virtually nothing to show for it. Well apart from (Like here) millions of public service workers who are pissed off that their gravy train of squandering has been derailed.

I couldn't believe it but after 30 years of virtually continuous Socialist rule, YOU STILL CAN'T PUT FUCKING BOG ROLL DOWN THE TOILET, why? because the reckless, squandering cunts have spunked every penny the country has earned, on anything and everything, APART from infrastructure! Build proper sewage treatment plants on an island that earns a fortune from tourism? Of course not, let's give it all away in wages, bonuses and final salary pensions to the usless public service hierarchy.

Does this remind you of anyone?

PS A coffee in Corfu can be about ?4.00 and I would guess that it would cost a family of four at least ?140 EUROS a day just to eat basic meals in ordinary restaurants and have just a few drinks and ice creams, during the course of a day. So be prepared if you are going there for a "Cheap" holiday, because you'll have a big shock!

Dear Jimbo,
Glad to hear you enjoyed your holiday.

In Ireland, Fianna Fail which is a Centrist party has been in charge for 61 of the last 79 years. And look at the result Jimbo. They are totally fucked. Maxed out on their governmental credit cards or what? Not a pot to piss in, never mind a toilet that you can use toilet paper with. Centrism in action.

"Greece has nearly always been ruled by Socialists."

Ya talking out your arse. Not for the first time, if I may be so bold as to point out. One of the two main political parties in Greece is the New Democracy party which is a centre right party. In the period after the dictatorship, 1974-2011, they were in power for at least half the time and were the government in control in the runup to the recession.

By the way, George Bush made a great job of the US economy didnt he?

Cheers
D

In this civilised forum, it would be nice if you could curb your foul mouth when replying to people, but I expect this is what should be expected from someone who would if he were able, to answer dissent with a knuckle duster! Anyway as usual your dodgy stats are wrong and/or whitewashed and adjusted to suit your aims. Comrade David WE ARE NOT LIVING IN THE SOVIET UNION!!!deadhorse!:

"Greece's governments have been dependent on aid since the end of the civil war. The influence of leftwing politics has been strong, with the communist party coming 4th in 1974 and 1977 and 3rd in 1981 with between 9 and 11% of the vote during this time, with more moderate socialists winning power in 1981. Since then the socialists have won a majority of Greek elections, and the communists have come third in all but one of the elections in that time. In other words, Greece is used to being governed with the principles of big government and socialism. The current Prime Minister, George Papandreaou might consider how his father, Andreas, when he was Prime Minister, ran enormous budget deficits in the 1980s when he was PM. Greece has been living beyond its means for a very long time.

When it joined the then European Economic Community in 1981, it was one of the poorest new members. Its membership ushered in a period of 20 years when it, along with Spain and Portugal, got the bulk of the subsidies for infrastructure and development that the EU now lavishes upon the likes of Romania and Bulgaria. Greece was one of the biggest recipients of Western European aid. This helped to bolster Greece's addiction to debt and budget deficits.

With membership of the Euro this gave Greece a high value currency with low European Central Bank interests rates that it could borrow with. It took advantage of the ability to issue sovereign debt in Euros to continue spending up large."

Jimbo - I'm amazed that they still haven't fixed up the crappers there. I was in Atherns in 1995 and our tour guide told us not to file the paperwork in the usual way, but to put it in a little basket thingy. I noticed that the cleaning lady gave me a particularly dirty look after she finished cleaning my hotel room and I started wondering if the toilet paper story was some sort of practical joke by our guide (who had form in this area). But, it seems it really was true.

I remember the 'air' in Atherns was so polluted I considered taking up smoking while I was there just to inhale less poison!

I think the joke goes that 2500 years ago, Greece was the most advanced civilisation - and they've gone backwards ever since. They've got some hot chickies though.

No the sad news is that you are expected to put your shit laden bog paper in a bin for collection at some later date, whilst it stinks the place out. I think all the British contingent simply flushed their bog paper down the toilet like civilised folk and simply smeared Nutella on some extra tissue and placed it in the bin, so as to outwit the "Shit paper bin inspectorate" a paramilitary style quango, set up by the Greek Government, employing some 30,000 people at a cost of 30 Billion EUROS per year!

Anyway, why does everyone East and South of Italy have such a problem dealing with shit and sewage? After all flush toilets and sewage designs have been around for centuries.



Oh before anyone screams, "They haven't got any money" well that's bollocks too, because a sewage system involves the digging of ditches, the laying of pipes and the cleansing can be done with:

Darling Jimbo, I thought I warned you that Greece is now a rip-off before
you went...or perhaps I did not !
A dear and highly intelligent friend, an ex-banker no less, formerly senior
consultant at Morgan Stanley - and a loyal Greek too - recently told me
that he was thoroughly ashamed of his former country. I asked him where
the problem came from ? "Thats easy to answer," he replied, "Its just
plain greed on the part of Greeks at all levels but especially the private
sector, coupled with massive corruption in the public sector and a general
lazy attitude !"
The coffee you complain about is a perfect example of this. My friend
would explain that the Greek cafe owner who charged ?1 a cup just 2
years ago would argue that "With so many tourists to Corfu why not
charge ?4 a cup because they love us Greeks and will keep on paying -
and coming !"
But, as you know Jimbo, this Greek attitude is wrong ! Foreigners are
sick of the greedy holiday rip-offs in the same way that the Govts of
other EEC countries are sick of the Greek attitude to monetary help,
which is "Keep bailing us out !"
Greece is in an appalling mess ! They have only themselves to blame !
The "Economist" predicted last December that by next Xmas they will
have left the euro and gone back to much deflated drachma ! We will
see !

Jiimbo,
Can I remind you of your original post. You appear to have forgotten it.

"Greece has nearly always been ruled by Socialists"

How does having a Centre Right party running the government for 50% of the time after the dictatorship fell in 1974, including the run up to the recession from 2004-2009 equate to "nearly always been ruled by Socialists"?

Like I said you are talking nonsense. Not for the first or the last time, I suspect.

Cheers
D

So "you are talking out of your arse" equates to foul mouth, does it?

Have you recently turned into Mary Poppins, Jim or have I just not noticed previously?

Cheers
D

Whether ruled by socialists or not, free market capitalism has not been the norm in Greece, to say the least. In the private sector tax evasion is rife (it was a patriotic duty to evade taxes when the Turks ruled, and it's a tradition the Greeks like to keep up), whilst in the public sector cronyism rules. Each party appoints its loyal hacks to the civil service, from which they are never sacked. Then the other party wins the election and gives jobs to its supporters. Subsidies from the EU kept the show on the road, and gave the illusion of prosperity, but it was no more real than a South Pacific cargo cult. Joining the Euro (on transparently fraudulent figures) has been the final straw.

Like the Republic of Ireland, Greece is doomed as long as it stays in the Euro. One way or another, it simply must leave, or be crucified by debt which can never be repaid, with a currency worth twice what it should be. There are many parallels bewteen Greece and Ireland, both are small, peripheral nations, both have corrupt public sectors and crony capitalist economies, both did well at first from EU membership, and both are being destroyed by membership of the Euro. Unless their political leaders actually do something, both states will be destroyed by debt, and will collapse into violence.

Yes Frank you are right and the Greek Restuarant owners, at least in Corfu, will soon be facing ruin. First Choice holidays will ONLY be offering All Inclusive holidays from next year. Greek food is easy to knock up en masse, so I'm sure this will end up the norm and the local restuarants will stand empty. Already their season has gone from 7 months down to 4 months one restuarant owner sobbed to me.

Basically they don't give a toss. For example they've had since October last year to do repairs to the properties. Guess what, they were smashing and crashing and using power tools everywhere even with holiday makers arriving hoping for some peace and quiet. Some bastard started with a excrutiatingly loud motorised tile cutter downstairs at 8.00am on our first day. I kicked opened the doors to our balcony and screamed, "You bunch of fucking cunts, I can't fucking believe I come all the way here for some peace and quiet and some fucker starts up with a cunting angle grinder!!!!!!" Anyway, I didn't realise the guy was English and the complex owner bitterly complained to me, that he'd run away, 'cos he thought I was a psychopath and I was going come downstairs and angle grind his head off! lol

The sheer beauty of the Islands has allowed the Greeks to get away with shoddy accomodation and rip off average food, for many years. With new areas opening up like Croatia, I believe the Greeks are busily digging their own graves.

Problem is mugs like us will keep bailing them out.
And beaches like this show why the Greeks continue jerking us off, but for how much longer?
[img]http://www.richmond-holidays.com/downlo ... each_3.JPG[/img]