If we take for granted the need for cost cutting, it would be only logical, if not an outright neccessity in a democracy, to leave the details up to the local representatives. Payment of X Euros expected by mm/dd/yy, figure it out yourselves.

Why do it any other way?

Well, you know the three most discussed possibilities as well as I do: shock doctrine, an attempt to force Syriza to commit political suicide, and bureaucratic automatisms.

During the first stages of this facade, I would have put my money square on shock doctrine. The measures are just too damn beneficial to the "there is no society" kind of thinking. It's horseshit, economically, and tremendously damaging, socially.

Replacing Syriza with the Old Guard seems quite appealing, given the behind-the-scenes deals with the nepotistic elite as a means to facilitate a smoother transitition once those pesky commies are out of the picture. The vitriol against Varoufakis is just staggering in this regard. News of the World got nothing compared to what our respectable media has hurled at Varoufakis and Tsipras.

My take on the automatisms on the other hand is rooted in how our politicians and our public has been arguing this entire time. Neoliberalism is the gospel, dissent is heresy. Privatisation is good, cutting wages is good, flexible labour market is good, taxation of wealth is bad, deficit is bad, surplus is good. They drank the kool aid, they are in it hook, line and sinker.

And as a result, the diagnosis is always the same, and so is the treatment. And fuck me for using this ass of a metaphor, given how the language used is the most subtle means of manipulation. "Rescue" the Greeks, "drowning" in debt, "tighten your belt". How about: food only on five days a week, grandma gets to croak on diabetes and your baby boy dies of diphtheria.

Yes, I had a fucked up day. The discussion in parliament about the "Greek problem" was a disgrace and high treason of the humanistic ideas that are supposed to be the foundation of the European Union.

There is some skepticism from the economics writers, and more so in the Grauniad than the BBC or our local rags, but even there they're more vocal about Greece and close to silent on Britain.

I think the IMF deserves much more scrutiny from the press than it's had

Actually the whole thing reminds me of the 80s and Reaganomics, with the whole group think from the political classes and surprisingly little argument from anyone else.

Maybe they realised how pointless it was to point out the inevitable?

It is a long time ago, and I was quite young, but I don't even remember any Cassandras at the time... certainly our local newspapers all drank the kool-aid.

Not at all

Pardon the slow reply, I've been on holidays and ran out of internet (well, technically, ran out of laptop, but it ended up the same).

I think that the Kool Aid would end up more expensive than the ordinary dye here, but even in the States the thing about it is that it would be safe and fun for kids to use Kool Aid to dye the eggs, whereas the normal dye is... well... not exactly dangerous except for really little children, but awfully messy

I certainly think that the equally fake cordial syrups we have here would work just fine, green or red certainly, but they don't come in as many colours as that Kool-Aid pack.

There's a lot of kool-aid drinking in these comments. =)

i am not surprised we pretty much agree.

you should always be careful with any substance and to be informed is the first step.
was i careful at 15 with double barrel purple mescaline?---->nope.i was 15.

but i think the argument is getting caught up in distinctions,which is common.
when i speak of psychedelics,i am talking about:LSD,shrooms,mescaline.
and while exstacy is considered a psychedelic,and it IS a psychedelic (and awesome btw),i also consider that drug to be more a "club" drug,a designer drug,and yes...it can be fatal because often it is NOT mdma/mda you're are taking but a cocktail of bullshit with a few experimental chemistry molecules thrown in...so your cautionary tale is not exactly unfounded..but i have never seen shagen even suggest mdma/mda but almost exclusively:DMT.

now,i am fairly cautious in suggesting DMT to the uninitiated due to the fact of its potency (even in small amounts).there is no small build up with DMT,it goes from first gear to 15th in 2.2 seconds,and for a newcomer that can easily overwhelm and frighten.

for psychedelics to produce a positive and healthy response there first has to be interest in trying psychedelics out.the worst thing you could EVER do is "hey man,i just filled your beer with shroom tea" (you would notice though,that shit tastes like concentrated ass).

the person should also be in the right frame of mind and be in a place and with people they feel comfortable with and trust (very important the first time).knowing the dosage is important but not as important as you would think,as long as you take things slow and with patient care..things will sort out nicely.

as for death and permanent brain damage.i am not familiar with any cases except for the movie they showed us in the 7th grade with helen hunt thinking she could fly,because she took acid.i know psychedelics can affect a personality permanently (usually for the better) but nothing life threatening.i know too high a dosage on a novice mind can cause a "bad" trip and leave an unpleasant memory of the experience.there have been cases of latent mental illnesses manifesting due to the psychedelics,but it didnt CAUSE the mental illness.

from my own personal experience and what i have read,psychedelics are pretty safe.they are not a toy.they are an extremely powerful psychoactive compound that should always be treated with respect and to ignore that can have consequences.

but i dont think death and permanent brain damage are on that list.

unless you decided to do something stupid while tripping,but that is evolution,not psychedelics.

i could always come to california and we could drink shroom kool-aid.hang out on the moutain-side and watch the sunset and by the time we are watching the sunrise we will have become blood brothers and watched the universe expand in glorious birth pangs and then collapse upon itself in its death throes.talked to stars and danced with super novas.find ourselves in a meadow,thinking we walked half the state only to realize we are a 1/4 mile from your back porch.

i promise good times my friend.good times indeed.

lucky760 wishes to link to these two comments for posterity. lucky760 has made comment references like this in the past then later had no idea what he was referring to.

Your video, Kool Aid cat crashes through the snow, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Your video, Could Kool-Aid Man Break Through a Wall?, has made it into the Top 15 New Videos listing. Congratulations on your achievement. For your contribution you have been awarded 1 Power Point.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'Could, Kool Aid, KoolAid, guy, Man, Break, Through, Wall, crash, brick, solid, glass, drink' to 'vsauce, stupid hair cut, kool aid man, kool aid, brick wall' - edited by BoneRemake

Well, Dammit!
Of course he could smash through it.
He's Kool-aid man!!
Not only that, but I've seen him do it, he's been caught so many times on film doing it, that it doesn't need to be proven!

Now, I know I checked off the sarcasm button on that one.

I'm just messing with you my friend. And there's no kool-aid here. Just honest appreciation for something that's not complete shit in an oft completely shit world. I fuckin' hate kool-aid.

On the fucking contrary...Pretty much the opposite of fthe kool-aid yer poundin'...

It's an interesting video excepting that it is filled with distortions and outright lies:



The claims of this video have widely been debunked even by secular skeptics:

http://conspiracies.skepticproject.com/articles/zeitgeist/

The theory that the historical person of Jesus Christ is derived from ancient mythology is dead in the water. You will not find many in the scholarly community who have drunk this kool-aid.

Tags for this video have been changed from 'C Bump, Kool Aid, Sugar, Cobert, Bing Bang Boom' to 'C Bump, Kool Aid, Sugar, Colbert, Bing Bang Boom' - edited by Grimm

Bottom-line real shit for any brain-dead motherfucker out there who's still got Obama's back or is, 'tooting his horn', or wants a few minutes in the purple-room to suck his balls?:

He signs an executive order which reads that he can detain an American for any fucking reason, then, is authorized to disappear their ass to Guantanamo (still open), some bunker in Poland, or fuck, under the fucking White House if he just wants to rub salt in awound, and NO ONE, No judge, no family members, no entire state protesting, can do a mo-the-r fucking thing about it...

An evil, lying fuck-stick of a charlatan disguised as a leader, and anyone still drunk on the kool-aids' a complicit buffoon.

Why run to Russia and be prepared to keep on running?? Ask Snowden, or at the very least, listen to what he's fucking saying kids....

Fuuuuck people, read some fucking books!