*promote the awesomeness!!

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Thursday, December 9th, 2010 11:12am PST - promote requested by Duckman33.

Straight upvote, because there's nothing like "thirty" spoken in an Irish accent.

And a *promote on top, because the Irish have a fifth problem, and it's a game breaker: they have no feasible business model.

Financed by EU subsidies, fueled by the lowest company taxes and no real regulation, they based their whole economic system on two basic pillars, the financial sector and multinational corporations. By now, we should all know the first one is worse than cancer. And the second one, Ireland as the European FOB for US corporations, allowed Google amongst all the other crooks to get away with a tax rate of 2.4%. Here's one little fact a well-ignored economist stated back in 2001(!): Irish GNP was about 80% of Irish GDP. So 20% of the cake belonged to foreign corporations. How feasible is that? Add a housing bubble that - relative to size - puts the US real estate bubble to shame and you get a glimpse of just how fucked the Irish really are.

And just a few months ago, Ireland was the fucking hero for all those mainstream economists. "Copy the Irish model", they said. And don't believe for a second that the Irish - or the Greeks, Portuguese, Spanish for that matter - can pay back their debt. No chance in hell, they are done, financially. So it's a haircut and either finally the financial unity within the EU or the whole thing blows up in our faces. We need a European tax model, so the Irish for instance can't low-ball on corporate taxes, and reasonable wages based on productivity first and foremost, so the Germans stop ruining the rest of the bloody Union. Minimum wages and minimum taxes or the game is over.

Edit: My sympathies to the Irish anyway, the proposed cuts are pointless and a social disaster. Same as in Greece, workers get dogged for what the bankers and the government fucked up. Only Iceland seems to do the right thing at this time. Put CEOs and the lot in a Eurostar and send 'em off to France, they still have some guillotines in store.

Promoting this video and sending it back into the queue for one more try; last queued Thursday, December 9th, 2010 12:00pm PST - promote requested by radx.

Sure he's a "wee bit" discontented at the current run of bankers on the economy, but mention Micheal Flately being from Chicago and it's "Fuck off!" Love it.

Can Portugal and Spain's situation really be compared to Ireland and Greece's? I mean, yes we are also in a bit of trouble, but I truly believe the whole situation has been amplified by fucking speculators, messing with our credit ratings.

This video just happened to have the Freud Finger Puppet from the SiftShop sitting beneath it during my viewing... Which made it all the better, given the resemblance.

Flatley, my dear, I don't Riverdance (give a damn).

What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

Our Alan resolved this debate some time ago: http://videosift.com/video/Alan-Partridge-settles-the-debate-who-is-the-best-lord

>> ^dannym3141:

What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?


Kind of.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_Paddy

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.

My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:

What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

arsehole wankin bankers

More on Portugal and Spain in this vid, also filmed in Halifax: http://videosift.com/video/22-Minutes-EU-Bailout-of-Ireland
>> ^EMPIRE:

Can Portugal and Spain's situation really be compared to Ireland and Greece's? I mean, yes we are also in a bit of trouble, but I truly believe the whole situation has been amplified by fucking speculators, messing with our credit ratings.

This, this is the real Epic Beard Man.

>> ^EMPIRE:

Can Portugal and Spain's situation really be compared to Ireland and Greece's? I mean, yes we are also in a bit of trouble, but I truly believe the whole situation has been amplified by fucking speculators, messing with our credit ratings.

It certainly is amplified by speculations, for which the blame primarily rests with Merkel, if you ask me.

At current interest and growth rates, Portugal's national debt is noticably less threatening than Ireland's, but considering the agenda of cuts and savings, growth will remain abysmal or even turn negative, as is the case of Greece. Add the account deficit of 11.6% of GDP in the first half of 2010 and I'd say Portugal is quietly insolvent.

Spain on the other hand with its national debt of mere ~57% of GDP looks somewhat more stable, but look at the foreign exposure of the private sector. That's up to a cool €700B once the lid is taken off. And that would stretch the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) budget to the limit, a budget of only €750B. Which is why some argued that it should have been closer to €2T from the start.

And that's when a haircut is inevitable. Folks around Europe won't just accept massive cutbacks, causing massive unemployment and the following nightmares, just so investors can cash in on their situation. There's going to be some serious debt restructuring, including haircuts.

The real shit would begin if Italy, due to national debt and political instability, got sucked down as well. That'd be fun, yap.

So I'd say let's take Jean-Claude Juncker's advice and finally make it a proper union, not just a shared currency with opposing interests. Unfortunatly, my own bloody government won't play along with that.

I'm not a nationalist at all, and I'm ever more inclined to consider patriotism and nationalism a damn mental disorder than anything else. Feeling all proud and somehow better than others because you fell out of your mother's vagina in a particular geographic location is completely stupid.

I'm all for unification of mankind, not the other way around. Unfortunately, very few people seem to think like that. Hell, I wouldn't mind if Spain and Portugal united as one country called Iberia. We have europe's oldest borders. That says a lot about your relationship with the neighbours.



>> ^radx:

>> ^EMPIRE:
Can Portugal and Spain's situation really be compared to Ireland and Greece's? I mean, yes we are also in a bit of trouble, but I truly believe the whole situation has been amplified by fucking speculators, messing with our credit ratings.

It certainly is amplified by speculations, for which the blame primarily rests with Merkel, if you ask me.
At current interest and growth rates, Portugal's national debt is noticably less threatening than Ireland's, but considering the agenda of cuts and savings, growth will remain abysmal or even turn negative, as is the case of Greece. Add the account deficit of 11.6% of GDP in the first half of 2010 and I'd say Portugal is quietly insolvent.
Spain on the other hand with its national debt of mere ~57% of GDP looks somewhat more stable, but look at the foreign exposure of the private sector. That's up to a cool €700B once the lid is taken off. And that would stretch the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) budget to the limit, a budget of only €750B. Which is why some argued that it should have been closer to €2T from the start.
And that's when a haircut is inevitable. Folks around Europe won't just accept massive cutbacks, causing massive unemployment and the following nightmares, just so investors can cash in on their situation. There's going to be some serious debt restructuring, including haircuts.
The real shit would begin if Italy, due to national debt and political instability, got sucked down as well. That'd be fun, yap.
So I'd say let's take Jean-Claude Juncker's advice and finally make it a proper union, not just a shared currency with opposing interests. Unfortunatly, my own bloody government won't play along with that.

>> ^kronosposeidon:

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.
My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:
What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?



Ahhh, i wondered why half the americans i'd ever met/seen on tv/anything said "oh i'm irish/italian/whatever."

I remember one guy telling me he was irish, i said you don't sound it, he said "oh i hide it - don't make me use my irish accent as proof" and then immediately jumped into a passable scottish accent without irony or sarcasm.

Well - as with many Sift vids this brings up a complicated issue and only chooses to tell a part of the story.

Companies, banks, insurers, financial institutions, and many businesses have indeed behaved with what can only be described as evil indifference. They have gamed systems around the world to create favorable business environments for themselves, and when the market collapsed they pushed slimy political patronage in order to get bailouts to save them from their stupidity. These businesses should have been allowed to fail and damn the consequences.

But the video ignores the other dancers on the floor - government and the citizens.

Western governments have been 'engineering' this problem for decades because of leftist poltiical philosophy being funded with crony 'capitalism'. They have been buying votes with social giveaways, and partnering with business to use skullduggery and questionable legislation (and some outright unconstitutional stuff) to engage in 'social justice', 'political fairness'. But progressive/liberal philosophies always run governments into unsustainability because the model cannot sustain itself. Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany and the rest aren't in financial trouble just because banks behaved like idiots. They are on the brink of collapse because they promised trillions in social benefits that they NEVER had the ability to supply. They knew this long ago, but made a devil's bargain with the sleazy businesses to shadow-fund the shell game. But inevitably, unsustainable models break, and now everything is crumbling around them, which forces them to make cuts (austerity measures) or face total collapse.

Which finally brings us to player #3. The people. No offense to specific individuals, but as a collective the citizens of Western civilization have behaved (with exceptions of course) like a bunch of spoiled brats. This angry Irishman is probably a spoiled brat too, since he looks to be a part of the Boomer generation which is one of the most spoiled rotton generations this world has ever seen and he's totally whining about not getting to keep his precious benefits. Despite potential financial collapse, these stupid people still till want to retire at age 50, get 1 month a year free vacation, free college, full retirement benefits, and every other unaffordable perk, benefit, freebie, and giveaway they can glom their sticky, greedy mitts on. Not to mention that they VOTED these bozos into office based on promises to get all this stuff, which is why the governments screwed up so badly to start with.

Bad banks? Sure. But government and the people get no free pass with me.

Ireland has had a very different post WWII history to America. A lot of what you just said is irrelevant to us. Eg we didn't have a baby boom - you can be guaranteed this guy had a hard time in the 60s, 70s, 80s. The spoiled generation was born in the late 80s and 90s. Ireland's retirement age to my knowledge has never dropped below 65. That aside, our pensions are paid for directly through taxes anyway.

More generally, our "leftist philosophy" (and it's a big stretch to call it that) is not responsible for the crash. The banks guarantee scheme is where the vast majority of our debt is coming from. It was not debt racked up by the people or the government but by banks. The guarantee doomed the country. Fucking Anglo Irish Bank.>> ^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:

Well - as with many Sift vids this brings up a complicated issue and only chooses to tell a part of the story.
Companies, banks, insurers, financial institutions, and many businesses have indeed behaved with what can only be described as evil indifference. They have gamed systems around the world to create favorable business environments for themselves, and when the market collapsed they pushed slimy political patronage in order to get bailouts to save them from their stupidity. These businesses should have been allowed to fail and damn the consequences.
But the video ignores the other dancers on the floor - government and the citizens.
Western governments have been 'engineering' this problem for decades because of leftist poltiical philosophy being funded with crony 'capitalism'. They have been buying votes with social giveaways, and partnering with business to use skullduggery and questionable legislation (and some outright unconstitutional stuff) to engage in 'social justice', 'political fairness'. But progressive/liberal philosophies always run governments into unsustainability because the model cannot sustain itself. Greece, Ireland, Spain, Portugal, Italy, France, Germany and the rest aren't in financial trouble just because banks behaved like idiots. They are on the brink of collapse because they promised trillions in social benefits that they NEVER had the ability to supply. They knew this long ago, but made a devil's bargain with the sleazy businesses to shadow-fund the shell game. But inevitably, unsustainable models break, and now everything is crumbling around them, which forces them to make cuts (austerity measures) or face total collapse.
Which finally brings us to player #3. The people. No offense to specific individuals, but as a collective the citizens of Western civilization have behaved (with exceptions of course) like a bunch of spoiled brats. This angry Irishman is probably a spoiled brat too, since he looks to be a part of the Boomer generation which is one of the most spoiled rotton generations this world has ever seen and he's totally whining about not getting to keep his precious benefits. Despite potential financial collapse, these stupid people still till want to retire at age 50, get 1 month a year free vacation, free college, full retirement benefits, and every other unaffordable perk, benefit, freebie, and giveaway they can glom their sticky, greedy mitts on. Not to mention that they VOTED these bozos into office based on promises to get all this stuff, which is why the governments screwed up so badly to start with.
Bad banks? Sure. But government and the people get no free pass with me.

When abroad, I'm an American. When someone asks me stateside what I am, I'm Irish/Italian. It's just a matter of context.

When an American asks an American "what are you?", you would draw a rather queer glance if you replied "American." "What are you" means "what's your heritage" when working under the presumption that you're both American.>> ^kronosposeidon:

Yes, at least in America there are. There are some people who might have one great great grandfather from County Kerry, but when asked what they are they'll say "I'm Irish!" It's just the way some Americans are. Ask a lot of 3rd, 4th, 5th, etc. generation Americans what they are (not what their ethnic heritage is, but who they themselves are) and they'll say "I'm Irish/Italian/Chinese/Iranian/Polish/Bengali...." That's probably why that reporter specified "real" Irishman.
My dad's parents were right off the boat from Ireland, which makes me about as Irish as Ravi Shankar. So I'll tell you now, the colleens enjoy a wee dram before tantra. More floothered = more kundalini. I learned that from Guru McGillicuddy. >> ^dannym3141:
What on earth does he mean "a real irishman"? Are there fake ones?

^Winstonfield_Pennypacker:
These businesses should have been allowed to fail and damn the consequences.

I can't really disagree. The immediate consequences would be extreme, but beyond that I can only guess. Eventually some government will let it happen and, if nothing else, we'll learn something.


But progressive/liberal philosophies always run governments into unsustainability because the model cannot sustain itself. [...] They are on the brink of collapse because they promised trillions in social benefits that they NEVER had the ability to supply.

<sigh> The second statement here is the kind that initially makes me want to upvote your posts, but then you inevitably imply that all progressive policies are unsustainable and/or that all unsustainable polices are associated with progressives.


No offense to specific individuals, but as a collective the citizens of Western civilization have behaved (with exceptions of course) like a bunch of spoiled brats. [...] he's totally whining about not getting to keep his precious benefits.

I agree, but only under the admission that tax cuts are benefits as well.

lol i thought he was going to give a serious answer - i nearly spat my drink!

Tags for this video have been changed from 'celtic tiger, banks, money, Ireland, greed, cheap money' to 'celtic tiger, banks, money, Ireland, greed, cheap money, michael flatley, economy' - edited by xxovercastxx