The Greeks Can’t Afford To Bear Gifts These Days

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

.

I used to love listening to George W Bush when he talked about the ‘Grecians’. He was an idiot, but unlike some holders of his post I think he secretly knew it.

But, enough of that, let’s concentrate on the Grecians.

Their financial crisis is deepening and they’ve shut down all their banks. They’ve also imposed what are called ‘capital controls’, in other words what you can and cannot do with your own money –  assuming you could get to it in the first place.

Several Western countries, including the US and Britain, have issued travel warnings for Greece. Not a warning about the place being very dangerous, just a warning to have enough cash to be able to pay for things now that the banks are shut and presumably their ATMs as well.

This recent activity by the Greek government is because of the breakdown of talks between Athens and the European Union concerning the Grecians’ enormous debt that they clearly can’t afford to pay back. EU finance ministers rejected Athens’ request to prolong a financial assistance program.

It is also about a bit of timely government blackmail.

The Greek government has so far been unable to formulate any meaningful plans to curtail their spending significantly. The Greek people likewise have become used to living beyond their means and are reluctant to tighten their belts. The people are blaming the government and the government is blaming the people and nothing is really getting resolved.

So Greek Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, shut the banks and said they would stay shut until July 6, conveniently the day after a nationwide referendum on whether to accept the bailout terms proposed to Greece by its creditors.

Some commentators also think that the banks may have been shut because they don’t have enough cash left. The Greek people think the same and are panicking to get their money out of the banks. Runs on banks inevitably lead to disaster.

As Greece is part of the Euro zone it does not have control of its own monetary system. In other words, unlike America which can simply print more money if and when it needs it, the Grecians have to rely on the European Central Bank giving them cash. and it has refused to give them any more Euros.

That decision could prompt Greece to default which would probably lead to it being kicked out of the Euro zone and possibly out of the EU itself, which would be an historic first and something that would be done very reluctantly.

The rulers of the EU are in what is known as a ‘tight spot’. If they don’t take a tough line on the Grecians they can be sure other poor countries in the EU will follow suit. If they do take a tough line, then the upheaval will undoubted have an impact on the Euro currency.

A Greek default would also be another kick in the greedy teeth of the big financial institutions who own a good part of the massive €300 billion debt – you see there are positives in every situation if you look hard enough.

So it looks like emergency meetings and frantic discussions all over the place in Europe.

Despite the fact that Dubya is long gone from the political scene, I don’t think we’ve heard the last about the Grecians just yet.

By the way, Happy Independence Day to all my American visitors, bet you’re glad you’re not part of Europe these days.

.

===================================

.

Did You Know? – Americans, Chinese, French, Greeks, There’s Facts About All Of Them In Here!

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

.

Yes, today is a bit of a multi-cultural fact feast.

Hope you enjoy.

.

.

Brown eyes are actually blue,

under a layer of melanin.

.

.

Billionaire Chuck Feeney donated most of his fortune

anonymously and with no recognition,

while flying coach, owning a $15 watch,

and having no cars or homes.

.

.

George Washington was surprised to discover

that the Chinese were not white.

(I wonder how surprised they were to find out he was?)

.

.

When it first opened in 1955 Disneyland had

a lingerie store on Main Street called The Wizard Of Bras

.

.

In the mid 1800s France gave a crucial patent

in photography as a free gift to the world…

except for Britain who had to pay for it!

.

.

Disaster comes from the Greek

“dis” meaning bad,

and “aster”, meaning star.

The ancient Greeks used to blame calamities

on unfavorable planetary positions.

.

.

If you are in a room with 23 people,

there’s more than a 50% chance that

two of the people have the same birthday.

.

.

There are more tigers living in Texas

than in the rest of the world.

.

.

While serving as sheriff of Erie County, N.Y.,

Grover Cleveland had to spring the trap

at a hanging on two occassions.

This earned him the unflattering nickname

“Buffalo Hangman.”

.

.

Workers at Amazon’s distribution centers

can be expected to walk up to 11 miles per shift,

picking an order every 33 seconds.

.

.

The shortest French word with all

five vowels is “oiseau” meaning bird.

.

.

Des Moines has the highest per capita0

Jello consumption in the U.S

.

.

In 1770 the British parliament passed a law

condemning lipstick, stating that

” women found guilty of seducing men

into matrimony by a cosmetic means”

could be tried for witchcraft.

.

.

Mr Feng, a Chinese father, hired a bunch of assassins

to kill his son’s online World of Warcraft character.

Apparently his son was wasting too much time after being laid off.

.

.

Spencer Eldon was the name of the naked baby

on the cover of Nirvana’s album

.

.

============================================

.

If There Are No Stupid Questions, Then What Kind Of Questions Do Stupid People Ask?

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

 .

The title of today’s post is part of a quote from Scott Adams. The whole thing goes, “If there are no stupid questions, then what kind of questions do stupid people ask? Do they get smart just in time to ask questions?”.

I don’t know whether you could classify all of these questions as stupid or otherwise, there’s probably a mixture of both. Different people will probably have different opinions.

As usual if you have any answers then feel free to enlighten us all.

Enjoy.

 

 

Why are builders afraid to have a 13th floor but book publishers aren’t afraid to have a Chapter 11?

 

How do you handcuff a one-armed man?

 

If the FBI breaks your door down do they have to pay for it?

 

In some books, why do they have blank pages at the very end?

 

Why can’t donuts be square?

 

Why put a towel in the dirty clothes basket if when you get out of the shower you are clean?

 

What does happen to an irresistible force when it hits an immovable object?

 

If there’s a speed of sound and a speed of light is there a speed of smell?

 

Why do overalls have belt loops, since they are held up at the top by the straps?

 

Do people in prison celebrate halloween…. if so how?

 

Do the security guards at airports have to go through airport security when they get to work?

 

Why are all of the Harry Potter spells in Latin if he’s English?

 

What do Greeks say when they don’t understand something? “It’s all ???? to me.”

 

Do all-boy schools have girl’s bathrooms? Conversely, do all-girl schools have boy’s bathrooms?

 

Are children who act in rated ‘R’ movies allowed to see them?

 

How come cats’ butts go up when you pet them?

 

What would happen to the sea’s water level if every boat in the world was taken out of the water at the same time?

 

How come you never see a billboard being put up by the highway?

 

Do the English people eat English muffins, or are they just called muffins?

 

How much deeper would the ocean be if sponges didn’t grow in it?

 

===================================

Significant Number Factoid Friday – Fourteen

“Fight Against Stupidity And Bureaucracy”

 .

They’ve been ‘beautiful’,  they’ve been ‘big’  and they’ve been ‘unusual’. 

Today we have another ‘significant’ number, fourteen, so-called because of its use and the beliefs surrounding it.

Enjoy.

 

14 Fourteen

The number 14 seems to have some regal significance, particularly where these two Royals were concerned:

 

Louis XIV

• ascended to the throne on May 14^th, 1643  (1+6+4+3=14);
• he was saved by Turenne at Blema in 1652  (1+6+5+2=14);
• in accordance with an Edict of Charle V, he was declared major at 14 years and governed himself in 1661 (1+6+6+1=14);
• he built the Hotel of the Invalids in 1670 (1+6+7+0=14);
• he died in 1715 (1+7+1+5=14), at the age of 77 years old (7+7=14);  
• having reigned 72 years (7×2=14).

Louis XIV

 

 

England’s King Henry IV

• was born 14 centuries, 14 decades and 14 years after the Christian era;
• he came into the world on December 14^th ;
• he died on May 14^th :
• he lived 4 x 14 years, 14 weeks and 14 days.

England’s King Henry iv

 

 

Other stuff

The atomic number for Silicon is 14.

The approximate atomic weight of nitrogen 14.

There are fourteen ascending and downward days of the moon.

The fourteenth year is, for the man, the year of the puberty.

The fingers of each of the two hands are composed of fourteen phalanxes.

February 14^th is Saint Valentine’s Day, a fact most men are not allowed to forget.

February 14th – St Valentine’s Day

 

 

In the Bible

• There are fourteen generations from Abraham to David;
• The fourteen epistles written by saint Paul, having on the whole 100 chapters and adding up 2335 verses;
• With the return of Exile, after the rebuilding of the Temple, the Israelis celebrated the Passover the fourteenth day of the first month; (Ezr 6,19)
• Jacob worked fourteen years for his uncle Laban in order to be able to marry his daughter Rachel, they had fourteen sons and grandsons; (Gn 29,15-30 and 46,22)
• The sufferings of the Christ would have begun fourteen days before Passover to finish with his passion;
• Every year, the celebration of the Easter is never done in the same date. At the fourth century after Jesus Christ, it was established that this major feast of the liturgical calendar would be celebrated the first Sunday following the 14th night of lunation of March;
• In the Book of Enoch (not included in the Bible) it talks about the fourteen preferential trees which remain always green for all season of the year.

 

In legends

• According to the Egyptian legend, the body of Osiris was cut into 14 pieces, 13 of which were found by Isis, the 14th, the penis, having been devoured by the fishes.
• In Egypt, the Amenti, area westward of the Nile, where go the souls of deaths, was divided in 14 parts.
• Among Greeks, the fourteen days “alcyonians” were the 7 days preceding and the 7 days following the solstice of winter. During this period, the sea was supposed calm so as to allow the “alcyons” to build their nest and to brood. The alcyons came from the Metamorphosis of Ceyx, son of the Star of the morning, Eosphéros (in Latin Lucifer) and his wife Alcyon, girl of Eole.

 

Fourteen also is:

• The number of days in a fortnight;
• In traditional British units of weight, the number of pounds in a stone;
• A number supposedly ‘encoded’ in much of the music of Johann Sebastian Bach. Bach may have considered this number a sort of signature, since given A = 1, B = 2, C = 3, etc., then B + A + C + H = 14;
• A common designation for the thirteenth floor in many buildings for superstitious reasons;
• The number of lines in a sonnet;
• The Number 14 airship by Alberto Santos Dumont that was used to test the aerodynamics of his 14-bis airplane;
• The number of the French department Calvados;
• A Storage server manufactured by IBM. It goes by name of “XIV” and is pronounced as the separate letters “X”, “I”, “V”;
• The Piano Sonata No. 14, also known as Moonlight Sonata, is one of the most famous piano sonatas composed by Ludwig van Beethoven;
• Age 14 is the earliest that the emancipation of minors can occur in the U.S.
• Minimum age at which one can work in many U.S states. Some require parental consent while others don’t;
• Minimum age at which one can work in most Australian states with parent’s consent;
• Minimum age at which one can drive a vehicle in the U.S. with a driver’s license (with supervision of an adult over 18 years of age, and with a valid, unmarked driver’s license, and at least 365 days of experience driving an actual automobile);
• The minimum age limit to drive a 50cc motorbike in Italy.

 

In Politics

The fourteenth President of the United States was Franklin Pierce (1804–1869) of the Democratic Party, who served from March 4^th, 1853  to March 4^th, 1857. His VP was William R. King (March 4^th, 1853 to April 18^th, 1853, when he died of tuberculosis only 45 days into office, the position being vacant from April 18^th, 1853 to March 4^th, 1857.)

Franklin Pierce 14th President of the United States of America

 

 

Then There Was The Fourteen Points

‘The Fourteen Points’ was a speech given by US President Woodrow Wilson to a joint session of Congress on January 8, 1918. It was the only explicit statement of war aims by any of the nations fighting in World War I, and was intended to assure the country that the Great War was being fought for a moral cause and for postwar peace in Europe.

President Woodrow Wilson

 

The Fourteen Points were:

• There should be no secret alliances between countries;
• Freedom of the seas in peace and war;
• The reduction of trade barriers among nations;
• The general reduction of armaments;
• The adjustment of colonial claims in the interest of the inhabitants as well as of the colonial powers;
• The evacuation of Russian territory and a welcome for its government to the society of nations;
• The restoration of Belgian territories in Germany;
• The evacuation of all French territory, including Alsace-Lorraine;
• The readjustment of Italian boundaries along clearly recognizable lines of nationality;
• Independence for various national groups in Austria-Hungary;
• The restoration of the Balkan nations and free access to the sea for Serbia;
• Protection for minorities in Turkey and the free passage of the ships of all nations through the Dardanelles;
• Independence for Poland, including access to the sea;
• A league of nations to protect “mutual guarantees of political independence and territorial integrity to great and small nations alike.”

The Fourteen Points was accepted by France and Italy on November 1, 1918. Britain later signed off on all of the points except the freedom of the seas. The United Kingdom also wanted Germany to make reparation payments for the war, and thought that that should be added to the Fourteen Points.

The speech was delivered 10 months before the Armistice with Germany and became the basis for the terms of the German surrender, as negotiated at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919. The Treaty of Versailles had little to do with the Fourteen Points and was never ratified by the U.S. Senate.

 

In aviation

In aviation the designation 14 has been used for several famous aircraft. Best known would be the Grumman F-14 Tomcat which entered the fleet in 1973, replacing the F-4 Phantom II. New variants were introduced in 1987 (the F-14B) and in 1990 (the F-14D).

An F-14A Tomcat over Iraq during Southern Watch

 

 

The designation has also appeared on Soviet/Russian aircraft, the most notable being the Antonov An-14 Pchelka, a utility transport introduced in 1966 and primarily used by the Soviet Air Force, Aeroflot, Afghan Air Force and East German Air Force. Production continued until 1972. Known as the “Little Bee”, it was a twin-engined light STOL utility transport first flown on 15 March 1958. Serial production started in 1966, and about 300 examples were built by the time production ended in 1972. A small number of An-14 are still in airworthy condition.

The Ilyushin Il-14 was a commercial and military personnel and cargo transport aircraft that entered service in 1954.

 

In space

Apollo 14, launched on January 31st, 1971, was the eighth manned mission in the Apollo program, and the third to land on the Moon. It was the last of the “H missions”, targeted landings with two-day stays on the Moon with two lunar EVAs, or moonwalks.

The astronauts were Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell.

Shepard and Mitchell made their lunar landing on February 5th in the Fra Mauro formation (this had originally been the target of the aborted Apollo 13 mission).
They spent about 33 hours on the Moon, with Shepard famously hit two golf balls on the lunar surface with a makeshift club he had brought from Earth.

Apollo 14 landed in the Pacific Ocean on February 9.

And finally

Finally, the No. 14 chair is the most famous chair made by the Thonet chair company. Also known as the bistro chair, it was designed by Michael Thonet and introduced in 1859. It became one of the best-selling chairs ever made with some 50 million being sold between 1859 and 1930. Millions more have been sold since.

The famous and best selling No 14 chair

 

Movement 1 from Ludwig Van Beetoven’s famous Moonlight Sonata

===========================