The Poverty of the Greek people

[Ephilant]

There is no end to the madness in this open air asylum. We always knew it was bad, but the revenue in Lamia are really having a Monty Python moment here..
Self-employed people have to pay what is known as the "trade fee", an arbitrary sum of €500 which then allows them to be self employed and thus pay taxes on their income!?!?
The revenue in Lamia sent out a demand for the trade fee to a self employed person, threatening all kinds of horrible things if he didn't pay up. He didn't pay up, so the revenue went after him. Only to find that the person in question died in 1998! Meaning, nobody really bothered to go after him for the last 14 years. But as he is dead, that is the end of the story, no? Not so. Under TROIKA imposed rules a self employed person is required to personally notify the revenue in writing when they cease to trade as self employed. If that notification is not given, they remain liable for all taxes until the day the notification is given. It doesn't matter if the reason for not trading anymore is death or anything else, they must be notified.
As this deceased person omitted to write them a letter telling them he died, his family is now liable for the outstanding taxes and will be pursued for back tax as far as 1998.For starters, they are looking for the "Trade Fee" for the last 14 years. This must be paid first, to allow them to assess this deceased person on deemed income for the last 14 years. If he can't rise up from the dead and provide receipts, his family will be taxed on the full whack of deemed income for the 14 years their relative has been dead. If he somehow can rise up and provide the receipts, they will be liable for a bit less. They may also get charged with tax evasion.

[Ogiol]

holy fek! It is fascinating though the how the whole zombie idea and languages is becoming so tied in with the ''recession''. -zombie banks, zombie economies- and now zombie back-tax!!!

Anyone care to predict the next one??=

[DCon]

holy fek! It is fascinating though the how the whole zombie idea and languages is becoming so tied in with the ''recession''. -zombie banks, zombie economies- and now zombie back-tax!!!

Anyone care to predict the next one??=

zombie currency

Greece will reintroduce a Drachma but they will not have the cash (notes and coins) ready.

the drachma will be fictional at first and people will still use euros and barter etc.

[Ephilant]

Another pensioner has committed suicide on the streets of Athens. No name has been given so far, all that has been released is that the man is a 75 year old chemical engineer and a retired army service man. He left his home in the Kifissia suburb of Athens this morning, carrying with him his hunting rifle. He walked out into the middle of the street and literally blew his brains out. He died immediately. The man leaves 2 children behind. He left a suicide note behind blaming the cuts in his pension for his inability to cope with financial debts accumulate since the cuts were made. RIP

[Ephilant]

Today, a 36 year old taxi driver from Sepolia in Athens committed suicide by jumping from the 5 floor balcony of the flat he was living in. the man had been unemployed for 2 years, and was living with his parents becasue he had no income. His father is also unemployed without income and they were trying to make ands meet on the 390€ the mother "earned" per month for a 49 hour working week. The man committed the desperate deed whne his parents were absent. this is the third sucide in 24 hours. First there was the pensioner also in Athnes, then a farmer was found on Crete after being reported missing. He had swallowed pesticides to commit suicide. The doctor estimates it took him nearly 36 hours to die. Now, this young man in the prime of his life.
As Frau Merkel says, the experiment has failed... that woman, and her co-criminals in the EU, should be charged with crimes against humanity!

[disability student]

What's the story re bonus seats.. What's court due for their decision prior to Greek elections?

What's the latest poll?

[Ephilant]

What's the story re bonus seats.. What's court due for their decision prior to Greek elections?

What's the latest poll?

These are crucial questions, and I honestly don't know what the situation is with the 50 deat bonus. I seem to remember that SYRIZA has indeed been given 1 party status. The comments in papers, on Radio, TV etc. would indicate they have, as it is very much on people's minds, especially after Merkel's gaffe yesterday.
The legal situation is that the largest party after an election gets the 50 seat bonus. SYRIZA was always registered as a coaliton of parties and could therefore not claim the seats, even if the won the elections by a mile.
Lots of commentators are now speculating on the size fo their vote, which according to the last offical poll was 30.2%, leaving them just short of an overall majority, even with the 50 seats. In short, there are 300 seats in our parliament. But because 50 of those are a "bonus" for the winner, only 250 seats are allocated through elections. If you put your mathematics cap on, this actually means that aparty which reaches 32/5 of the vote has an overall majority. Official vote rigging...

As for polls, it is illegal in Greece for the media to run or publish findings from polls 2 weeks before an election. but bloggers etc. are not considered media, and are therefore not bound by this rule. Lots of "running polls" are held, very much like the polls on PW. but many do in fact engage polling companies to do this for them. Depending on who you read, these running polls give SYRIZA and ND either an equal 22.5% share of the vote (Will they each get 25 seats bonus? There's the makings of a serious row here...), most running polls put SYRIZA ahead with margins between 0.5% up to as much a 8.5%, and only one (run by a ND party member) puts ND ahead with 23.5 % against a SYRIZA poll of 22.5%. But after Merkel's gaffe yesterday, the mood is most definitely swinging away from ND, PASOK and Baby PASOK. If the vote were held today, SYRIZA would come out on top with a resounding majority, as well as an overall majority.
Clean nappies all around in Brussels and Berlin!

[Ephilant]

Shocking new unemployment figures were released today in greece, 3 days before a general election. The new figures reveal that

- 1.12 million Greeks are now on the live register. Remember that unemployment assistance is not a right here, and IF you get it, it will be for a maximum of 2 years) or 22.6%
- Long term unemployment (12 month +) stands at a whopping 56.5%
- youth unemployment (15-25 year old) has now reached 53% and rising
- 60.4% of young women (15-25) are unemployed
- Unemployment is highest in Western and Central Makedonia, while it is lowest in Southern Aegean and Ionian Islands.
- It is also estimated that some 850,000 people have gone past the 2 year unemployment mark and are therefore without income.

These figures are a direct result of the austerity package imposed by the EU and signed for by Samaras and Venizelos. If anything, I would think that this will be the deciding factor on what % of votes ND and PASOK will get. This could very well push PASOK below the 10% and cost ND it's self appointed place of biggest party in the country and natural heir to the government.

the experiment has well and truely failed Frau Merkel. Congratulations!

[bolshevik]

the experiment has well and truely failed Frau Merkel. Congratulations!

Except that for the European capitalist class this is not how their response to the crisis will be judged as a failure or not. The living conditions of working people are only an incidental consideration, at best, to our rulers. What they are concerned about and how their policies will be evaluated is only in terms of profitability for business.

[fluffybiscuits]

Shocking new unemployment figures were released today in greece, 3 days before a general election. The new figures reveal that

- 1.12 million Greeks are now on the live register. Remember that unemployment assistance is not a right here, and IF you get it, it will be for a maximum of 2 years) or 22.6%
- Long term unemployment (12 month +) stands at a whopping 56.5%
- youth unemployment (15-25 year old) has now reached 53% and rising
- 60.4% of young women (15-25) are unemployed
- Unemployment is highest in Western and Central Makedonia, while it is lowest in Southern Aegean and Ionian Islands.
- It is also estimated that some 850,000 people have gone past the 2 year unemployment mark and are therefore without income.

These figures are a direct result of the austerity package imposed by the EU and signed for by Samaras and Venizelos. If anything, I would think that this will be the deciding factor on what % of votes ND and PASOK will get. This could very well push PASOK below the 10% and cost ND it's self appointed place of biggest party in the country and natural heir to the government.

the experiment has well and truely failed Frau Merkel. Congratulations!

New Democracy showed their hand when they went about trying to recruit Golden Dawn members lol! THey must know they are not in the lead in the polls and trying to snatch votes from other far right voters in the area...

[Ephilant]

Yesterday, in Iraklio on Crete, a mother of two was released from the courts by sheer people power. A supermarket owner (Foreign owned cheap supermarket) had started proceedings against her for theft, and it went to court yesterday. The woman, a single mother of 2 (her husband committed suicide 17 months ago after losing his unemployement benefit) was too ashamed to ask for help from her neighbours, and was caught stealing milk and basic food in the supermarket. She appeared in front of the judge yesterday, with hundreds of people chanting outside the courthouse to sue the "real criminals". The judge thought the better of the supermarkets demand to make an example of this woman (apparently they are losing a lot of money because of shop lifting) and set her free on the basis that her poverty and the lack of assistance forced her to do what came natural to a mother, which can never be a crime.
Sensible judge, happy mother and kids, delighted crowd, fuming supermarket owner.
Another child was brought into our shelter this morning, suffering from severe malnutrition.
Again, the mother was too ashamed to ask for help. the family was always regarded as one of the wealthy families in the area. the child had been fed on pasta and water for the last 10 days because there was no money left. One of her neighbours went to her assistance and alerted our nurse to the situation. The family will be taken care off, but no thanks to "the system".

And then they wonder why these people are not prepared to "play it by the rules" any more?

[riposte]

Yesterday, in Iraklio on Crete, a mother of two was released from the courts by sheer people power. A supermarket owner (Foreign owned cheap supermarket) had started proceedings against her for theft, and it went to court yesterday. The woman, a single mother of 2 (her husband committed suicide 17 months ago after losing his unemployement benefit) was too ashamed to ask for help from her neighbours, and was caught stealing milk and basic food in the supermarket. She appeared in front of the judge yesterday, with hundreds of people chanting outside the courthouse to sue the "real criminals". The judge thought the better of the supermarkets demand to make an example of this woman (apparently they are losing a lot of money because of shop lifting) and set her free on the basis that her poverty and the lack of assistance forced her to do what came natural to a mother, which can never be a crime.
Sensible judge, happy mother and kids, delighted crowd, fuming supermarket owner.
Another child was brought into our shelter this morning, suffering from severe malnutrition.
Again, the mother was too ashamed to ask for help. the family was always regarded as one of the wealthy families in the area. the child had been fed on pasta and water for the last 10 days because there was no money left. One of her neighbours went to her assistance and alerted our nurse to the situation. The family will be taken care off, but no thanks to "the system".

And then they wonder why these people are not prepared to "play it by the rules" any more?

Was it Aldi or Lidl?

[Ephilant]

Was it Aldi or Lidl?

As part of the deal to drop the charges, the name of the "multinational supermarket" has been removed from all press releases...You can try and deduct it from this
Because our local branch sponsors our food centre, I cannot run the risk... sorry.

[fluffybiscuits]

As part of the deal to drop the charges, the name of the "multinational supermarket" has been removed from all press releases...You can try and deduct it from this
Because our local branch sponsors our food centre, I cannot run the risk... sorry.

Thanks for the links. Been discussing this with a friend tonight and we were chatting about what the situation was like in Greece. A lot of people it appears are not aware of the situation but I think its time I set up another account to let people know what is going on out there in Greece. Been linking to this thread on facebook to show the situation and how bad it is (indeed saw some Syrzia bashing which I was surprised at, asked them if they intent voting Golden Dawn). Again Eliphant thanks for your insight into the situation and how things are, you are as ever enlightening

[Dr. FIVE]

Inside Greece's largest hospital

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/gree...ity-cuts-video

grim