Papandreou Resigns: Gulfstream Warming Up On The Tarmac

Having won a vote of confidence, he finally admits that things have spun out of control, and he's getting of Dodge while he can, before anyone notices the missing bullion stowed in his luggage.

A quick stop-off in Zurich to lighten the luggage, and thence to the manse in Scotland, away from prying eyes.

Remember, ya'll. ThePeopleInChargeOfSuchThings have been assuring us allllll along that they have the situation firmly in hand.

Nothing to see here, move along. Ball games to enjoy, Dancing With The Stars to follow.

What's All This Bother About A Geek Referendum?!! Geeks Don't Deserve A Referendum! They Don't Have Lives, And They Hoard All The Good Grades From The Rest Of Us!

Never mind...

Wish it were actually a funny situation.

Number 438 (Daniel Hannan) Gives Voice To What The EU Refuses To Hear--'You're About To Find Out'

Need to create a football cheer here, ya'll:

Gimme a big 4! FOOOUR!

Gimme a big 3! THREEEEE!

Gimme a big 8! EEEEIIIIIGGGHHHHT!

Wha'duz'THAT spell?

TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH! TRUTH!




Go, Dan! Go, Dan! Go, Dan!

Tin Cup McAvoy As Mythic Figure And Object Lesson

OS saw another re-run of Tin Cup last night. The movie holds up under repeated viewings, because it is so well-written, and is such a true parable about life itself.

It made OS review his post from Spring of 2010, discussing the misadventures of Roy McAvoy, who demands a 3-wood for an obvious 7-iron shot, and the chaos that follows. Funny, painful, painful, funny. The stuff that causes sleepless nights, and nightmares even when sleep descends.

So, here we are, in the Fall of 2011. No one pulled his 7-iron out of the bag, and chaos looms. OS gets the feeling that TheGreatAndGood are simultaneously working to keep a cheerful public face going, while paddling madly to both keep things from coming unwound and searching for ways to ensure the taxpayers of the world bear the costs of the debacle. It's getting tougher to do with each passing week. If the public listens to them at all, they assume the GreatAndGood are lying.

Because they are.

Think 7-iron, ya'll. 'Cuz the GreatAndGood are incapable of that behavior.

While The World Chatters About Obama And Greece, Israel's Credit Rating Goes UP

It's too good not to mention on a Friday.

International credit rating agency Standard & Poor's announced on Friday that it has raised Israel's credit rating from A to A+. The company said that the decision reflects the government's responsible economic policy. Company officials said they do not believe the national budget will explode despite the mass social justice protests demanding reformed economic policies. Standard & Poor's is the same company which, in August, lowered the credit rating of the United States.

The news is full of Greece's meltdown--how'd you like to have to borrow money at 80% interest for one year, just to keep the lights on?

Lots of chatter about Himself, including this bit from Doug Mataconis, who is no fire-breathing conservative.

The mosques in Syria will conclude services in a few minutes, and the bloodshed will pick up where it left off last Friday after prayers and wing-nut sermons, and more mothers will bury more of their children on Sunday. Nothing new here.

Libya is now being divided up amongst its various tribal warlords, including some very interesting-looking jihadist types. Are we surprised? Egypt is choatic, no news here. Gold is spiking, as is silver, but OS has decided to get out of the way of all the oncoming freight trains proceeding through the tunnel in his direction.

The world is so busy chattering about the turmoil, that they will barely notice this nugget of good news. The logical question is, of course, 'What are the Israelis doing right that we aren't?' it's a dangerous question, but it is the logical question.

The weather is lovely. The migration of mourning doves from points north has begun, and OS is cheerily leaving them cracked corn in abundance, to welcome them back. There is a very nice roosting area on an abandoned farm property behind OS's house, and ponds, and gravel roads for craw.

OS played a fun round with an old friend at an unfamiliar course yesterday. Luckily, his order of new golf balls was in his mailbox when he returned home. It's the weekend. OS has time, Mrs. OS, a few things to get done, and an immense sense of gratitude for his life. He will be looking for Israeli bond funds during the day, though.

The G-7 Statement August 7: 'We Have Printing Presses, And We're Not Afraid To Use Them.'

The statement here. As per usual, the true message is buried near the bottom, after several mind-numbing paragraphs of EuroSpeak.

Black-Humor Headline Of The Month: Greece Votes To Delay Default Until 2012

Well, cut my legs off and call me shorty! A Czech physicist nails the entire ridiculous soap opera down in one sentence.

Luboz Motl is very bright, with a wonderful dry sense of humor, and a reasonable approach to life. His essay includes an account of events inside the Greek Parliament, and a video of the chaos on the streets. It's an impossible mathematical situation, as he points out, and everyone will have to muddle through.

His conclusion shows the wisdom of someone whose family has endured life in Eastern Europe for generations:

On the other hand, I am no Europe hater. I think that there are obviously many things that are meaningfully organized at the European level - such as the free-trade zone and others. It would be nice if the recent developments helped the people to rationally discuss what kind of activities the EU can and and what kind it cannot do and shouldn't do. However, it doesn't seem to me that this is happening. People either deny that anything is happening that shows lethal flaws in the European unification concepts; or they're already talk about a funeral and the end of time.

There won't be any end of time. There won't even be a Big Crunch because our Universe has a positive cosmological constant: it will approach de Sitter space event more closely. There will be some future and people should rationally evaluate the experience from the past and try to optimize the future. It's damn obvious that the idea that the desire to "unify" everything - while paying no attention to the evidence that it could be a very bad idea in many contexts - is something that we shouldn't repeat again.

Quote Of The Day: Cranmer-'God Cares For the Poor'

Perhaps the best essay His Grace has ever shared with us, well worth the time spent. Very few have his moral clarity and command of English.

His best paragraph:

God cares for the poor, the oppressed, and the underdogs in society. He pours his wrath upon those who corrupt justice or create economic machines designed to provide more wealth for the wealthy and deprive the poor. The story of Naboth’s vineyard in 1 Kings 21 establishes that authorities are not free to pursue any policy they please or to ride roughshod over the rights of the poor. These same concerns are vehemently expressed by the prophets Amos, Hosea, Isaiah and Micah, writing in the 8th century BC. God demands conscience above political conviction, and a government which places narrow economic considerations above liberty and justice is guilty of worshipping Mammon above God.

Greece (and Spain, and Portugal, and the US): The Alternate Hard-Soled Foot-Covering Apparatus Descends Rapidly Toward The Surface Of The Earth

In other words, the other shoe may be in the process of dropping.

OS thinks we may be arriving at one of those interesting points in human events, such as 1914, or 1929, or 1939, or 1945, where very little going forward resembles what once was.

Q. What were The Two Big Ideas to emerge from the smoke and rubble of Western Europe in 1945?

A. A unified Europe, guarded by NATO, and integrated by The Common Market, which became the vast machine created by the Lisbon Treaty.

B. The Welfare State. From cradle to grave, the elimination of want, disease, ignorance, unemployment, even the provision of the high arts, all on the taxpayer dime.

From these two bedrock Big Ideas would emerge a NewEurope, blissfully free of Christendom, sailing ever toward the dawn of GreaterThings. The Best And The Brightest, all the very best minds, carefully chosen and trained to lead the way, devoted their lives to the great cause, The Two Big Ideas.

It didn't work out at all. Idea A failed because there is simply too much history to overcome, and it is foolish to attempt it. The Portugese shopkeeper shares no cultural identity with the Irish truck driver, and both resent like hell being forced into the same cultural straight-jacket.

Idea B failed due to simple math. No one can tax at the levels needed to build and maintain The Welfare State, and have the underlying economy survive. Add to that a plunging birthrate and an unquenchable desire for consumption over production, and everything caves in upon itself. Even a good-ole'-boy like OS knows you can't keep that up too long. It's like downing a fifth of Jack Daniels every day for twenty years, and wondering why you become a drunk with cirrohsis who can't afford to buy his Jack anymore.

Cranmer's post today about the monstrous building going up to house the EU administrative offices is brilliant. Take a look at that ugly piece of ugliness. Why would anyone trust anything to anybody who believes that building is worth the expenditure of even one fake-currency Euro, much less hundreds of millions of them?

The Emperor be buck-nekkid, ya'll. Europe's in for a real tussle, and we're next in line in the US. 'Cuz we not only embraced the TwoBigIdeas, we by-golly championed them, and ponied most of the money to keep NATO running all along.

So, OS has decided not to rant about it much more, or spend any time being angry about it. The mathematics of default are now likely inexorable, with the only question being how ugly things get, and how graciously and skilfully the situation is handled.

He is trying to discern how best to care for his family, friends and community here during these days to come. He has some ideas about what to do in The Meantime.

Moh, latuh'. Hug yoh' loved ones, don't-chew ferget.


HT Mish

Now The Game Of Chicken Begins: Europe (that is to say, Germany) Puts Greece On Short Rations

Hmmm....mebbe, ya'll, everbody's havin' second thoughts 'bout keeping Greece fat and happy, cuz' it shore do look like throwin' good money after bad.

Things are getting tense and ugly, and it's now down to whoever blinks first. Betcha Zimbabwe Ben's phone has been busy, with all our newest-best-friends-in-Europe, who normally hate us, tryin to find some of our money-hunney throw on the Greek bonfire.

Rather like having a meth-head second cousin named Amos, whose got him a bunch-a-kids and no common sense. Shore, we'll help out, keep the lights and water on, make sure baby's got formula and diapers, food and overalls fer the others, and maybe a bit of gas for the car. But that Camaro he bought on credit has gotta get taken back to the dealership, and ain't nobuddy gunna contribute a dime to helping Amos maintain his favorite vices. Them daze iz over, ya'll.

'Course, Amos is gunna get purty hot when he hears the news, and threaten to create all sorts of chaos, and beat his wife and kids, you know.

We'll just have to take that chance. He lays a hand on our Jolene, he'll have bigger worries than having his ride repossessed, know-whud-I-mean? Shoot, he'll be relieved to see the sheriff roll up to arrest him.