Greeks, Portuguese and Spanish say no more austerity

The Greek President has warned the EU/ECB/IMF plutocrats sent in to oversee the implementation of punishing EU austerity that the Greek nation can't take any more.

Unemployment is still rising and 1 in 4 Greeks are now out of work but the EU sill wants more cutbacks and sackings.

Karolos Papoulis said:

Up until now, we've been receiving a merciless lashing.  I think we have paid enough for our mistakes, and Europe must realize that it needs to help Greece.

Meanwhile, over 100,000 people have protested in the Portuguese capital (and ironically the city that gives its name to the hated treaty that gives the EU almost limitless power), Lisbon, today against more tax rises and EU austerity.  Tens of thousands of Spaniards also descended on Madrid today in protest at tax increases and spending cuts.

So what is the EU's answer to the widespread dissent and opposition to the damaging austerity measures it has imposed on most of the continent?  Emperor Barroso called for ...

a democratic federation of nation states that can tackle our common problems, through the sharing of sovereignty

Nigel Farage responded to this by telling Barroso it was an "emerging, creeping euro-dictatorship" but that ...

The only good news from today is that you’ve helped to bring that referendum just a little bit closer

The europhiles just don't get it do they?  People are demonstrating on the streets of European capitals at EU taxes and austerity so the europhiles call for deeper cuts, more taxes and the abolition of the nation state.  It's unbelievable.

Iceland now wants to join the EU!

The Bank of England is loaning £100m to the UK arm of Landsbanki so that it can repay its UK customers.

Landisbanki was nationalised by the Icelandic government last week and its UK arm closed down leaving customers here unable to access their money.

The Icelandic foreign minister has responded to the economic problems there - national debt at 500% of GDP and their top 3 banks nationalised - by saying that their long term goal is now to join the EU and the Euro and get bailed out by the European Central Bank. No, that’s not a joke. He said:

In the short term, out defence is co-operation with the International Monetary Fund and in the long term EU membership, adoption of the euro and backup from the European Central Bank.

So what he is, in fact, saying is that the English taxpayer will be bailing out one of their now state-owned banks and then bailing out the entire country if it joins the EU and becomes a net recipient of EU funding. Not what I would call a good deal for the English taxpayer and if they do go down the route of joining the EU, not a good deal for Icelanders. Their economy is up shit creek now but if they join the EU their paddles will be confiscated and given to a French farmer to use as kindling to set fire to his fields. The Icelandic economy was, until recently, reliant on fishing, banking and services. Banking is a no-brainer from now on, services are looking a bit dubious but fishing will at least let them feed themselves. But not with an EU fishing quota though - they’ll end up throwing more back in the sea than they take home and that’s assuming the Spanish don’t get the quotas first like they did in our waters.

I wonder if the Icelanders have an equivalent phrase for “out of the frying pan and into the fire”.