Athens is burning

RT
February, 13, 2012
The worst riot damage in years has struck Athens as MPs pass harsh new austerity measures. Dozens of historic buildings were set ablaze after riots turned chaotic overnight in Greek capital with protesters looting shops and clashing with riot police.
Firefighters are dousing smoldering buildings and cleanup crews are sweeping rubble following a night of rioting in central Athens. The stench of tear gas hung in the air Monday morning, choking passers-by. Looters smashed dozens of shops as 45 buildings, including a cinema, bank, cafeteria, a mobile phone dealership and a glassware shop, burned in central Athens.

Police say at least 150 shops were looted in the capital. Dozens of police officers were injured and at least 70 people were hospitalized, with overall 120 injured. Sixty-seven rioters were arrested for attacking police officers and over 75 more were detained.
The clashes erupted after more than 100,000 protesters marched peacefully to the parliament to rally against the drastic cuts, which will axe one in five civil service jobs and slash the minimum wage by more than 20 per cent. Around 2,000 were involved in the violence.
The violence spread throughout the country, with riots taking place in Thessaloniki, Volos, Agrinio, the islands of Corfu and Crete. In Thessaloniki, clashes took place in the city center after the rallies and protest marches. In Volos during the protest, demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails into bank buildings, in the basement of the local municipal office, as well as the premises of the tax inspectorate.

Moody's on Monday downgraded the debt ratings of Italy, Spain and Portugal and placed negative outlooks on France, Britain and Austria.
Ratings were also cut for Slovenia, Slovakia and Malta, with Moody's saying all nine were more susceptible to increasing financial and macroeconomic risks from the euro area crisis.

Moody's said that Europe's weakening economic prospects "threaten the implementation of domestic austerity programs and the structural reforms that are needed to promote competitiveness."

The agency questioned the implementation of institutional reform in the euro area and whether adequate resources will be pulled together to deal with the crisis.

That's America i the not too too distant future if we don't fix our overspending welfare society.

this is a global collapse occurring. Americans aren't ready for hyper inflation. They aren't ready for 100's of dollars to be worth pennies. Americans fall apart if they miss their favorite show or don't have their cup of coffee in the morning before work. The American people are completely naive as to how bad it is going to get. This is not just another recession. The economy is not going to recover. The policy is completely flawed. The system is incapable of being saved. It needs to crash, completely, before any type of recovery will ever happen.

Hate to beat a dead horse but Ron Paul's economic policies are the ONLY chance we have at avoiding a complete meltdown.

2012.

oggy420 wrote:

this is a global collapse occurring. Americans aren't ready for hyper inflation. They aren't ready for 100's of dollars to be worth pennies. Americans fall apart if they miss their favorite show or don't have their cup of coffee in the morning before work. The American people are completely naive as to how bad it is going to get. This is not just another recession. The economy is not going to recover. The policy is completely flawed. The system is incapable of being saved. It needs to crash, completely, before any type of recovery will ever happen.

Hate to beat a dead horse but Ron Paul's economic policies are the ONLY chance we have at avoiding a complete meltdown.

Agreed.