How the world sees Greece
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's main opposition leader Peer Steinbrueck accused Chancellor Angela Merkel of covering up the likelihood that German taxpayers will have to fund further euro zone bailouts due to a looming election. Steinbrueck, who is lagging Merkel in the run-up to the September 22 vote, was quoted by a German magazine on Saturday as saying a fresh writedown on Greek debt would mean losses for public creditors, in other words taxpayers. ...
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Pulling the plug – the public television shutdown in Greece The Typewriter Pulling the plug the public television shutdown in Greece Image ATHENS – On Tuesday 11th June, Greek/Hellenic Radio Television (ERT) was shut down and now Greece has no public television broadcasting service. The news spread around the world; #ert ... |
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The whole joy of being on holiday is feeling free to eat, drink and let it all hang out
I've just returned to London from two weeks on a beach in southern Europe, where a curious gender divide manifested itself. While the women of the party fought off an attack of melancholy because they were missing out on a domestic heatwave, any men in the vicinity scratched their heads. "Why would you care what's happening somewhere else?" they asked. "We're here." Why FOMOOH (Fear of Missing Out on Heat) isn't an equal opportunity regret is indeed a mystery, but in the event it mattered not. A far greater liberation awaited us.
Even the most high-minded of readers will be aware of the seasonal phenomenon that triggers a creeping paranoia in many women and some men, resist it though they know they should. It involves some combination of the words "beach", "body", "bikini' and "ready", and is often accompanied by photographs, either of a preternaturally perfect quasi-human frolicking through the surf or, conversely, of someone all too obviously human, with their lumps, bumps and sundry other physical imperfections circled in red lest we should be in danger of failing to notice them. Impossible eating regimes may feature and, perhaps worst of all, pre-holiday "cheats". Avoid the former and never be tempted to try the latter; an artfully ruched T-shirt or cinched-in wide belt will never actually make you look two stone lighter. It may simply make you look like you are unable to dress yourself with even a modicum of taste.
Hey, you – yes, you reading the Times Literary Supplement: you may think these flesh-hating features and sidebars of shame have nothing to do with you, but they are so culturally pervasive that I doubt anyone is entirely beyond their reach. Oh, wait a minute. I'm wrong. This might all be going on in the pages of magazines and the tortured synapses of holidaymakers, but it sure isn't making it to the beach.
On the shores of northwestern Crete, an island admittedly unacquainted with the small portion, bodies refused to be confined, either by contemporary mores or, in fact, by their actual swimwear. Every way you looked, breasts heaved and bottoms spread and – predictable joke ahoy – that was just the chaps. (Incidentally, if we were to elect a figurehead for the campaign for real body shapes on beaches, it would have to be the bronzed and mustachioed bloke in Speedos from the advert for Southern Comfort currently gracing our TV sets. I suspect that, while the semiotics of the ad suggest that we should scorn this brave fellow, we are all secretly attracted to him. Why? Do I really need to explain?)
In my Greek idyll, the tiniest of bikinis and the most imagination-sparing of budgie-smugglers battled heroically to preserve their wearers' modesty and, more often than not, lost the fight; there appeared to be little call for that most buzz-killing of garments, the beach "cover-up", unless it was to form a tablecloth for an impromptu seashore picnic (more bulging tummies). My beach buddies were, physically and metaphorically, letting it all hang out.
One afternoon, I watched two friends stroll in relaxed fashion along the water's edge, both of them young women of unknown nationality (though my guess is that they weren't British). One was slender and the other a great deal larger. They wore matching bikinis. To the casual glance, it didn't appear that they were discussing how to expunge carbs from their diet or the pick of the latest anti-cellulite creams; they looked too happy for that.
Why do we do this to ourselves? Answer: we don't. We allow others to do it to us and we should stop. Here's how. It's not simply about using all beach-related propaganda to line the cat-litter tray, although that's a start; more crucially, it's about refusing to believe in the mythical beach for which you are meant to be preparing yourself. It doesn't exist. Outside of some highly exclusive resorts, which may well have a pair of scales tucked beneath each lounger and a cosmetic surgeon on call, the beach-ready body is a chimera, destined only to trap us in a world of self-hatred and body fascism (and to sell magazines). But luckily, there is another way: in the free world, you are more likely to find sweaty, wobbling bodies blissed out on ice cream and sexual abandon than uptight fitness freaks with washboard stomachs and six-packs.
Perhaps the physical laissez-faire that I witnessed occurs particularly when people have real things to worry about. In Crete, we discovered that it was almost impossible to pay for goods and services with anything other than hard cash; a credit card was greeted with blank and unwelcoming stares.
In a butcher's shop, I found myself looking for the odd change to settle the bill with the right money; the man behind the counter waved my coins away. "Thirty cents won't save me," he laughed. "You or the shop?" I asked. "Me, the shop, Greece," came the reply. The one thing that remains in plentiful supply is food itself and the Cretans, famed for their hospitality, seem unwilling to allow hard times to curb the pleasure they take in satisfying their appetites.
And lest this all seem like an excuse to fall greedily on another plate of calamari or a third flagon of retsina, while doing little more to burn off the calories than reclining on an air mattress or leafing through a paperback, here is another thing to consider. Also among my holiday companions was a small girl, enjoying perhaps the first experience of abroad that she will actually remember and particularly keen to launch herself into the waves at every opportunity. Her unfettered and unselfconscious enjoyment in her own physicality, in the rays of the sun and the warmth of the sea, was a delight to behold. The thought that she might one day cringe at the sight of her own body, to measure it against an oppressive and entirely arbitrary standard and find it wanting, makes me want to rip up every image of so-called poolside perfection into a million tiny shreds.
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Greece Mandates HIV Testing for High-Risk Groups Healthline ... has garnered support for a controversial policy to mandate HIV testing for certain groups in Greece. Mandatory HIV Testing. Greece has reinstated mandatory HIV testing for high-risk groups, sparking outrage from international human rights ... |
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Press TV | Bomb explosion hits city in central Greece Press TV Greece police said the blast was caused by a bomb. Further details on the incident have not been released and no one has been injured in the incident. Officials also say that the prosecutor was not inside the building when the explosion went off ... Explosion Rocks Larissa Building Large blast in Larissa block targets prosecutor |
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Victoria Times Colonist | Opa! Young Greeks find their Ithaka at restaurant Victoria Times Colonist A new generation of Greek restaurateurs has landed in Victoria — and they've brought that trademark passion for good food and drink, culture and conversation and a treasure trove of family recipes. Brothers Andreas and Dimitri Adamopoulos and their ... |
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BARCELONA, Spain (AP) — Results Saturday from the swimming world championships:
| Open Water Swimming |
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| Men's 5K |
1. Oussama Mellouli, Tunisia, 53 minutes, 30.4 seconds.
2. Eric Hedlin, Canada, 53:31.6.
3. Thomas Lurz, Germany, 53:32.2.
4. Chad Ho, South Africa, 53:33.7.
5. Jarrod Poort, Australia, 53:34.3.
6. Samuel De Bona, Brazil, 53:34.9.
7. Ivan Alejandro Enderica Ochoa, Ecuador, 53:36.7.
8. Sergey Bolshakov, Russia, 53:36.8.
9. Damien Cattinvidal, France, 53:38.4.
10. Igor Chervynskiy, Ukraine, 53:38.4.
| Women's 5K |
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1. Haley Anderson, United States, 56 minutes, 34.2 seconds.
2. Poliana Okimoto, Brazil, 56:34.4.
3. Ana Marcela Cunha, Brazil, 56:44.7.
4. Kalliopi Araouzou, Greece, 56:45.3.
5. Isabelle Franziska, Germany, 56:46.2.
6. Cara Baker, New Zealand, 56:46.2.
7. Martina Grimaldi, Italy, 56:46.3.
8. Becca Mann, United States, 56:46.4.
9. Aurelie Muller, France, 56:46.5.
10. Rachele Bruni, Italy, 56:48.1.
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Nouveau riche copycats from ancient Greece to modern China Financial Times Nouveau riche copycats from ancient Greece to modern China. By Jonathan Foyle. When nations become newly wealthy the first thing they do is imitate the cultures they aspire to. The nouveau riche have a reputation for imitative bad taste. You know the ... |
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Fodor's Travel | 4 Perfect Greek Isle Itineraries Fodor's Travel A week or more in the Greek Islands—that would be pretty close to the perfect vacation, wouldn't it? Famed for their sunny weather, crystalline water, white-washed architecture, millennia-old ruins, sexy beaches, and fresh-from-the-sea cuisine, these ... My big fat gay Greek romantic holiday |
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Postcard: 'Tough love' for Greeks Deutsche Welle For strikers, this was not just another Greek protest. It is supposed to represent the start of what civil servants are calling an "all-out war against the government" in response to its passing controversial legislation that puts some 25,000 state ... |
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Greek food, music and dancing available through Sunday Foster's Daily Democrat The outside section has a couple hundred chairs with tables for people to dine at, a main area for entertainment, a section for Greek beer and Greek soda, a children's area, and a main section offering over a dozen Greek dishes including baked lamb ... Festival sticks with Greek traditions Greek Festival Begins in Weirton |
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Dave Lutz of Stifel, Nicolaus passes along the topics that traders are talking about today.
Morning, Futures in the US are basically unchanged this Expiry Friday, but NDX underperforming by 15bp early as the Tech ? Fins continues today with GOOG and MSFT results. DAX just surged back to unchanged on headlines China is removing the “floor” on lending rates domestically. That said, Shanghai had lost 1.5% as the Solar trade row escalates, and Taiwan was hit for almost 2% on heavy tech weakness (TSM) overnight. There was heavy volatility in Japan, with a 4% intraday swing, before the Nikkei closed off 1.5% ahead of Sunday’s elections. Watch RSX as Judge Frees Putin Critic During Appeal, and there are heavy headlines about the Detroit Bankruptcy. (Market Focus is on the Muni Side, where they are trying to write down $500mln in GOs to pennies on the dollar.
The 10YY in the USA has popped back towards unch on the China headlines, and Yields across the PIIGs have all tightened despite Germany barking at Greece. The DXY is dropping quick on the China reform – and the Aussie Dollar is ripping higher, driving the “Carry Trade” of AUD-JPY back towards the 200dma. Commodities are popping as well, with Gold knocking on $1300/oz again, and Oil Globally popping to new highs – The Brent/WTI Spread rests at 50c this AM.
Headlines showing the G20 is backing the OECD’s 15point plan to reform International tax Loopholes and Havens. This has weighed on some issues this week, but looks like it is a minimum of 12+ months from implementation. EPFR indicates some $19.7bn was invested in global equity funds in the past week, the highest weekly inflows since 2008.
China’s Solar Panel Feud With the West Leads to New Tariffs - The tariffs could exceed 50 percent on materials for solar panels, a move seen as retaliation for an American trade lawsuit - Beijing's move, a widely expected hit on U.S. and South Korean producers, coincides with difficult talks between the EU and China to defuse a conflict over alleged dumping of Chinese solar panels in Europe.
Huge sums poured into US equity funds - Wall of money sends weekly inflows to highest since June 2008 - Some $19.7bn was invested in global equity funds in the past week, the most for six months, while $700m was pulled from bond funds - $1.7bn of outflows from investment grade debt funds and $1.1bn of outflows from Treasuries as bullish investors turned away from assets regarded as “safe”. High-yield bond funds saw $4bn of inflows, the largest since October 2011 - emerging market debt funds continued to suffer, with a further $1.3bn worth of outflows
SEE ALSO: 10 things you need to know before the opening bell
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