This morning's key headlines from
GenerationalDynamics.com
- Bullfights to the death being televised in Spain and Portugal
- Eurozone demands that Greeks should work six days a week
- Six thousand would-be immigrants wait in Turkey to be smuggled into Greece
- Televised speeches
- Israel's government flailing over whether to attack Iran
Bullfights to the death being televised in Spain and Portugal
Televised bullfights were banned by Spain's Socialist government in
2005, but that government was ousted last November, and the prime
minister Mariano Rajoy is a staunch defender of bullfights. So
bullfights returned to Spain's state TV in a glittering display on
Wednesday evening. Bullfighting is a major part of Spain's psyche and
history, and the centuries-old events inspired the likes of Goya,
Picasso and Hemingway. Televising bullfights is illegal in most of
Portugal, the exception being Barrancos, near the Spanish border. The
issue there has been the televising of bullfights where the bull is
killed, but a special law authorizing airing bullfights to the death
was passed in 2002. Animal rights activists say that bullfighting is
cruel and vulgar, while bullfighting proponents point out that it's a
popular tourist attraction. Newser and The Portugal News
Eurozone demands that Greeks should work six days a week
A leaked letter from the "troika" of organizations bailing out Greece -- the
European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) -- contains a list of demands that Greece must implement
in return for further bailouts. The demands include the following:
- Increase the number of maximum workdays to six days per week
for all sectors.
- Increase flexibility of work schedules; set the minimum daily rest to
11 hours; delink the working hours of employees from the opening hours
of the establishment; eliminate restrictions on minimum/maximum time
between morning and afternoon shifts; allow the consecutive two-week
leave to be taken anytime during the year in seasonal sectors.
- Have a permanent single-rate statutory minimum wage.
- Reduce employers' welfare contributions.
Greece's prime minister Antonis Samaras is pleading with the Troika to
give him two more years to implement austerity reforms, and the leaked
letter reveals the detail of eurozone intrusion into Greece's economy
and social culture that will be demanded in return for the delay,
which would require a third bailout. However, many Greeks say that
they will refuse to work six days per week.
One policeman is quoted
as saying: "They have slashed our salary by 50 per cent and are
threatening even more cuts - now they are demanding that we work
even more days for less money? No one in their right mind will
stand for it!"
Troika officials will be arriving in Athens on Friday to discuss the
plan. Guardian (London) and Deutsche-Presse Agentur
Six thousand would-be immigrants wait in Turkey to be smuggled into Greece
The land border between Turkey and Greece has been effectively closed
to illegal immigration, because of a massive crackdown by Greek border
guards. Migrants try to get into Greece as a pathway to the rest of
Europe, where they hope to find jobs. But with the land border
closed, the last two weeks have seen a surge of migrants from the
Turkish coast entering Greece via the islands of the Aegean Sea. As
many as 6,000 would-be immigrants are currently gathered in
neighboring Turkey, waiting their turn to board smuggling ships to
bring them to Greece. Kathimerini
Televised speeches
With all the economic and geopolitical problems in the world, I can't
believe that as I'm writing this I'm listening to a speech televised
on all networks by a young female whining that some women have to pay
for their own contraceptives. To paraphrase Clarence Thomas in 1991,
this is a national disgrace.
Israel's government flailing over whether to attack Iran
Israel's prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu immediately adjourned a
cabinet meeting on Wednesday, because there had been leaks from the
previous day's meeting. According to the leaked story, the members of
the security cabinet were shocked to hear that the country's different
intelligence agencies – the Mossad, Shin Bet, and Army Intelligence –
do not agree about the time frame for a potential Iranian attack.
I've been reading for almost ten years that an attack on Iran's
nuclear facilities was imminent, but it's never happened. I continue
to expect that it won't happen at all, and the confusion within Israel
is an example of why I don't expect it to happen. We'll see.
Jerusalem Post
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