Only slightly more frequent than Halley's Comet

I know, I know, it's been a while since my last post. In fact, it's been more than two months. What can I say? It wasn't meant to be like this.

In that time we have moved back to the United Kingdom and got our house sorted out, all of which took time. For much of that period we have been without the internet both in Greece and in the UK and don't forget that I am also naturally indolent.

To compound these admittedly fairly weak excuses, since my return to the UK I have found I have what for the time being I shall refer to only as "health issues". The precise nature of these is still being determined, but they have been a distraction.

Anyway, we now have the internet at home - hooray! - and to distract me from my other distractions I feel I should get back in the blogging saddle, as it were.

Much has happened over the last two months. When we left Greece, the banks had been closed and the rest of Europe seemed to be waiting for the Greek economy to stop circling the plughole and finally disappear without trace down the drain. That hasn't quite happened, but Greece and its economy are still on the critical list and likely be to be so for a long time.

Here in Britain politicians on all sides seem intent on showing they can be tough on migrants trying to get through the Channel Tunnel to seek asylum status in the UK. As ever the "who can be the nastiest" competition seems to be going the Conservatives' way. They have plans to introduce legislation which will make it illegal for landlords to rent property to people who do not have the proper status to be in the UK. A friend pointed out that this was not that different to laws used by the Nazis in pre-war Germany to make life impossible for Jews. Sometimes the Tories do seem determined to embrace their reputation as the Nasty Party.

Having said that, Labour have been coming up with some spectacularly stupid ideas, not least of which is that the French government should pay compensation to the UK for migrants who get through the tunnel. What a great idea, alienate the government at the other end of the tunnel by demanding money from them and then expect them to cooperate with you in dealing with this complex problem. In case you're wondering I don't have an answer to the problem, but then I'm not the prime minister, nor am I leading the opposition.

The title of this posting referred to this blog's recent lack of frequency. I think I can do better than post at the same frequency as Halley's Comet which is visible from earth every 76 years, just so long as I can combat my natural indolence. That also brings me to the blog's title. Some of you may remember that I felt that on my return to the UK I could no longer keep calling it The View from the Olive Grove. For sure when I look out of my house here in Devon I definitely don't see any olive trees.

So what to call the blog? I had one or two useful suggestions from friends, but being the pig-headed type that I am I wanted to come up with my own answer. Eventually I settled on The View from Pudding Island. The reason for this is a bit hazy, but basically writer Laurence Durrell, who had a strong connection with Greece, used the term Pudding Island to describe Britain, a country which he hated although he was technically British. I certainly don't equate myself with Durrell, nor do I hate Britain, although I suspect that like a lot of Brits I have a fairly ambivalent view of the country of my birth. In a more positive light, Britain does have some great puddings. So, The View from Pudding Island it is, hopefully starting on Monday. See you then. I'll be spending much of the weekend tinkering under the bonnet trying to give the blog a new appearance.

As ever, I like to finish with some music and for this post I have chosen Sloop John B by The Beach Boys. I wanted to use it for a post before we left Greece but circumstances intervened, however, it's too good a song not to use, so here it is.

All things must pass

Skopelos

Nothing lasts forever. Always an ambiguous phrase in my view. Do we mean that there is nothing which will last for eternity or do we mean that what we term nothing does, in fact, go on forever. In my typically equivocal fashion I suppose I mean both.

In this instance what will not last forever is my time here on Skopelos. After a lot of thought and soul-searching we have decided to return to the UK. There are a number of reasons for our decision, but most are bound up with our family.

While there is not always a lot I can do for my family when I am in the same country as them, there is virtually nothing I can do for them when I am on a remote Greek island about 1,500 miles away.

In addition, I will admit to feeling increasingly jaundiced about my life here in Greece. In Greek mythology the lotus eaters were a race of people on an island whose primary food was the narcotic fruit and flowers of the lotus. This resulted in them leading lives of peaceful apathy. Sometimes I feel that is what my life has become here.

I cannot pretend that I am not fearful about the future. Is returning to the UK the right thing to do? How will we manage? What will we do?

Also I know that Mrs C is less struck on the idea than I am. After a recent sojourn in the UK she returned to Skopelos complaining bitterly of the British weather. That is not her only concern about life in the UK, but it is one I understand. Also she will miss her beloved garden which she has worked so hard to create. I am troubled that she will be unhappy away from this beautiful island.

In her typically pragmatic fashion she has assured me that returning to the UK is something we will have to make work: no use whingeing and wringing our hands, we'll just have to get on with it.

Since coming to the decision to return to the UK there has been a General Election resulting in a Conservative government. This fills me with some foreboding, but then I am currently living in a country where foreboding is the default setting as it continues to lurch towards seemingly unavoidable economic doom. What will be, will be, wherever I live.

Today is my birthday, which is usually regarded as a cause for celebration. Still here, still above ground, not completely moribund, and yet I am writing this post which is more than a little woeful. I am sorry to be sombre, but today it is the way I feel. I'll cheer up later. I suppose I should take some consolation from the title of this post. All things must pass, nothing lasts forever.

I will get over this, but in the meantime, as is my usual practice with this blog, I'd like to finish with some music. I have chosen the very beautiful, but also rather mournful 1st movement of Elgar's Cello Concerto.

I'm now worrying that this is all getting much too gloomy so we'll have one more bit of music which will be much more like how my birthday ought to be.

V: Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's economic recovery man

The choice of my letter V reason to be cheerful could be construed as cheating, but in the A to Z Challenge the end sometimes has to justify the means.

So the letter V is for Varoufakis, the surname of the Greek finance minister. The reason this is cheating slightly is that in the Greek alphabet his name starts with the letter β which as a capital letter looks like this, Β, but is pronounced as a V as in victory. Hence, Yanis Varoufakis in the Greek alphabet comes out as Γιάνης Βαρουφάκης.

Ever since he became finance minister following the elections in January this year, he's made quite an impression. He seems to be quite a straight shooter when it comes to saying what he thinks, he clearly knows his way round economic theory and he's got a shaven head. Oh, and let's not forget he doesn't wear a tie and sometimes does wear a leather jacket.

That's Mr Varoufakis, to you.

Bizarrely, it's his appearance that seems to earn Mr Varoufakis most attention from the media. Certainly he does cut a striking figure next to some of his anaemic-looking counterparts from other European countries, some of whom look as if they're never happier than when they're telling someone else off for not keeping all their banknotes in pristine order.

There has also been the issue of whether or not he suggested that Greeks should "give the finger" to Germany over the euro crisis. This is something he denies having done and I see no reason to doubt him.

Whether he and the rest of the Greek government can steer Greece away from economic disaster remains to be seen. He wouldn't be the first bright person to find himself beaten by the massed ranks of whingers and nitpickers. Even so, I wish him good luck, as things stand he and the rest of the government and the Greek people are going to need plenty of it.

I chose an Ian Dury song to go with this post. It celebrates the clever people there have been in human history, but I should point out there is a very modest amount of swearing. I hope this won't spoil your enjoyment of what is a good song.

• Question: Do you think Mr Varoufakis should wear a tie or is that completely missing the point? Let me know in the comments section.

We need to sleep on this

According to those clever people at Bloomberg, the providers of round-the-clock financial information, Greeks are keeping money under their mattresses rather than in banks.

And, again according to Bloomberg, those Greeks who aren't keeping money safely tucked under the mattress are keeping it under bathroom tiles.

This astonishing piece of news had me heading straight for my bedroom just in case I'd tucked some euros there. However, there was nothing. Zilch.

Similarly the tiles on the floor of our bathroom showed no signs of hiding a cache of cash. It's all very disappointing.

The women making these mattresses
are actually stuffing them with used
banknotes to save time.

To be honest, I'm not absolutely sure if it's Bloomberg that has made the claims about mattresses and tiled floors, or the website reporting on Bloomberg's report which is based on data from the Bank of Greece. This has shown that Greek banks have much reduced deposits and the money withdrawn from the banks is not being deposited in other banks.

Apparently about 10 billion € has gone adrift in this fashion and - I really want to believe this bit - the cash is under mattresses throughout Greece. It sounds unlikely to me, but maybe the Trojan horse sounded like a daft idea, too.

I did find a song about a mattress but I didn't like it so instead I offer you Midnight Oil singing Beds are Burning. Let's hope there's no money under them.

Not your average bucket and spade holiday

What did you get up to on your holiday? If you're asked that question after a break in Greece you might soon be able to reply that you'd been working as an amateur tax inspector.

Apparently, the Greek government has come up with the idea of taking on a whole host of people - some of them holidaymakers - to help sniff out businesses that are evading paying tax.

By virtue of who these amateur tax inspectors are, they won't be so obvious so the dodgy businesses will be discovered more readily.

Yes, I thought it sounded a bit bonkers, too, but then tax is a BIG thing here. Or more precisely the non-payment of tax is a big thing.

I'd be surprised if people in Greece didn't try to slip through the tax net. Partly it's human nature - it's almost inevitable people feel they'd like to hang on to their money - and partly I suspect it's a feeling that a few euros here or there aren't going to make much difference to a government that's got its back against the financial wall.

I would guess that's been the view for many years. Greece is a very bureaucratic country which seems to have trouble enforcing its red tape so tax collection must be difficult.

Pretty well every business you go in to in Greece has a notice which says something along the lines of "customers are not obliged to pay if they do not receive a receipt". I've never actually tried to follow the letter of the law and not pay because I didn't get a receipt and yet for so many low value transactions I never see a receipt at all.

Do I care? Not a bit. I pay my few euros for bread, coffee, newspaper or whatever and the shopkeeper can do as he or she pleases with the money. It is probably that attitude that causes the Greek tax authorities such a headache when it comes to collecting the money.

Incidentally, there are times when I have receipts thrust at me and the person giving me the receipt will say with a grin: "The taxmen are about".

You certainly shouldn't go away with the idea that it's only small businesses that work a fiddle. The story below was told to me by someone who lived in Greece, whose word I would never doubt and whose circumstances I knew, which is why I am sure the story is true. I will not put names in order to protect their identity.

So, this person needed an operation and elected to go private rather than go through medical insurance because to go private would get the relatively minor procedure done more speedily. There was a consultation with the surgeon who agreed to do the operation. The surgeon then named a price for the work which would be if my friend had a receipt. However the surgeon offered a reduced price if there was no receipt and the account was settled in cash.

As my friend said: "You feel you should do the right thing and pay the official price, but you know you'd be a fool because nobody else does." Therein, I think, lies the problem for the government.

Anyway, until the Greek government works out a way to solve their tax problems here's Income Tax Blues  by Ralph Willis.

Time to ease up on the kicking

So today is the day the Greek government submits its package of reforms to international creditors who are meant to go "That's all right then, here, have another four months to start getting yourself back on your feet".

Or will they? Who knows? Certainly not me. As I write this what does seem clear is that as far as the government here is concerned bending over backwards is only ever going to be half the battle. In fact, as far as certain other European governments are concerned bending over backwards will be regarded as being rather limp-wristed. Disappearing up your own backside would be their preferred option.

Now, please note, I haven't specified any government as being particularly disposed towards making Greece jump through ever more fiery hoops. However, can I just say at this point that I am currently reading a history of the hyper-inflation which afflicted Germany in the 1920s.

Have you got anything smaller?: A 1923 5 million
mark note from Germany.

It is chilling reading. In the wake of the First World War, Germany's economy tanked and to exacerbate the situation increasing demands were made of Germany for reparations. Every time the Germans looked as if they might just have a moment to catch their breath, fresh demands were made for them to cough up money or other benefits to another European nation. Let's not mince words, generally it was the French who made these demands.

I'm only part way through the book so I don't know how it ends. Oh, all right, I do know how it ends. It ends with things becoming intolerable in Germany, the rise of the Nazi party and the start of the Second World War. Happy now?

Let's be frank here. I'm not sure we can say there are direct parallels between Germany in the 1920s and Greece now. Their particular situations arose in different ways, but if you kick someone when they are down and you keep on kicking them and then for good measure give them another kicking, it is entirely likely they won't be able to get up again. And that can't be good.

Funnily enough, I couldn't find any music about hyper-inflation, so I've settled for the Flying Lizards' version of Money. Many of you will be familiar with Barrett Strong's original version and also one by the Beatles, but maybe the dispassionate tone of the demands for money in the Flying Lizards' version fits in with the posting. See what you think.

* Banknote picture by Boeing720 (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

All I've got to do is say "No"

It dawned on me today that Lent is just around the corner and that customarily I knock booze on the head for that period.

I don't do it on what might be considered religious grounds but more as a useful reminder that occasionally I need to exercise some restraint in my life.

In any case, giving up booze for a while might not be such a bad idea seeing as the way the Greek economy is shaping up we could all soon be giving up money.

In case anyone is confused about the timing of Lent you need to remember that Easter can fall on a different date for the Orthodox church as opposed to the Western church. This year Orthodox Easter falls a week later than in the Western church, hence Lent starting next week.

Devout members of the Orthodox church follow some quite strict dietary rules for Lent which forbid eating meat among other things. By the time they get to Easter they are probably champing at the bit for a hearty meal and certainly Greek Easter is a BIG celebration of family and togetherness. I am sure it will be this year even if we are in some sort of monetary wilderness.

As for me, during Lent I will be politely declining wine with my dinner and smiling politely when people say "You're just being boring" when I stick to Adam's Ale. Let's face it, if I can do it, anyone can.

As I've still got a few days to go until my period of abstention I thought George Thorogood's One Bourbon, One Scotch and One Beer would be particularly appropriate. This is a short version, other, much longer, renditions are available. Cheers and στην υγεία σας.

* Prohibition sign by GALAXY1405D (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Shameless exploitation of kittens

Pretty kitty.

 I suppose by rights I ought to be writing about the impending cataclysm/last minute agreement of the Greek economic situation, but thinking about it makes my brain hurt and then I found these pictures. They're not new, but I still like them. Pictures of kittens are very popular on the internet so I'm hoping they'll work for me to attract followers.

The one above shows our cat Mimi when she was still a kitten. The furry shape on the left of the picture is Merkel, Mimi's mum. The picture was taken two summers ago and here's a pic showing Mimi with her sister, Daisy, (in the middle) and Merkel.

Taking it easy.

 Sadly, Daisy died last year and in some ways it was surprising that Mimi was the kitten who survived and thrived, not least because only a few days before the pictures above were taken she managed to get her head trapped in a picnic table.

The next picture shows the hole through which Mimi managed to force her head while playing a game with Daisy. We tried soapy water and olive oil to free Mimi, but it was only thanks to some pretty brutal woodwork with a chainsaw by our landlord that we were able to save her from a gruesome death.

Wood you believe it?

The piece of wood with the hole is what Mimi squeezed her head through. The wood underneath is what remained of the plank after our landlord came to the rescue with his chainsaw.He then used a hammer and chisel to split the piece with the hole and free Mimi. I reassembled it for the picture.

Mimi seems to be none the worse for her ordeal all that time ago and as I write this she is curled up fast asleep in the sitting room, although I do wonder whether cats can suffer from some form of post traumatic stress disorder. She can sometimes be a little weird. Who knows?

This post has been all about kittens, but while looking at these old pictures I found some of Bonnie, my much-missed Labrador. So here's a photo of her.

You lookin' at me?

Music to go with this was easy. It's Lovecats by The Cure.

At long last, the fat lady sings

SATRIALE'S; You'll meet a better class of mobster here.

Finally, finally, finally, I've seen the entire series of The Sopranos, HBO's drama of the ups and downs of life for New Jersey mobsters. It is over, the fat lady has done her bit.

I was watching The Sopranos some years ago when it was broadcast on British TV, but for reasons I've never fully fathomed, I stopped just as the show got in to its sixth and final season.

We don't have a television now, but we can watch DVDs and thanks to the kindness of a friend who lent us the entire boxed set, over the last few weeks we have waded our way through the whole show. We have seen every last bludgeoning, whacking and routine trip to "the Bing" to catch up with the antics of pole dancers.

It has been a remarkable experience and demonstrates that good storytelling makes good television. The programme was heaped with critical acclaim and even received the accolade of best television series of all time. Only as an aside, but where does that leave Triangle? (Just a British TV joke).

The thing that struck me about The Sopranos is that for all the thumping and whacking - surely at least one killing an episode - the programme was an allegory of what life is really like. Yes, really.

Mob boss Tony Soprano loves his family and at the same time wants to do the best he can in his "work". Inevitably there are tensions as the demands of family life conflict with the pressures of being an effective performer in the workplace. Family v work or family plus work or what? It's an age old problem and one that increasingly is not just something for men to wrestle with. In fact, it probably never has been one for  men alone to resolve.

You think I'm being a bit far-fetched about similarities between life in the mob and most people's day-to-day existence. Well, how about this? What is organised crime but capitalism without restriction? In an office if there's an employment problem it's time to call on the human resources department. In the mob it's time to make a bogus appointment, then bang! bang! bang! before either burying the body in the New Jersey marshes or weighing it down and tipping it off a boat at sea.

And forget mergers and acquisitions, and all that leveraged buy-out malarkey. If you're an up-and-coming Mafia capo then the trick is to point out to the hard-working schmuck who has spent years building up a profitable business that he'd be much better off taking you on as a sleeping partner than risking having his business burn down with him in it. Literally you make someone an offer they can't refuse. Take away the rules and you're free to do whatever you want if it turns a profit, which is, after all, the name of the game in business.

Whether or not The Sopranos was a masterful evocation of the struggle we call life, it remains as a solid piece of proof that entertaining television and intelligent programme making are not mutually exclusive. I'm missing it already.

Well now, there was tons of good music from The Sopranos and its theme tune, Woke Up This Morning by Alabama 3, is deeply embedded in my memory, but sometimes I like to be a little contrary. I have chosen the Flower Duet from Léo Delibes' opera Lakmé. It's not being sung by two fat ladies, but Anna Netrebko and Elina Garanca certainly are sopranos. Opera is not really my thing, but give this a chance, it's beautiful. To many of you it will be familiar as advertising music, but it's so much better than that.

* Picture of Satriale's Pork Store from The Sopranos by Stephen Hanafin [CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

The law of the playground

YOU LOOKING AT ME?: Yanis Varoufakis

OK, I know this is childish, but I reckon Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis could duff up any of his counterparts in the rest of Europe.

The Belgian one and the Dutch one and the German one AND especially George Osborne, the British Chancellor of the Exchequer. Mr Varoufakis would give them a couple of slaps and they'd be off and running.

All right, I know I'm being silly. I know Greece will not settle its problems in Europe by having its finance minister giving his opposite numbers a Chinese burn and sticking their heads down the toilet (although I wouldn't argue too much if he did that to that tosser George Osborne).

TOSSER: George Osborne

In fact, Mr Varoufakis comes across as a charming and bright individual, who genuinely wants to resolve Greece's economic woes without upsetting the European applecart. Can it be done? Well, we have to hope so.

George Osborne, a man who has a face you'd never tire of slapping, warned a few days ago that the standoff between Greece and the Eurozone was "fast becoming the biggest threat to the global economy". George, George, if I've told you once, I've told you a million times, don't exaggerate.

If the British Chancellor is correct, then the global economy must be in a pretty parlous state and I can't help feeling the finger of blame ought to be pointing at something else other than the admittedly wonky financial set-up in Greece. How about we get the banks and all that toxic debt they created to bow their heads in shame?

Anyway, what do I know? My theory of economics allies with that of Mr Micawber in Dickens' David Copperfield. His Micawer Principle runs thus: "Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure nineteen pounds nineteen and six, result happiness. Annual income twenty pounds, annual expenditure twenty pounds nought and six, result misery."Seems eminently sensible to me, I wonder if George Osborne has read it?

As for music to go with this post, I'd like to respectfully dedicate Money's Too Tight by the Valentine Brothers to Yanis Varoufakis. Let's hope that one day soon money is not "too tight".

* Picture of George Osborne from HM Treasury and used under Open Government Licence.

A Fistful of Euros

Cash in hand.

Yesterday I went to the bank and was pleasantly surprised to find that my visit was completely routine. You'd never have known that people in some parts of Europe are waiting for Greece to tumble in to the abyss.

There were no queues around the block of anxious Greek people emptying their accounts of every last Euro in anticipation of a Syriza-led plunge in to an unknown Drachma-based future.

This was very much business as usual. The Skopelos branch of the National Bank of Greece is basically a large office. It's only recently that the branch has installed one of those security doors where you have to press a button and wait for the green light before you can enter.

Once inside there is a machine to issue you with a number marking your place in the queue. In that sense it's a bit like waiting to be served at the deli counter in a large supermarket.

Going to the bank here is a lot like many other activities carried out in public, it's a chance to be social. There's almost always someone you know in the queue so you can smile and nod to your acquaintances while at the same time keeping an eye open for those crafty Greek grannies who view queuing as something other people do. The truth is that if one of those grannies, a γιαγιά, does jump the queue there isn't a lot you can do about it. People here are generally pleasantly respectful towards their elders, something which, as I get more grey hair, I find I welcome.

Anyway, I withdrew the colourful bits of printed paper - well isn't that all money is? - I required and set off to do my bit to boost the local economy by spending it. For the time being I don't think there's much more I can do.

Some people have pointed out to me that they can't see/hear the music I like to add at the end of each posting. I thank them for pointing this out as I really do like feedback. I think the problem lies with whether or not you have a flash plugin, but I wouldn't want you to read this and think I actually know what I'm talking about. There's probably a setting you need to adjust or something. Maybe it's the flux capacitor.

I was thinking of choosing The Clash performing Bankrobber to go with this post, but instead I've gone for something a bit more upbeat with Shalamar and Take that to the bank.

* Picture of Euro notes by Usien, used under Creative Commons Licence.

When we want your opinion we'll give it to you

"Too bad that all the people who know how to run the country are busy driving taxicabs and cutting hair." That is one of my favourite one-liners from American comic George Burns to which these days would have to be added "or commenting on websites and writing blogs". To the latter indictment I plead guilty as charged.

However, if you are in Greece you might also wish to add "or being German" because as Greece heads towards parliamentary elections on January 25 there has been no shortage of advice coming from Germany on the potential impact of how Greeks might choose to vote.

What seems to give everyone a fit of the vapours is the possibility that the left-wing Syriza party would gain control. Party leader Alexis Tsipras, who I have seen described by the BBC as a "firebrand"...oo-er, has pledged to "condemn the failed memoranda of austerity", which some feel will lead to Greece defaulting on its debts and then leaving the Euro - the dreaded "Grexit".

No fan of austerity: Syriza leader Alexis Tsipras.
Picture used under Creative Commons licence.

German politicians and media organisations have all been quick to suggest to Greece that it's time to shut up, pay up and keep on paying up and that the best way to go about this would be to elect politicians of much the same political hue as we already have.

One very understandable reason there is so much interest in Germany in what goes on in Greece is that German bank exposure to Greek debt comes in at a whopping 23.5 billion Euros. That would give anyone cause to think, but does it give them the right to tell/suggest/politely hint to Greeks how they should run their country? I suppose in the global economy in which money swoops and swishes around the world, the powerful and rich feel that, yes, they can tell the poor and ailing how they should mend their ways.

Until recently the prospect of Grexit, such an ugly word, has been viewed with dismay, but now many leading German politicians, not least Chancellor Angela Merkel, have said that Greece leaving the Euro would be manageable and the prospect of "contagion" spreading to other troubled economies, namely Portugal and Ireland, was reduced because those countries are considered to be "rehabilitated". So it's off the naughty step for the Portuguese and the Irish and a case of "go your own way" for Greece...maybe.

There has been talk of the use of fear in this current Greek election campaign, much of it along the lines of "You think things have been bad, well, vote in Syriza and you'll be squealing to have the old guard back in power". Opinion polls place Syriza in a comfortable lead and it's plain to see that waving a big stick around in the face of Greek voters is having little effect. Unemployment is around 25 per cent and many Greeks have taken pay cuts while at the same time being faced with tax increases. I suspect that quite a lot of Greek people doubt that anything could be worse than what they are going through now.

Blogger or not, I wouldn't pretend to know what Greece ought to do for the best. Like the joke about the lost motorist who stops in the countryside to ask a yokel for directions and is told "You don't want to start from here" Greece could do with being somewhere completely different before embarking on its journey to economic and political stability. Distrust of politicians of all kinds is rife in this country which seems to have really sapped hope among voters. And it would be an optimistic person who claimed that all Greek taxpayers were ready to do their bit and pay every last cent that they owe.

Be that as it may, I am a great believer in allowing people to cock things up for themselves. So the country which gave us the words politics and democracy, not to mention drama and chaos, should be allowed to make its own choices. For the time being, Mrs Merkel and her colleagues will have to resume their seats and wait to see how this latest moment in Greek history pans out.

* What do you think? See if the Greeks can muddle through or make them toe the line? There could be a drink in it for you if you come up with a startlingly brilliant idea, but you'll have to come  here to collect it, he added hastily.

All that quasi-serious stuff above could do with a bit of light relief so how about this from Fleetwood Mac, which I was inspired to choose from a line in the posting.

Words we get from Greek: 1 - economy

Oh dear! Possibly not the best choice with which to start this occasional series designed to show all manner of words the English language has gained from Greek.

Economy in Greek (οικονομία) is used in the same way as we use it in English, to describe the overall financial system and also as a word for frugality. No surprises though that it is the first use that is at the forefront of everyone's mind. Without wishing to sound too harsh the Greek economy is a train wreck.

Last December 26.4 per cent of the workforce was unemployed, up from 10.5 per cent in the same month in 2009, and youth unemployment now stands at 58 per cent. The infamous troika - the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank - has called for stringent austerity measures before it will approve bail-outs running to billions of Euros.

In the last 12 months, the minimum wage of €751 has been cut by 22 per cent (or 32 per cent for under 25s), and the government also cut the basic rate of unemployment benefits from €460 to €360 a month. Most of those receiving such benefits will only do so for a year after which.....?

So all in all not good, but there are said to be the tiniest signs of hope, although to be honest these are usually announced by politicians seeking to justify continued austerity. If people in Britain feel hard done by with a political class which seems to have little understanding of the realities facing "normal" people, then it would be fair to say that many Greeks have a burning sense of grievance at the behaviour of some of their politicians.

Sometimes I suspect that what happens in an economy is despite the activities of politicians, not because of them. I was talking to someone about the Greek economy the other day and he felt the world economy would gradually improve and then, to offer hope for Greece, he said: "And all boats float on a rising tide". The cynic in me wondered what might happen if the hull of the Greek economy still had a massive hole in it. Fingers crossed that it hasn't.

Money: It doesn't grow on trees, you know.
(Picture posed by models)

Independently independent

Today is Independence Day for Greece. A BIG national holiday and on Skopelos a day when just about everyone dresses to impress and gathers on the Paralia, the waterfront, to watch the parade and meet friends and family for coffee.

Women in traditional Skopelitan costume carry the Greek flag.

For Greece the particular piece of independence the day marks is fighting for freedom  from the Ottoman Empire over a period from 1821 to 1832. And here is a picture showing how it all started.

The old days.

Well perhaps Theodoros Vryzakis's painting can be accused of some artistic licence, he painted it about 30 years after the events it depicts, but it is meant to show Bishop Germanos of old Patras blessing the Greek banner at the start of the national revolt against the Turks in 1821 (thank you Wikipedia).

So does something that happened almost 200 years ago, still carry weight? You bet it does. Greek history is much more than all that sword and sandal stuff with Sparta, the Trojan wars and old temples. In the 20th century Greece has arguably had a bit more history than it could deal with. Bits added, bits taken away, wars, coups, invasion and general turmoil.

In this century things are still pretty bumpy and I suspect many Greeks are more than a little fed-up with being the focus of attention of some of their Eurozone colleagues. No names, no pack drill etc etc, but being told by the Smartypants with Europe's leading economy that "you must try harder" must grate after a while.

Those fighting for independence back in the early 19th century used as their rallying cry Ελευθερία ή θάνατοσ (freedom or death) and while that's probably going a bit far for modern tastes, I would hate to see this sometimes joyously eccentric country sacrifice very much more of its independence in the cause of global capitalism.

Their costumes honour the past, but the worry must be what
will the future hold for these children?