Greece in the limelight - by Richard... Saturday, November 05, 2011

Greece in the limelight - by Richard... Saturday, November 05, 2011

Before the pivotal vote last night, Papandreou spoke in the Greek parliament. We picked him up at 21:42hrs local time GMT ... two hours later in Athens, and followed the action on the Athens Newsblog, read across to Greek language local television for live pictures. The vote was originally expected just after 22:00hrs Z (just after midnight, Greek time).

Papandreou announced that, if he won the vote, he would go to president to discuss forming government of national unity. "I don't care if I'm not re-elected", he said. "It's time for cooperation ... We have to stop fighting battles of yesterday". He concluded: "I'm sure we will go forward together", to a standing ovation.

Communist Party leader Aleka Papariga's response was sharp: The new government will last two years. It will be used to pass even harsher measures. You are about to pass the most barbaric measures in the history of this country. Well enough is enough. We are not going to be blackmailed! I guess he was not a happy bunny.

Speeches continued, but none of the live blogs were bothering to translate. Well past midnight, Greek time, and there was no word on when they would vote. But then Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos closed the debate. He said the country needed effective government, and said an interim government would stay in power until February. Then there would be elections.

Just seconds before 00:30hrs Greek time (22:30 GMT), the vote started. It was done as a roll call - the names were read out, and each MP responded (above). "Neh" means "yes", which gave a bizarre flavour to the vote. "Oichi" means "no" and there were a lot of those. With the slowness of the call, the vote was then expected about 01:00hrs Greek time (23:00 GMT).

The rebellion had collapsed. The last of the PASOK rebel MPs, Lintzeris, voted yes, a fait accompli. Papandreou carried it, it seemed. The clerks checked the vote. Officially declared at 01:04hrs Greek time: "Yes" 153, "No" 145. Papandreou had won. Those remaining in the chamber applauded - a standing ovation. Even Papandreou applauded. How terribly continental ... and with one bound, he was free.

However, the BBC had the story on Thursday (below). And, as you all know, the BBC can never, ever be wring wrong.

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Out of the public eye - by Richard... Friday, November 04, 2011

While much of the focus on things German in the last few days has been on Frau Merkel, back home things have been far from happy, particularly on the military front. Rather than lining up serried ranks of storm troopers, ready to goosestep over the borders, Merkel's administration has been trimming hard on the military capacity.

Already, the size of the army has been reduced to 170,000 troops, following then end of national service for school leavers. Now for the chop are a goodly number of the troubled A400M transport, the numbers of which are to be reduced from 60 to 53.

The number of Eurocopter Tiger UHT combat helicopters has been halved to 40 and the number of NH90 transport helicopters is also being cut by 40. Germany ordered 80 NH90s in 2000, and a further 42 in June 2007.

Overall, a 20-percent reduction in the defence budget is being sought and, like the UK, Germany is making deep cuts. Also to go is a Tornado fighter-bomber wing, two Transal airlift wings, one transport helicopter regiment, one combat helicopter wing and a naval aviation unit.

Another casualty is the Eurofighters. With a total of 143 aircraft already ordered, there is now no chance of any further orders.

As regards the A400M, Airbus has also been told by the French government that it will not take delivery of the aircraft it has ordered, starting in 2013 "unless Airbus improves the terms of a maintenance contract for the planes". This, though, is seen as a back-door way of slowing down deliveries in order to deal with a major budget shortfall.

Further to add to the woes of Airbus, the South African government is suing it for the return of R2.9 billion for eight aircraft, ordered in 2005 but still undelivered.

The only good news on the horizon for defence contractors is the final stage of the Indian competition for 126 medium multi-role combat aircraft, for which Eurofighter and the French Rafale are bidding. Purchase of the Eurofighter option would make India a bigger operator of the type than Germany.

However, when Germany has Frau Merkel as a secret weapon, who needs Eurofighters?

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The theatre of the absurd - by Richard...

It is worrisome that so many people continue to profess a hard-bitten cynicism about the MSM, declaring that they are immune to its charms and believe nothing that are told. Yet, the moment they are fed tosh of which they approve, their reserves melt like a spoon of ice-cream on a Greek beach in the height of summer.

Such was the experience yesterday, with the "plucky Greece" meme continuing to grow even today, while the MSM revels in the "drama" of the G20 summit meeting.

But anyone who wants to believe that what comes out of these summits, and especially their communiqués, needs perhaps to read the account of the great summit between Heath and Pompidou in May 1971. Reconstructing the events from official documents, memoirs, and other sources, and then comparing them with the hugely different accounts in the press at the time, is quite an education.

In fact, throughout history, we see stark differences between the accounts of events – and the perceptions we take from them – and the actual events.

Even in 1940 at the height of the September Blitz on London, when Churchill was touring the streets, offering encouragement and sympathy, in secret session in Cabinet calling for "strong action" to be taken against people demonstrating for improvements in the pitifully poor air raid shelter provision.

What one must accept, therefore, is that much of the overt conduct of our masters – what they say and do – is done mainly for effect. A grotesque theatre of the absurd which bears little relation to reality.

Here, the media are very much part of the game. Theirs is the role of court jester, retailing the performances to the wider audience, conferring a veneer of credibility to what is invariably pure showmanship, as the current G20 communiqué illustrates.

In that light does one read about the "Action plan for Growth and Jobs", learning that "Advanced economies commit to adopt policies to build confidence and support growth and implement clear, credible and specific measures to achieve fiscal consolidation".

Anyone who can read that without either scratching their heads, or sniggering with derision, needs to renew their own personal nursery subscription.

Likewise should we treat the assertion that, "We are determined to strengthen the social dimension of globalization". And then there is: "We have made progress in reforming the international monetary system to make it more representative, stable and resilient".

Press releases and conferences are no better, but then the same applies to all such political events. It you shake hands with any of them, count your fingers afterwards. And, as you listen to their pronouncements, the only mystery is about the precise nature of their lies, not whether they are lying.

Not until 10pm tonight (or later) will we learn the outcome of the Greek parliament vote of confidence. How much of that will be theatre, we will probably never know, but it would be entirely safe to assume that the effect was pre-ordained and calculated.

How it is that people can still believe anything that they are told is then the real mystery. It is almost as puzzling as the idea that anyone can believe Papandreou is a democrat, rather than the self-serving leader of one of the most corrupt nations in Europe.