Shooting Nazis- Not A Good Idea.

Greece's Golden Dawn party is a neo-Nazi organisation that has apparent ties to political violence. Even so the people responsible for murdering two of their activists are as bad themselves.

They are also idiots. Assuming that the killers are far left activists- which seems reasonable given Greece's historic problem with murderous Marxists- the aim is presumably to curtail Golden Dawn's electoral appeal. We have seen this before.

Pim Fortuyn of the Netherlands was not in any way a Nazi but he was libeled as such by the media, so his killing provides a good example of what happens when the fight against supposed extremists is carried out by murder.

In the subsequent elections his party they gained so many votes that they won a place in the Dutch government, while this didn't last long (because Fortuyn wasn't a good party organiser and without him there was no real institution to act in a coherent manner) government is not where Golden Dawn should end up.

Drift.

As I understand it:

If Greece leaves the Euro then there will probably be a capital flight from other Eurozone countries, a series of financial collapses of institutions which own Greek deby and in the long run Greece will start to recover with a massively devalued Drachma.

If Germany and France commit to keeping Greece inside the Eurozone then Greece's economic and political malaise will drag on but they will be able to borrow with German backing. Greece's fiscal policy would be set in Brussels and Berlin for the forseeable future.

However given that we are talking about the EU here, what happens if nothing is decided at any point? If everything just continues as it is indefinately- with no actual decision one way or the other being made. As far as I can see that is what is likely to happen the Germans are not going to continue to throw money at Greece, the Greeks won't accept the massive levels of cuts that are necessary and the EU won't kick Greece out of the Euro.

Chavs Abroad?

Who says Santa Claus is the only one trying to come down your chimney during the festive season? According to Greek mythology, a gaggle of goblin-like spirits are trying to slide into homes -- and instead of presents they are intent on leaving a trail of destruction.

Isn't it great that in Greece this is the stuff of legend, rather than page two of the local newspaper? The article doesn't say whether this myth is ancient or whether it began at about the same time as package holidays from Britain:

"The Kallikantzaroi cause mischief, they intimidate people, urinate in flowerbeds, spoil food, tip things over and break furniture," Tomkinson said. Opinions differ on what they look like, both because of active imaginations and Greece's once-isolated regions, separated by the Hellenic nation's many mountains and vast seas. As a result, some say the Kallikantzaroi resemble humans with dark complexions, ugly, very tall beings that sport iron clogs. Others say they're short and swarthy, with red eyes, cleft hooves, monkeys' arms, and hair-covered bodies.

How do the Greeks deal with these chavs?

Greek families are keen to ward off the gaggles of goblin louts. Some use the legendary precaution of a black-handled knife.

I prefer the legendary precaution of a large metal torch but whatever.