The slow-motion destruction of the Greek economy, as if foretold in a Delphic oracle, looks like a scene from a Greek tragedy, with the chorus warning repeatedly: “O Wise Kings and Queens, you can’t have a currency without commitment, a currency only for convenience, a currency without an army.” For the euro, a bold experiment in creating a monetary union without a political union is a unit for transaction; nobody feels passionate about it.That lack of passion is the consequence of its origins: Europe had too much nationalist passion, the outcome of which was a global conflict, twice, in the last century. To eliminate its recurrence, the European Union became an elite-driven project, with sophisticated urban and urbane intellectuals who, unwilling to repeat the blood-splattered ... Continue reading →
The slow-motion destruction of the Greek economy, as if foretold in a Delphic oracle, looks like a scene from a Greek tragedy, with the chorus warning repeatedly: “O Wise Kings and Queens, you can’t have a currency without commitment, a currency only for convenience, a currency without an army.” For the euro, a bold experiment in creating a monetary union without a political union is a unit for transaction; nobody feels passionate about it.That lack of passion is the consequence of its origins: Europe had too much nationalist passion, the outcome of which was a global conflict, twice, in the last century. To eliminate its recurrence, the European Union became an elite-driven project, with sophisticated urban and urbane intellectuals who, unwilling to repeat the blood-splattered ... Continue reading →
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Brett Murray's The Spear being vandalised in a Johannesburg art gallery Link to this video A painting depicting the South African president, Jacob Zuma, with his genitals exposed has been vandalised, leading to ugly scenes at an art gallery in Johannesburg.One man painted a red cross across Zuma's face and penis while a younger man spread black paint over the image. The younger man was reportedly assaulted by security guards.The 1.85-metre-high painting, entitled The Spear, has bitterly divided South Africans, with the governing African National Congress (ANC) describing it as "rude, disrespectful and racist", but others defending the artist Brett Murray's right to freedom of speech.South Africa's Eyewitness news identified one of the vandals on Tuesday as a university professor, and said he "took a ... Continue reading →
By Quentin FottrellFacebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg changed his status to “married” Saturday and received over one million “likes” from his followers. But the site he founded isn’t always so marriage-friendly. In fact, lawyers say the social network contributes to an increasing number of marriage breakups. More than a third of divorce filings last year contained the word Facebook, according to a survey by Divorce Online, a UK-based legal services firm. And over 80% of U.S. divorce attorneys say they’ve seen a rise in the number of cases using social networking, according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers. “I see Facebook issues breaking up marriages all the time,” says Gary Traystman, a divorce attorney in New London, Conn. Of the 15 cases he handles per ... Continue reading →
ATHENS (The Borowitz Report) – After struggling for months with an intractable financial crisis, Greece announced today that it would cease to exist as a sovereign nation and would instead reboot itself as a social network. The new entity, FetaBook, is expected to raise much-needed billions in an upcoming IPO. The social network formerly known as Greece announced that it would cancel its upcoming elections and instead install a CEO, a 24-year-old hacker from suburban Athens named Ciro Mavromatidis. Speaking from the newly opened offices of FetaBook, Mr. Mavromatidis explained how the social network would be attractive to the investment community in ways that Greece was not. “We’re keeping all the aspects of Greece that made it a cool brand – the ruins, the Olympics, ... Continue reading →
