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Welcome, 77 artists, 40 different points of Attica welcomes you by singing Erotokritos an epic romance written at 1713 by Vitsentzos Kornaros

Sunday, October 21, 2012

The return of leftwing cafe culture

Two London cafes are reviving the art of coffee and political debate that hasn't been seen in Britain since the 18th century

On the wall of the new Firebox Cafe in Somers Town, north London, there's a poster that reads: "March with the Miners". Orwell stands on the bookshelf. In the corner sits the moustachioed leftwinger John Rees, and across from him there's a chap from Occupy London. Behind the counter, activist Clare Solomon serves hot drinks with names such as the Greek frappe, the Agitator, and the Molotov Mocktail. Starbucks this is not.

What Firebox may instead be (or at least what it has been called) is a return to the lefty cafe culture of postwar Paris. Apart from Soho's Partisan Coffee House in the 50s, such places haven't really thrived in Britain since the 18th century, when the likes of Samuels Pepys and Johnson would gather for the Georgian equivalent of a ding-dong on 4Chan. "Firebox seeks to become a place for debate and organisation," says Solomon, one of the leaders of the 2010 student movement, "at a time when the left badly needs to amplify a socialist message."

It's not alone, either. A few miles south is the Cuts Cafe, set up by UK Uncut-types to foster face-to-face debate about protest and capitalism in the runup to last Saturday's TUC demonstration. Another group wants to open a hangout on the Strand.

I visited the cafes last week, in an attempt to gauge their chat-to-caffeine ratio. The Cuts Cafe, it turns out, is more of a friendly meeting place than a coffee house. It's a derelict bank without any running water, and only recently taken over by its current occupants – and inspired by recent London squats such as the School of Ideas. "We've had people come in and ask for cappuccino," smiles Holly Rigby, a regular. "But we're not that sort of cafe." Yet the place still channels the spirit of the old-school coffee house: in the old bank manager's office, 15 teachers, teaching assistants, professors and undergraduates huddle in a circle and argue about how to radicalise secondary education. "I'm interested in trying to challenge the conservative curriculum at my school – without getting sacked," explains a teacher in a suit. "I fucking hate academies," says a student in a keffiyeh.

Next door, in a room where NatWest customers were perhaps once sold their mortgages, 30-odd lefties – some still in their suits from work, one or two in wheelchairs – discuss "Plan C": the alternative to both capitalism and its Keynesian solutions. In the corner, someone's three-year-old watches Fantastic Mr Fox on a laptop while their dad explains that austerity is the logical conclusion of neoliberalism. It's less coffee, more conversation.

Up at Firebox, which is a proper cafe,mocha is made with nutella – quite nice, actually –the debate stems from a talk about Venezuelan food sovereignty. Other events involve the Guardian's own Seumas Milne, Tony Benn and Lindsey German from Stop the War, while every Saturday lunchtime there will be an informal chat on the matters of the moment. "It's aimed at a different audience," says the Cuts Cafe's Rigby, who is well placed to comment: she also shifts at Firebox. "We [the Cuts Cafe] haven't really got any big names. It's aimed at community involvement rather than people who are already well-known."

In fact, the two cafes – politically speaking – come from slightly different places. The Cuts Cafe is non-hierarchical and temporary. Firebox, though open to all comers, is funded by Counterfire (a group that splintered from the Socialist Workers' party) and is here for the long haul. "We don't think that 'reclaimed space' can last long in a capitalist economy so we are linking our project to an organisation so that it can be sustained both financially and politically," says Solomon, who nevertheless stresses her support for her south London counterparts.

Outside Firebox, a little sign politely ponders: "Best cappuccino in London?" The jury's out on that one. But best chat? It beats Starbucks, any day.


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The austerity debate: time to think much bigger | Editorial

Halting the government's programme to shrink the state will not resolve the other underlying problems

To get a sizable protest out in central London in the middle of rainy autumn is no easy feat. It requires mobilisation and a Glastonbury-esque grip on logistics. So for organising this weekend's rally against austerity in Hyde Park, the TUC deserves congratulations: around 150,000 marchers, peacefully opposing this government's wrong-headed programme of cuts. But there's a paradox here: the economy continues to flatline, while popular support for this government is still sliding (an 11-point gap between Labour and the Conservatives, according to one opinion poll) – yet Saturday's turnout was about half that of the TUC's last big demonstration in March 2011, and attracted far less publicity. The argument has only been strengthened by the evidence and has won an increasingly sympathetic audience – yet, on the evidence of last weekend at least, the people making it are increasingly diffident. Why?

One reason could be a justified sense that such protests leave little impact. In his new book, Riot City, historian Clive Bloom notes that two of the largest demonstrations in political history took place within the past decade: the countryside rally of 2002 against the fox-hunting ban and the million-strong march in 2003 opposing the war on Iraq. Both were huge shows of popular opposition to policy, by middle-class voters from either end of the political spectrum – and both, as Professor Bloom points out, achieved nothing. The implication of his argument is logical if depressing: organised extra-parliamentary protest is increasingly symbolic. The demonstrators get to say their piece but that doesn't mean the denizens of Whitehall feel compelled to pay attention.

That surely applies to the argument against George Osborne's cuts. Despite disastrous figures, crisis in the eurozone, warnings from the IMF and the wavering of former allies, the chancellor has made clear that he will not deviate from Plan A. But the arguments being made by the anti-austerity brigade are also problematic, by dint of being too narrow.

There are not one but two discussions to be had over the future of the British economy: the first is the one we hear about all the time, to do with the cuts. But the more fundamental debate about what kind of economy Britain should have rarely gets an airing – so that economic argument in this country too often becomes only about cuts v no cuts; with the opponents of austerity implicitly advancing the view that the British economy was a wonderful place to be back in 2006 and that all that needs to be done is to kick out the coalition, wave the Keynesian wand and await the arrival of the economic Tardis to take us back into the noughties.

This is baloney, on several levels. Sure, Mr Osborne's cuts do go much further and much faster than any comparable economy and they have inflicted vast damage on the economy. What the right posited as remedial action to stop Britain turning into Greece is, it is clear, instead a programme to shrink the state. But even if that were halted at breakfast tomorrow, that still wouldn't resolve the other underlying issues: an oversized, socially useless and extractive financial sector; runaway inequality; a lopsided economy reliant on shopping and borrowing rather than producing and exporting; and a dearth of private sector jobs outside London providing decent pay, pensions and conditions, of the kind that manufacturing used to provide.

In fairness to the TUC, its research on some of these problems has been impressive. The bigger problem is elsewhere, starting in Westminster. Ed Miliband is now also taking an interest, albeit belatedly and without focus. But warm words about predistribution (in Labour jargon) or rebalancing (in coalition-speak) are not much use. What's needed is some reality about, for instance, how fragile Britain's banks remain and how moth-eaten its industrial base is. We might then have a proper debate about this country's future. It would surely be far more radical than the old stage fight about cuts v no cuts.


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Greek Debt Could Shrink Rapidly with Leveraged Buy Back Scheme


Business Insider

Greek Debt Could Shrink Rapidly with Leveraged Buy Back Scheme - Spiegel
Business Insider
ForexCrunch is a site all about the foreign exchange market, which consists of tutorials, basics of the forex market, daily and weekly forex analysis, technical analysis, forex software posts, insights about the forex industry and whatever is related ...
German Finance Ministry Mulls Debt Buy-Back for GreeceGreek Reporter

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Greek savings are a 'sensational achievement'

European parliament member Jorgo Chatzimarkakis explains why the Greek government has done a good job in handling the state debt crisis so far - but why it also needs more time.

READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT www.dw.de

Obama's first term: pivot to Asia and tweaks to Latin America

India got charm but little substance from the US president's foreign policy, while Europe got exasperation

Away from the Middle East, Barack Obama's foreign policy has been largely about turning to Asia, sending mixed signals to Latin America, ignoring sub-Saharan Africa – and hoping that Europe and its implacable crisis go away.

Arguably the single most important strategic decision of his first term was the "pivot" to Asia – the promise this year to deploy 60% of naval assets to the Asia-Pacific region by 2020. Chinese analysts say this is the principal reason why bilateral relations are now at their lowest point since Obama became president.

Otherwise, the Obama administration has taken care not to upset the Chinese unduly. Obama himself waited more than two years before privately meeting the Dalai Lama; the secretary of state, Hillary Clinton, made it clear early on that disagreements over human rights should not interfere with co-operation on broader issues between the world's two foremost economic powers.

The other rising power of the east, India, usually enjoys better relations with the US when a Republican president is in office. But Obama, who visited India in November 2010, charmed his hosts with flattering references to their country's heritage and booming economy, a stab at speaking Hindi in parliament and a promise of support for a permanent seat on the United Nations security council, a long-cherished ambition that is extremely unlikely to be fulfilled any time soon. If the style was there — Indians were delighted by the youthful charisma of the president and his wife compared with the stuffy and status-obsessed local politicians — the substance has been less evident, however. Major defence deals have gone elsewhere, the Indians are deeply concerned by the US rush to exit Afghanistan – which they fear could benefit hostile neighbour Pakistan – and nothing as significant as the 2008 US-India nuclear deal that his predecessor pushed through has even been spoken of.

On Africa, Obama – the son of a Kenyan – has spent less than 24 hours in sub-Saharan Africa as president – and failed to produce a signature policy initiative, leaving many with a sense of anti-climax. "The president's Kenyan heritage inspired unreasonably high hopes for a robust Africa policy, but his administration has failed to meet even the lowest of expectations," wrote Todd Moss recently in Foreign Affairs.

"Even Obama's most vocal supporters quietly admit that he has done much less with Africa than previous presidents have."

But Clinton has made four trips and notched up 15 African countries. Most recently she was accompanied by executives from some of America's leading companies including Boeing, Walmart and FedEx. This underlines an evolving philosophy of seeing Africa more as investment destination than aid-hungry victim. Militarily, America's backing of African Union peacekeepers in Somalia has been a quiet triumph but al-Qaida's tentacles now stretch to countries such as Mali. Despite the disappointments, Obama still commands popular support – Conakry, the capital of Guinea, has more than one "Obama" cafe and restaurant.

Obama has tweaked rather than transformed US policy towards Latin America, despite the increased influence and integration of a region that is growing economically and becoming more dependent on China. Aside from a slight relaxation of the embargo on Cuba in 2009, the White House has largely continued the approach of previous administrations by putting a priority on the (losing) battle against narcotics trafficking. Promises to put more emphasis on reducing US demand as well as Latin American supply have failed to produce results: drug use and murder rates are both rising.

Mixed signals on other matters have not helped to impress other nations in the region. The US initially condemned the 2009 coup in Honduras against the leftwing leader José Manuel Zelaya but has subsequently supported the administration of Porfirio Lobo. Obama also signed a free trade agreement with Colombia despite opposing such a measure when it was initiated under the previous administration.

The rhetorical pitch has, however, softened compared with the era of George W Bush. The Venezuelan president, Hugo Chávez, has said he would choose Obama if he could vote in the forthcoming election, which is likely to be a mixed blessing.

On Russia, an early move to "reset" relations and make progress on nuclear arms reduction has been more than outweighed by a new deterioration in relations, sparked by Vladimir Putin's crackdown on the opposition, and diametrically opposed world views on Syria.

This leaves Europe and the spiralling debt and currency crisis. The Obama administration has been exasperated by Europe's response to the crisis and has consistently urged policymakers to take dramatic, once-and-for-all action to signal that the eurozone is safe. Obama knows that a Grexit (Greece leaving the eurozone) or an unravelling of the currency would decimate global growth and hammer the US economy – and hurt his re-election bid. But the American view of economic crisis management has been totally at odds with that of the Germans, who are minded to respond: where did the global financial crisis start anyway?


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DER SPIEGEL: Germany Is Considering A Buy-Back Plan To Slash Greece's ...


Business Insider

DER SPIEGEL: Germany Is Considering A Buy-Back Plan To Slash Greece's ...
Business Insider
BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany's Finance Ministry is considering a debt buy-back as a possible way of reducing Greece's huge debt pile which threatens to rise well above a target level of 120 percent of GDP by 2020, according to German news magazine ...


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Greece to get its bailout program amended at November Eurogroup meeting ...


Greece to get its bailout program amended at November Eurogroup meeting ...
ForexLive (blog)
Greece to get its bailout program amended at November Eurogroup meeting – Credit Agricole. By Gerry Davies || October 21, 2012 at 10:45 GMT. || 0 comments || Add comment · Hope they're right. I'm seriously thinking about posting only good/uplifting ...


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The desperation of Europe's wage austerians | Ronald Janssen

European leaders hailing a Greek export miracle base their case on a statistical correction rather than hard data

It seems too ridiculous to be true but here at the margins of the EU Summit, European leaders are actually claiming that their strategy is working: never mind the fact that the European economy is back in recession and that unemployment is skyrocketing, the recovery of export dynamics in some member states is seen as a measure of great success by our 'very serious leaders'.

In particular, much is being made of the fact that exports statistics from Greece indicate a substantial increase since 2009. This is supposed to demonstrate the benefits of the 'internal devaluation' policy imposed by the Troika with wages and unit wage costs collapsing. It's therefore interesting to examine Greece export figures in greater detail.

First, when looking at the volume of goods exports and basing ourselves on the AMECO database, there's hardly any sign of this famously strong recovery of Greek exports. In 2008, Greece was exporting some 22 billion worth of goods (in prices of 2005). The volume of goods exports collapsed to 19 billion in the 2009 financial crisis and has recovered slowly to 21 billion in 2012. No export miracle here.

Something does seem to be happening when switching the focus to goods exports in current prices. These increased from 22 billion before the outbreak of the crisis to 26, 5 billion in 2012, representing an expansion of 20%.

To examine what is behind this surge in the statistics, the figure below shows the product composition of exports from Greece from 1999 to countries outside the EU-27. (We also produced a figure on Greek exports to the EU 27 but all the curbs were flat).

This chart indicates that one product group above all was responsible for this increase in goods exports, namely the group 'mineral fuels, lubricants and related materials", which made a sudden leap to 6 times its previous level, increasing by €5 billion, an amount corresponding to the overall increase of goods exports from Greece (see paragraph above).

This is a bizarre finding, for two reasons. What is striking about this particular group is that it mainly contains products that are highly capital – and material – intensive (coal, petroleum, gas, electric current). Labour cost cuts are therefore the least likely explanation for this sudden surge in exports. Moreover, the surge in exports of this product group from Greece is limited to the rest of the world. There is no increase in these exports to European markets.

An explanation for this riddle can be found in a note from the Greek statistical office, the Hellenic Statistical Authority, Press release, 'Commercial transactions of Greece (Estimations): August 2012', October 10th. The note says the following: "Data on trade in petroleum products are not included due to a revision under way of the respective time series. The revision aims to incorporate revised primary data that have been recently provided by the Customs Authority".

In other words, what may very well be responsible for much or this entire surge in Greek exports are "revised primary data", i.e. simply a difference in counting.

To conclude, if the wage austerians are now basing their case on statistical corrections instead of on hard data, they must be getting pretty desperate.


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Anti-immigrant stance gains ground in Greece with Golden Dawn


At first glance, the shop on a nondescript street in this chaotic capital looks standard-issue military. Fatigues. Camouflage. Hunting gear. Deeper inside, the political message emerges. Black T-shirts emblazoned with modified swastikas — the symbol of the far-right Golden Dawn Party — are on sale. A proudly displayed sticker carries a favorite party slogan: "Get the Stench out of Greece."



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Greek crisis reveals cracks in society


Greek Reporter

Greek crisis reveals cracks in society
Denver Post
ATHENS, Greece — The cafes are full, the night life vibrant and the tourists still visiting in droves, but beneath the veneer of normalcy here Greece is unraveling. In good times, money papered over some of the problems. As the economic crisis grinds ...
Canadian Greeks Disavow Golden Dawn ExtremistsGreek Reporter
Reported Golden Dawn Sightings Rattle QueensNew York Times

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It's all Greek to Merkel


The Star Online

It's all Greek to Merkel
Irish Independent
Madam -- Angela Merkel described herself as having lived for over 30 years in a state where there was no freedom of speech. She was referring to the protests against her appearance in Greece recently, where she came into her role as queen of Europe.
Greeks Disapprove of Merkel's Visit, More AusterityGreek Reporter

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Praying with the Monks of Patmos, Greece


Boston Globe

Praying with the Monks of Patmos, Greece
Boston Globe
PATMOS, Greece — It's 3:45 a.m. on a Saturday and I am outside the Holy Monastery of St. John the Divine, wondering if my invitation to join the monks in an overnight prayer service will be honored. The locked gates to one of the world's most revered ...


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McMorris Rodgers: US should be wary of IMF loan to Greece


Human Events

McMorris Rodgers: US should be wary of IMF loan to Greece
Human Events
In the wake of International Monetary Fund Managing Director Christine LaGarde's comment last week that Greece should get two more years to meet some of the target conditions of its$167 billion bailout package, the top U.S. congressional skeptic of ...


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Greece delights with ancient sites, azure sea, food and drink


Greece delights with ancient sites, azure sea, food and drink
Longview Daily News
As the tour bus slowly made its way down the narrow streets of Katakolon, Greece, I thought I would see ruins or a big column — some sign that we were near the ancient city of Olympia, where the first Olympic competitions were held. Actually, this ...


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Taste of Greece event in E. Longmeadow


Taste of Greece event in E. Longmeadow
WWLP 22News
EAST LONGMEADOW, Mass. (WWLP) - The Greek Orthodox Church of St. Luke in East Longmeadow held its annual "A Taste of Greece" festival Saturday night. "A Taste of Greece" is just that; a three day event that features lots of food, lots of music and lots ...


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St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in Orange celebrates new Holy Trinity Chapel


St. Barbara Greek Orthodox Church in Orange celebrates new Holy Trinity Chapel
New Haven Register
The day was a special one for parishioners, who gathered to witness Archbishop Demetrios of America, Primate of the Greek Orthodox Church in America, to bless the new Holy Trinity Chapel adjacent to their church. The chapel is filled with iconography, ...

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Anti-immigrant Golden Dawn rises in Greece


euronews

Anti-immigrant Golden Dawn rises in Greece
Washington Post
ATHENS — At first glance, the shop on a nondescript street in this chaotic capital looks standard-issue military. Fatigues. Camouflage. Hunting gear. Deeper inside, the political message emerges. Black T-shirts emblazoned with modified swastikas ...
Greece sees rise in racist attacks on immigrantseuronews
Amid the Echoes of an Economic Crash, the Sounds of Greek Society Being TornNew York Times
Greece: Racist attacks on immigrants growUPI.com

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What Dylan, Knopfler played at the Greek; cracking the 'Tempest' code in concert


What Dylan, Knopfler played at the Greek; cracking the 'Tempest' code in concert
Examiner.com
Bob Dylan and Mark Knopfler played the Greek Theatre in Berkeley, California, last night. It was the eleventh of 33 shows scheduled for this tour. There were no debuts for Dylan in Berkeley. Returning to the set were the second "Shelter From The Storm ...

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