WTF Greece?

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greek disability groups expressed anger Monday at a government decision to expand a list of state-recognized disability categories to include pedophiles, exhibitionists and kleptomaniacs.

The National Confederation of Disabled People called the action "incomprehensible," and said pedophiles are now awarded a higher government disability pay than some people who have received organ transplants.

The Labor Ministry said categories added to the expanded list — that also includes pyromaniacs, compulsive gamblers, fetishists and sadomasochists — were included for purposes of medical assessment and used as a gauge for allocating financial assistance.

Creating incentive for pedophilia? (albeit unintentional I'm sure)

W...t...f....

This would make it insanely easy for anyone to get a disability check.

Just go steal some stuff and boom check in the mail baby.

They're just double checking that they get the fark.com tag.

Along with probably: , , and .

Edit: I'm not studied enough. Apparently the Stupid tag was already earned.

I hope we're missing something here that explains things better...this can't possibly be true...

Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said the measures were vital to the country's very economic survival.

"The question is not whether some salaries and pensions will be curtailed, but whether we will be able to pay even these reduced wages and pensions," he told lawmakers before the vote. "When you have to choose between bad and worse, you will pick what is bad to avoid what is worse."

The new cutbacks, which follow two years of harsh income losses and tax hikes amid a deep recession and record high unemployment have been demanded by Greece's bailout creditors in return for a new batch of vital rescue loans.

Greece's eurozone partners, meanwhile, kept up the pressure for real reform.

German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was quoted as telling the Welt am Sonntag newspaper on Sunday that Greece "cannot be a bottomless pit."

Highlighting previous pledges he said weren't kept, Schaeuble said "that is why Greece's promises aren't enough for us any more."

Asked whether Greece has a long-term future in the eurozone, Germany's Vice Chancellor Philip Roesler said "that is now in the hands of the Greeks alone."

"It is not enough just to give financial aid – they must tackle the second cause of the crisis, the lack of economic competitiveness," he told said ARD television. "For that, they need ... massive structural reforms. Otherwise Greece will not get out of the crisis."

Introducing the legislation Sunday, Socialist lawmaker Sofia Yiannaka said the intense pressure from Greece's EU partners to pass the measures was the result of delays in implementing already agreed reforms.

"The delays have our imprint. We should not blame foreigners for them," she said. "We have finally found out that you have to pay back what you have borrowed."

"Merkel we are a free nation and not your colony," said one banner. Another read, "Merkel Raus (out, in German). Murderer of 3,500 Greeks," a reference to the number of Greeks who have taken their own lives, according to some estimates, as a result of the current hardship.

Germany should just take over Europe.

Keep in mind that the German retirement age has been boosted from age sixty-five to age sixty-seven, where as the Greeks have had a retirement age of fifty to fifty-two, depending on gender, since the 1970's.

Merkel

Why keep throwing money into a bottomless pit?

These numbers may be misleading when you add also that 30% of the 60+ year olds in Germany still work and if I remember a politician right at 65years it is around 5-8%.

They should focus more on the IMF then on Germany with their hatred in my opinion.

Currently Germany profits of the Euro during the crises unlike the first years when the investition money migrated out of Germany to the southern countries.
Also no one knows what will happen if Greece leave. There are opinions from a downvalued currency and quick recovery after 1-2 years which would be problematic for those who currently put money into it, also it would work it would be a signal for spain/portugal to leave as well which would really hurt the current debt holders.
Other opinions would be a domino effect of ruined financials for every country within the euro if the markets and rating agency play Musical chairs (without the last being a winner) with us while America has problems and finds no way to fix them.
Either way it has high risks.

I think that almost happened once.

Erm, twice. Jesus, did you even go to school, or is it just because you didn't "save our ***" in the first one?

Erm, twice. Jesus, did you even go to school, or is it just because you didn't "save our ***" in the first one?