happy fathers' day

Here is a candid gathering of famous and infamous dads. Don't forget to tell yours how special he is and Happy Fathers' Day!

panhandlers and paupers

I am not quite sure what to call the growing and morbid fascination with ruin and distress on exhibition, and thankfully no one has tried to apply the label of poverty porn universally because there are significant differences in degree and dialogue. Of course, things can slide into neglect and disrepair quickly and destitution can be an equalizing force, but it does not do to compare the Sword of Damocles hanging over Greece and Europe with the Rustbelt of the United States and explicit profiles of crumbling and de-peopled urban centres. Detroit is a pinup girl.

The so-called poster children of the eurozone, however, are not positioned to relinquish hope, sovereignty, identity or anything else and will continue to engage the union and their people in setting this framework.

The euro is not in danger because of debate or controls more stringent and exacting than were originally agreed to (though perhaps not abided by) but is rather reinforced by vocal and public investigation and scrutiny. Trying to force American-style solutions of throwing money at problems, hollowing out social support programs and allowing the banks and markets to dictate to government and the real economy is obliviously a threat, even though the crisis stems from a uniquely American export, greatly exacerbated by American-style over-exuberance and over-exposure. Budgets and expenditures, though crises can be enlightening for systemic problems, could have continued at a parallel pace if it was not for one costly mistake, and with attention and care can be realigned and made stronger. The peep-show comes in the form of rallies, strikes and street protests and threats to monuments, artefacts and infrastructure rather than the abject desolation, that many like to ogle over but that’s apparently all talked-out.

as seen on tv

From the creative franchise that offers the daily web comics Toothpaste for Dinner, Married to the Sea, and Natalie Dee, there is a new Sharing Machine blog, The Worst Things for Sale, that is an intelligent and funny commentary on culture through reviews of the craptabulous and derivative ways to part people from the money and good senses.  You should check out them all. 

magic carpet ride

Germany has, it seems, acquired a taste for political scandal and airing dirty laundry, and though taking advantage of one's public office to curry grace and favour is a very serious offense and an abuse of power, German government scandals seem rather tepid and would be in the written instructions elsewhere. Several career-politicians have fallen on their swords, for better or worse, over offenses like over academic dishonesty or for accepting gifts that did not pass the test of party or public scrutiny, and now the Minister for Development is being berated by the media and the parliament over purchasing a rather fancy rug while stationed in Afghanistan, returning home via a German intelligence service flight and neglecting to declare it for import taxes. I am sure that this was an oversight and the attacks unwarranted or even fitted to the business of government ethics, since it was not like the individual was on holiday or that anyone would risk job and reputation for smuggling and has promoted works abroad that confirm his character. The heated words are sometimes too much to bear from the opposition and I fear distractions for more systemic problems, but perhaps because of the hue and cry over these amateurish transgressions, corruption might not be allowed to advance further.

découpage

achterbahn

Lending tacit support to the infusion of credit to Spanish banks by way of a demurring and quiet concession towards the pooling of debt, Germany bore some chinks in its armour of resistance to the notion of sharing responsibility for broader financial stability. Signaling (again so lightly as to miss this cue) that the machinery of the European Union might be willing to admit a bit of the chaos of democracy (wherein people might not be obliged to choose wisely), Germany advocated a stronger political union for governance of monetary issues, ceding control of budgetary competence to the EU board.

Necessarily such a decision could not be unilateral and only up to the will of EU functionaries but must be submitted to a vote, since radical changes in national sovereignty require amending individual constitutions and a new legal framework. Now, even as the soothing effects of the cash for Spain is evaporating and raising the ire of the public and other earlier aid recipients that are being made to feel categorically different, irresponsible and blameworthy, which I do not think was the reason behind the German compromise but rather fear that became face-saving for Spain’s banks, Germany has shown a willingness to entertain the democratic process before the voting public has wearied of the issue and the ideals behind the EU are sunk. Instead of inheriting a failed coalition, Germany hopes to install a carefully crafted framework that honours Teutonic stoicism and fiscal responsiveness. Agreeing to share the burden of new debt incurred (and no country in the soi-disant core of the EU can manage right now without taking on new debt) comes also at the exclusion of existing obligations, which I fear might make the union, after negotiations that delimit one’s jurisdiction, even harder to leave, should things take a turn for the worse.