Support NeoGAF

[d00d3n]

Nigel Farage Speech to Alexis Tsipras at the European Parliament

Lol, Tsipras did not look amused when Farage "gave him support".

 

[oti]

I can't watch it with how useless EP's stream is. RT pls.

For me it works fine.
Juncker was all like "nu-uh Greece I ain't let you do this we were totes fair to you and you lied to the people we wanted to give you 35 bil. for you economy and you said nope".

 

[Neo C.]

People in my country have been like this many years. Tsipras is our hero. Seeing him on good mood gives me confidence. It's the first time in my life I've faith in a greek Prime Minister.

This doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess this explains the 60% OXI votes.

 

[M°°nblade]

People in my country have been like this many years. Tsipras is our hero. Seeing him on good mood gives me confidence. It's the first time in my life I've faith in a greek Prime Minister.

Owkay ...

And what are your thoughts about a grexit? I understand sympathy for the fight against bad deals, but his strategy is turning out to be the second pyrrhus victory in the history of your country.
The deal Tsipras is forced to make this week in order to stay in the EU, is going to be worse than the one before the referendum.

 

[Theonik]

This doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess this explains the 60% OXI votes.

5 years of shit does this to people.

 

[oti]

This doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess this explains the 60% OXI votes.

Greek politics don't make sense.

 

[chadskin]

 

[RaGe_pt]

Owkay ...

And what are your thoughts about a grexit? I understand sympathy for the fight against bad deals, but his strategy is turning out to be the second pyrrhus victory in the history of your country.
The deal Tsipras is forced to make this week in order to stay in the EU, is going to be worse than the one before the referendum.

Why is it going to be worse?

 

[KingSnake]

This doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess this explains the 60% OXI votes.

Owkay ...

And what are your thoughts about a grexit? I understand sympathy for the fight against bad deals, but his strategy is turning out to be the second pyrrhus victory in the history of your country.
The deal Tsipras is forced to make this week in order to stay in the EU, is going to be worse than the one before the referendum.

Syriza won the elections in Greece basically promising that they will say "fuck off" to Merkel. The referendum last week confirmed that the support for "fuck off" is even bigger. It's not illogical when in the past 5 years Greece followed up exactly the direction set by EU and it's now in a much worse position than before. When IMF estimates that following EU's plan, by 2030 Greece will reduce its debt to 118% of GDP. So in 15 years from now according to the plan they will still be very much fucked.

 

[Coriolanus]

One does wonder how in blazes something that mentions pension cuts and doesn't explicitly mention a haircut will clear the greek parliament.

Then one rememberts that pasok and ND will most likely support it.

 

[uuaschbaer]

I think that was our polish nutso Janusz Korwin Mikke. But he's also a man who says stuff like "women are by nature stupider than men" And yesterday he did nazi salute during session

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BYRHMODPK60
For the interested.

From the video it seems like he was criticizing the ambitions of the EP to unify, not advocating Nazism, this is hardly a trivial distinction to make.

Reminds me of this Yes, Minister bit.

 

[MonorailCat]

It's not illogical when in the past 5 years Greece followed up exactly the direction set by EU and it's now in a much worse position than before.

The point is: They didn't follow the directions *exactly*. The EU wanted REFORMS and spending cuts. Greece only did the cuts. Corruption, nepotism, oligarchy and tax evasion hasn't really changed in 5 years.

 

[Theonik]

From the video it seems like he was criticizing the ambitions of the EP to unify, not advocating Nazism, this is hardly a trivial distinction to make.

Reminds me of this Yes, Minister bit.

Sure. Then you remember how embarrassing Nazi accusations are in general before you realise this is the EP.

The point is: They didn't follow the directions *exactly*. The EU wanted REFORMS and spending cuts. Greece only did the cuts. Corruption, nepotism, oligarchy and tax evasion hasn't really changed in 5 years.

The cuts have made all of those issues worse than they have ever been.

 

[KingSnake]

The point is: They didn't follow the directions *exactly*. The EU wanted REFORMS and spending cuts. Greece only did the cuts. Corruption, nepotism, oligarchy and tax evasion hasn't really changed in 5 years.

EU didn't stop the money flowing at any point during the past government, so I would say that they did exactly what it was asked of them. Otherwise for sure Merkel would have made a strong statement at their address in the past 3 years (especially post German elections), wouldn't she?

Also, can you point out where the anti-nepotism and oligarchy requirements are in the new EU proposal?

 

[Frankfurter]

EU didn't stop the money flowing at any point during the past government, so I would say that they did exactly what it was asked of them. Otherwise for sure Merkel would have made a strong statement at their address in the past 3 years (especially post German elections), wouldn't she?

Also, can you point out where the anti-nepotism and oligarchy requirements are in the new EU proposal?

She and tons of other politicians several times (probably several times every year) pointed out that Greece needs to do more in terms of reforms.

 

[uuaschbaer]

Sure. Then you remember how embarrassing Nazi accusations are in general before you realise this is the EP.

If anyone held the EP to any respect, people would be outraged (or indeed embarrassed) by this, however if you google "nazi salute european parliament" you find one article by an organization which receives a lot of funding from the EU and a reddit thread with 6 comments.

 

[Dascu]

For those still following, interesting procedural debate over order of amendment voting on a TTIP report right now.

 

[KingSnake]

She and tons of other politicians several times (probably several times every year) pointed out that Greece needs to do more in terms of reforms.

https://www.google.com/search?q=Mer...&tbs=cdr:1,cd_min:10/1/2013,cd_max:12/24/2014

Maybe your Google is better.

Edit:And this is very ironic in retrospective:

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/04/11/us-greece-merkel-idUSBREA3A0ZY20140411

"We see that Greece is fulfilling its pledges... We will continue to support Greece in the future," Merkel said in a joint press conference with Samaras, adding that Athens was meeting its budget targets, opening the way to discuss further debt relief measures in the months to come.

In a sign that the focus of Greece's bailout program is gradually shifting towards less austerity and more growth, Merkel and Samaras met startup businesses and said they would accelerate the creation of a 500-million euro fund for small and medium enterprises, sponsored by Greece, the EU and Germany.

 

[M°°nblade]

Why is it going to be worse?

Because there is a massive amount of pressure on Tsipras right now. Pressured by their promise a 'no' would not mean a grexit. In order to stay in the EU, they are going to have to make new, severe, low risk propositions for reforms the rest of the EU is bound to agree on.

PS I liked the Verhofstadt speech
http://www.hln.be/hln/nl/3424/Econo...t-geeft-Tsipras-donderpreek-Ik-ben-boos.dhtml

Syriza won the elections in Greece basically promising that they will say "fuck off" to Merkel. The referendum last week confirmed that the support for "fuck off" is even bigger. It's not illogical when in the past 5 years Greece followed up exactly the direction set by EU and it's now in a much worse position than before. When IMF estimates that following EU's plan, by 2030 Greece will reduce its debt to 118% of GDP. So in 15 years from now according to the plan they will still be very much fucked.

They said "fuck off" alright. And the support and public opinion was definitely in line.
But now comes the price for it and unfortunately the greek citizens are going to pay.

 

[Coriolanus]

They said "fuck off" alright. And the support and public opinion was definitely in line.
But now comes the price ...

Yes, because there has been no price attached to acquiescence...

 

[M°°nblade]

Yes, because there has been no price attached to acquiescence...

The price just went up.

 

[KingSnake]

They said "fuck off" alright. And the support and public opinion was definitely in line.
But now comes the price for it and unfortunately the greek citizens are going to pay.

The price for "yes, ma'am" is more or less the same or worse. Again, after 15 years of austerity from now on there will still be 118% of GDP to be paid (following the optimistic scenario from IMF). With a default they might have a chance of recovering in 15 years.

 

[ramparter]

Owkay ...

And what are your thoughts about a grexit? I understand sympathy for the fight against bad deals, but his strategy is turning out to be the second pyrrhus victory in the history of your country.
The deal Tsipras is forced to make this week in order to stay in the EU, is going to be worse than the one before the referendum.

We don't want Grexit but we don't want more anti-development measures. Raising taxes will only make things worse. For years all I'm seeing is "we need more money, we will put more tax on stuff or we will lower wages, pensions etc." That's not the way to deal with economical problems.

 

[Coriolanus]

The price just went up.

Indeed. Price went from "i ain't paying that." to "Ain't no fucking way i'm paying that! Are you out of your mind?"

We don't want Grexit but we don't want more anti-development measures. Raising taxes will only make things worse. For years all I'm seeing is "we need more money, we will put more tax on stuff or we will lower wages, pensions etc." That's not the way to deal with economical problems.

But if you fire more public workers, i'm sure that the situation will improve!

 

[Theonik]

The price just went up.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WpE_xMRiCLE

 

[luso]

Guy Verhofstadt plenary speech on Greece with Alexis Tsipras 8-7-2015

Edit: poster before but now YT link

 

[SymbiantXenos]

"Fabrizio Goria
‏@FGoria

***Greece to issue ministerial decree on Wednesday to extend bank holiday - government source - RTRS"

Bank hoiliday set to continue

 

[sflufan]

At this point, it's more of a bank "sabbatical" rather than a bank "holiday".

 

[ElTorro]

Just watching that Verhofstadt speech. Wow, lol...

 

[Loona]

The sad thing is that it is close to inevitable this will happen again unless there is serious reform to the Eurozone. As long as the Eurozone is overvalued for the more agriculturally based European economies, they will continue to run trade deficits. As their monetary policy is fixed, this can only be accomodated for by running budget surpluses. When the next big recession happens, the odds that at least one country gets caught between running the sort of budget surplus that destroys its economy or choosing to default is quite high. And lo, we'll go through all the same old familiar motions again. My bet is on Portugal.

This is the worst part. I'm glad I'm not Portuguese right now.

I really hope Greece manages to find a reasonable solution to their issues - for all their problems, they still have a respected history and geopolitical relevance on their side.

Portugal, however, doesn't have that on its side, so if it becomes the focus next, the powers that be will have little problem throwing it under the bus... :/

 

[M°°nblade]

We don't want Grexit but we don't want more anti-development measures. Raising taxes will only make things worse. For years all I'm seeing is "we need more money, we will put more tax on stuff or we will lower wages, pensions etc." That's not the way to deal with economical problems.

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

- many greeks can enjoy pension starting at the age of 50 (while my country just increased it to 65! PS: my country lend you our tax money as well, so you can thank me for that)
- there is a list of 600 categories of professions who can benefit from these 'early pension' rules, consisting of barbers and even fucking musicians
- deceased citizens aren't declared so that family members are able to receive pensions for free for decennia after the date of death
- there are 50 registered drivers for every registered car in Greece, so there's massive tax fraud here as well
- Many Greek receive 96% of their gross salary (in my country I pay like 33% taxes) as pension
- an uneducated railroad employee has earnings around 66.000€/year (in my country wages like these are reserved for bachelor/master staff)
- you guys have 1 million officials to handle the administration of only 4 million active citizens
- you have 4 times the amount of teachers of Finland (top of Europe), you pay them the best of the entire EU, yet your education is a joke looking at the amount of finished degrees

If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm talking about a third world country like Burundi or something.
If even a fraction of this information is true (and most of this isn't even development orientated), how can you say structural reforms are out of place or impossible to bear?

 

[My words exactly!]

.... What?
No country has, in history, implemented austerity was hard as Greece did 2010-2014.

for example.

Υou just took out the former eastern block countries arguments.

Right under it:

The problem with the "he wanted to lose" narrative is that it ignores that if he called snap elections, syriza had a good chance of grabbing an even larger share of government, at which point one's going down the 14th hyperdimension neptunia waaaay too much.

Exactly. And Syriza would then have a greek parliament self-dependence (now he is in coalition with Independent Greeks who are more versed in defence sector) which is not good for several reasons.

This doesn't make any sense to me, but I guess this explains the 60% OXI votes.

If only you knew what straw men Tsipras superseded you wouldn't be surprised

Owkay ...
And what are your thoughts about a grexit? I understand sympathy for the fight against bad deals, but his strategy is turning out to be the second pyrrhus victory in the history of your country.
The deal Tsipras is forced to make this week in order to stay in the EU, is going to be worse than the one before the referendum.

Since a fair deal (read:a deal that allows for our economy to breathe and be able to develop so that repayments will be easier in time) is not wanted by EU, Grexit is by far the best option imho.

 

[EloKa]

Guy Verhofstadt plenary speech on Greece with Alexis Tsipras 8-7-2015

Edit: poster before but now YT link

good speech. would watch again. Also he brought up some good and valid points, for example the number of public servants in greece.

 

[jakonovski]

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

- many greeks can enjoy pension starting at the age of 50 (while my country just increased it to 65! PS: my country lend you our tax money as well, so you can thank me for that)
- there is a list of 600 categories of professions who can benefit from these 'early pension' rules, consisting of barbers and even fucking musicians
- deceased citizens aren't declared so that family members are able to receive pensions for free for decennia after the date of death
- there are 50 registered drivers for every registered car in Greece, so there's massive tax fraud here as well
- Many Greek receive 96% of their gross salary (in my country I pay like 33% taxes)
- an uneducated railroad employee has earnings around 66.000€/year (in my country wages like these are reserved for bachelor/master staff)
- you guys have 1 million officials to handle the administration of only 4 million active citizens
- you have 4 times the amount of teachers of Finland (top of Europe), you pay them the best of the entire EU, yet your education is a joke looking at the amount of finished degrees

If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm talking about a third world country like Burundi or something.
If even a fraction of this information is true (and most of this isn't even development orientated), how can you say structural reforms are out of place or impossible to bear?

I don't think Facebook chain letter "facts" are very useful in resolving the crisis.

 

[Ted Striker]

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

- many greeks can enjoy pension starting at the age of 50 (while my country just increased it to 65! PS: my country lend you our tax money as well, so you can thank me for that)
- there is a list of 600 categories of professions who can benefit from these 'early pension' rules, consisting of barbers and even fucking musicians
- deceased citizens aren't declared so that family members are able to receive pensions for free for decennia after the date of death
- there are 50 registered drivers for every registered car in Greece, so there's massive tax fraud here as well
- Many Greek receive 96% of their gross salary (in my country I pay like 33% taxes)
- an uneducated railroad employee has earnings around 66.000€/year (in my country wages like these are reserved for bachelor/master staff)
- you guys have 1 million officials to handle the administration of only 4 million active citizens
- you have 4 times the amount of teachers of Finland (top of Europe), you pay them the best of the entire EU, yet your education is a joke looking at the amount of finished degrees

If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm talking about a third world country like Burundi or something.
If even a fraction of this information is true (and most of this isn't even development orientated), how can you say structural reforms are out of place or impossible to bear?

Citation needed.

Edit : "I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go" also won't bother confirm it
Kamikaze post confirmed

 

[Coriolanus]

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

Where did you pull all of that from?
Either way, on the public officials point, this is an OECD comparative graph covering 2000-2008, before they started firing tons of public employees.

Employment in general government and public corporations

Sauce.

Honestly, you're mostly repeating things that might've been true (and even then, with quite a few asterisks) back in 2008, but is quite likely not to depict the present situation accurately.

 

[My words exactly!]

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

- many greeks can enjoy pension starting at the age of 50 (while my country just increased it to 65! PS: my country lend you our tax money as well, so you can thank me for that)
- there is a list of 600 categories of professions who can benefit from these 'early pension' rules, consisting of barbers and even fucking musicians
- deceased citizens aren't declared so that family members are able to receive pensions for free for decennia after the date of death
- there are 50 registered drivers for every registered car in Greece, so there's massive tax fraud here as well
- Many Greek receive 96% of their gross salary (in my country I pay like 33% taxes)
- an uneducated railroad employee has earnings around 66.000€/year (in my country wages like these are reserved for bachelor/master staff)
- you guys have 1 million officials to handle the administration of only 4 million active citizens
- you have 4 times the amount of teachers of Finland (top of Europe), you pay them the best of the entire EU, yet your education is a joke looking at the amount of finished degrees

If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm talking about a third world country like Burundi or something.
If even a fraction of this information is true (and most of this isn't even development orientated), how can you say structural reforms are out of place or impossible to bear?

There are fractions that enjoy illogical benefits (former army/poilice/bank higher ups for one) but generally, the above are not true.

Here is how the situation with pensions is actually:
http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/20...nsioners-get-e360-gross-another-33-gets-e675/

BTW, teachers salary is NOT even remotely close to "highest in EU"
http://eacea.ec.europa.eu/education/eurydice/documents/facts_and_figures/salaries.pdf

 

[ramparter]

But if you fire more public workers, i'm sure that the situation will improve!

Totally Agree. This is my biggest disagreement with our current government. In 2012 I voted for libertarian party Drassi because of proposals like that. I'm not against firings, I'm against horizontal wages cuts.

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

- many greeks can enjoy pension starting at the age of 50 (while my country just increased it to 65! PS: my country lend you our tax money as well, so you can thank me for that)
- there is a list of 600 categories of professions who can benefit from these 'early pension' rules, consisting of barbers and even fucking musicians
- deceased citizens aren't declared so that family members are able to receive pensions for free for decennia after the date of death
- there are 50 registered drivers for every registered car in Greece, so there's massive tax fraud here as well
- Many Greek receive 96% of their gross salary (in my country I pay like 33% taxes)
- an uneducated railroad employee has earnings around 66.000€/year (in my country wages like these are reserved for bachelor/master staff)
- you guys have 1 million officials to handle the administration of only 4 million active citizens
- you have 4 times the amount of teachers of Finland (top of Europe), you pay them the best of the entire EU, yet your education is a joke looking at the amount of finished degrees


If even a fraction of this information is true (and most of this isn't even development orientated), how can you say structural reforms are out of place or impossible to bear?

Problem is I don't know how much of this is true either. Misinformation in Greece is one of the biggest problem in this whole situations.

Obviously pension at 50 is a big No to me. Then again I disagree with raising the 65 to 69 as some of the previous Eurogroup proposals sggested. If we actually have people going at pension at the age of 50 perhaps we should start with that.

Anyway I never said I'm against structural reforms, that's exctly what Greece needs. But all I'm seeing these years is the opposite of structural reforms. Lowering a 700 eur monthly wage to 650 or 600 isn't structural reform when you have wages of 66.000/year as you say. Shutting down ERT only to start NERIT later only to say that you manged to fire 12.000 public works isn't structural reform.

Sorry I can't put more time in this conversation since I'm actually working right now - yeah doesn't really help my case, greek worker spends tme on neogaf

 

[ICKE]

Events are now spinning out of control. The banks remain shut. The ECB has maintained its liquidity freeze, and through its inaction is asphyxiating the banking system.
Factories are shutting down across the country as stocks of raw materials run out and containers full of vitally-needed imports clog up Greek ports.

Companies cannot pay their suppliers because external transfers are blocked. Private scrip currencies are starting to appear as firms retreat to semi-barter outside the banking system.

-Telegraph

Horrid stuff going on. It is not exactly a surprise that society does not function properly if people are only able to withdraw money for absolute essentials.

 

[chadskin]

It's three years old but the island of the blind is still my personal favorite:

Even by the extravagant standards of Greek corruption, the scam uncovered by Stelios Bozikis is so brazen that it is hard to credit.

Nearly 600 people on the Ionian island of Zakynthos - of which Mr Bozikis was recently elected mayor - managed to have themselves falsely declared blind, entitling them to fat monthly cheques from the state.

They included taxi drivers, shopkeepers and restaurant owners, farmers tending the island's patchwork of vineyards and olive groves, and a few amateur hunters, whose purported disability did not stop them from spending their weekends shooting rabbits and birds in the rugged mountains of the interior.

Other "blind" locals have been seen cheerfully playing cards and backgammon in the tavernas and bars of the island. "Out of 650 registered blind people on the island, we estimate that at least 600 are fraudulent claims," the mayor told The Sunday Telegraph in his office overlooking the boats crowding the port of Zakynthos Town, the main settlement.
That represents nearly two per cent of the island's population of 35,000 - nearly 10 times the average rate of blindness in the rest of Europe, according to the World Health Organisation.

The mayor, a member of the Socialist Pasok party, has suspended all benefit payments until it can be independently established exactly who needs a white cane.

The crackdown has encountered huge opposition, culminating in a recent council meeting which was stormed by around 50 angry benefit claimants, who chucked eggs and pots of yoghurt at the mayor in a uniquely Greek expression of anger.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...fraud-as-mayor-of-Zakynthos-faces-revolt.html

 

[Steiner_Zi]

I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go:

- many greeks can enjoy pension starting at the age of 50 (while my country just increased it to 65! PS: my country lend you our tax money as well, so you can thank me for that)
- there is a list of 600 categories of professions who can benefit from these 'early pension' rules, consisting of barbers and even fucking musicians
- deceased citizens aren't declared so that family members are able to receive pensions for free for decennia after the date of death
- there are 50 registered drivers for every registered car in Greece, so there's massive tax fraud here as well
- Many Greek receive 96% of their gross salary (in my country I pay like 33% taxes)
- an uneducated railroad employee has earnings around 66.000€/year (in my country wages like these are reserved for bachelor/master staff)
- you guys have 1 million officials to handle the administration of only 4 million active citizens
- you have 4 times the amount of teachers of Finland (top of Europe), you pay them the best of the entire EU, yet your education is a joke looking at the amount of finished degrees

If I didn't know better, I'd say I'm talking about a third world country like Burundi or something.
If even a fraction of this information is true (and most of this isn't even development orientated), how can you say structural reforms are out of place or impossible to bear?

This is a load of bullshit. You have no idea what you're talking about.

 

[oti]

good speech. would watch again. Also he brought up some good and valid points, for example the number of public servants in greece.

My cousin always told me "if you don't want to work for money, become a public servant".

 

[ElTorro]

Employment in general government and public corporations

I found this data from 2010 in a report from the Spanish government. Does not include employment in public cooperations, only in the general administration. See footnotes, excludes, for instance, medics, teachers, and academics.

http://www.dgaep.gov.pt/upload/RI_estudos Presidências/Public_Employment_EUMS.pdf

 

[Chariot]

Horrid stuff going on. It is not exactly a surprise that society does not function properly if people are only able to withdraw money for absolute essentials.

Jesus Christ. And I doubt that negotiations go quickly. Country is probably in ruins before they finish the talks.

 

[oti]

It's three years old but the island of the blind is still my personal favorite:



http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...fraud-as-mayor-of-Zakynthos-faces-revolt.html

This sounds like an RPG sidequest.

 

[Theonik]

It's three years old but the island of the blind is still my personal favorite:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...fraud-as-mayor-of-Zakynthos-faces-revolt.html

It is the result of witnessing the atrocities tourists commit on the island.

 

[oti]

It is the result of witnessing the atrocities tourists commit on the island.

Those Brits believe that can do anything here!

 

[M°°nblade]

I don't think Facebook chain letter "facts" are very useful in resolving the crisis.

Citation needed.

Edit : "I'm not sure how much of the information I have is correct but here I go" also won't bother confirm it
Kamikaze post confirmed

Where did you pull all of that from?

This is a load of bullshit. You have no idea what you're talking about.

I justed googled the first items I listed and found:

In Greece, A Hairdresser Can Retire At 50 With Full Benefits
http://www.businessinsider.com/in-greece-you-can-retire-at-50-with-full-benefits-2010-3

As a consequence of decades of bargains struck between strong unions and weak governments, Greece has promised early retirement to about 700,000 employees, or 14 percent of its work force, giving it an average retirement age of 61, one of the lowest in Europe.
The law includes dangerous jobs like coal mining and bomb disposal. But it also covers radio and television presenters, who are thought to be at risk from the bacteria on their microphones, and musicians playing wind instruments, who must contend with gastric reflux as they puff and blow.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/12/business/global/12pension.html?_r=0

It was found that 2,999 pensioners had died at least six months before they stopped receiving their pension. According to Greek media, incorrectly paid pensions amounted to 57,127,388 euros, of which 37,797,425 euros have been repaid to the Greek state either from the accounts of pensioners or by the joint holders of their accounts. The search process for the rest 19,329,964 euros is still in progress. - See more at: http://greece.greekreporter.com/201...dead-to-receive-pension/#sthash.iSkJFfu5.dpuf

Also found:
Other "blind" locals have been seen cheerfully playing cards and backgammon in the tavernas and bars of the island. "Out of 650 registered blind people on the island, we estimate that at least 600 are fraudulent claims," the mayor told The Sunday Telegraph in his office overlooking the boats crowding the port of Zakynthos Town, the main settlement.
That represents nearly two per cent of the island's population of 35,000 - nearly 10 times the average rate of blindness in the rest of Europe, according to the World Health Organisation.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/wor...fraud-as-mayor-of-Zakynthos-faces-revolt.html

EDIT1:
Financial problems
Hellenic Railways operates at a loss of about $3.8 million per day, having accumulated a total debt of 13 billion $, or about 5% of Greek GDP (2010).
The average salary of a rail employee is over $78,000. In the mountainous Peloponnese region, trains manned by drivers being paid as much as $130,000 a year frequently run empty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Railways_of_Greece


EDIT2:
About the 96%, those were pensions so I misread that, but it's still astounishing
Its retirees on an average receive 96% of salaries as pension.
http://www.economist.com/blogs/freeexchange/2015/06/greek-pensions

EDIT3:
Greece has indeed a very excessive number of civil servants (800,000 in a country of 11 mil)
http://www.stern.nyu.edu/networks/Ec...o_04262013.pdf

That's 6 out of 8

 

[Aureon]

Υou just took out the former eastern block countries arguments.

Well, please post data then.

 

[EloKa]

But it also covers radio and television presenters, who are thought to be at risk from the bacteria on their microphones, and musicians playing wind instruments, who must contend with gastric reflux as they puff and blow.

That's something not even a satire media could come up with