Is this true?

[mrbig1]

[Saddo]

wouldn't surprise me Germany rocks when it comes to sorting out their finance's ...

oh and that grey haired guy he was attacking had a massive parting

[Beanz]

The fact that Nigel Farrage is trying to defend Silvio Berlosconi should give you an indication of Mr UKIP's credibility.

[mrbig1]

I hear all this stuff coming out of Europe. Since the American media is alway full of shit. I thought I would ask people in Europe what is really going on.

[Gandalf]

Germany has always been a powerhouse within Europe, except for when that 'tache wearing dude with a uniform fetish did them in. Oh and after WW1 too which made 'tache man very angry.

[Nameless]

Always have been one of the most powerful economy (even though they did have their crisis like anybody elses) but with 90 millions menschen and an iron discipline, it's not much of a surprise.

[JimmyShocker]

The fact that Nigel Farrage is trying to defend Silvio Berlosconi should give you an indication of Mr UKIP's credibility.

I could easily be wrong but I don't feel he was necessarily defending Berlusconi. I felt more he was pointing out that unelected men were wielding so much power they were able to get heads of government removed.

Regarding the topic "Is this true", it's hard to answer; there were a lot of statements made! I recently spent 3 weeks in Germany and have been there many times (and can speak German fairly well). I'd say that the following is closer to fact than fiction:
1. Germany has very low unemployment. In Munich, where I was, it's around 3-something%. It can't get much lower than that!
2. Germany is currently the financial power-house of the Euro and wields a lot of power. Therefore they're able to dictate a lot of decisions.
3. None of the people I worked with over there like Merkel because they feel she's wasting tax-payer money on profligate spenders such as the Greeks. They don't think they'll get that money back and it's good money after bad. Of course the people I work with are in the same business as I am and so tend to be like me (i.e. have the same opinions about the economy, etc.) So take it with a grain of salt.
4. The PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain) are all in a lot of financial trouble. Greece is just the first domino, but it's one of the smallest of the dominoes, too. Many think Greece will tip the next smallest and so forth and that all will tip. There's not enough money to bail them all out.
5. Many think Greece will be forced to exit the Euro soon so they can print their own money. This is one of their big problems: they cannot print the Euro.
6. Check out the news from many, many months ago. Look at it weekly and you'll see "Trouble in Greece" followed by "It's all contained, they're bailed out" followed by "trouble in Greece" followed by "No problem, they're bailed out". Lather rinse, repeat almost on a weekly basis.

My two cents: Germany is at the very least dominating the Euro and decisions about it. Their economy is very strong, too, so economically they're dominating Europe.

I've read the idea that if one could magically take all the money and redistribute it evenly among the people, after a long enough time the same people who have it now would get it again. In the spirit of the previous comment "with 90 millions menschen and an iron discipline, it's not much of a surprise. " I would agree. It's not much of a surprise that Germany is on its way to dominating Europe.

The US is in as big or even bigger financial trouble, but we can print money at will and at least for now we're the world's reserve currency and safe haven. That's what makes us different from the Greeks.

How this all plays out is anybody's guess. The next year or two is gonna be really interesting, I think. Hold on to your hat!

[mrbig1]

I just wanted to show my brother and sisters in Europe that working people in America are slaves.