Someone should give him a gas mask

May 6, 2010 7:34 AM

Proposed austerity measures in response to Greece's economic crisis have led to riots and three deaths . However, this isn't the first time that riots have shaken Greece in response to the economic turmoil. One dog has seen them all.
posted by emilyd22222 (64 comments total)

Mefi's own Taz is currently in Athens.
posted by The Whelk at 7:38 AM on May 6, 2010

I really hope that dog is named Barkunin.
posted by Bromius at 7:39 AM on May 6, 2010 [14 favorites]

Damn, now I want a riot dog.
posted by adamdschneider at 7:47 AM on May 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

This has SkyNet written all over it.
posted by phaedon at 7:47 AM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

The name ought to be "RiotDgggg," and it has a perpetually confused feeling about the human race: "Lots of people to sniff! Yelling! Oh no fire! Running around! Blood! Stench of terror! Riding around in a car!"

It looks at least partially golden retriever, though, so it's probably thinking "Great! Great! Awesome! Yeah!" no matter what happens.
posted by adipocere at 7:52 AM on May 6, 2010 [8 favorites]

I doubt it will happen, but I want riot dog to become a meme.
posted by BobbyDigital at 7:52 AM on May 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

People are not examining the evidence closely enough. That dog causes riots! Look at all the places that dog has not been where there are no riots! Point proven.
posted by GenjiandProust at 7:53 AM on May 6, 2010 [5 favorites]

Yay riot dog!
posted by Atreides at 7:54 AM on May 6, 2010

She's a gooooooolden retreiver
posted by Damienmce at 7:56 AM on May 6, 2010

Riot dog is watching you demonstrate?
posted by Burhanistan at 7:58 AM on May 6, 2010 [22 favorites]

MAN'S BEST FRIEND. THE MAN'S WORST ENEMY.
posted by codacorolla at 7:59 AM on May 6, 2010 [38 favorites]

Also: I'm conflicted about the Greek riots. I like to see people justifiably pissed over being shafted because of the bad actions of con-men bankers and the globalized finance system, but I dislike the fact that they've started killing people.
posted by codacorolla at 8:00 AM on May 6, 2010

Riot dog has a facebook fan page and terrifying 80s rock tribute song?
posted by Damienmce at 8:02 AM on May 6, 2010

I like to see people justifiably pissed over being shafted because of the bad actions of con-men bankers and the globalized finance system

Greece pretty much spent itself into bankruptcy. What did bankers do here except bail their asses out?
posted by codswallop at 8:04 AM on May 6, 2010

Greece pretty much spent itself into bankruptcy. What did bankers do here except bail their asses out?

Lend them the money they were spending at a very low rate of interest assuming they would never default, then suddenly panic and raise the interest rates to such a high level they can't pay their public sector workers' salaries.
posted by TheophileEscargot at 8:11 AM on May 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

I think I saw this dog in the photos of the reopening of the South Fork Bridge.
posted by cashman at 8:12 AM on May 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

> I'm conflicted about the Greek riots. I like to see people justifiably pissed over being shafted because of the bad actions of con-men bankers and the globalized finance system, but I dislike the fact that they've started killing people.

I'm not. The Greek rioters are complete assholes. Way to discredit the idea of mass resistance, jerkoffs.
posted by languagehat at 8:13 AM on May 6, 2010 [8 favorites]

Basically what Theophile said. I guess it depends on how much you trust the leftist journalist and blogging world, but there's been a lot of talk that they wanted Greece to fail - a sort of corporate takeover of a whole country. Taibbi wrote an article about how what's happening in Greece right now happened to an entire county in Kentucky, with the bankers having an express knowledge that it would happen, and making out like bandits in the aftermath.

To paraphrase Omar Little:
"Even if they miss they still hit"
posted by codacorolla at 8:15 AM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

RIOT DOG! MAN'S BEST FRIEND. THE MAN'S WORST ENEMY.

Someone get this to Robert Rodriguez pronto!
posted by Naberius at 8:19 AM on May 6, 2010 [4 favorites]

somebody set up that dog the photobomb.
posted by GuyZero at 8:36 AM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

That dog should be our new vice president!
posted by mightygodking at 8:41 AM on May 6, 2010

Lend them the money they were spending at a very low rate of interest assuming they would never default,

Bastards! It was a set-up. Those monsters assuming those poor dumb Greeks could exercise some sort of fiscal discipline.

then suddenly panic and raise the interest rates to such a high level they can't pay their public sector workers' salaries.

Because they spent money like it was water. And now people are rioting because the taps were turned off.
posted by codswallop at 8:41 AM on May 6, 2010

So, everyone here has seen the issue of Deadpool Corps where Deadpool was a dog, right?

okay then.
posted by The Whelk at 8:43 AM on May 6, 2010

Not directly related to this dog-thread, but An employee of the burnt bank speaks out on tonight’s tragic deaths in Athens
posted by DreamerFi at 8:47 AM on May 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

Here's the Taibbi article I mentioned, although just an abstract

Originally found on the blue here (although the RS link redirects to their main page now, so I have another source as linked above)
posted by codacorolla at 9:03 AM on May 6, 2010

That series of pics is hysterical. I'm a big Riot Dog fan now.
posted by BobFrapples at 9:22 AM on May 6, 2010

WHO'S A GOOD BOY? WHO'S A GOOD BOY? YES, YOU ARE!
posted by Kirk Grim at 9:25 AM on May 6, 2010

He's so happy. I can see my dog doing that too: "Ooh! We're playing! Look at all the people playing! Bark, bark! Playing!"
posted by functionequalsform at 9:38 AM on May 6, 2010

Am I the only one who thinks this dog has "meme" written all over it? Gentlemen, start your Photoshop
posted by Kirk Grim at 9:40 AM on May 6, 2010

And I looked, and behold a golden lab: and his name was Doug, and Hell followed with him.
posted by filthy light thief at 9:48 AM on May 6, 2010 [2 favorites]

Am I the only one who thinks this dog has "meme" written all over it? Gentlemen, start your Photoshop

Yeah: D-day, running of the bulls in Spain, chariot race still from Ben Hur, etc featuring wagging tail Riot Dog. Though, it's one of those memes that should rightfully have a 12 hour half life.
posted by Burhanistan at 9:48 AM on May 6, 2010

I hope every time they throw a Molotov, they yell, "Opa!"
posted by klangklangston at 9:49 AM on May 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

Am I the only one who thinks this dog has "meme" written all over it?

Nope:

I doubt it will happen, but I want riot dog to become a meme.
posted by BobbyDigital at 7:52 AM on May 6

So, everyone here has seen the issue of Deadpool Corps where Deadpool was a dog, right?

Now they have (Powers: Woof. Weapons of Choice: Grrrrrrrrr ... Team transportation: The Bea Arthur)

/tangent
posted by filthy light thief at 10:02 AM on May 6, 2010

Greek Anarchists are hardcore. They assassinate people. In the late 90s there was this one case that I recall where the dude pulled up alongside some figure (banker? politician?) on a motorcycle and fucking killed him point blank.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anarchism_in_Greece

I love how people defend austerity measures. Let the poor folk suffer, while the rich continue to thrive.

And what's up with a lot of people I'm seeing here on mefi, lately, defending the status quo and capitalism? Not just moderate liberal stalwarts, but it seems there's some sort of new conservative strain of thought in comments these days that I haven't seen on here before...
posted by symbioid at 10:05 AM on May 6, 2010

Because they spent money like it was water. And now people are rioting because the taps were turned off.

It seems to me that people are rioting because the wealthy Greeks with political power treated their country like an ATM, and the countries that will bail them out are demanding "austerity measures" that will end up fucking over the lower and middle class rather than fixing a corrupt system and punishing the assholes who really are to blame and who will continue to lounge in the sun on their mega-yachts.

I'm certainly not happy about my taxes bailing Greece out, but claiming that the people out there protesting are responsible is just idiotic.
posted by cmonkey at 10:12 AM on May 6, 2010 [8 favorites]

I really hope that dog is named Barkunin.
RiotDgggg!

I vote for Souvarine from Zola's Germinal. An yes, give the poor dog a mask!
posted by elmono at 10:26 AM on May 6, 2010

And what's up with a lot of people I'm seeing here on mefi, lately, defending the status quo and capitalism? Not just moderate liberal stalwarts, but it seems there's some sort of new conservative strain of thought in comments these days that I haven't seen on here before...

I've noticed this too. I think part of it is bush, who everyone hated, being gone.
posted by delmoi at 10:32 AM on May 6, 2010

I'm certainly not happy about my taxes bailing Greece out...

You mean bailing out French and German banks (and by extension the European banking system)?
posted by ennui.bz at 10:35 AM on May 6, 2010

Also, running some of the text on this page indicates that the dog's name is actually Kanellos (or ΚΑΝΕΛΛΟ)
posted by delmoi at 10:36 AM on May 6, 2010

You mean bailing out French and German banks (and by extension the European banking system)?

Krugman thinks that not only will greece default, it will probably leave the Euro as well.
posted by delmoi at 10:40 AM on May 6, 2010

The big problem in Greece is that nobody pays taxes.
posted by electroboy at 10:44 AM on May 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

So how many 5 year olds could Riot Dog and Epic Beard Man take at the same time in hand to paw combat?
posted by Babblesort at 10:50 AM on May 6, 2010

The protesters just don't understand the necessity of the austerity measures. We need to protect the wealth of bankers at the expense of the poor. The stakes are no less than the very survivial of the financial system that protects the wealth of bankers at the expense of the poor.
posted by [citation needed] at 11:08 AM on May 6, 2010 [3 favorites]

more than rich v poor it's public sector workers/ retirees v the rest. If a country has a very generous pay and pension plan for its public sector workers (e.g. retiring on ~95% of final salary, 14 months pay per year), but can't raise the tax revenue to pay for it, then it will have to borrow. If lenders think that they are less likely to get repaid then it's not super-surprising that they will charge more interest. The sustainability of borrowing to do that is difficult in a small economy like Greece's rather than the US. Fudging the figures to get into the euro probably wasn't a great move either.
posted by patricio at 11:19 AM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Europe's Web of Debt
posted by homunculus at 1:07 PM on May 6, 2010

Greece's economic crisis have led to riots and three deaths.

Just put some Windex on it!
posted by banshee at 1:20 PM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Ha ha suffocating to death in a fire is so funny.
posted by Dr Dracator at 1:49 PM on May 6, 2010

"more than rich v poor it's public sector workers/ retirees v the rest"

No, it's the rich v poor. It's been rich v poor since the first agricultural surplus and it'll always be rich v poor until there is no agricultural surplus, at which point it will become moot.
posted by carping demon at 1:52 PM on May 6, 2010

The Party's Over: This Economist article on the situation in Greece - together with the views of its various commentators- is the most informative I have found so far.
posted by rongorongo at 1:58 PM on May 6, 2010

Greeks don't like to pay taxes -- large numbers from all classes (lower, middle and upper) systematically underpay their taxes.

But they like to have Denmark-style social services.

You know what they do in Denmark? They pay taxes, and they talk about how important it is to pay taxes and how it's patriotic and stuff.

When Ontario's Mike "I wanna be Thatcher" Harris cut social services and sold off government assets to his pals for pennies, I protested. But I also supported (and still support) paying taxes for those services. Being pro-social services, I want to have sympathy for the Greeks, but it's hard to get up any if they continue with this majority avoidance of taxes. It really does feel like they are looking for a free ride.

For more information -- listen to Planet Money, where they interview Greeks about their tax habits, and also Danes.

I want to move to Denmark.
posted by jb at 2:03 PM on May 6, 2010

No, it's the rich v poor. It's been rich v poor since the first agricultural surplus and it'll always be rich v poor until there is no agricultural surplus, at which point it will become moot.

What are you, six? Things are a bit more complicated than that.
posted by (Arsenio) Hall and (Warren) Oates at 2:08 PM on May 6, 2010

RiotDog bears an uncanny resemblance to my own hound, both physically and (apparently) in temperament...
posted by bumpkin at 2:09 PM on May 6, 2010

Why are we assuming that it is the poor who are protesting? Poor people almost never protest, what with not having time off work and being too busy trying to survive.

I gather that the make-up of the protestors is very similar to those who protested in Ontario in the 1990s -- students, public service workers and union members, and a few professional activists and protestors. Most of whom are not poor, but rather advantaged by their positions in society. Students have little money, but have significant upward mobility (at least the college and university ones), public service workers and union members are paid relatively well and usually have more job security than non-unionized private sector workers, and all are doing better than the un-educated, under-employed and un-employed.
posted by jb at 2:11 PM on May 6, 2010

from electroboy's NYT link:

Over the past decade, Greece actually lost ground in collecting taxes, even as the economy was booming. A 2008 European Union report on Greece tax shortfalls found that between 2000 and 2007, the country’s average growth in nominal gross domestic product was 8.25 percent. Its taxes grew at just 7 percent.

It's not rich against poor; it seems to be Greek against their government and their own future.
posted by jb at 2:16 PM on May 6, 2010

No, it's the rich v poor. It's been rich v poor since the first agricultural surplus and it'll always be rich v poor until there is no agricultural surplus, at which point it will become moot.

I wish I lived in this simple a world.
posted by AdamCSnider at 2:51 PM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

i'm curious how badly a Greek default would have impacted the rest of Europe? In any case, we've now got one very compelling reason for not admitting new countries to the E.U.
posted by jeffburdges at 2:52 PM on May 6, 2010

You know, they could target pensions cuts/taxes more widely than just the public sector, that's one route for targeting the people who benefitted most form the boom.
posted by jeffburdges at 3:12 PM on May 6, 2010

Riot Dog is awesome. How unfortunate that its owner is almost certainly some far leftist fuckwad.

------

Lend them the money they were spending at a very low rate of interest assuming they would never default, then suddenly panic and raise the interest rates to such a high level they can't pay their public sector workers' salaries.

Very creative phrasing. Apparently the bankers have all the agency. If only the Greeks and their government had the power to make decisions and take action!

------

Greek Anarchists are hardcore. They assassinate people. In the late 90s there was this one case that I recall where the dude pulled up alongside some figure (banker? politician?) on a motorcycle and fucking killed him point blank.

If by 'Anarchists' you mean self-righteous dip-shits obsessed with vague abstractions of "social justice", and if by 'hardcore' you mean parasitic criminals and terrorists, then yes, I agree. You're probably thinking of the killing of British military attache Stephen Saunders in 2000, who was murdered (excuse me, perhaps that should be "executed"?) by the terrorist group 'November the 17th'. Look them up, they did lots more that's right up your alley.

Another gang of murderers was brought down last month. This group, 'The Revolutionary Struggle', in addition to the bombing of numerous banks and other assorted felonies, had fired a missile on the U.S. Embassy. When they were arrested 400 lbs of explosives, enough to bring down an apartment building, were confiscated. I guess, as the name implies, it was for our own good.

However when most people are talking about Greek Anarchists, they aren't referring to these terrorist organizations, but to the unemployed youth that tend to congregate in Exarchia and who take prominent roles whenever there's any excuse for civil unrest. Their hunger for vandalism is certainly 'hardcore'.

And what's up with a lot of people I'm seeing here on mefi, lately, defending the status quo and capitalism? Not just moderate liberal stalwarts, but it seems there's some sort of new conservative strain of thought in comments these days that I haven't seen on here before...

Celebrate Diversity!

-----

more than rich v poor it's public sector workers/ retirees v the rest. If a country has a very generous pay and pension plan for its public sector workers (e.g. retiring on ~95% of final salary, 14 months pay per year), but can't raise the tax revenue to pay for it, then it will have to borrow. If lenders think that they are less likely to get repaid then it's not super-surprising that they will charge more interest. The sustainability of borrowing to do that is difficult in a small economy like Greece's rather than the US. Fudging the figures to get into the euro probably wasn't a great move either.

Well said. I question though whether the size of the economy is a key factor. My guess is that the U.S., despite its size, will be facing some similar issues regarding pensions and public workers' unions.
posted by BigSky at 3:24 PM on May 6, 2010 [1 favorite]

Tumblr blog dedicated to the dog.
posted by Kattullus at 8:14 PM on May 6, 2010

Apparently the dog's name is Louk.
posted by homunculus at 12:06 PM on May 7, 2010

"What are you, six? Things are a bit more complicated than that."

You can contemplate it in as complicated a fashion as you need to feel comfortable.

"I wish I lived in this simple a world."

You do.

If it pleases you to think its more complicated than that, fine. But the powerful have always been few, and the weak, many. This doesn't mean identities don't change, they do. Revolutions, unions, plagues, technologies all briefly change the names of the powerful and weak. But the structure remains rich v poor. We've had power for hundreds of thousands of years and we generally recognize it now, when we see it, and treat it as our own philosophies guide us. We've had a surplus for only ten thousand years, and we haven't yet figured out how it should be distributed. Until we do, if we do, the order will remain rich v poor, powerful v weak, dress it in any clothes that you like.
posted by carping demon at 5:26 PM on May 7, 2010

Hi from Greece. I'm afraid currently there's a bit more focus on the three dead than on the dog here; most people are frozen. Fuck these sorry wretches that made people choke on fumes and hijacked a 45-100k-people demonstration. "Anarchists" my ass.

To answer a few comments, the extra two wages make up for the fact that most wages are low: the base full-time salary is 700eu, but it's often superseded by part-time or flexible arrangements that pay less. Pensions are at an 80% or 70% (public and private sector, respectively) of the wage, but many the pensions don't even cover monthly living costs.

cmonkey has got a right impression. Some of the reaction does not look at the bigger picture and solely focuses on the harsh impact of the measures, which equal a whooping 10% of the GDP, but it is exacerbated by the impression that the usual suspects (middle-class salaried folks who can't misrepresent their income, civil servants and pensioneers) will foot the bill and the people who mismanaged public funds or tax evaders (especially richer ones) will get off scot free. As for banks, which have had double-digit percent growth of their earnings for over a decade straight, they are supported during hard times and don't pay much during good times.

A slight decline of the euro was surely welcome to an exporting country like Germany, but the inept handling of the crisis is now threatening the overall stability of the euro and we're in the middle of it.
posted by ersatz at 5:29 PM on May 7, 2010 [1 favorite]

languagehat: "I'm not. The Greek rioters are complete assholes. Way to discredit the idea of mass resistance, jerkoffs."

Really? Because probably 2-3 people decided to firebomb one bank? That seems a bit silly. Killing bank workers: definitely fucked up. But it's hard to say that all of them are "complete assholes" because this happened.
posted by beerbajay at 2:39 AM on May 10, 2010

> But it's hard to say that all of them are "complete assholes" because this happened.

I didn't say that, although it's typical MeFi "debating" tactics to pretend that if someone makes a remark about "the [X group]" they must mean each and every member of that group. Also, if you think the Greek anarchist movement in general consists of sedate and gentle Kropotkins who deplore the awful behavior of the few cuckoos in their nest, you need to spend some time around them. I'm an anarchist myself, and I'm down with street tactics and confronting The Man, but the dynamic in Greece has favored pointless violence on all sides for many decades (the Civil War that accompanied the end of WWII was the locus classicus but neither the start nor the end), and the "left" (if you dignify the idiots of November 17 with that title) has been a big part of that (although obviously they didn't start it and were often reacting to vicious thuggery on the part of the empowered right).
posted by languagehat at 1:28 PM on May 10, 2010 [1 favorite]