EU Recession

France and Germany are heading for the same financial solutions as the US - cut spending and raise taxes to reduce the deficit. Germany is in better shape than France. The weaker EU countries; Portugal, Spain, Greece, Italy are heading into recession with Greece and Italy leading the way. For the expanded story, see;

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/business/in-depth/eurozone-third-quarter-gdp-suggests-bloc-is-sliding-into-recession/story-fnawdwo8-1226196247746

Welcome United States of EUROPE

The euro, the common EU currency, has been around for 12 years and things are not going well. Some say the EU "has 10 days at most" to avoid collapse. One proposed idea to solve the fiscal crisis would have countries cede some control over their budgets to a central European authority. YIPE!! Another United States.  The proposal calls for a fiscal union of the euro countries and the creation of a powerful common treasury.

Unlike the United States, which has centralized institutions in Washington for raising taxes and spending money, the euro nations have 17 independent treasuries with little oversight from Brussels, the headquarters of the EU.

Germany and France fearful of encountering increased problems from weaker countries, have promised to propose measures that will make the 17 euro countries operate under strict and enforceable rules, so that no single country can wreak continent-wide damage. Last week, Germany tried to auction $8 billion worth of its national bonds but it could persuade investors to buy only $5.2 billion. 


Among the 10 countries who did not adopt the EU currency includes; Britain, Poland, and Sweden.


Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2011/11/28/international/i091441
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Pimps, Johns, Prostitutes, Police in Spain

BY NICK SNELLING

In 2003, Spain’s Institute of National Statistics (INE) showed that just over one in four Spanish men under the age of 49 had experienced sex with a prostitute – with one in fifteen having done so within the previous year.  This was backed up by Maribel Montano of the ruling PSOE party who claimed in 2007 that: ‘every day 1.5 million men pay for sex’ in Spain.  In fact, there are an estimated 300,000 prostitutes working in Spain possibly turning over around 40 billion Euros per year, which roughly equates to the country’s education budget.  For good reason, Spain is sometimes dubbed the ‘Brothel of Europe’.

Certainly, the openness and extent of prostitution can be a surprise to north Europeans who still cling to the myth of Spain as a prim and proper, old-fashioned, hard line, Catholic country.  This notion is swiftly dispelled as you drive at night along any main road out of a large town or city.  In the outskirts, and often close to industrial estates, you will come across brightly lit buildings that normally have a garish neon sign pronouncing ‘Club’.  These are brothels in all but name and house, sometimes, up to a hundred or more prostitutes.  Called Clubes de Alterne (socialising clubs) by the Spanish, their location and nature are openly known and tolerated by the police, authorities and local population.

The clubs, of course, vary hugely and span the whole spectrum of prostitution from its lowest depths to a brothel system that is reasonably fair and transparent within a deeply emotive industry.  At their worst, the Clubes de Alterne are controlled by criminal gangs who have trafficked women from Third World countries on the promise of conventional work.  Deprived of their passports and physically intimidated, the women are forced to work as prostitutes, whilst earning their bosses huge sums.  Indeed, the International Labour Organisation in 2005 calculated that a forced sex worker would earn 67,200 Euros a year in an industrialised country.

Sex business grows - The New Spain

Spain is finding that allowing huge expansion of the prostitution business brings gangs, corruption and human rights violations.
One year ago, October 2010, Spain opened the world's largest brothel, just a short distance from the French border. Since then, prostitution has grown both inside the brothel, in homes and rooms, and on the streets. The sex trade includes both boys and girls. The prostitutes come from all over the world. Some are forced into prostitution. Children are taken into the brothel. Babies born to prostitutes will probably become part of the brothel. The prostitutes spend their days and nights servicing large numbers of men. In the end, they grow old and have nothing to show for their work, except an education about the sex business. The older or diseased workers will be more likely to find work in smaller clubs, apartments and on the street.
The winners of the sex business are those who own the businesses. The contracts with the workers and the customers hold the businessmen free from liability. Gangs take over or influence other businesses and government. Government officials who want to decrease the sex, disease and crime find themselves helpless. Spain has developed a huge sex business with customers from France, and all over the world - many do not want to give that up.
The full extent of the crimes are unknown.
Here in the Central Valley, we are also seeing an increase in prostitution, especially with the depressed economy. Schools encourage boys and girls to attend college, but many have no such goals. Instead, they opt for money via the sex business. We see it growing in our cities, truck stops and casinos. Our government officials ignore the trend, but as drugs and prostitution grow in the valley, more serious crimes will follow.