As the whole world now knows, Greece is apparently going to have a referendum on whether it will accept an EU bail-out. This indecision has led to jittery markets. If Greece votes to default instead, they will leave the EU, the euro, and this tail-spin will likely destroy the currency, and pull the world into a full recession. Italy and Portugal may then collapse, more or less. Eyewear gives this doomsday scenario around a 50-50 chance of occurring. Meanwhile, the anti-capitalists of London continue to challenge the do-nothing theology of the C of E, which seems gutless in the face of genuine protest. However, such protest leads down the same dark road as Greece is currently on. The collapse of the banking system would lead to chaos, suffering, and even perhaps war or violence, on a scale not seen since the 1940s; and what or who would step in? China? I continue to predict 2011 as a watershed year, and more is to come.
THAT HANDSOME MAN A PERSONAL BRIEF REVIEW BY TODD SWIFT I could lie and claim Larkin, Yeats , or Dylan Thomas most excited me as a young poet, or even Pound or FT Prince - but the truth be told, it was Thom Gunn I first and most loved when I was young. Precisely, I fell in love with his first two collections, written under a formalist, Elizabethan ( Fulke Greville mainly), Yvor Winters triad of influences - uniquely fused with an interest in homerotica, pop culture ( Brando, Elvis , motorcycles). His best poem 'On The Move' is oddly presented here without the quote that began it usually - Man, you gotta go - which I loved. Gunn was - and remains - so thrilling, to me at least, because so odd. His elegance, poise, and intelligence is all about display, about surface - but the surface of a panther, who ripples with strength beneath the skin. With Gunn, you dressed to have sex. Or so I thought. Because I was queer (I maintain the right to lay claim to that
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The Greek Prime minister was insane to call a referendum. I actually think that he did it to spite Sarkozy who said publicly that Greece should never have been allowed to join the euro in the first place. As long as the French and Germans want the euro to survive, it will definitely do so, no matter how much right-wing commentators are willing it to fail!
Best wishes from Simon