Who ever suggested that there was any "privacy and confidentiality" of wearable devices that use Bluetooth? Who would even think such a thing? We're not talking about encrypted communications devices here...

Would you say they are.......Opportunists?

It's not an excuse. You're the one in the crappy situation who has to live with it. Sorry, mate.

That's not how government pensions work.

If you add it all up, you'll find that the taxes you pay are not enough to cover the pension + healthcare now + healthcare after retirement. That's why Portugal has a problem.

Yup.

Blaming Americans is just an excuse; the EU is bigger than America, they don't need to be pushed around.

In this case, it was European companies that were pushing. But it's easier politically to blame America. Just like US presidents always blame their predecessors for anything bad that happens.

Microsoft has one of the best internal test setups in the industry, complete with mirrored windows etc.

They failed anyway.

Let me say it differently........get back in reality, man. Your post went off the rails by the end.

It won't. Greece doesn't have the self-discipline to manage their own currency.

When will it end? That is my question.

Wrong. That was the worry of contagion in 2011. That is no longer a worry. You have not been keeping up.

You asked me to give a citation. I'm not going to cite something that every half-pint can figure out by looking in a dictionary. Citations are for things that are hard to find.

The ironic thing is I actually did quote verbatim one of the definitions, but you didn't read it.

Not my fault you don't know how to do accounting. There was never enough money in Portugal to pay those promised pensions to begin with. It was money you didn't have.

Now you're trying to look for blame. I consider you to be a partisan and part of the problem.

Yeah. Except, it's the EU countries that went the austerity route that are now in the best shape, financially. And their people see that, and vote to reinforce the politicians that made that wise choice. Government largess can't make the economy grow when the government is too corrupt, and the people too indifferent (or too used to getting away with) to pay the taxes that will let the government throw around huge sums of money. "Stimulus" spending with borrowed money is right up there with sacrificing chickens or doing a magical dance when it comes to fixing what's actually wrong with places like Greece. The problem is cultural, and has been that way for decades. The Nanny State mentality is bad enough, but trying to keep it going when at the same time the entire nation plays games with tax collection so they can all lie to themselves about it is a recipe for ... contemporary Greece.