Originally posted by: krystal_watz
Probably intended in the sense, "not desperate for money/fame, but only to help out people in need".
ATHENS: Yanis Varoufakis, Greece's finance minister who resigned on Monday despite the government having secured a resounding victory in a weekend referendum, rose to fame and infamy this year for his urban-cool look, his abrasive style, and acerbic attacks on austerity.
In a shock announcement just hours after Sunday's referendum results on bailout terms were announced, Varoufakis said he was quitting to help Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras in ensuing negotiations with creditors.
"Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Euro-group participants, and assorted partners', for my ... absence' from its meetings; an idea that the prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the ministry of finance today," Varoufakis said on his blog.
During the past five months of negotiations between Athens and its international creditors, the self-described "erratic Marxist" seemed more at ease chatting with unemployed anarchists than with fellow European finance ministers, who often groaned about his blunt negotiating tactics.
European Economic Affairs chief Pierre Moscovici commented that Varoufakis "is a smart person, not always easy, but smart". His straight-talking style produced notable moments including his characterisation of the austerity imposed on Greece as "fiscal water-boarding".
After negotiations broke down between Greece and its creditors, Varoufakis slammed Europe's governance.
"This is not the way to run a monetary union. This is a travesty. It's a comedy of errors for five years now, Europe has been extending and pretending," Varoufakis said in a BBC interview.
After becoming finance minister in January, there were some growing pains as he adapted to the burning glare of the global media spotlight.
He allowed himself to be pictured in Paris Match magazine at a piano and dining in style with his wife on the roof terrace of his "love nest at the foot of the Acropolis", while telling the magazine how he abhorred the "star system".
Rebellious streak
Though the maverick minister has always taken a stance protecting ordinary Greeks, his background was anything but common.
He is the son of Giorgos Varoufakis, who at 90 still heads one of Greece's leading steel producers, Halyvourgiki. He also attended the Moraitis School, which has alumni including prominent Greek leaders and artists.
His early career was spent at the English universities of Essex, East Anglia and at Cambridge, and he has often been linked with research into game theory.
In 1998 Varoufakis moved to Australia, and he is now a dual Greek and Australian citizen.
He moved back to Greece in 2000 to teach at the University of Athens, and in January 2013 accepted a post at the University of Texas in Austin.
Varoufakis has had a rebellious streak since a young age.
He told the BBC he has deliberately misspelled his name Yanis, writing it with one "n", since a confrontation with a teacher in elementary school.
"I had an aesthetic problem with the double n'," he said. "So I decided to write my name with one. My teacher gave me a bad grade, which made me very angry and I've kept writing my name with one n' ever since."
Cut off my arm'
As finance minister Varoufakis, his head shaved clean, shook up the staid world of EU summits by arriving to meetings in rock-star-style leather jackets and untucked shirts. He was quickly dubbed Greece's Bruce Willis'.
His swagger and penchant for lecturing annoyed some EU counterparts at meetings on Greece's debt and he was eventually pulled from frontline negotiations.
Varoufakis's father Giorgos told the Greek daily Ethnos that his son's critics "want to run him down because he is competent". "Yanis is a very good boy, and is always telling the prime minister what to do, which is why he adores him," he said.
A prolific blogger, Yanis Varoufakis has written several books, including The Global Minotaur: America, Europe and the Future of the Global Economy.
Varoufakis has said he believes his shattered country can only recover once it has rejigged the terms of an international bailout, and said early on that Greece's massive debt could not be paid back in full.
The minister said he would step down if disavowed by Greek voters who voted on Sunday on whether they accept or reject bailout conditions that are no longer on the table.
In his latest blog, Varoufakis gave reasons why Greeks should vote No' in the referendum, one being that the country "will stay in the euro" regardless of the outcome.
He told Bloomberg TV that he would rather "cut my arm off" than stay on as minister in the case of a Yes' vote.
if you are passionate about helping others you will work in any environment,in any situation, and you will find a way to help others!
Initially a person becomes a doctor being passionate, it's only in the latter that passion turns into something else...
From a practical stand point a single currency will not work unless the richer European Countries are willing to help those countries that are less well off... but the question remains as to how much should the EU help Greece.
If Greece cannot keep up, it is best that it leaves the EU so that they can do better with a cheaper currency. They have too many tax dodgers so the Govt will always be short of funds.
Yes a few more countries are facing debt problems. It is best they have their own currencies I think so that they can price themselves in a most effective manner and be more competitive.
Greece is not the only member in EU who is facing debt troubles. Italy , spain are similarly disposed. What happens to the EU if they follow suit Does the world need a EU?
Mixed doubles: Serena Williams with Patrick Mouratoglou (left) and Maria Sharapova with Grigor Dimitrov (right)
Serena: I want to take this moment to just pour myself, be open, say I'm very sorry
Williams said she apologized to Maria, but that was 2 days before Sharapova criticized her
By Matt Cronin
WIMBLEDON - What if players existed in a tennis world like many journalists do, where you publish what you mean to say and stand by it through thick and thin. That is not the pro athlete world though, and certainly not all of the tennis world, when statements that are termed "controversial" somehow get turned into eye-popping words that must apologized for.
Some statements like Serena's Williams ill-advised comments about the Steubenville rape case do immediate demand explanations, but did Serena really have to come out and apologize to Maria Sharapova for telling (at least partly) Rolling Stone that a top-five player now allegedly in love "begins every interview with I'm so happy. I'm so lucky' " it's so boring. She's still not going to be invited to the cool parties. And, hey, if she wants to be with the guy with a black heart, go for it."
Perhaps, but perhaps not. Clearly, she and Sharapova are far from friends, even if they respect each other on court. So that Serena said those statements to Venus on the phone and the Rolling Stone writer decided to publish them is only a big deal because it got out in public. Highly opinionated players have opinions about lots of things, including other players, it's just that many of those opinions do not reach the public's ears.
Serena is super competitive with other high-profile women players, be it Sharapova, or Victoria Azarenka, or now Sloane Stephens. That's how she is. Even at 31, she's still to some degree the baby sister of her family and does not like to get upstaged. Serena and Sharapova have a young man in common now, the charming Grigor Dimitrov, whom Sharapova is now dating and Serena once had a some kind of relationship with, whether it was just a friendship, or something more involved. When Serena was hanging around with Dimitrov, he was still being coached by Patrick Mouratoglou, who is now Serena's coach and by all indications, her boyfriend.
Right around the time that Dimitrov left Mouratoglou and hired Magus Norman's Swedish team, he began dating Sharapova. Is that why Serena's allegedly tagged him as having a black heart, because he's now dating her rival, or is it because something else occurred in their relationship prior to that? That's unclear for now but if Serena wants to call her [or possibly Azarenka] boring, or say that they both have bad taste in men, so what? Serena has chided herself about having bad taste in men. People everywhere say that type of thing everyday, so why such a hullabaloo? I'll tell you why: because they are the two highest profile women athletes in the world and when they mix it up, it's news. It's Connors vs. McEnroe all over again, but this time in skirts.
"At the end of the day, we have a tremendous amount of respect for what we do on the court," Sharapova said. "I just think she should be talking about her accomplishments, her achievements, rather than everything else that's just getting attention and controversy. If she wants to talk about something personal, maybe she should talk about her relationship and her boyfriend that was married and is getting a divorce and has kids," Sharapova said. "Talk about other things, but not draw attention to other things. She has so much in her life, many positives, and I think that's what it should be about."
Sharapova clearly thinks at least a couple of those comments were directed at her, but sources also say that Azarenka thinks one or two of them might have been directed at her, which would make sense given that the "she's still not going to be invited to the cool parties" comment doesn't seem to fit with Sharapova, who does get invited to cool parties, but more to Azarenka, who has been dating the pop star Redfoo but still is not yet as famous as Serena or Sharapova, so getting invited to A-List parties still might be a challenge for her, whether she cares to go or not.
But is that comment really scandalous or over the top? Not so much, but what it does do is add spice to their rivalries and there is nothing wrong with competitors having digs at each other, as long as they aren't mean-spirited. Serena's comment about the woman wanting to be with a guy with a black heart and Sharapova's about being with a man with kids getting divorced both qualify as below the belt, so perhaps apologies are in order for both. Serena approached Sharapova at the Wimbledon player party on Thursday.
"I feel like Maria, unfortunately, was inadvertently brought into a situation she should have never been brought into," said Serena. "I want to personally apologize to you if you are offended by being brought into my situation. I want to take this moment to just pour myself, be open, say I'm very sorry for this whole situation."
In that discussion, Serena was said to have told Sharapova that she didn't remember which player she was talking about during the interview. So while she apologized for the article having drawn Sharapova into the discussion, she allegedly did not cop to saying it about Sharapova to Sharapova's face at the party, which is why Sharapova had little trouble publicly going at Serena two days later in her press conference.
But Serena said that she is taking full responsibility for what she said and is willing to admit a wrong, even though there have been occasions in her career (i.e. her two US Open meltdowns) where she refused to say that she was sorry.
"I'm the first person to apologize," said Williams, who also apologized for making Steubenville comments without having her facts lined up. "I'm the first person to reach out to individuals and people if I feel that something may have hurt them or something may have been misconstrued. That's another reason why, being a woman, I wanted to reach out to [Sharapova] and say, Look, this is this, this is this, sorry... Well, we always have great conversations, so I believe that she definitely did accept [my apology]."
It appears that Sharapova did not on Saturday, but maybe when she reads Williams' comments on Monday before or after her match, she will.
One of the key things to understand about Serena, Sharapova and Azarenka is that regardless as how much certain people want to handle them and soften their image, if they feel strongly about something, eventually they are just going to say it and damn the consequences. They don't want to be filtered. They are not afraid to go for big shots on court or off. I like that quality in all of them, even if on occasion they put their feet in their mouths. People do that all the time, even tennis journalists.
Serena mentioned that because she is largely covered by the tennis media and has a good relationships with many of them, and that she didn't anticipate that some of the things she said around the Rolling Stone reporter would be used. She should know better and admitted as much. But let's hope that in a sport that some officials seek to sterilize to the point of boring fans to tears, that she stays the real and uncut Serena Williams. The same with Sharapova, Azarenka and every other player who isn't afraid to tell the world what they think and stand by it.
"I've been spoiled dealing with professionalism here in the tennis world," Serena said. "I'm used to dealing with professional reporters. I have people come to my home. I have great conversations. I'm used to dealing with these people not writing or commenting on a private conversation that I may have or kind of listening in or eavesdropping and then reporting on it. You guys have completely spoiled me. With that being said, I've been in the business for a little over 200 years, so I should definitely, definitely know better
| topics | author | replies | views | reply |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| carisma2 | 5 | 2053 |
comment:
p_commentcount