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No Greeks bearing gifts.....

That things are grim in Greece, and elsewhere in Europe, is highlighted in this report from Reuters. Equally troubling is how these issues will play out in Europe and people's willingness to accept things as they are.

"Officials say the number of homeless in Greece has increased about 20-25% in two years, a staggering rise in a country where adult children often live with their parents and pensions traditionally go to supporting young families.

It's a statistic that resonates across many European countries laid low by the one-two punch of recession and austerity, as rising unemployment, shortages of affordable housing and social benefit cuts push more people over the edge and affect people who thought they were immune."

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"The number of homeless families in Britain, which is not in the euro zone, rose by 10% to 44,160 households in the past year, the first increase since 2004.

The biggest issue in Britain, which embarked on austerity cuts last year, is the lack of affordable housing, a spokeswoman for homelessness charity Shelter said.

"More and more people are being priced out of home ownership and private rents are rising. The cuts to housing benefits are going to put a massive strain on people," she said.

A chronic housing shortage and high unemployment are also contributing to the problem in France -- listed by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development as the most generous welfare state in the world."

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