This page has been archived and commenting is disabled.
There’s Brussels And Then There’s Real People
Submitted by Raúl Ilargi Meijer of the Automatic Earth
There’s Brussels And Then There’s Real People
Once again, a look at Greece and the Troika, because it amuses me, it angers me, and also because it warms my cockles, in an entirely metaphorical sort of way. The Troika members love to make it appear (and everyone swallows it whole) as if in their ‘negotiations’ with Greece all sorts of things are cast in stone and have no flexibility at all. Humbug.
First, another great piece by Rob Parenteau (via Yves Smith), who lays it out in terms so simple they can’t but hit the issue square on the nose. For Europe and the Troika, there’s Greece, and then there’s the rest. No money for the Greeks lining up at soupkitchens (not even for the soupkitchens themselves), but $60 billion a month for the bond market. The $200 million anti-poverty law – a measly sum in comparison – that Athens voted in this week is a no-no because Greek government has to ask permission for everything in Brussels first, says Brussels, no matter that that only prolongs the suffering. It’s not about money, in other words, it’s about power, and the Greeks must be subdued.
Both the financial and the political press have by now perfected their picture of Yanis Varoufakis as a combination of some kind of incompetent blunderer on the one hand, and a threat the size of Vladimir Putin on the other, while the rudeness of German FinMin Schäuble is not discussed at all. The media are no longer capable of reporting anything outside of their propaganda models. The ‘middle finger’ video turns out to be a fake, but who cares, it’s done its damage. Parenteau:
Goebbelnomics – Austerian Duplicity and the Dispensing of Greece
So let’s get this straight. The Troika does not have enough money to roll over Greek debt (in a Ponzi scheme like fashion, mind you) – debt that was incurred not so much as a bailout of Greece, but more as a bailout of German and other core nation banks and insurance companies and private investors who made stupid loans to or investments in Greece, but refused to fob them off on their own taxpayers.
But the Troika does have enough money to adequately perform damage control for the eurozone if Greece, because, you know, Greece is a “dispensable” eurozone member – even though ECB lawyers themselves say there is no legal mechanism for disposing of eurozone members in any such fashion.
No money in Greece for humanitarian aid in a country that may be on its way to becoming a failed nation state. No money outside Greece to roll over existing debt, or when necessary to extend and pretend, add more debt on existing debt to service the old debt, Charles Ponzi style. But somehow there is still “sufficient” money to ring fence Greece from the rest of the eurozone once Greece figures out it is dispensable and so must exit.
But that is not even the whole deception. It turns out the ECB does happen to have enough money to buy €60 billion per month of bonds from now until at least September 2016. Which means the same bondholders who are benefitting from the misnamed “bailout” funds used to keep the core nation financial institutions from collapsing under the weight of failed loans, can now count on a monthly government handout, courtesy of the ECB.
Some are more equal than others, in other words. That is true also of Ukraine, which gets to issue bonds guaranteed by the American taxpayer. If Greece could do that, they‘d have a way out of the dark pit austerity has thrown it in. And Greece isn’t even killing its own people…. But then Kiev doesn’t need to be subdued, it’s already being ruled exclusively by US stooges.
To come back to Schäuble lack of basic civil manners for a moment, it’s of course not true that Germany has an ironclad case against the Greek demands for WWII reparations. If it did, none of the rudeness would be necessary. And aside from that, even if the case was indeed closed, Germany would still need to be open and respectful and way more civilized than it is at present. WWII is a very black chapter in world history, and it’s not some very remote event. Even if post-WWII German schoolchildren never learned anything about what their parents and grandparents had done.
Maybe there’s a task here for the world Jewish community. Schäuble’s attitude smacks of denial, much more than respect for victims and their surviving family members. And besides, there were a lot of Greek Jews who became victim of German atrocities.
But to focus for now on the purely legal side of the matter, there’s at the very least a large grey area:
Legal Experts: Greece Has Grounds for WWII Reparations
A growing number of legal experts are supporting Greece’s demands over the German war reparations from the country’s brutal Nazi occupation during World War II. Despite the official German refusal to address the issue, legal experts say now Athens has ground for the case. The hot issue is expected to be brought up by Greece’s newly elected Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras during his official visit to Berlin on Monday, where he is scheduled to hold a meeting with the German Chancellor Angela Merkel. [..]
The Greek leftist-led coalition government has repeatedly raised the issue causing Germany’s firm reaction as expressed by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble, who recently warned Athens to forget the war reparations, underlining that the issue has been settled decades ago. Central to Germany’s argument is that 115 million deutschmarks have been paid to Greece in the 1960s, while similar deals were made with other European countries that suffered a Nazi occupation.
At the same time, though, lawyers from Germany and other countries have said the issue is not wrapped up, as Germany never agreed a universal deal to clear up reparations after its unconditional surrender. The German answer on that is that in 1990, before its reunification, the “Two plus Four Treaty” agreement was signed with the United Kingdom, the United States, the former Soviet Union and France, which renounced all future claims. According to Berlin, this agreement settles the issue for other states too.
“The German government’s argument is thin and contestable. It is not permissible to agree to a treaty at the expense of a third party, in this case Greece,” international law specialist Andreas Fischer-Lescano said, as cited by Reuters. Mr. Lescano’s opinion finds several other experts in agreement. One of them, the Greek lawyer Anestis Nessou, who works in Germany highlighted that “there is a lot of room for interpretation. Greece was not asked, so the claims have not gone away.”
Merkel had better start taking the matter very serious, and in a very respectful way to boot. Because no matter how well oiled the publicity spin machine is, Schäuble’s attitude, mirrored by many of his countrymen, will awaken in countries all across Europe the realization that they don’t want this from Germany, they won’t be ruled by Berlin, and they won’t stand for more German uncivilized behavior either. The memories are far too fresh for that.
As I said the other day, Merkel had better take the reins in all this, because she risks blowing up the entire European Union if she lets things slip further. Let Greece go, if only by trying to force it into some sort of debt servitude which the Greek people deem unacceptable on moral grounds, and the EU project will start shaking on its already feeble foundations.
There’s only one thing that can save the Union now: for Merkel to show compassion, with the Greeks, and with all other weaker members. And to stop the anti-Greek propaganda, immediately. Or else. It’s nonsense to pretend that this is merely a business issue, as is made clear by Parenteau above: there is very clearly plenty space to negotiate solutions with Greece that preserve everyone’s dignity. Refuse that, and you can kiss the EU goodbye. There’s alot more that plays into this than mere money issues. Ignore that, and you might as well dismantle the Union right now.
And there are indeed other approaches too. Like that of the German couple, whose story I picked up some 24 hours ago on RT, and which has since appeared on a whole scale of media:
German Couple Pays €875 To Greece For Their Share Of WWII Reparations
A German couple visiting Greece have handed over a check for €875 to the mayor of the seaport town of Nafplio, saying they wanted to make amends for their government’s attitude for refusing to pay Second World War reparations. Nina Lahge, who works a 30-hour week, and Ludwig Zacaro, who is retired, made the symbolic gesture and explained that the amount of €875 would be the amount one person would owe if Germany’s entire war debt was divided by the population of 80 million Germans.
“If we, the 80 million Germans, would have to pay the debts of our country to Greece, everyone would owe €875 euros. In [a] display of solidarity and as a symbolic move we wanted to return this money, the €875 euros, to the Greek population,” they said.
They apologized for not being able to afford to pay for both of them. “We are ashamed of the arrogance, which our country and many of our fellow citizens show towards Greece,” they told local media in Nafplio, southern Greece. The Greek people are not responsible for the fiasco of their previous governments, they believe.
“Germany is the one owing to your country the World War II reparation money, part of which is also the forced loan of 1942,” they added. The couple was referring to a loan which the Nazis forced the Greek central bank to give the Third Reich during the WWII thus ruining the occupied country’s economy. The mayor of Nafplio, Dimitris Kotsouros, said the money had been donated to a local charity.
And a perhaps even better story comes, almost entirely under the radar, through Kathimerini. Turns out, where Brussels and Berlin spend their time blaming Tsipras and Varoufakis for everything that happens, Norway, not an EU or eurozone member, steps in to alleviate the worst of the suffering:
Athens Mayor Unveils Scheme To Support Poor With Help From Norway
Athens Mayor Giorgos Kaminis, Norwegian Ambassador Sjur Larsen and the president of nongovernmental organization Solidarity Now, Stelios Zavvos, on Wednesday inaugurated a new program to provide support to the Greek capital’s poor. The Solidarity & Social Reintegration scheme comprises a food program benefiting 3,600 households, as well as a space provided by City Hall and managed by Solidarity Now where the organization will provide social, medical and legal aid, among other services.
“The aim is the immediate relief of those in need by providing food, medical care, social services, legal support, help finding employment, and support for single-parent families, children and other vulnerable groups,” said Larsen, whose country has donated 95.8% of the €4.3 million needed to fund the program. The other donors are Iceland and Liechtenstein.
Note: Brussels and the IMF have refused to do what Norway does. They have also refused to let the elected Greek government take care of its own people, without first asking permission to do so. It’s an insane situation, if you ask me. And I don’t see why the Greeks would stand for it any longer. If they vote to leave the eurozone, and perhaps the EU, they will have a hard time for a while, for sure, and it will be made much harder by the Troika, simply out of spite.
But they would face an at least equally hard time if they choose to stay inside the shackles Brussels and Berlin want to lock them in. The EU is supposed to be made up of independent nations. And while it’s certainly true that that is perhaps its fatal flaw, trying to take away that status from the Greeks will drive them away, and warn other countries as well that they could be next in line for the same shackles.
We’re looking at economic warfare here, and there can be no doubt that it will end with only losers on all sides. Unless Merkel wakes up and smells the roses.
»
- 21293 reads
- Printer-friendly version
- Send to friend
- advertisements -
What a dumb article.
It's not about Merkle being "compassionate".
This ridiculous Union subverts democratic process by design.
Sentimental schlock like this article only legitimizes the benevolently (for now) fascist EUs existence, as though a few reforms by Germany would make everything hunky dory.
Lets just overlook what we had done to incourage WW1, then write history so it bodes in our favor. If it is the will of the people(congress critters), it shall be done.
“And Greece isn’t even killing its own people”
The author hit the money line.
Like Kiev, you have to be willing to kill your own people to earn favor with the financial and political totalitarian psychopaths.
Oh, and the Greeks might not want to leave the UK out of that reparations claim.
https://www.opendemocracy.net/can-europe-make-it/ed-vulliamy-helena-smith/british-perfidy-in-greece-story-worth-remembering
The only humanitarian thing to do is dissolve the European Central Bank and then dissolve the Fed and the BOJ.
Disolve the banks while you are doing the bankster bailout.
Bailouts should have a cost.
"Merkel had better take the reins in all this, because she risks blowing up the entire European Union if she lets things slip further."
The faster she blows this shit up the better!
It would make no difference to the bond holders if Greece exits..., they (ECB) would still hand the QE over to the holders to keep them whole.
Perhaps Greece would be better off with a new benefactor like Russia.
Dude uses, way too many commas.
The Greeks love to be buttfucked!
And I have thus removed "Automatic Earth" from my reading list. Wanting me to pay for shit that happened before my parents were born is not only asinine -- but egregiously stupid as well, when Germany has to either pay or in lost opportunity cost -- a half trillion EUR per year.
Automatic Earth -- blow me.
Don't take the hook. It is just a novel way for Germany to bail out its banks
True that, but this line "That is true also of Ukraine, which gets to issue bonds guaranteed by the American taxpayer. If Greece could do that, they‘d have a way out of the dark pit austerity has thrown it in."
In a word, my ass. Ukraine won't pay those bonds - Mr. Yellen will. Same with Greece, you actually think free debt money solves problems? No - you're asking for just another can kick Raul. Better for Greece that you bend over and take that kick yourself.
"Don't take the hook. It is just a novel way for Germany to bail out its banks"
True dat... +100
The moment German banks need another bailout, look out for Germany giving in t the demands of Greece over reparations. It is all a sham. If Germany really wants to help Europe they should concentrate on the peaceful dissolution of the EU.
Overlooked in history books how Churchill unleashed the nazis within Greece after kicking out the German nazis.
Are you speaking from the communist's perspective?
From any perspective you look at it. The Nazi collaborators were recruited by Britain after Germany withdrew, many were freed from jail and strutting around Athens streets in new uniforms; they later took part in the shooting of unarmed demonstrators in Syntagma Square. This did not go unnoticed by anyone, even British historian Mazower wrote about in 'Inside Hitler's Greece'.
@negative rates--Absolutely correct. WW1 was the first really big world trashing by the parasitic NWO. And the BIS was already set up long beforehand to buy up the continent for pennies on the dollar while the terrified survivors were still staggering around wondering what happened and where did all the borders go. It only whetted the appetites of our ruling NWO termites, so as soon as the dust settled they went to work planning the next big one to finish the job.
Well it's a good thing that tribal chieftains like 'Rothschild' had nothing to do with anything... Otherwise we'd have a real scandal on our hands...
I know the above is true [because that's what they taught me in the Saul Alinsky method public schools ~ after the Balfour Agreement dust had finally SETTLED].
"I was drinking last night with a biker
and I showed him a picture of you: 'Pal, get to know her, you'll like her!'
Seemed like the least I could do.
'Cause when he's riding his chopper
Up and down your carpeted halls
You will think me by contrast quite proper
Never mind how I stumble and fall
Never mind how I stumble and fall
Chorus
You imagine sipping champagne from your boot
For a taste of your elegant pride.
I may be going to hell in a bucket,
But at least I'm enjoying the ride
At least I'm enjoying the ride,
Yeah at least I'm enjoying the ride..." - Grateful Dead, "Hell in a Bucket"
Legal Experts: Greece Has Grounds for WWII Reparations
That puts us only one notch from full tilt retard...
Yep. So the Greeks now sue for reparations that the Germans pay them so it can be given right back to the Germans via the Troika. If they weren't trying to extend and pretend this shit show they'd just come up with a monetary value number and just knock it off the debt owed without all the Kabuki Theater but that would imply debt forgiveness. Then again wasn't it the Greeks that invented drama in the first place.
“Release the past and get off your ass…”
The volume knob got turned to 11 about 2012, now the central bankers are just running around yelling "pudding"...
If you don't eat your children how do expect to get any pudding?
You! Over by the guillotine! Stand still, laddie!
Now we have heard it all: Germany paying its own banks for reparations to the Greeks for previous World Wars.
Banks start the wars, then get paid multipple times for them.
Bingo..., Johnny, tell the man what he's won.
Mr. Panos already explained the greek crisis on youtube.
I wonder what our children in the US will say when they look back on our own war crimes and ask why their parents did nothing while we slaughtered and tortured millions and then began the same on our own citizens.......why ....why didn't they do something.....that is if we have any children
your kids are now brain washed minions of the state..... after all it takes a village to raise an idiot.
The village took a vote....we're not claiming that idiot.
The Public School history lessons will be written to portray the Bushes, Clintons and Obama as heroic leaders of the wars on terror, drugs and privacy (only criminals and terrorists demand privacy).
Before we all get teary-eyed for the undeserved plight of the chaste victims of Germany, let's look at what got Greece where it is today - immense venality and corruption:
"The scale of Greek tax cheating was at least as incredible as its scope: an estimated two-thirds of Greek doctors reported incomes under 12,000 euros a year—which meant, because incomes below that amount weren’t taxable, that even plastic surgeons making millions a year paid no tax at all. The problem wasn’t the law—there was a law on the books that made it a jailable offense to cheat the government out of more than 150,000 euros—but its enforcement. “If the law was enforced,” the tax collector said, “every doctor in Greece would be in jail.” I laughed, and he gave me a stare. “I am completely serious.” One reason no one is ever prosecuted—apart from the fact that prosecution would seem arbitrary, as everyone is doing it—is that the Greek courts take up to 15 years to resolve tax cases. “The one who does not want to pay, and who gets caught, just goes to court,” he says. Somewhere between 30 and 40 percent of the activity in the Greek economy that might be subject to the income tax goes officially unrecorded, he says, compared with an average of about 18 percent in the rest of Europe.
Let's not forget that Greece used the Vampire Squid to fudge its numbers to gain admittance to the EU.
http://athensgreecenow.com/2010-10-22-greece-and-tax-evasion-vanity-fair...
Greek Debt Crisis: How Goldman Sachs Helped Greece to Mask its True Debthttp://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/greek-debt-crisis-how-goldman...
Why would a sentinent human turn over their money to a totally corrupt gubmint. Their "fair share"? Fuck that. Would it to only happen in the land of the fee and the home of the slave.
Someone has to pay taxes. If everyone cheats, society collapses as Greece demonstrates:
Greek Wealth Is Everywhere but Tax FormsIn the wealthy, northern suburbs of this city, where summer temperatures often hit the high 90s, just 324 residents checked the box on their tax returns admitting that they owned pools.
So tax investigators studied satellite photos of the area — a sprawling collection of expensive villas tucked behind tall gates — and came back with a decidedly different number: 16,974 pools.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/02/world/europe/02evasion.html?_r=0
Greece needs help desperately now and help should be provided.
How did the US get along before income taxes? Hows the koolaid taste? We would get along perfectly with no income or property taxes.. Obviously the government must be trusted before citizens feel like their productive labor handed over at gunpoint to the Bureaucratic class is well and intelligently spent. I really did not feel like making Solyndras investors Millionaires and Billionaires but the Bamster thought different, so I paid..
Society does not require taxation in order to avoid collapse. The criminals d.b.a. "government," on the other hand, absolutely require it as parasites are incapable of survival otherwise.
Prohibit taxes and government debt and you will have no more war!
Taxation is required because of the central bank fiat issued currency system, not to hold society together. Get off the Kool Aid and get your facts straight.
You've touched upon something that is sure to cause a primal/alergic reaction here:
The fact that NO government can function if there aren't Checks & Balances in the System.
In this case, it cannot function if people don't pay taxes. So much for the Libertarian meme of "no government", if Greece is an example. It is never an issue of too big or too small, but an issue of effective or ineffective.
Greece needs to be excised from the EU and fend for itself. Then they will either prosper or perish on their own. And no taxes means "no service". Theirs is as much a cultural problem as a financial problem.
Good luck, I got the popcorn.
More of the same bullshit meme of "Germans versus Greeks".
The Greek Elite shamelessly plundered their own country and screwed their own people. Why is it so fucking hard to find the offshore bank accounts of the Greeks who robbed their own people? Raul should write about this instead of banging on with his anti-German propaganda.
The Greek Elite managed Greece's accession process into the Eurozone as a prelude to this looting. They are primarily responsible. This reality has been conveniently forgotten. There are many reasons to hate the EU and the Euro. So Raul doesn't need to invent ridiculous ones.
It's just absurd to keep insisting that the average German truck driver or assembly-line worker is responsible for the woes of Greece. Schauble is fair game, so focus the critique on the German Elite who want the Euro's benefits without the associated costs.
The real BS is the idea that elites consider any commoner as "their own people." Once that fallacy is dismissed, perhaps then you'll discover the true nature of the predation?
Well said.
"Democratic representation" is a fairy tale when populations get into the hundreds of thousands. The idea that anyone has a "mandate" from millions is impossible. We need to absorb what that really means, because this is a global problem.
Exactly!
The Greek elite made deals with the EU (including German) elite, and both made serious coin from the deal. The losers? The people of both Greece AND the EU.
The logical fail in the way this debate is being presented is to assume that the average people of Greece had any say in the financing that is now being used as the excuse to murder them through slavery / poverty. These deals are not "popular democracy". They are made up between small groups from both societies, both of which groups do very well from the deal, and then PR campaigns are launched into the public space to provide cover for the theft, showing "popular will".
This is the modern model, and we are all its pawns (the US elite loves this stuff!!).
The Greek elite have been bribed and blackmailed by German companies and others. Recently we found out that German companies were given tax breaks for bribes towards Greece and other countries. The head of the bribing operation in Greece, a Mr. Christoforakos is being protected by the German authorities and living comfortably in Rosenheim...
Complete, utter nonsense. If greece were a solvent and prosperous member of the EU, this discussion would be mute. Time for the greeks to man-up, file for bankruptcy and start over...beginning with a character makeover.
i
Damn right--this "article" is just more lefty bullshit. TD's disinformation site is growing increasingly desperate, and irrelevant
This x1000. WTF is this BS? ZH has gone 100% full fuckin retard.
This article is from an 3rd party. The real action on ZH is when the Tylers post and the debates within the comments. We aren't here to be told how to think. We are here to think for ourselves and debate based on our own knowledge and principles.
Down vote the article if you disagree. It is up to us to police this place. Kinda like life it is.
And war and money are the psychopaths favorite play things
UK Govt Allows Arms Sales Through Open Licenses to Russia and Others – CAEC Report
German Company to Buy Greek Island “For Customers”
Ilargi's sympathy for these deadbeats and thieves is so tired.
It makes no difference now
The die is cast, draggy the fucking evil cunt from hell has set already the wheels in motion.
That farcical moron unwittingly or not means that in due course, no one, not a single living breathing thinking person will hold that fake ponzi useless coupon, fit only for wiping shit up or using as stuffing for a derelicts mattress.
Only a fucking retard could ever assume anyone in their right mind would pay anyone even a fucking so called central bank, criminal mafia or not as the case with the ecb, just to hold on to that worthless shit.
Anyone not withdrawing money from any possible location that now pays negative or charges you to hold that fucking coupon is another total moron, as its value finds its true level,
Zero.
Deflation, that always precedes inflation and then hyperinflation, is now set to escalate as value flees Europe into whatever real currency becomes available.
When that reaches its limit then everything turns as everything of real value becomes scarce, then the prices rise, and rise and rise inexorably.
Say hello to Zimbabwe writ large you fucking moronic cunts, I hope when they suss your fucking game they publicity gut you before dragging you through the streets with piano wire round your necks
There is zero possibility now that the fucking stinking heap of crony corrupt fuck witted deranged insanity called the EU projekt can survive.
Welcome to hell again in Europe, and any doubts that the equally retarded fuckwits, from the camels cunt called yellen to the shit for brains shit stabbing faggot Kenyan monkey wont bring the same shit storm on the US is as deluded as that German cripple thinking that Greek citizens will ever repay the bankers debt
I talked to your dr., he wants to up your meds.
I dunno.......seems about the right amount to me......;-)
In the mix is that you?
I do wish you would speak more directly about how you feel.
Schäuble is right.
Unless the Greek people understand how they got into this mess,
by taking on too much loans and spending on a corrupt system....
without Reforms Greece will dig itself deeper and deeper in a hole
and the corrupt politicians will lie to stay in power and get paid.
If 2 bailouts worth 240 billion Euros don't make it...
no amount of money ever will.
Fact is - Greece is suffering from a corrupt system and Government and has for a while.
Now who is to blame for that ?
the Germans ?
fuck off !
I am German and I never been to Greece so why should I pay for their fuck-ups ?
this article above is idiotic crap, that's all.
WR;)
Asshole, maybe you forgot it was your own fucking Hitler that decided to bomb the fuck out of the Greeks and murder them by the millions 70 years ago AND installed your fucking puppets that took over the rape and desecration after your fucking war, that led Greece to where it is today.
Shut the fuck up and send your check to Athens for your share of war reparations too.
you are the Asshole,
and besides,your Hitler was Austrian, not German
and he seems to have many admirers and followers even today.
How else could it be possible for Assholes like you to use Hitler as an endless excuse for their own fascist tendencies?
So fuck off you damicol demented fuck !
Who the fuck cares where he came from, You fucking germans voted the cunt in as your fucking chancellor and all became nazis.
So get used to it, it was your father or grandfather turned into a Nazi and unfortunately survived, or we wouldnt have a cunt like you around
You messing with your pills?
Your above post is full red pill influence but this one... it's like you just downed a bottle of blues...
I prefer a few years of Hitler over an endless period of corrupt Greek politicians!
Hey asshole, Hitler conquered all of Europe not just Greece. Is Norway, Luxemburg, Holland Denmark etc, etc in the same mess as Greece? Were Spain and Portugal occupied by Germany? Why are they more or less in in the same hole as Greece? Are Japan's problems also a result of WWII? Is Enola Gay to blame? Is it always somebody else's fault in Greece? Inquiring minds want to know.
Thats loser talk. Your like a nig nog begging for a check. You'll always be a victim with that attitude.
hmmm.....
because your grandpa was a fucking nazi messing the whole world with his friends in the 40' maybe ?
Are you living in North America?
If so... how much do you owe Native Americans due to your ancestor's actions?
This is a real slippery slope. What is the statute of limitation on invasion and genocide? If there isn't one then we all owe a lot of people a lot of money because conquest, rape, murder and genocide is the human condition throughout the entirety of history.
Chew on that one for a while...
More to the point, how much does the US owe Vietnam, Laos, Iraq, etc, etc over demonstrably baseless MIC aggression?
I'm going to comment, without having read this article, nor the comments submitted before this one which I offer now. (only the 'headline').
The FUCKING (YOU) 'international community' is a fucking LIE.
The 'international community' is comprised of a cabal of nightmarish pathological sociopaths who deem it their 'providence' to MURDER not just physically, but to violate in ways even more definable as evil..Malicious and malevolent 'plans', 'concepts', ...The 'leaders' of humanity are an abomination when measured against the innate human desire to live as free individuals, OFF-LINE of these parasitic deviants who seek to 'administer' EVERY f'ing energy involved in our existence.
Elephants, Dolphins, apes, monkeys....Shit even insects deserve more consideration of individual dignity than present 'world leaders' exhibit toward individual human-beings at this point.
The absolute FAILURE of 'world leaders' to provide a justification for 'government' represents the potential for individual empowerment....
AFTER this present construct implodes.
Which it absolutely will do.
Sadly the implosion will not be based upon failure to succeed, but rather success at destruction. Dependence upon their rule is all they've got.
nicely written.
What a nonsense article... no mercy with the Greeks, the Greek nomenklatura an sociopaths!
What a nonsense article... no mercy with the Greeks, the Greek nomenklatura an sociopaths!
"If they vote to leave the eurozone, and perhaps the EU, they will have a hard time for a while, for sure, and it will be made much harder by the Troika, simply out of spite.
But they would face an at least equally hard time if they choose to stay inside the shackles Brussels and Berlin want to lock them in."
It's only a matter of time before a sufficient seed group of Greeks figures out this calculus and force change. It saddens and surprises me that it is taking as long as it has. People tolerate an insane amount of abuse through our ignorance (some) and apathy (others).
They wont vote to lave the Eurozone, not in a million years, not by choice anyway,they rode high on the hog in the good times, and they just cant shake those times off and face reality. They genuinely belive the rest of us are going to continue bailing them out
Published time: March 20, 2015 11:17
Edited time: March 20, 2015 15:49
Cash-strapped Greece has maybe given up hope that the EU will solve its financial woes, and is seeking direct handouts from benevolent donors via its central bank website.
The bank set up an account called ‘Solidarity Account for Repayment of Public Debt’, which has been open for contributions since March 5. The account will accept “voluntary deposits, to be used exclusively for the repayment of Greece’s public debt" according to the bank's website.
While Mr Tsipras isn't saying what's left in the bank, he acknowledges Greece is facing "liquidity pressure." The country's cash shortfall is projected to hit €3.5 billion in March, according to Bloomberg calculations based on 2015 budget figures.
Greece’s coffers are spread thin, but the country has €3-4 billion in buffer cash stored at the Bank of Greece that could be used at a pinch, according to Economy Minister George Stathakis.
By the end of March, Greece needs to pay the IMF a total of €1.5 billion, €350 million of which is due on Friday.
Bloomberg estimates the country is facing a €3.5-billion cash crunch in March. This projection is in line with reports from Greek banks stating they have seen the highest spike in bank withdrawals in the past month.
Leaders from Greece are trying to strike a new deal with their EU creditors – the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank, and the European Commission. The Troika of lenders is still waiting for Greece to present a list of reforms before dolling out any more cash. Greece owes its EU creditors €240 billion.
However, the new leftist Syriza leadership has gone head-to-head with EU finance ministers over the conditions of the bailout, which the Greek finance minister has bluntly called "asphyxiating", even likening Athens to a "debt colony" of the EU.
Germany has been the biggest obstacle in Greece pushing through negotiations, with the finance minister even openly blaming Greece for its own failed banks.
The Greek government doesn’t want to extend its bailout package with the EU, but at the same time needs money to keep the country afloat.
The bailout, along with Greece’s massive €316-billion debt, has kept Greece in recession for more than six years. Unlike other countries bailed out by the EU, Greece has failed to reverse crippling unemployment or stunted growth, which has contracted 25 percent since 2010.
The EU was forced to come to Greece’s rescue in 2010 and 2014 with two bailouts totaling €240 billion. If Greece had gone rogue and defaulted, the turmoil would have spilled over to the then 18-member euro currency bloc.
Very little progress has been made between Athens and Brussels since both parties agreed to extend Greece’s bailout by four months.
http://rt.com/business/242489-bank-greece-donation-account/
WR;)
Yes, I see that I should donate to help fraudulent bankers and politicrats line their pockets on this debt for the nth time.
I mean, why sure I'd love to help the Greek people in their time of need.
The would have more luck crowd funding the fucking place
Stop presenting the Greeks as victims: For many years and still(!) the poor & the rich in this country agree each other that tax paying is an avoidable punishment. Therefore they voted as they voted...to live in late-Roman decadence. The result is well known. Greek government should talk with their own tax avoiders & tax dodgers - but still refuse. Around 800 billion Euro of Greek money is supposed to be transferred on Swiss banks...they still refuse to establish land registry offices (even to fly around Athen to take pictures of the huge number of villas with pools...), to tax the ship owners or to reduce the extremely high number of state workers. Instead of this they fake statistics.
That's not the German business. And it's not the business for more efficient governments with less wealthy populations to pay them.
Don't blame the Germans because Greeks tell you to blame them: Athen nearly doesn't redeem European credits: 145 billion Euro from ESM are deferred until 2023, for the next years they don't have to redeem bilateral credits (53 billion Euros) to European countries of the Eurozone either. Just the ECB (7.2 billion Euro) and ICF (8.1 billion) demand some money back since this year. All the money Greek got is subject to extremely low interests. Paradisiac conditions to reform the country - but negativ report: It seems easier to blame Germany and push the poors into the frontline to refuse reform.
There are so many frontline services - just yesterday EU-commission president Jean-Claude Junckers pronounced another 2-billion Euro package from Brussels (another 1 billion from German taxpayers) - that's around 70 billion Dollars related to US-size - for free food & currency.
some banks helped em to fake documents.
who own banks...? what is the place in the system of all this ?
just a brick in the wall, every one knew about the faking note/document to let em go in Eurozone...
wake up.
"...who own banks..."
Just to remember: Biggest lenders were Greek banks.
Former government head of Greece (the elected!) Papandreou is suspected of being one of the most cheeky cleptocrates.
Just default and watch the German Banksters get paid anyway. That will show what this is really about.
Let the risk go where the profits have gone.
...just to remember: The far biggest lenders were Greek banks....
From the beginning on (even corrupt) German bankers didn't seriously calculate with the Greek government to write of their losses but the other way round it's a completely other situation...
Thanks to the German and European taxpayers the Greek ATMs are still working..
And please don't tell me Greeks don't know how to handle with banks - e. g. their own government was deeply involved into the deal with Goldman Sachs to greek other Eurozone members...
If you are interested in drones check out this site : http://pickyourdrone.com/
Why do you spam this site with your useless shit?
Where is that Zero government guy when you need him?
You want .gov? There is an app for that.
You want a bridge to know where? Kickstarter bitches.
You want a ponzi scheme retirement slush fund? FU. Get creative and pull a Bernie.
Fuck the EU?
There are still an awful lot of people who still seem to think that the EU was/is a good idea.
Tsipras has a chance to put a spanner in the works but there are far too many people in Greece who think that the Euro is their salvation.
All this should change if/when Marine Le Pen trounces Hollande in France and Beppe Grillo comes out top in Italy.
Goodbye to the nightmare/disaster that is/was the European "Union ".
Not before time.
There are no political solutions. Any politicians that are desiring serious change in the system are marginalized (Ron Paul) or killed (JFK). If any of those candidates get past the vote counters they will quickly be brought to a 'meeting' where the way things work is 'explained' to them. They will toe the line like Syriza has or they will meet with a nail gun suicide/accident.
The only solution is for people to remove themselves from the system. This will never happen, imho, because most people are locked firmly in the matrix and will never awaken. Violence will only change the bosses, not the system (as violence IS the system) so there is no hope from traditional revolution.
Take your ball and go home. If millions do it, there will be systemic failure, if not... same as it ever was.
For your information . I doubt that Beppe Grillo will come on top in Italy . Here people are deeply asleep and the " Movimento 5 Stelle " is deeply fractured with many elected members of parliament expelled by Grillo for ' difference of ideas " . The present PM is a young man that follows the script dictated to him by some puppetmasters ( American Embassy in Rome ? )..... He was not elected by the people and there was no election. This guy wants to continue in power until 2018. In the meantime , even though the national debt is increasing , the government continues to buy F- 35 and behave as if the end of the economic crysis is around the corner .
No government official talks about alternatives to the Euro or leaving it , acually , even the recently elected President of the Republic pays lip service to the EU of the warmongers . Until something dramatic happens , in Italy there is no hope ........ this is going to be the next Greece .
About the EU of the Soviet Republics . I did not vote for a EU that participates to colored revolutions , Coup ' d'etat and subversion or "regime change "on other European states non members . I did not vote for a EU where member states have to send military forces to Afghanistan , Iraq or any other place in the wordl to combat war for the Kazarians traitors. The defence treaty that calls iself NATO ( North Atlantic Treaty Organization ) shoudl be disbanded now . Since when the Atlantic Ocean touches Iraq or Afghanistan ? Politicians in this faulty European Union , I suspect , are all receiving lots of money from the CIA ... it seems that only few like Nigel Farage have the common sense to distinguish the lies and the propaganda of this criminal organization .
I disagree with the Kazarian dominated mass media view of what happened in Ukraine . If the IDIOTS and Traitors like Merkel were not seriously blackmailed , or paid off by the retarded people in the spy agencies , all this crap would hat have happened . If a war happens than it is also the fault of the IDIOTS in control of the EU . Their lives are in peril , there are a lot of citizens fed up with the way this sh .. EU operates . from vassallage to the USA , the military bases and the treatment to Greece .
THis EU is totally incapable of understanding that if a country is broke and cannot repay the existing debt ...... there is no point in lending it more money. The alleged cure of the IMF doesn't works . The TROIKA members should be lined up agaisnt a wall and shot , they are worse criminals than the CIA organized ISIS . .
Since 1827 Greece went bankrupt 6 times sofar (not counting the present situation).
Reforming is something they are not good at. Making promisses and extracting billions from others however....
That is the issue. The banksters are rubbing out their competition.
If Greece can't tell the Troika to fuck off and stand on its own two feet then it needs to be a 3rd world country until it can. Default on the loans, start from scratch, live within your means, and slowly build your respect back. Going to be painful, but any other solution is going to be a bailout of everyone but average joe Greek citizen. If they were seriously willing to do this, Germany and the rest of Europe would be at their door step, hat in hand, saying "hey, we were just fucking with you!".
Exactly the point. The money goes to banks, coming from banks.
Good thing that the next in the row is the European taxpayer.
Already the old Romans somehow mistrusted to the Greek people - in their eyes Greeks were already part of the further eastern located "Levantine".
Greeks were seen as "interface" to African & Oriental dealers - most of them were married with orientalic women. So this handshake & county fair mentality is not accidentally part of their business usances.
A bit off topic but Haiti and Cameroon routinely experience similar, if not worse, poverty levels and not a single tear is shed for them.
No cries to leave the EU, issue their own currency, make deals with Russia. Nothing.
Is indignation in the face of poverty reserved only for poor countries that were once rich? Because becoming poor is psychologically worse than always having been poor and thus worthy of pity?
The ugly and character-showing thing is sticking to the agenda when the case is already irreperably lost.
Like US in Ukraine.
Like Germany´s EU vs Greece.
The money the IMF and the EU lends to Greece comes from taxpayers. It is not virtual money. As such it seems fair to me that the EU and IMF ask the Greeks for guarantees that they will be able to repay the monies. Obviously, if the Greeks do not change their economic policies they will keep on needing foreign assistance and will not be able to repay the loans.
I do not understand why Greece does not leave the IMF membership if it does not like its economic demands in exchange for G7 funds.
Lets us remember that it is Greece which called on the IMF for assistance, not the other way around.