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Post by jdredd on Jun 2, 2015 1:14:51 GMT -5
www.bbc.com/news/business-32970661"The heads of both the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank have attended talks in Berlin in an attempt to reach a deal with Athens. They joined German Chancellor Angela Merkel, French President Francois Hollande and European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker at the meeting. The aim was to come up with "a final proposal" to present to Athens, according to reports. A €300m (£215m) payment to the IMF is due on Friday.There are fears Greece does not have the necessary funds to pay and could default on the debt, ultimately leading to its exit from the eurozone. The country remains at a deadlock with international creditors over the release of €7.2bn in remaining bailout funds." This is how loan sharks work: You borrow money from them, and if you can't pay it back, you borrow more that goes right back to the loan shark. Isn't Capitalism fun?
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Post by jdredd on Jun 2, 2015 21:32:43 GMT -5
www.economist.com/news/europe/21653516-creditors-have-finally-agreed-terms-present-beleaguered-greek-government-offer-it-cannot"AS PHONEY wars often do, the four-month stand-off between Greece and its creditors may come to a sudden and dramatic end. On the evening of June 1st, Angela Merkel, François Hollande and Jean-Claude Juncker (leaders, respectively of Germany, France and the European Commission) were unexpectedly joined in Berlin by Mario Draghi and Christine Lagarde, the heads of the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund. Mr Juncker, Mr Draghi and Ms Lagarde lead the three institutions that monitor Greece's bail-out; Mrs Merkel and Mr Hollande run the two largest countries in the euro zone. The five talked over the Greek mess until the wee hours. But the midnight oil seems not to have been burned for naught; it now appears that the creditors have agreed on the terms they are to offer Greece. Speculation has mounted in recent weeks that Greece's creditors, frustrated with the glacial pace of negotiations, might present Greece with a "take-it-or-leave-it" list of reforms and fiscal proposals. If the Greek government, led by Alexis Tsipras, were to assent to the terms, the €7.2 billion ($8 billion) that has not yet been disbursed from Greece's bail-out fund could finally be released. The ECB might also allow Greece to issue more short-term debt. Greece's leaders, running desperately short of cash would have little choice but to accept the offer. The alternative would be a debt default, as big repayments become due. That, in turn, could trigger capital controls and a departure from the euro. Yet Greece's creditors have been unable to agree just what to ask of the Greeks. The IMF has demanded tough labour and pension reforms—red lines for Mr Tsipras—while the other interested parties were more willing to compromise in these areas." I love the title of this article: "An offer it cannot refuse". So appropriate for the Euroloan Sharks.
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Post by jdredd on Jun 7, 2015 1:11:55 GMT -5
www.reuters.com/article/2015/06/07/us-g7-summit-idUSKBN0OM0I320150607"Leaders from the Group of Seven (G7) industrial nations meet on Sunday in the Bavarian Alps for a summit overshadowed by Greece's debt crisis and ongoing violence in Ukraine. Host Angela Merkel is hoping to secure commitments from her G7 guests to tackle global warming to build momentum in the run-up to a major United Nations climate summit in Paris in December. The German agenda also foresees discussions on global health issues, from Ebola to antibiotics and tropical diseases. But on the evening before the German chancellor welcomes the leaders of Britain, Canada, France, Italy, Japan and the United States, she and French President Francois Hollande were forced into their fourth emergency phone call in 10 days with Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras to try to break a deadlock between Athens and its international creditors." So the Powers That Be meet again (and again and again) to discuss how to preserve the status quo, which Russia and Greece seem to be not so enamored with. I'm sure a little more arm twisting will get them in line. For now. The PTB would much prefer to talk about vague future issues down the road like global warming and global health, things that don't threaten business as usual immediately, or get the unwashed masses all up in arms.
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Post by jdredd on Jul 10, 2015 15:17:18 GMT -5
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33473779"Greek MPs are to debate new proposals sent to the country's creditors with the aim of getting a third bailout and averting a possible exit from the euro. The plans contain elements, including pension reforms and tax rises, that were rejected in a referendum called by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras. The EU and other creditors are studying the plans before a summit on Sunday. France and Italy welcomed the proposals but Germany, Greece's biggest creditor, warned of little room for compromise." I thought these Syriza guys might be leftists, but they are just liberals. The difference? Leftists have a spine, liberals don't.
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Post by Turk on Jul 12, 2015 15:02:48 GMT -5
This parable explaining how the European Greek bailout works was originally written and went viral in December 2011.
Amazing how four years later they are still rehashing the same illogical bailout process…
It is a slow day in a little Greek village. The rain is beating down and the streets are deserted. Times are tough, everybody is in debt, and everybody lives on credit. On this particular day a rich German tourist is driving through the village, stops at the local hotel and lays a €100 note on the desk, telling the hotel owner he wants to inspect the rooms upstairs in order to pick one to spend the night.
The owner gives him some keys and, as soon as the visitor has walked upstairs, the hotelier grabs the €100 note and runs next door to pay his debt to the butcher.
The butcher takes the €100 note and runs down the street to repay his debt to the pig farmer.
The pig farmer takes the €100 note and heads off to pay his bill at the supplier of feed and fuel.
The guy at the Farmers' Co-op takes the €100 note and runs to pay his drinks bill at the tavern.
The publican slips the money along to the local prostitute drinking at the bar, who has also been facing hard times and has had to offer him "services" on credit.
The hooker then rushes to the hotel and pays off her room bill to the hotel owner with the €100 note.
The hotel proprietor then places the €100 note back on the counter so the rich traveler will not suspect anything.
At that moment the traveler comes down the stairs, picks up the €100 note, states that the rooms are not satisfactory, pockets the money, and leaves town.
No one produced anything. No one earned anything. However, the whole village is now out of debt and looking to the future with a lot more optimism.
And that, Ladies and Gentlemen, is how the bailout package works.
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Post by Turk on Jul 12, 2015 16:20:54 GMT -5
Each of the folks in the story (save the German tourist) has a ledger. On one side is "accounts receivable" and on the other side is "accounts payable." In each case, they only have one entry on each side of the ledger. They have $100 in receivables (yet uncollected money owed to them) and $100.00 in their accounts payable column, money they owe but have not yet paid. Everyone has a book value of $0 - if they are lucky enough to collect their receivables and honest enough to pay off their debts. The day before the tourist shows up, their book value is $0, the day after the tourist visits their book value is still 0. The money just made them liquid enough to pay off that first debit and get the ball rolling.
Unfortunately for Greece, their current book value is not zero, but instead a negative value to the tune of hundreds of millions of euros. Every time they pay off a debt with borrowed money, they owe even more because of the interest and fees tacked on to each loan. The ONLY way Greece can get a neutral balance sheet, let alone run a positive balance, is to sell/make/produce/catch/mine/grow - and ship to other countries (or sell to folks visiting Greece from other countries), more than they bring in and consume from other countries. They have not done so in years, and show no signs of that happening now.
Sadly, the U.S. is in exactly the same position as the Greeks. For YEARS we've been bringing in and consuming more than we've been making/mining/growing/etc. and sending them. The only difference is this, we have a big-f*cking army, and no one (at present) has the guts to call our loan. But things are getting interesting now, and desperate nations, like desperate people, do desperate things. Maybe it will be Russia in Ukraine, or a stock market crash in China, or a blow up of oil fields in the middle east due to ISIS, or.. well so many things are on the edge now, and at some moment in time, sooner than we want, another country will point to us and say, "Greece but worse!" and the rest of the world will agree - and call out note.
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Post by jdredd on Jul 13, 2015 16:09:18 GMT -5
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-33515427"Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has returned to Athens and gone straight into a meeting with Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos and other party officials following marathon bailout talks in Brussels. At the talks, eurozone leaders agreed to offer Greece a third bailout. The bailout is conditional on Greece passing agreed reforms by Wednesday. Mr Tsipras must now get several unpopular measures through the Greek parliament in the next two days." The Greeks have turned out to be as big of pussys as the Scots. But it all has been very amusing, with greed and arrogance on one side, and cowardice and betrayal on the other. Of course, Greece has been effed up since the British Army helped Greek fascists kill off the anti-Nazi resistance after the end of the war.
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Post by jdredd on Aug 17, 2015 23:18:46 GMT -5
www.bbc.com/news/uk-politics-33955719"Former Foreign Secretary David Miliband has said he is backing Liz Kendall in the Labour leadership race. Mr Miliband is also the latest party figure to warn against electing left-wing frontrunner Jeremy Corbyn. Former party leader Neil Kinnock said Labour supporters must choose between "seriously" contesting elections and being in "perpetual demonstration". Leadership candidate Andy Burnham said he would offer Mr Corbyn a role in the party if he won the contest. But Yvette Cooper said Mr Burnham should withdraw from the race if he was not prepared to oppose the left-winger." Meanwhile, in Merry England, they are having there own political comedy. Jeremy Corbyn is the Bernie Sanders of the Labor party, guaranteed to lose the election. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) their election is not until 2020!
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Post by jdredd on Aug 21, 2015 20:34:43 GMT -5
www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-34014817"Greece has been thrown into more political turmoil, with a split in the ruling left-wing Syriza party and snap elections expected next month. Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras is gambling that fresh elections can deliver him a stronger mandate, because currently he has no parliamentary majority and relies on support from opposition MPs. But the uncertainty adds to worries about Greece's third eurozone bailout, worth about €85bn (£61bn, $95bn), which has only just been approved." What do you suppose the European loan sharks promised Tsipras if he broke Syriza?
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Post by jdredd on Aug 22, 2015 12:54:15 GMT -5
america.aljazeera.com/opinions/2015/8/greeces-left-wing-parenthesis.html"Tsipras’ mismanagement of his mandate has condemned Greece to decades of further austerity and the bargain basement sell-off of essential segments of national infrastructure. Already last week a German-Greek consortium snapped up the rights to manage 14 regional airports — including those in Thessaloniki (Greece’s second-largest city) and on some of the most popular tourist islands. Profits will be boosted by doubling passengers’ terminal fees — a move that will make Greek vacations pricier and encumber islanders needing to fly to the mainland. Syriza initially electrified public opinion because it set out to challenge the fundamental inequity at the heart of an economic coalition tailored to boost its most powerful members’ exports. Greeks disappointed by mainstream center-left and right parties who meekly accepted negotiating terms in the crisis’ iteration transferred their hopes onto an ostensibly radical leftist party that revealed itself to be no more than mildly Keynesian. Following its shocking U-turn, they are likely to transfer their loyalties to the only remaining anti-austerity options: the neo-Nazi Golden Dawn’s muscular anti-Europeanism and xenophobia (which has benefited from the influx of 160,000 refugees fleeing conflict in Afghanistan, Iraq and Syria), the Communist Party’s nihilism (“No to yes, no to no”) and the vaporous wastelands of abstention and violent dissent." I was hoping Syzira would slow Europe's descent into fascism, but it may have accelerated it. Who knows, maybe WWIII will be between a fascist Europe on one side, and allies Russia and America on the other. Anything is possible, as they say. Of course, America itself might be headed toward fascism (Ted Cruz).
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Post by jdredd on Oct 26, 2015 0:28:19 GMT -5
america.aljazeera.com/articles/2015/10/25/exit-poll-poland-takes-a-sharp-right-with-vote.html"Poland took a decisive turn to the right in its parliamentary election Sunday, tossing out the centrist party that had governed for eight years for a socially conservative and Euroskeptic party that wants to keep refugees out and spend more on Poland's own poor. The Ipsos exit poll showed the conservative Law and Justice party winning 39 percent of the vote, enough to govern alone without forming a coalition as had been expected. The ruling pro-European Civic Platform party received 23 percent of the vote, according to the exit poll that prompted Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz of Civic Platform to concede. Jaroslaw Kaczynski, the leader of Law and Justice, promised his party would govern fairly. "We will exert law but there will be no taking of revenge. There will be no squaring of personal accounts," he said." Canada turns to the left, Poland turns to the right. None of it is a threat to the Status Quo.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 18, 2015 1:46:50 GMT -5
So now we are getting wall-to-wall coverage of some stand-off in France on cable news. Yawn. What's it to me? I'm tired of the whining French already. I think I will go read my book about Dien Bien Phu again.
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Post by jdredd on Nov 23, 2015 16:22:12 GMT -5
Looks like the post-Paris hysteria is finally starting to subside. Really, how much political turmoil can be created by a relatively small (compared to say, Hiroshima or the Black Plague) loss of life as happened on 11/13? Nature of our times, I suppose.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 7, 2015 3:08:22 GMT -5
www.economist.com/news/europe/21679606-first-round-migrant-crisis-helps-national-front-its-best-results-history"THE spectacular first-round result achieved by the far-right National Front (FN) in Sunday’s regional elections in France is a sobering reminder of the dark political mood in Europe today. As the continent grapples with the aftershocks of terror in Paris and its greatest migrant influx in modern history, Marine Le Pen’s party pulled off its best-ever national score on December 6th. It secured an estimated 27-30% of the nationwide vote, beating its previous record of 25% at last year’s elections to the European Parliament, and nearly tripling its haul at the previous regional vote, in 2010. The FN, which has never governed a region, now leads in no fewer than six out of 13 contests after the first round. Most startling of all, Ms Le Pen took an estimated 40-43% of the vote in coming top in the region of Nord-Pas-de-Calais-Picardie, according to exit polls. Her niece, Marion Maréchal-Le Pen, got an estimated 41-42% in the southern region of Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur. The one region that defied the trend was Ile-de-France, around Paris, where the FN has long had difficulties; there, it trailed in third place. Voters will return to the ballot box on December 13th for a run-off. Polls had suggested that this result for the FN was conceivable. But it was no less of a shock when it happened. Ever since power was devolved to the regions in the 1980s under François Mitterrand, a former Socialist president, the left has had a stranglehold on northern France, an area with a long industrial history. Now, the Socialists there have been beaten into third place. It is a humiliation for President François Hollande’s governing party, and a mark of how far Ms Le Pen has succeeded in her strategy of drawing in disillusioned left-wing former Socialist and Communist voters in a region of high unemployment and industrial decline." I find this totally amusing. I read a long time ago that in Germany in the thirties some of the most ardent Nazis were former Communists. Why is that? I don't know. Maybe it's because to be "disillusioned", first you need to have an illusion, which Communism was. Sounds like trading in one illusion for another to me.
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Post by jdredd on Dec 12, 2015 18:28:34 GMT -5
To pick up my train of thought from another thread, it is apparent to me that Europe must combat Islamism with another "ism". The Europeans rejected Communism, so what is left? They are presently wallowing in Hedonism (aka Capitalism), but that is a weak "ism" to fight a militant puritanism like Islam. What is left? Fascism, of course. Which seems to be they way Europe is going. Other than that the only other "ism" left is our own religious fanaticism. Yes, we can bring back the Crusades. Are you up for that, Millennials?
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