Protests in Greece – to be continued…

[wildcard]

Ah, those crazy Greeks are at it again. ;D

http://rt.com/Top_News/2010-04-22/greece-athens-protests-continue.html

Vid at link. Worth the watch.


Public workers in Athens have gathered in protest over huge cuts in government funding, demanding an end to what they call "bloodthirsty measures" as wages are reduced and pensions are frozen.

The measures – aimed at slashing the state's deficit – have brought civil servants out on strike, shutting down public services and schools, and leaving hospitals with only emergency staff.

Demonstrators, including members of Communist-backed trade unions, are continuing to blockade the main port of Piraeus, disrupting ferry travel.

Greek civil servants on the Island of Samos are also protesting recent cuts in salaries and the raising of taxes.

One woman said, “The truth is that these measures are against the people – the working people and the labor class of Greece.�

The protests come as IMF officials arrive to discuss a possible bailout with Greek officials. Many are opposed to any bailout from either the EU or the IMF.

Greece is struggling to cope with a $400 billion debt and needs to borrow about $72 billion just for this year.

Journalist Wolfgang Reuter believes it's only a matter of time before Greece is forced to ask the EU and the IMF for a bailout.

“I think that they [the Greek government] will establish a plan and that they will achieve a plan to get the budget in order again,� he added.

[General of Darkness]

Well if the Greek government with that POS khazar from the U.S. running the place and letting in 10's of 1,000's of immigrants into the country the place wouldn't be in the situation it's in.

[wildcard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wAhckCU1kyA&feature=player_embedded#!

[Defender]

Is there any chance that the Greek people follow the lead of the Icelanders and just throw the bankers out?

[wildcard]

They have the will to rise up. A certain Max Keiser vid went viral in Greece a few weeks back after someone translated it. We'll see if they surround their gov official's homes and lay siege like the Icelanders.

*1st one has over 300k views. The english only version had less than 25k views.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AbH1JsOTInk&feature=related

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1dbIepgBAgc

[wildcard]

Link to Original Article (http://www.zerohedge.com/article/rumor-bag-dangerous-politics-behind-greek-imf-bailout-and-why-government-collapse-may-be-imm)

From The Rumor Bag: The Dangerous Politics Behind The Greek IMF Bailout And Why A Government Collapse May Be Imminent

Submitted by Tyler Durden on 04/24/2010 13:26 -0500

http://troktiko.blogspot.com/2010/04/blog-post_1632.html




Supposedly written by someone in the upper ranks of the Greek government, who will reveal himself when he resigns over this matter in the coming week.

He alleges G-Pap is rushing to get a deal involving the IMF because the Russians were about to offer a 50 billion euro, no-strings-attached (*ahem*) 4% loan package to Greece. Furthermore, the Chinese were showing interest in purchasing ΟΣΕ, the Greek national railroad, a real bleeder for Greek public finances, as part of a 60 billion euro European shopping-spree package.

G-Pap is trying to avoid going this route, and trying desperately to include the IMF in any final aid package, because his allegiance, like his father and grandfather before him, is to the U.S.

The person alleging this information was supposedly involved in the actual meetings in which these decisions were made. If this turns out to be true, and makes headlines, expect serious social unrest and possibly the Greek government to fall in short order.


EDIT: Changed long link to named link to prevent page scrolling. -Gaillo

[wildcard]

The Greeks Are About To Be Sacrificed At Europe's Altar

Joe Weisenthal | Apr. 25, 2010, 9:03 PM


Ambrose Evans-Pritchard at The Telegraph has some characteristically sober observations about the state of Greece and the EU as a whole.

The nut of the piece is that typically an IMF bailout wouldn't be devastating, but when an IMF bailout comes under EU rules -- strictly speaking the Maastricht treaty with its no bailouts rules -- the effects will be quite rough.

The EU-IMF "therapy" of deflation for Greece repeats the catastrophic errors of Chancellor Heinrich Bruning in the early 1930s and must lead to a depression, he said.

Yet that is what IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn is preparing for Greece, against the better judgment of his own experts. "Greek citizens shouldn't fear the IMF; we are there to try to help them," he said over the weekend. Yet a week ago he told Greece that devaluation and default are non-starters. "The only effective remedy that remains is deflation. That will be painful. That means falling wages, and falling prices. There is no other way."

Actually, the IMF pursues other ways often, last year in Jamaica. What Mr Strauss-Kahn means is that the EU will not tolerate any other way. The Greek people must be sacrificed for the Project and to hold the EMU line, like the Spartans of Thermopylae who perished to gain time for the Alliance.

...

Read more: Link to Article (http://www.businessinsider.com/the-greeks-are-about-to-be-sacrificed-at-the-altar-the-european-shrine-2010-4#ixzz0mFKIxqDM)


EDIT: Changed long link to named link to prevent page scrolling to the right. -Gaillo

[steveoc]

Its one thing for Greece to be granted a bailout - its another thing to receive it.

Link to Article (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/financetopics/financialcrisis/7591027/Greek-aid-in-doubt-as-German-professors-prepare-court-challenge.html)



Greek aid in doubt as German professors prepare court challenge

A quartet of German professors is to preparing to challenge the EU-IMF rescue for Greece at Germany's constitutional court as soon as the mechanism is activated, claiming that it violates the 'no-bail-out' clause of the EU Treaties.

The group will ask for an injunction to block the transfer of German funds until the court has ruled. It will demand a verdict on whether the European Central Bank has broken EU law by bending collateral rules to help Greece.

The warning comes as fresh details emerge on the scale of the bail-out. Germany's Handelsbatt cited sources in Berlin warning that the bill may be three times as high as thought, pushing the EU share to €90bn (£79bn) - with an extra €15bn from the IMF.

The brief respite on Greek debt markets has already given way to fresh capital flight. Yields on 10-year Greek bonds surged yesterday to 7.11pc, higher than a week ago. Portuguese bonds began to wobble after Brussels called for more austerity.

The legal challenge has far-reaching implications. It threatens to cloud the issue for weeks or months and may ultimately force Berlin to withdraw support, raising the risk of wider systemic crisis in Southern Europe.

Dr Karl Albrecht Schachtschneider, law professor at Nuremberg and author of the complaint, told The Daily Telegraph that he will be ready to file within days and will ask the court for an expedited procedure. A ruling could occur within a week, but may take as long as six months.

The complaint will argue that the rescue contains an illegal rate subsidy, threatens monetary stability as encoded in the Maastricht Treaty, and breaches the 'no bail-out' clause. Greece is clearly responsible for its own mess.

"It is a question of law. The duty of the court to defend the German constitution. They have no choice other than reaching a lawful decision. This may cause a great crisis in Europe but we already have a crisis," he said.

He will ask the court to freeze rescue aid while the case is pending. There is a precedent for this. It ordered Berlin to halt implementation of the Lisbon Treaty while it reviewed the treaty last year. Such a move would cause havoc on Europe's bond markets.

"This court hearing is going to be very dangerous," said Hans Redeker, currency chief at BNP Paribas. "It could lead to Germany itself being catapulted out of the currency union. Once investors begin to fear this, there will not be single euro in further financing for the EMU periphery."

Dr Wilhelm Hankel, professor of economics at Frankfurt University and one of the four litigants, said the EU-IMF bail-out throws good money after bad. "The whole manoeuvre merely delays the day of reckoning. It is not in Greece's interest to accept the money because the wage cuts and tax rises being imposed will lead to an endless economic depression. They should step out of the eurozone voluntarily, devalue, and restructure their debts with IMF help. That is the path of economic sense," he said. "In the end, the only way to save the euro is to shrink the eurozone. There are other candidates".

Dr Hankel said it would be risky politically for Berlin to transfer funds to Greece while the case was in the courts. "We're in a dark zone. Nobody knows," he said.

"This is a political court that will look for a way out by shifting responsibility on to the Bundestag. Our purpose is to stir up public opinion and put the government in extreme difficulty. Aid for Greece requires an extra budget: that will be very unpopular," he said.

The Greek rescue is political poison in the industrial heartland of the Ruhr where jobs are scarce and funding for schools is already under threat. The tabloid Bild Zeiting has captured the mood with articles calling for Greece to raise the retirement age to German levels of 67 and sell off its islands before asking for money.

The anger may cause Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democrats to lose control of North Rhine-Westphalia in elections on May 9, shifting the balance of power in the Bundesrat.

Dr Hankel said the complaint would also aim to stop the ECB relaxing collateral rules to help Greek banks borrow cheaply at its lending window, a covert bail-out. "The ECB is breaching its own statute. It will be part of our complaint to prohibit this," he said. Greek banks increased reliance on ECB funding to €65bn in the first quarter.

Jean-Claude Trichet, the ECB's president, said the bank's decision to continue accepting bonds with a BBB- rating had nothing to do with Greece. He was undercut yesterday by Holland's ECB member, Nout Wellink, who said the decision was "of course" linked to Greece.

Dr Schachtschneider said the court tends to split 4:4 on EU matters. It nevertheless issued a trenchant ruling on Lisbon in June 2009 upholding German sovereignty.

This case is going to be a cliff-hanger.




EDIT: Changed long link to named link to prevent forum page scroll to the right. -Gaillo

[wildcard]

If things were really on the up and up with all this, Greece would be in the driver's seat.

They say the Russians are offering a lower % rate loan. Then this would force the west to say "ok, we will beat their low rate with a lower rate" and vice versa to gain/retain them in our sphere of influence. Sort of like the way Egypt did to get the Aswan dam built.

Since we know TPTB control both sides now we can see it's a total dog & pony show. The Greeks aren't afraid to get off the couch and throw a few molotovs so this should be an interesting summer.

[wildcard]

Merkel Tells Greece That Bailout Isn't a Done Deal

[url=http://preview.bloomberg.com/news/2010-04-26/merkel-hits-campaign-trail-warning-that-greek-bailout-not-yet-guaranteed.html] link


German Chancellor Angela Merkel hit the campaign trail with a warning to Greece and the rest of the euro region that a bailout of the debt-stricken nation isn’t a done deal.

“I’ve said for weeks that Greece must do its homework first,� Merkel said late yesterday, drawing applause from an audience in the town of Soest in North Rhine-Westphalia, where state elections are due on May 9. She said that while Germany is prepared to release funds for debt-stricken Greece, “first I want to see the program.�

Greece is paying the price for Merkel’s bid to keep her coalition in control of Germany’s most populous state and ease voters’ anger about having to help fund a $60 billion bailout. Greek bonds plunged yesterday as Germany’s reluctance to guarantee funds stoked concern that a rescue package co-financed by the euro region and the International Monetary Fund could still fall apart.

Greece has 8.5 billion euros ($11.4 billion) of bonds coming due next month after the state election and the extra yield that investors demand to hold its 10-year bonds over German bunds jumped 93 basis points to 652 basis points yesterday. Yields stayed near the highest since at least 1998 today amid mounting concern Greece will ask investors to accept delayed or reduced payments on its debt.

German ‘Charade’

“Greece burns as Germany fiddles,� said Mehernosh Engineer, a credit strategist with BNP Paribas in London, citing “no firm commitments� by Germany to aid Greece. “The charade of conditionality continues as markets start to price a bigger probability of debt restructuring.�

Merkel dwelled on Greece at yesterday’s rally as her Christian Democrats defend their hold on the state, saying any rescue would have the aim of supporting the euro rather than bailing out a Greek state that lived beyond its means.

“We’re not doing this because we believe Greece needs help,� she said. “We’re doing it because we’re interested in the euro’s stability. We can’t idly stand by when our currency comes under threat.�

The euro has dropped 7 percent against the dollar this year and fell 0.3 percent to $1.3349 at 10 a.m. in Frankfurt.

In Greece, Prime Minister George Papandreou is scheduled to brief lawmakers on the economic outlook as transport workers go on strike. The ADEDY civil service union will stage a rally at 6.30 p.m. and GSEE, Greece’s biggest private-sector union, will decide on whether to go on strike.

Majority at Risk

Polls in recent weeks show Merkel’s Christian Democrats and their Free Democratic allies at risk of losing their governing majority in North Rhine-Westphalia. The two parties, which also underpin Merkel’s national government, fell short of a majority with support of 46 percent in an April 21 Forsa poll for Stern magazine. The margin of error was plus or minus 3 percentage points.

A defeat for Merkel might wipe out her coalition’s majority in the upper house of the national parliament and hamper her government’s efforts to cut taxes and extend the life of German nuclear power plants.

Merkel told the rally she wants Greece to agree to several years of budget cuts before releasing any German aid. “Greece has put savings measures into effect this year, but one year won’t be enough� to restore confidence in the financial markets, she said.

Negotiating Terms

Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou was negotiating terms of the aid during a meeting of counterparts from the world’s biggest nations in Washington. With Greece facing 8.5 billion euros of bonds maturing in May, with the first redemption due May 19, finance ministers yesterday sought a swift resolution of the talks amid concern any delay may trigger a further sell-off and spread to other markets.

European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet said he’s certain aid talks for Greece won’t drag on.

“I’m confident that the negotiations� regarding the aid package “will conclude soon,� Trichet said at an event in New York yesterday.

The German government will seek “fast-track� parliamentary approval for Greek aid that may begin next week once the IMF has finished its review, German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble said after briefing lawmakers in Berlin.

“First I want to see the program the IMF and Greece and the European Commission have worked out,� Merkel told the campaign rally. “Then we’ll talk about what we have to do.�

[wildcard]

Greek gov't suggests structural reforms rather than cutbacks on private sector salaries


ATHENS, April 26 (Xinhua) -- The Greek government suggests structural reforms rather than possible cutbacks on private sector salaries, Greek Finance Minister George Papaconstantinou said on Monday.

"There is a discussion under way. We have said that the issue of competitiveness of the Greek economy is related to structural problems and not with the height of salaries of private sector employees which is very low, as we all know," Papaconstantinou stressed while speaking to Greek media after a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou on the latest developments concerning the Greek economic crisis.

As a mixed group of EU-IMF (International Monetary Fund) experts has been continuing the consultations with Greek officials of various ministries since last Wednesday, Greek newspapers reported on Monday that foreign auditors asked the Greek government to implement more austerity measures, such as cutbacks on salaries of employees working in the private sector, even the abolition of the so-called 13th and 14th wages. Earlier this year the government imposed similar cutbacks on the wages of civil servants.

The 14th salary which is a bonus for Easter and summer holidays and the 13th salary which is a Christmas bonus, in Greece cover basic needs of employees who have lower incomes compared to other citizens across the European Union, the Greek government and labor.

"We have a common goal which is the decline of deficits through structural reforms and a more competitive economy," Papaconstantinou said on Monday, as he prepared to also brief a parliamentary committee on the outcome of his visit to Washington for the spring IMF-World Bank meeting.

Reaffirming that consultations on the final terms of the financial aid Greece will receive from EU partners and IMF are on the right track, Papaconstastinou said that in a week's time, once the talks are over, certain policies and measures will be announced.

"Any thought of reducing employees salaries will lead to deeper stagnation," Vasilis Korkidis, President of the National Confederation of Greek Commerce, said on Monday, warning that such a choice would only add burdens on the Greek consumers, market and economy.

Greek trade and the competitiveness of the Greek economy are influenced more by bureaucracy and red tape that create problems to the function of businesses than the so-called cost competitiveness that regards the height of wages, Korkidis stressed. A decline in wages means that there will be a further decline in the purchasing power of people, therefore more stagnation, he explained.

Representatives of labor unions, such as the umbrella unions of the public sector employees ADEDY and the private sector employees GSEE, have also warned the government that further cutbacks on incomes are a step to the wrong direction and will add problems to the Greek crisis, causing social unrest.

ADEDY called for a protest on Tuesday afternoon in Athens and GSEE called for mobilizations across Greece on May 1, warning with more strikes and demonstrations.

[wildcard]

http://www.zerohedge.com/article/erik-nielsens-afternoon-greece-update

Erik Nielsen's Afternoon Greece Update


I am running between meetings here in NY so I apologises but I cannot respond to all the emails I get from clients and sales people today. So let me address a few of the latest rumours that I get lots of questions on:

1. IMF is likely to reach agreement this coming weekend. It'll then go to the Board for formal approval, which is a formality.
2. The program will NOT be 100-150bn. Not realistic. But it will probably include a year of full funding (55bn), and indications of a long term commitment to help Greece.
3. The program will not include a "private sector contribution", ie a demand for debt restructuring.
4. the first European money, including in Spain, will be approved on Friday; others including Germany will followed very shortly after. It looks as if the European money will be disbursed in parallel with the IMF, with the first money going out before mid-May, safely in time for the May 19 "deadline".
5. The ECB is extremely unlikely to intervene in Greek sovereign debt (what would they want to achieve by doing so?).

[wildcard]

http://english.aljazeera.net/business/2010/04/201042815723216361.html

Greece debt fears rattle markets





Financial markets across the world have continued to experience considerable volatility amid a growing government debt crisis in Europe sparked by Tuesday's downgrading of Greece's debt to junk status.

Investors are looking for reassurance from Germany that it will come to the aid of Athens in order to keep its financial troubles from spreading to other countries.

Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, Dominique Strauss-Kahn, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) chief and Jean-Claude Trichet, the European Central Bank president, held talks in Berlin on Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

Merkel said that negotiations between all parties, including the Greek government, needed to be "accelerated" and that she hoped they could "be wrapped up in the coming days".

Austerity programme

Greece has requested $52bn from eurozone governments and the IMF to shore up its finances but the reluctance of Germany, the largest country using the euro, to move quickly in providing assistance has sent shudders through markets.

Merkel reiterated on Wednesday that Germany expected Greece to implement an "ambitious" austerity programme if it wanted a helping hand.

Credit ratings agency Standard & Poor's also downgraded Spain's debt on Wednesday, saying its decision to lower its rating by one notch to AA from AA+ was due to its expectation that the country will suffer an "extended" period of subdued economic growth.

The agency said Spain's economic growth in the years to 2016 is likely to average around 0.7 per cent a year against its previous expectation of above one per cent.

Investors fear any rescue package may not reach Greece to enable it to avoid default by May 19, when $12bn in bond payments becomes due.

Strauss-Kahn said on Wednesday that confidence in the eurozone as a whole was on the line following the crisis.

"It is the confidence in the whole [euro]zone that is at stake," he said.

German assurances

Wolfgang Schaeuble, Germany's finance minister, insisted that legislation to free up his country's contribution could get through both houses of parliament within a week, as early as May 7, if Greece wraps up its ongoing talks with the IMF and the European Union quickly enough.

Guido Westerwelle, Germany's foreign minister, echoed that commitment, insisting that Berlin is ready to act quickly in order to protect the euro.

"We will protect our currency and this is in the deepest interest of every European citizen," he said.

In Europe, Germany's DAX was down 0.5 per cent in afternoon trading on Wednesday, while France's CAC-40 fell 0.8 per cent.

However, Britain's FTSE 100 index of leading shares was up 0.2 per cent amid hopes of an imminent deal

Wall Street opened solidly, with the Dow Jones industrial average up 0.3 per cent.

Earlier, Asian markets ended considerably lower.

Japan's benchmark Nikkei share average was down around 2.5 per cent in afternoon trade while Hong Kong's Hang Seng and South Korea's Kospi were both lower by more than one per cent.

Bond 'meltdown'

In addition to downgrading Greece's debt rating on Tuesday, Standard & Poor's also marked down Portugal's debt status.

The downgrade [Greece's] has "sent the bond markets into meltdown and equity investors toward the exits," said Michael Hewson, an analyst with CMC Markets in London.

Nicholas Skourias, chief investment officer at Pegasus Securities in Athens, said: "There is a very serious risk of contagion, it's something like post-Lehman period. Everybody is panicking and there is a lot of fear in the market".

"I think that today we will have a lot of pressure as well because there is this fear of contagion."

Speaking during a cabinet meeting on Wednesday, George Papandreou, the Greek prime minister, said that every EU member must "prevent the fire that intensified through the international crisis from spreading to the entire European and global economy".

Insisting Greece was determined to bring its economy into order, he said: "We will show that we do not run away. In difficult times we can perform, and we are performing, miracles.

"Our government is determined to correct a course that has been followed for decades in a very short time."

[wildcard]

Ah, spring and molotovs are in the air.


link (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/greece/7662840/Rioting-Greeks-throw-petrol-bombs-at-police.html)


Rioting Greeks throw petrol bombs at police
Greek protesters have clashed with riot police in Athens as anger about financial reform boils over.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/telegraph/multimedia/archive/01628/greece-riot2_1628018c.jpg



Several hundred protesters waving red flags and wearing red bandannas confronted the police in the Greek capital on Saturday morning.

Two petrol bombs were hurled at the police lines, and armed police fired tear gas to dispel the crowd. Angry protesters set fire to rubbish cans and two television broadcast vans.

"No to the IMF's junta!" protesters chanted, referring to the military dictatorship which ruled Greece from 1967 to 1974.

"Hands off our rights! IMF and EU Commission out!," the protesters shouted as they marched to parliament.

Shops were closed, ships stayed docked and the streets of the capital were unusually empty except for protesters marching towards parliament, metres away from the Finance Ministry where EU and IMF officials have been meeting for days to agree a new set of austerity measures.

Union leaders are hopeful that the May Day protests will highlight Greek resistance to the wage cuts, tax rises and pension reductions expected to be implemented.

But there were fears that violent anarchist and hard-left factions were intent on wreaking as much havoc as possible.

Television footage showed protester being directed into organised charges against police lines, and then being repelled by tear gas canisters.

Riot squad officers, clad in helmets and heavy protective clothing, also periodically laid into the crowd after being hit with rocks.

Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou has warned the country to be prepared to face a period of hardship.

The full details of the Greek bail-out are expected to be revealed this weekend if the Eurozone leaders finally sign off the multi-billion dollar package, which is designed to prevent Greece from defaulting on its enormous debt obligations.

[Olmstein]

The problem I have with Greece, is that the people are protesting for more and better socialism, not more and better freedom.

[wildcard]

I just like them because they have the balls to go out and do something about it.

[Olmstein]

I just like them because they have the balls to go out and do something about it.

I agree that's it's fun to watch the euro collapse, but I don't think Greece will be that much better off without the Euro, unless they were to repudiate all debt, and go to an asset back currency without a foreign owned central bank. If they tried that, America would label them terrorists, and invade.

[wildcard]

Olives is money?

[Olmstein]

Olives is money?


Shipping is money.

[wildcard]

http://dailyreckoning.com/greeces-real-threat-banks/

Greece’s Real Threat: Banks

By Addison Wiggin


04/30/10 Baltimore, Maryland – The real threat is the risk Greece poses to banks – not just in Greece, but throughout Europe. While we were ensconced in the Fiscal Summit on Wednesday, Rob Parenteau called frantically alerting us to his forecast that civil unrest in Greece in particular, and Europe generally, was about to get worse.

“With no restraints on capital flows within the European Union,� Eric Sprott of Sprott Asset Management explains, “Greek savers are free to transfer their assets elsewhere. Given that bank deposit guarantees in Greece are the responsibility of the national government, rather than the European Central Bank, we suspect Greek citizens are pulling money out of their banks because they question their government’s ability to honor its domestic deposit guarantees.

“We envision Greek depositors asking themselves how a government that can’t raise enough money to stay solvent can then turn around and guarantee their bank deposits? It’s a fair question to ask.

“It’s a vicious spiral from financial crisis to sovereign debt crisis to banking crisis, and there is no reason it can’t spread to other European countries suffering from similar fiscal imbalances. With Spain and Portugal next in line with their own sovereign debt issues, we can expect depositors in these countries to make similar runs to the bank for their cash.�

Indeed. Look at what’s happening to the credit default swaps on Spanish and Portuguese banks…

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii46/Dolvio/dailyreck.gif?t=1272756299

Spain’s looking twice as risky as Germany and France. Portugal, three times.

Can't get the chart to embed so click the linky above.

[Trinity]

Greece has requested $52bn from eurozone governments and the IMF to shore up its finances but the reluctance of Germany, the largest country using the euro, to move quickly in providing assistance has sent shudders through markets.

Merkel reiterated on Wednesday that Germany expected Greece to implement an "ambitious" austerity programme if it wanted a helping hand.



Greece is living beyond it's means. They should cut the entitlements and be happy they are getting help from the better run economies. What I would really like to see is Merkel borrow a phrase from Gerald Ford when a badly run state here in the U.S. thought it was entitled. Don't know if picture will post.

[wildcard]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ihe2Y-9e970

[Horn]

Well their police force seems to have approximately 1/10th the funding that most U.S. cities do by the appearance of their riot gear.

So I guess the people have a slight edge to at least having something go their way.

I think most the world over maybe excluding China the police are basically rotating shift taxi drivers.

And garner the same "respect" as one.

[Libertarian_Guard]

Wildcard this isn't a vent of of America.

Speaking of Americans in 2010.

We have no (or little) fight in us.

Nonetheless, let it play out, Greece is not America, we have our own feeble issues.

[wildcard]

Are you trying to tell me I can't post about Greece?

What happens in Greece will affect everyone on the planet.

[Libertarian_Guard]

If you think that your 17th post, in this thread may be more insightful, please procede.

[wildcard]

You didn't see the title of the thread when you clicked on it? You are trolling my thread. I thought you wanted to be buddies, ya know, because Book would want it that way. Step off.

[wildcard]

http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/why-you-should-be-very-concerned-about-the-financial-crisis-in-greece

Why You Should Be VERY CONCERNED About The Financial Crisis In Greece


Up to this point, it seems as though most Americans have not really been too concerned about the financial meltdown that is taking place in Greece. But they should be. The truth is that the debt crisis we see playing out in Greece may soon repeat itself in some of the largest nations in the world such as Japan, the U.K. and even the United States. Once upon a time, this kind of thing only happened in third world nations, but now virtually every nation on earth has a debt problem. As the saying goes, the borrower is the servant of the lender, and so when a country like Greece gets in way, way too deep financially, it ends up having to give up a portion of its sovereignty to those controlling the purse strings. In the case of Greece, those controlling the purse strings are the IMF and the EU. But it just isn't Greece that is in trouble. Dozens of nations are in serious financial trouble and are at the mercy of those who can bail them out. The truth is that global financial institutions like the IMF, the World Bank, the European Central Bank and the Federal Reserve are increasingly gaining power all over the globe as governments around the world continue to accumulate frightening amounts of debt.

This has been quite a week for Greece and for the other nations in Europe teetering on the edge of financial disaster. Standard & Poor's reduced Greek debt to "junk" status, and Spain and Portugal's debts were also downgraded substantially. These unprecedented steps by Standard & Poor’s have many concerned that this financial "contagion" could start spreading across all of Europe.

We'll take a look at the "austerity measures" being forced on Greece in a moment, but first it is important to note that financial panic is already spreading to other nations in the region.

In Portugal, the government has announced that additional "austerity measures", beyond those in the current three year plan, are expected to be implemented. Perhaps they wouldn't need to take such drastic steps if they hadn't spent all of those millions constructing those shiny new soccer stadiums a few years ago. But in any event, many analysts are now forecasting that Portugal will be the next domino to fall.

Officials in Spain are expected to announce this week that unemployment has hit 20%. But of course any nation that implements a hardcore "cap and trade" law like the one in Spain should expect unemployment to soar into the stratosphere. So they are just reaping what they have sown, but the fallout could end up being very painful. Spain's economy is approximately five times larger than Greece's so if Spain ends up defaulting it will create a financial nightmare for all of Europe.

There are now rumors that even Italy and Ireland are in a massive amount of trouble financially.

So will the EU and the IMF end up having to bail all of them out?

Well, for now Greece is first in line.

European officials said on Friday that the Greek government, facing a rapidly deteriorating financial situation, is close to completing negotiations for assistance from the International Monetary Fund.

So Greece is going to get the money that it needs - but it comes with strings.

Greece must surrender some of its fiscal sovereignty and adopt a three year program of severe spending cuts and higher taxes.

In fact, one major Greek newspaper says that wage and job cuts for public workers will also be ordered alongside the spending cuts and tax increases to get through what they are calling "three hard years".

You see, the truth is that Greece is a highly socialized nation. In a population of just over 11 million people, Greece employs more than a million in the public sector.

Just think about that for a moment.

That is huge.

They get paid extremely well, and Greek civil servants also enjoy very generous pension benefits and early retirement.

Needless to say a lot of these Greek civil servants are not happy at all about the changes the IMF is forcing upon them, and they have called a general strike for May 5th.

For his part, the Greek Prime Minister, George Papandreou, is trying to convince the Greek people that these new spending cuts and tax increases are necessary to keep his nation afloat. According to The Associated Press, Mr. Papandreou recently told the Greek Parliament the following....

"The measures we must take, which are economic measures, are necessary for the protection of our country � for our survival, for our future, so we can stand firmly on our feet."

There are even fears that this sovereign debt crisis could spell the end for the Euro. Back on Wednesday, the leaders of the 16 countries currently using the Euro called an emergency meeting to attempt to avert a Euro meltdown triggered by Greece's financial collapse.

Of course the Euro is not actually going to collapse, but the fact that they all felt the need to get together and talk about this situation is quite telling.

In fact, the language used by some of the top financial authorities in the world when speaking about the Greek debt crisis is quite alarming....

Angel GurrÃÂ*a, head of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development:

"This is like Ebola. It’s threatening the stability of the financial system."

Colin Ellis, economist at Daiwa Capital Markets:

"The time for horse-trading, prevarication and posturing is over. Arguably, the very future of the euro area is now teetering on a knife edge."

Dominique Strauss-Kahn, head of the International Monetary Fund:

"If we don't fix it in Greece, it may have a lot of consequences on the EU."

But for the people of Greece, getting help with their debt means giving up their ability to determine their own affairs. They have gotten into so much debt that now they are forced to do whatever the IMF and the EU tell them to do. Of course there are many in Greece who are extremely upset by this as evidenced by the recent riots there....

But this is what happens when a nation allows itself to get into way too much debt. In fact, this has been done by design in third world nations for decades. In his extraordinary book, Confessions of an Economic Hitman, John Perkins explained how it was his job to go around the world and get third world governments to accept multibillion-dollar loans that he knew they would never be able to repay. Of course when the time came and they could not repay the loans, the big global institutions would go in and confiscate natural resources and impose "conditions" and implement "austerity measures" similar to the ones they are currently imposing on Greece.

The alarming thing today is that it just isn't third world nations where this game is being played anymore. Now that they have perfected the blueprint, they are trying it out on nations like Greece.

The reality is that this is all part of the push towards globalization. In fact, Jean-Claude Trichet, the president of the European Central Bank, emphasized the need for global coordination in financial matters during his April 26th address at the Council on Foreign Relations.

"Global coordination" sounds nice, but just like "global governance" and "global cooperation", it is just another way of saying that we need to transfer more power and more authority to globalist institutions.

You see, whatever problem that pops up (in this instance it is the Greek debt crisis), the solution always seems to be to transfer more power to global institutions.

In fact, as a "solution" to the global financial crisis, the IMF is proposing two new taxes on financial institutions worldwide: a "financial stability contribution" which levies a small charge on financial institution balance sheets, and a "financial activities tax", which would tax "excess profits" and bonuses.

As the nations of the world continue to get deeper in debt, and as more power and more money is transferred to unelected global institutions, the people of the world may find their lives increasingly being run by heartless bureaucrats on the other side of the globe.

For anyone who loves freedom, that is a very sobering thought.

[Trinity]

The bailout passed.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Euro-partners-agree-on-145B-apf-653140777.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=1&asset=&ccode=

The reason this is important to Americans is because now we know certain states in America will also get a bailout soon (California/New York/others). And maybe the IMF will get involved just like it is in Greece. IMF being involved means the people are less free. Good article Wildcard.

[wildcard]

http://conspirosphere.tk/

Understanding the IMF/EU Bluff

Posted On May 3, 2010 at at 9:08 PM by webabuser




A pill of wisdom and and easy forecast from Robert Wenzel on The Economic Policy Journal, MONDAY, MAY 3, 2010:


The unprecedented IMF/EU bailout of Greece has to be viewed as the greatest bluff in the history of world finance. It is a stop-gap measure that won't solve the financial problems in Greece, more importantly, it won't solve the problem for the PIIGS overall.

The fundamental problem with the PIIGS is that they have governments and economies structured to fail financially. They give and give (money) to the politically favored and tax and tax the ever shrinking productive elements in their countries--and they attempt to borrow whatever they can't squeeze out in taxes to continue their giveaways.

The first point of collapse in this mad scheme is, of course, the bond market when bond buyers realize they might not get paid. That's what the soaring interest rates on Greek debt last week was all about. It was early stage panic. A crazed economic structure was about to collapse. It should have been allowed to do so. It would have hurt the international bankers that held the Greek debt, but that would have been about all.

Instead, the international bankster controlled IMF and EU stepped in to bailout the, well, the international banksters. The plan is to squeeze the Greeks with even more taxes to kick upstream to the banksters. In the interim, other EU members and the IMF will provide emergency money that will also be kicked upstairs to the international banksters. Even Americans will pay a bit out of their pockets as the IMF kicks in $40 billion, with the U.S. member quota roughly 17%, that's a ding to the U.S. of $6.8 billion.

But, as large as this bailout is, it is a bluff. It is an attempt to calm the markets before the Mother PIIG has to rise money, Spain.

For the IMF and EU to bailout Spain based on the same formula as Greece, the Spanish tab would not be the record breaking $146 billion announced for Greece. It would be $544 billion.

By bailing out Greece, the IMF/EU is hoping that this calms the markets enough so that there is no panic out of Spanish debt. No one knows if it will work. If the markets are not calmed, the question then becomes one of whether the Germans, the IMF and EU are willing to run the check writing drill again. This time for checks five times the size.

All this check writing, mind you, is only stop gap as long as the PIIGS continue their current socialized economic structures that provide huge disincentives for productive work. The PIIGS will get fatter with debt and stuck deeper in the mud of their economic structure.The bailouts do nothing but hose the PIIGS down before they head back into the mud and the debt feeding troughs. Eventually, the problem will become so large that only massive money printing or massive bankruptcies will solve the problem.

The realeconomik solution is to end the EU in its current format, make it a NAFTA-like trade organization, with every country returning to its own currency, and thus allowing every country to fend for itself, versus creating these huge pyramid type structures that will grow and grow until it all results in a huge global collapse.

[Twisted Titan]

Public workers in Athens have gathered in protest over huge cuts in government funding, demanding an end to what they call "bloodthirsty measures" as wages are reduced and pensions are frozen.


Well thank Godness that wont happen here


T