Russian Government Officials Told To Immediately Bring Back Children Studying Abroad
Posted: October 11, 2016 Filed under: Global, Mediasphere, Russia, War Room | Tags: Bratislava, Brexit, Brussels, Bulgaria, Donald Tusk, EUROPE, European Union, François Hollande, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Jean-Claude Juncker, Military of the European Union, President of the European Commission, Turkey, United Kingdom 2 CommentsIn Europe, when it gets serious, you have to lie… at least if you are an unelected bureaucrat like Jean-Claude Juncker. In Russia, however, when it gets serious, attention immediately turns to the children.
“On the one hand, this is all part of a package of measures to prepare the elites for some ‘big war’ even if it is rather conditional, on the other hand – this is another blow to the unity of President Putin with his own elite”
— Political analyst Stanislav Belkovsky
Which is why we read a report in Russian website Znak published Tuesday, according to which Russian state officials and government workers were told to bring back their children studying abroad immediately, even if means cutting their education short and not waiting until the end of the school year, and re-enroll them in Russian schools, with some concern.
[Read the full story here, at Zero Hedge]
The article adds that if the parents of these same officials also live abroad “for some reason”, and have not lost their Russian citizenship, should also be returned to the motherland. Znak cited five administration officials as the source of the report.
“People note the hypocrisy of having a centralized state and cultivating patriotism and anti-Western sentiment, while children of government workers study abroad. You can not serve two gods, one must choose.”
The “recommendation” applies to all: from the administration staff, to regional administratiors, to lawmakers of all levels. Employees of public corporations are also subject to the ordinance. One of the sources said that anyone who fails to act, will find such non-compliance to be a “complicating factor in the furtherance of their public sector career.” He added that he was aware of several such cases in recent months. Read the rest of this entry »
Massive Fire Engulfs Historic Church on Orthodox Easter
Posted: May 2, 2016 Filed under: Breaking News, Religion, U.S. News | Tags: Easter, Eastern Orthodox Church, Episcopal Church (United States), Father Djokan Majstorovic, Greece, Holy Week, Jerusalem, Josip Broz Tito, New York City Fire Department, RUSSIA, Serbia, Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava, Serbian Orthodox Church Leave a commentThe Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava was consecrated in 1855 as an Episcopal church called Trinity Chapel. It has been Serbian Orthodox since the 1940s.
“To see it burning like that is such a shock. It’s just so sad. I can’t think of the words to express how I’m feeling.”
“For this to happen on such a holy day, I don’t know what to say,” said Alex Velic, a 31-year-old churchgoer, as enormous fireballs erupted from the shattered windows of the Serbian Orthodox Cathedral of St. Sava on West 25th Street.
“To see it burning like that is such a shock. It’s just so sad,” he said. “I can’t think of the words to express how I’m feeling.”
A force of 170 firefighters responded to the fire, which started shortly before 7 p.m., FDNY officials said. Church officials and the FDNY both said there were no reports of major injuries, though three firefighters and a church caretaker had minor smoke inhalation.
“Nobody is hurt, everyone is safe,” explained Father Djokan Majstorovic, dean of the cathedral.

Photo: Peter Gerber
Fire Commissioner Daniel Nigro said there had been 700 people inside the church earlier in the day for the Orthodox Easter service. He added that the cause of the fire at the historic house of worship is still under investigation.
[Read the full story here, at the New York Post]
“It’s a very sad day today,” Nigro said. “They had their Mass at 10 a.m. and then a luncheon. The good news is that there was no one inside when the fire started and there are no injuries. One man is being checked out for smoke inhalation.” Read the rest of this entry »
Tacitus: ‘The More Corrupt the State, the More Numerous the Laws’
Posted: December 23, 2015 Filed under: Crime & Corruption, History, Humor, Law & Justice, Politics | Tags: Classical, Greece, Law, Liberty, Rome, Tacitus Leave a comment5 Syrian Men Caught In Honduras Trying To Enter United States With Stolen Passports
Posted: November 18, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Mediasphere, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Greece, Honduras, Islamism, Jihadism, Paris Attacks, Passports, Refugees, Syria Leave a commentSource: Weasel Zippers
‘Faux Passeport Syrien’: Paris Stadium Attacker Got to Europe Using Fake Syrian Passport
Posted: November 16, 2015 Filed under: France, Terrorism, War Room | Tags: Aegean Islands, Alexis Tsipras, Athens, Balkans, Coalition of the Radical Left, Croatia, Czech Republic, EUROPE, European Union, Greece, Hungary, Lesbos, Member state of the European Union, Middle East, Refugees of the Syrian civil war, Serbia, Syria, Turkey 1 CommentGreece’s migration minister, Yiannis Mouzalas, during a news conference in Athens on Sunday. Greek authorities say the man posing as Ahmad AlMohammad took a ferry to the port of Piraeus, arriving on Oct. 8, before traveling north through the Balkans. Photo: angelos tzortzinis/Agence France-Presse/Getty Images
“Greek authorities on islands such as Leros, Lesbos and Chios have confronted thousands of arrivals every day in recent months as refugees and other migrants make the short sea crossing from Turkey in inflatable boats.”
Authorities in France and Greece have said that fingerprints taken from the remains of a suicide bomber outside France’s national sports stadium, the Stade de France, match the prints of a man who entered Europe via the Aegean island of Leros on Oct. 3.
“Short of staff and equipment, Greek police carry out only a simple procedure that involves taking people’s data and fingerprints, and sometimes asking them a few questions, before giving them permission to travel onward, deeper into Europe.”
Police on Leros registered the man under the identity in the passport he showed them: Ahmad AlMohammad, 25, from Syria. The same passport was found near the man’s body outside the stadium on Friday night.
[Read the full story here, at the WSJ]
Whoever the man was, he posed as one of the many refugees fleeing Syria’s war—including the violence of Islamic State—to enter Europe through its lightly controlled frontier in the Aegean Sea. Read the rest of this entry »
OH YES HE DID: Paris Terrorist Was Migrant Who Registered as a Refugee In Greece
Posted: November 14, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, War Room | Tags: Aegean Sea, Angela Merkel, Athens, EUROPE, European Union, Frontex, Greece, Illegal immigration, Immigration, Invasion, Islamism, Jihadism, Lesbos, Migrant, Migrants, Open Borders, Paris Attacks, Refugee, Syria, Terrorism, Turkey 1 CommentThe Greek government has announced one of the terrorist gunmen who had a part in killing over 120 in Paris on Friday evening entered Europe while masquerading as a refugee just six weeks ago.
“The news will come as a major shock to the European establishment who have mocked and derided those who have warned that the migrant route into Europe would be exploited by those wishing to do harm to Europe.”
Reports early on Saturday that one of the gunmen was found to have been carrying a Syrian passport have been followed by an announcement by Greek minister for citizen protection Nikos Tosca that the individual was masquerading as a refugee, reports Greek Antenna news.
“Latest United Nations estimates show over 800,000 migrants have passed through the Mediterranean on their way to Europe this year, with 660,700 landing in Greece and 142,400 in Italy.”
The unnamed killer was registered on the Greek island of Leros in the southern Aegean sea on the third of October. The Island is just ten miles from the Turkish coast and has been a major point of ingress for so-called ‘refugees’ into Europe, alongside neighbour island Kos.
Announcement of #Greece‘s AltMinister Citizens Protection on the #ParisAttacks. (In Greek: https://t.co/sEcwm95UBS) pic.twitter.com/3w4lpaBBeM
— The Greek Analyst (@GreekAnalyst) November 14, 2015
Having come ashore in Europe in October, the killer spent just six weeks as a refugee before killing in Paris.
Read the rest of this entry »
35 Million Migrants Heading to Europe, Says Hungary as it Builds Second Fence
Posted: September 18, 2015 Filed under: Food & Drink, Global | Tags: Brussels, EUROPE, European Parliament, European Union, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Invasion, Italy, Member state of the European Union, Migration, Refugee 1 CommentEstimates predict up to 35 million refugees could head for Europe due to hugely unstable situations across the world.
Rob Virtue and Agnes Kegel report:The huge figure was revealed today by Hungary’s minister for foreign affairs and trade Peter Szijjártó.
Speaking as the country begins work on its second fence to stop migrants heading across its border he predicted the current crisis will continue for years.
Mr Szijjártó told the Hungarian Times: “The name of the fence is ‘Temporary Security Border Fence’ but I think there is no question that in this case temporary means years.
“It’s a self delusion to call this situation a migration crisis; it is a massive migration of nations, with inexhaustible reserves.
“I don’t think that the analysis results, stating that 30-35 million people out there could possibly become migrants, would be an exaggeration.
“Libya, Yemen, Syria, Iraq and Afghanistan are all countries with a huge population and an extremely unstable situation.”
The Hungarian government also defended itself from criticism over its fences.
It comes as a ten-year-old migrant boy with a severe lung condition died in Hungary.
His mother and siblings successfully made the journey to Germany but his father stayed behind with the poorly youngster, who was buried on Friday.
The first barrier was put up at its border with Serbia but, after migrants changed their route, they have now begun erecting a 41 kilometre fence at Croatia. Read the rest of this entry »
[VIDEO] Frequently-Wrong Meteorologist Arrested While Doing Weather Forecast, Columnist Paul Krugman Fears He’s Next
Posted: July 25, 2015 Filed under: Humor, Mediasphere, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: AccuWeather, Canada, Celsius, Fahrenheit, Greece, Meteorology, National Weather Service, New York Times, Paul Krugman, Resource Description Framework, Royal Newfoundland Constabulary, satire, Thunderstorm, Weather Forecast Leave a commentLaw enforcement is so fed up with the miserably cold, cloudy, and damp weather in Newfoundland, Canada that it has arrested two local broadcast meteorologists.
CBC News meteorologist Ryan Snoddon was the first to take the fall for the anomalous chill. You can watch his arrest – part of an apparent sting operation – below:
Next in the hopper was NTV meteorologist Eddie Sheerr, arrested while delivering the forecast on the evening news.
Both Snoddon and Sheer were charged with impersonating a meteorologist, failing to provide the essentials of summer – sunshine, good forecasts and blue skies – and trafficking of rain, drizzle, and fog.
Prior to their arrest, the Royal Newfoundland Constabulary had issued a statement to the media noting Snoddon and Sheerr were persons of interest given the following state of affairs:
SUMMER was last seen in early August of 2014. When last seen, SUMMER was described as being between 20-30 degrees Celsius (68-86 degrees Fahrenheit), blue skies with a bright and warm source of light in the sky. There have been sporadic sightings of this bright object, but these sightings have been rare since May 2015.

Frequently-wrong New York Times columnist Paul Krugman is reportedly afraid to appear on television, due to fears of being arrested. Krugman has never been held accountable for his dishonest statements and failed predictions.
Sheerr – who is from the U.S. – faces possible deportation, the arresting officer said.
Of course, the arrests were just a humorous stunt – the Canadian’s way of coping with conditions that are egregious even by their own standards. Read the rest of this entry »
Important Correction: Headline Should Read ‘Greek Prime Minister Purges Left-Wing Rebels to Bolster Divided Government’
Posted: July 17, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Humor, Mediasphere, Politics | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Angela Merkel, Athens, AUSTERITY, Christine Lagarde, Coalition of the Radical Left, EUROPE, Greece, Greek, Greek Prime Minister, International Monetary Fund, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Michelle Martin, Peter Altmaier, Prime Minister of Greece, States-General of the Netherlands, Wolfgang Schäuble, Yanis Varoufakis Leave a commentWe Apologize for the inconvenience.
#Greek Prime Minister Purges Left-Wing Devils to Bolster Divided Government
Posted: July 17, 2015 Filed under: Global, Humor, Politics, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Angela Merkel, Athens, AUSTERITY, Christine Lagarde, Coalition of the Radical Left, EUROPE, Greece, International Monetary Fund, Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Michelle Martin, Peter Altmaier, Prime Minister of Greece, States-General of the Netherlands, Wolfgang Schäuble, Yanis Varoufakis Leave a commentMeanwhile in Germany, Merkel pushes through support for unloved bailout despite repeated suggestions by her finance minister that Greece should quit the Eurozone.
Geoffrey Smith writes: Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras sacked some prominent left-wing rebels from his government Friday in a cabinet reshuffle following a party revolt against a tough new bailout deal adopted this week.
The 40 year-old prime minister dismissed Energy Minister Panagiotis Lafazanis and two deputy ministers after 39 Syriza hardline lawmakers refused to back the government over the measures, which were demanded by Eurozone partners as a pre-condition for beginning talks over a new bailout.
The main economic ministries remain unchanged, with Euclid Tsakalotos remaining in place at the finance ministry and George Stathakis staying at the economy ministry.
But Labor Minister Panos Skourletis, one of Tsipras’ closest allies, will replace Lafazanis in the key energy portfolio, where he will be responsible for sensitive privatization dossiers. Administrative Reforms Minister George Katrougalos will take over at the labor ministry.
The reshuffle had been expected ever since the party rebellion left Tsipras dependent on the votes of pro-European opposition parties to pass the bailout deal but it is not likely to change the uncertain overall outlook for the government.
Former Deputy Finance Minister Nadia Valavani, another bailout opponent who resigned earlier this week before the vote, was replaced by Tryfon Alexiadis, a leading member of Greece’s tax experts’ union.
The new ministers are expected to be sworn in on Saturday. Read the rest of this entry »
Greek Anti-Reality Protests Turn Violent
Posted: July 15, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Global | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Athens, AUSTERITY, Brussels, Coalition of the Radical Left, EUROPE, Greece, Greeks, Left-wing politics, Prime Minister of Greece, Reuters 2 CommentsGroups of youths among the more than 12,000 anti-reality protesters smashed storefronts and set at least one car on fire
(ATHENS, Greece) — Elena Becatoros and Derek Gatopoulos report: Rioters hurled petrol bombs at police who responded with tear gas as an anti-austerity demonstration outside parliament turned violent Wednesday, while Greek lawmakers began debating contentious measures needed to start negotiations on a new bailout and avoid financial collapse.

Protesters gather in Athens yesterday(Angelos Tzortzinis/AFP/Getty)
“I must tell you, that Monday morning at 9:30, it was the most difficult day of my life. It was a decision that will weigh on me for the rest of my life.”
Groups of youths among the more than 12,000 protesters smashed storefronts and set at least one vehicle alight. The clashes were the first significant protest violence since the left-wing Syriza government came to power in January promising to repeal bailout austerity. Police said at least 50 people were detained.
“I don’t know if we did the right thing. But I know we did something with the sense that we had no choice. Nothing was certain and nothing is.”
— Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos
The protest was timed to coincide with the start of debate on the bill, which includes consumer tax increases and pension reforms that will condemn Greeks to years of more economic hardship.
[Also see – Protestors gathered to remember an unarmed teenager killed by police, before demonstration erupted into violence]
The bill has fueled anger among the governing left-wing Syriza party and led to a revolt by many party members against Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who has insisted the deal forged early Monday after a marathon weekend eurozone summit was the best he could do to prevent Greece from crashing out of Europe’s joint currency.
“I must tell you, that Monday morning at 9:30, it was the most difficult day of my life. It was a decision that will weigh on me for the rest of my life,” said Finance Minister Euclid Tsakalotos.
“I don’t know if we did the right thing. But I know we did something with the sense that we had no choice. Nothing was certain and nothing is,” he said as the debate kicked off.
Civil servants protested with a 24-hour strike that disrupted public transport and shut down state-run services across the country. Read the rest of this entry »
Sweden’s Multicultural Expert on Islamaphobia Excited About New Career Opportunity
Posted: July 12, 2015 Filed under: Mediasphere | Tags: Angela Merkel, Antisemitism, Black people, Central bank, Charlie Hebdo, Ed Miliband, EUROPE, Gothenburg, Greece, Islam, Islamic terrorism, Islamism, Islamophobia, Jews, LGBT, Muslim, Paris, Sveriges Riksbank, Sweden, Swedish krona, Thorbjørn Jagland, University of Gothenburg 1 CommentPreviously, Michael Skråmo worked to counter what he described as an unfair and misleading picture of Muslims as violent fanatics. Now Skråmo preaches jihad and calls Swedish jihadists to leave Sweden and join the holy war
The 29-year-old Swede, who today calls himself “Abdul Samad al Swedi”, grew up in Gothenburg. He converted to Islam during a field trip to Egypt about ten years ago and has since been engaged in a series of tax-funded Muslim organizations.
In 2009 he was invited to SVT, where he told Swedish viewers how Muslim phobia (Islamophobia) and hatred was spread around Europe.
Previously, the Swede have been heavily involved to counter what he described as a misleading picture of Muslims as violent fanatics. In an episode of SVT debate, which can be seen on Youtube, he attacked the malicious picture of Muslims spread in Europe.
“This fear is based on ignorance of Islam,” Michael Skråmo said. […]
Michael Skråmo, 29, took the whole family – his little four children and wife – to the IS-controlled area inside Syria. Now Skråmo filmed a propaganda video outside the Syrian city Kobane where he preaches jihad and calls Swedish jihadists to leave Sweden and join the “holy war”. Read the rest of this entry »
Greek Newspapers Running Out of Paper; Emergency Plans Underway to Substitute Delicious Surplus Layers of Baked Filo Dough
Posted: July 9, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Global, Mediasphere, The Butcher's Notebook | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Athens, Automated teller machine, Baked Goods, Baklava, börek, EUROPE, European Central Bank, Filo, Greece, Greek Desserts, International Monetary Fund, media, Newspapers, pastry, phyllo, Ta Nea Leave a commentATHENS (Reuters) – Lefteris Karagiannopoulos reports: With banks shut and the economy seizing up, some Greek newspapers like the Empros daily on the island of Lesvos are running out of paper and could be forced to stop sales altogether until the banks open again.
“There is a definite problem with paper supply. Our supplier can’t provide us with it, as it is stuck in customs. He can’t pay the foreign suppliers, as bank transfers are blocked and there’s very little cash to continue operations”.
— Empros chief executive Manolis Manolas
The island’s biggest selling newssheet, Empros has already reduced the number of pages to 16 from 20 and its chief executive Manolis Manolas hopes he won’t have to make further cuts as the country’s cash crunch worsens. Greek banks have been shut for almost two weeks after capital controls were imposed.
“There is a definite problem with paper supply,” Manolas told Reuters by phone. “Our supplier can’t provide us with it, as it is stuck in customs. He can’t pay the foreign suppliers, as bank transfers are blocked and there’s very little cash to continue operations”.
“The newspaper you hold in your hands numbers only 32 pages because the stock of printing paper will last for just a few days and it will not be possible to get a fresh supply through customs because of the bank holiday.”
Curbs on money withdrawals and transfers have made life miserable for millions of Greeks, whose government was scrambling on Thursday to devise a new set of proposals for a bailout with its creditors to stave off imminent bankruptcy.
Filo (or phyllo) (Greek: φύλλο ‘leaf’) is a kind of very thin unleavened dough used for making pastries such as baklava and börek in Middle Eastern and Balkan cuisines. Filo-based pastries are made by layering many sheets of filo brushed with melted butter; the pastry is then baked.
As well as reporting on the capital controls introduced at the end of June – queues outside banks and cash machines are now a daily sight in Greece – the media also became a victim of them. Read the rest of this entry »
May You Live In Interesting Times
Posted: July 8, 2015 Filed under: Asia, Economics, Global | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Apple Inc, Beijing, Bilateral investment treaty, Brokerage firm, China, Greece, Jack Lew, Mutual fund, Reuters, Shanghai, South China Sea, SSE Composite Index, Stockmarkets, The Wall Street Journal, U.S.–China Strategic and Economic Dialogue, Xi Jinping Leave a commentThe latest drastic step by Beijing is a six-month ban on stock sales by controlling shareholders and executives who own more than 5% of a company’s shares. Any violation of the rule, announced Wednesday night, would be ‘treated seriously’

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 5.9% on Wednesday and is down nearly one-third from its peak on June 12. Since then, $3.5 trillion in value has been erased from companies in the benchmark index—or nearly five times the size of Apple Inc.
China’s bond market and currency also began to get hit Wednesday as worries deepened that a contagion from stock-market losses could further trammel the country’s slowing economy. It felt even more ominous because Chinese officials had rushed out another raft of emergency measures earlier Wednesday to reassure the market.

An investor at a brokerage firm in the Chinese city of Heifi on Wednesday. Individual investors who began selling in mid-June helped unleash a downward spiral of more selling. Photo: Reuters
The moves only heightened what is turning into an epidemic of anxiety among Chinese investors and a crisis of confidence in their leaders. Stocks were volatile early Thursday.
“The more the government intervenes, the more scared I am,” said Li Jun, who runs a fishing and restaurant business in the eastern city of Nanjing. He has spent about 3 million yuan, roughly $500,000, on stocks, using borrowed money for about one-third of the total.
Mr. Li has sold some of his investments every time the market “popped up a little” following a rescue announcement by the Chinese government. “I have no faith” in its ability to halt the losses, he says. Wednesday’s drop left the Shanghai index down 32% from its peak and at its lowest level since March.
The latest drastic step by Beijing is a six-month ban on stock sales by controlling shareholders and executives who own more than 5% of a company’s shares. Any violation of the rule, announced Wednesday night, would be “treated seriously,” China’s securities regulator said.
Early Thursday, China’s central bank said it has provided “ample liquidity” to a company owned by the country’s top securities regulator. The company is lending the funds to securities firms, which then will use the money to buy stocks.
The Chinese government has been praised for driving decades of economic growth and keeping the economy strong during the global financial crisis. In recent years, Chinese authorities have struggled with rising debt levels and the need to reform the economy away from government-driven infrastructure programs and toward consumer spending.
As it fought slower growth and a weakening real-estate market, the government turned its attention to the country’s languishing stock markets.
But Beijing’s inability to stop the recent decline has rattled investors who have long been used to seeing the government use its power to control markets.
“Beijing’s latest bid to calm the market has had the opposite effect,” said Bernard Aw, market analyst at IG Group. “The panic is spreading, and authorities appear to be grasping at straws to hold back the tide.”
[Read the full text here, at WSJ]
U.S. Treasury Secretary Jacob Lew played down the possible world-wide impact of China’s stock-market mess, though he expressed worry that it could restrain the country’s longer-term growth if Beijing slows its promised economic overhauls. Read the rest of this entry »
OH YES HE DID: Greek Minister of Red Ink Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis Resigns
Posted: July 6, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, Global, Politics | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Antonis Samaras, Athens, AUSTERITY, Brussels, Coalition of the Radical Left, Country Financial, Economy of Greece, Greece, Greek language, International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister of Greece 1 Comment
After ‘No’ Vote Against Bailout, Yanis Varoufakis Steps Down
Greek Finance Minister Yanis Varoufakis resigned from his post Monday after Greek citizens voted to reject further austerity measures the day prior, the Associated Press reported.
“I shall wear the creditors’ loathing with pride.”
— Yanis Varoufaki
Varoufakis said he was told shortly after the voters rejected Sunday’s referendum regarding demands by international creditors to impose further austerity measures in exchange for a bailout package for its bankrupt economy, that the other eurozone finance ministers and Greece’s other creditors would prefer he not attend the ministers’ meetings.
Varoufakis issued an announcement saying Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had judged that Varoufakis’ resignation “might help achieve a deal” and that he was leaving the finance ministry for this reason Monday.
Varoufakis is known for his brash style and fondness for frequent media appearances at the start of his tenure when the new government was formed in January. He had visibly annoyed many of the eurozone’s finance ministers during Greece’s debt negotiations.
“Soon after the announcement of the referendum results, I was made aware of a certain preference by some Eurogroup participants… for my ‘absence’ from its meetings; an idea that the prime minister judged to be potentially helpful to him in reaching an agreement. For this reason I am leaving the Ministry of Finance today,” Varoufakis wrote in a blog post, according to The Guardian.
“Like all struggles for democratic rights, so too this historic rejection of the Eurogroup’s 25th June ultimatum comes with a large price tag attached,” the post read, according to the Athenian newspaper Kathmerini.
“It is, therefore, essential that the great capital bestowed upon our government by the splendid NO vote be invested immediately into a YES to a proper resolution – to an agreement that involves debt restructuring, less austerity, redistribution in favour of the needy, and real reforms,” Varoufakis wrote. Read the rest of this entry »
Volatility, Chaos, Panic, Despair: Greeks Freak
Posted: July 5, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Global | Tags: Beijing, China, DAX, Dow Jones Industrial Average, Electoral reform, FTSE 100 Index, Government of the People's Republic of China, Greece, Hang Seng Index, Hong Kong, Pan-democracy camp Leave a commentSarkis Zeronian reports: The value of the euro compared to major peer currencies is already dropping as the financial effects of the Greek ‘No’ vote in Sunday’s referendum filter into the global market. With analysts predicting banks facing funding crises and individuals unable to take their money from ATMs, volatility is set to reign for some time.
“It was not the only currency to lose value. The Aussie fell 0.9 per cent to 74.52 U.S. cents, the first time it’s broken 75 cents since 2009, and New Zealand’s dollar slipped 0.6 per cent.”
Bloomberg reports analysts are tipping the investment winners in the situation to be Treasuries and German bunds, benefiting from a “flight to safety”.
“This was also related to regional difficulties involving China where initial public offerings were suspended, as brokerages pledged to buy shares and the state media tried to limit investor panic as officials intensified efforts to stop the steepest plunge in equities the country has seen since 1992.”
With currencies trading throughout the day, the euro began to fall as soon as the outcome of the referendum became clear, even with most traders in Tokyo and Hong Kong yet to reach their desks. The drop is said to herald the start of what is expected to be a volatile week for global financial markets as institutions such as JPMorgan Chase & Co say Greece exiting the eurozone is now the base-case scenario.
The euro lost 1.1 per cent to $1.0992 by 6:12 a.m. Tokyo time, its weakest level since 29 June, also slipping 1.7 per cent against the yen and 1 per cent versus the pound. Greece may only account for less than 2 per cent of eurozone output, but a ‘Grexit’ risks setting a precedent of reversible membership.
It was not the only currency to lose value. The Aussie fell 0.9 per cent to 74.52 U.S. cents, the first time it’s broken 75 cents since 2009, and New Zealand’s dollar slipped 0.6 per cent. This was also related to regional difficulties involving China where initial public offerings were suspended, as brokerages pledged to buy shares and the state media tried to limit investor panic as officials intensified efforts to stop the steepest plunge in equities the country has seen since 1992. Read the rest of this entry »
Greek Banks Prepare Plan to Raid Deposits
Posted: July 3, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, Global | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Athens, Brussels, Christine Lagarde, Euro Group, EUROPE, European Central Bank, European Commission, European Union, Global Panic, Greece, Greek language, International Monetary Fund, Prime Minister of Greece Leave a commentATHENS – Kerin Hope reports: IGreek banks are preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of depositors amid fears the country is heading for financial collapse, bankers and businesspeople with knowledge of the measures said on Friday.
The plans, which call for a “haircut” of at least 30 per cent on deposits above €8,000, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank, the sources said.
A Greek bail-in could resemble the rescue plan agreed by Cyprus in 2013, when customers’ funds were seized to shore up the banks, with a haircut imposed on uninsured deposits over €100,000.
It would be implemented as part of a recapitalisation of Greek banks that would be agreed with the country’s creditors — the European Commission, International Monetary Fund and European Central Bank.
“It [the haircut] would take place in the context of an overall restructuring of the bank sector once Greece is back in a bailout programme,” said one person following the issue. “This is not something that is going to happen immediately.”
Eurozone officials said no decision had been taken to wind up any Greek banks or initiate a bail-in of depositors, a process that would be started by the ECB declaring the banks insolvent or pulling emergency loans.
Greece’s banks have been closed since Monday, when capital controls were imposed to prevent a bank run following the leftwing Syriza-led government’s call for a referendum on a bailout plan it had earlier rejected. Greece’s highest court rejected an appeal by two citizens on Friday who had asked for the referendum to be declared unconstitutional.
Depositors can withdraw only €60 a day from bank ATM cash machines, while requests to transfer funds abroad have to be approved by a special finance ministry committee in co-operation with the Greek central bank. Read the rest of this entry »
Actual New York Times: ‘Trillions Spent, but Crises Like Greece’s Persist’
Posted: June 29, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, Global, Mediasphere | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Athens, EUROPE, Greece, LeBron James, Newspaper of record, Paul Krugman, Stockmarkets, The Economist, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal Leave a comment
Trillions Spent, but Crises Like Greece’s Persist http://t.co/YPi6x3mG2z
— New York Times World (@nytimesworld) June 30, 2015
This NYT take on Greece’s financial trouble is jaw-dropping
It Was #Socialism, Not #Austerity or Alexis Tsipras, That Wrecked #Greece
Posted: June 29, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Global | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Athens, Berlin, François Hollande, Goldman Sachs, Greece, Greeks, International Monetary Fund, Investment banking, Jean-Claude Juncker, President of the European Commission, Prime Minister of Greece, Private equity, Reuters, Wall Street 3 CommentsMatt Purple writes: The stock market is getting walloped today and the reason is grave: Greece, dogged by enormous debt and an anemic economy, may be about to walk away
from its German creditors.
“Thanks to Greece’s socialist policies, its economy has long been creaking under the weight of crushing debt. It only endured in the debt-averse European Union because, with the help of Wall Street honchos like Goldman Sachs, it cunningly concealed its red ink for over a decade.”
Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras has called for a referendum over the latest concessions demanded by Germany and the European Commission. Votes will be cast on Sunday and Tspiras is actively campaigning against Greek cooperation. Four days earlier comes Tuesday, which is the deadline for Greece forking over an additional 1.6 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund. It’s now unknown whether Tspiras intends to default.
What is known is that the uncertainty is causing Greeks to party like it’s 1930. NBC News reports:
Greece imposed restrictions on money withdrawals and banking transactions to keep its financial system from collapsing due to a run on the banks.
Anxious Greeks rushed to ATMs to withdraw cash after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras called late Friday for a referendum on the creditors’ reform proposals. …
Meanwhile, retirees lined up just after dawn at bank branches hoping they would be able to receive their pensions, which were due to be paid Monday. The finance ministry said the manner in which pensions would be disbursed would be announced later in the afternoon.
The president of the European Commission has declared that Greece’s departure from the euro is not an option, but even the most impenetrable of Eurocrats must comprehend that their little science project is falling apart.
[Read the full text here, at Rare]
This weekend’s referendum isn’t just about the current bailout package; a “no” vote will effectively jettison Greece from the euro and resurrect their old drachma currency. A “Grexit,” the prospect of which has long triggered dramatic sting music in the minds of European financial ministers, is looming over the Continent.
“That debt is often attributed to the fact that ‘Greeks don’t pay their taxes,’ which has now reached near-aphorism status among economic writers. But rarely does anyone explore the reasons for all this tax dodging.”
And why not? The referendum is likely a leverage tactic by Tspiras—who’s resorted to such risibly desperate measures in the past as calling on Germany to pay Greece Nazi war reparations—but it intersects with one of the seminal themes of his election campaign last year: giving the Greek people a choice. Why should Athens, fuzzily remembered as the “birthplace of democracy,” have its finances determined in the back room of a foreign accounting office? Read the rest of this entry »
[PHOTO] Athens now. #Greece
Posted: June 27, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Global | Tags: Athens, AUSTERITY, Banks, Decline of Western Civilization, Default, Greece Leave a commentZacharias Zacharakis on Twitter
[PHOTO] Waiting in ATM Lines in Athens to Withdraw Money: Who Are They?
Posted: June 27, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Economics, Global, Mediasphere | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Associated Press, Athens, Bailout, Central bank, Creditor, Euro Group, EUROPE, Global Panic, Greece, Hellenic Parliament 2 Comments“…Bank runs are expected on Monday, and a friend in Athens reports almost all the ATM machines have already run out of cash. Obviously, even those who work at the Greek parliament don’t have confidence in the system…”
via John Fund
Photo via Zacharias Zacharakis, Twitter
Greece: This Can’t Be a Good Sign
Posted: June 26, 2015 Filed under: Diplomacy, Economics, Global | Tags: Alexis Tsipras, Athens, AUSTERITY, Bailout, Bank of Greece, Belize, EUROPE, European Union, Greece, International Monetary Fund 1 CommentHappening in Greece right now-almost 3am-people withdrawing as much cash as they can.
via Andrew Bayer, Twitter
‘Blockupy’ Protests Break Out in Frankfurt as ECB Opens New Building
Posted: March 18, 2015 Filed under: Breaking News, Global, Politics | Tags: Associated Press, EUROPE, European Central Bank, European Commission, Frankfurt, Germany, Greece, International Monetary Fund, Mario Draghi, Römerberg 1 CommentFRANKFURT—Scattered incidents of violence broke out Wednesday across Germany’s financial capital alongside demonstrations against austerity timed to the inauguration of the European Central Bank’s new headquarters.
While most parts of Frankfurt remained peaceful, a policeman on patrol said some police cars had been set on fire and some protesters burned tires. Police used water cannon on some protesters.
‘European unity is being strained. People are going through very difficult times.’
—ECB President Mario Draghi
ECB President Mario Draghi defended the bank’s policies at the inauguration ceremony, warning that moving toward more isolation and nationalization wouldn’t solve Europe’s problems.
“European unity is being strained. People are going through very difficult times,” Mr. Draghi said in prepared remarks at the inauguration. Read the rest of this entry »
Greece’s Finance Minister Appears in a Glossy, Luxury Photoshoot, Twitter Responds
Posted: March 14, 2015 Filed under: Economics, Global | Tags: EURO, EUROPE, Finance, Greece, Greece Finance Minister, Luxury, media, news, Twitter Leave a commentMonarchy Challenge: ‘Name That Crown’
Posted: January 15, 2015 Filed under: Art & Culture, History | Tags: Der Spiegel, European Union, German Empire, Germans, Germany, Greece, Monarchy, Politics of Germany, Royalty, Sweden, United Kingdom 1 CommentCan you name these crowns? Answers after the jump… Read the rest of this entry »
Thomas Seddon, 1821-1856: ‘Penelope’
Posted: December 18, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, History | Tags: Athens, British Museum, Elgin Marbles, Greece, Hermitage Museum, Ilissos, London, Parthenon, RUSSIA, Saint Petersburg Leave a comment
oil on canvas
91.5 by 71cm., 36 by 28in.
PROVENANCE
George Wilson of Redgrave Hall, Suffolk and thence by descent to Mr P.J. Holt Wilson, by whom sold Sotheby’s, 28 November 1972, lot 49
EXHIBITED
London, Royal Academy, 1852, no. 339;
London, Society of Arts, Thomas Seddon Memorial Exhibition, 1857
LITERATURE
John P. Seddon, Memoir and Letters of the late Thomas Seddon, artist, By his Brother, 1859, pp. 16-17;
The Journal of the Society of Arts, May 1857, pp.360-362;
The Art Journal, 1857, p.198
CATALOGUE NOTE
This is the first recorded work from the hand of the short-lived and very remarkable Pre-Raphaelite artist Thomas Seddon. Thought of principally as a painter of eastern landscape subjects, the present beautiful and important work provides a fascinating clue to his artistic training and formative years. Although quite unlike the type of work for which he did become known, it reveals the instinctive creative talent and natural skill that he possessed. An unusual subject for an English painter to take in the 1850s, and therefore possibly reflecting his knowledge of contemporary French art, it shows Penelope looking out as the dawn breaks – her companions still sleeping – after a night spent undoing the previous day’s work on a woven shroud. Her reason for doing this was because – according to the story told in Homer’s Odyssey – during the long period during which her husband Odysseus was away, assumed by most to be dead, she remained faithful to him and, when pressed to give herself in marriage to another, always said she could not until the shroud was finished, a subterfuge which she maintained for ten years until a maid servant revealed how it was that the garment was never completed. Read the rest of this entry »
Aphrodite, 2nd Century, Greece
Posted: November 25, 2014 Filed under: Art & Culture, History | Tags: Ancient Greek art, Aphrodite, Artifact, Bronze, Greece, RISD Museum, Sculpture 1 Comment
Aphrodite
Unknown artist, Greek
Aphrodite, 2nd century BCE
Bronze
Height: 47.3 cm (18 5/8 inches)
RISD Museum
Bled dry by the New Class: ‘Bureaucrats push pencils at the expense of real workers’
Posted: July 8, 2014 Filed under: Economics, Politics, Think Tank, U.S. News | Tags: Glenn Reynolds, Greece, New Class, New York Times, Soviet Union, The New Class: An Analysis of the Communist System, United States Leave a comment
Greeks protest in Athens in 2010. (Photo: Thanassis Stavrakis, AP, 2010)
For USAToday, Glenn Harlan Reynolds writes:
Life is hard. It’s harder still when an entire class of people with their hands out stands between you and success.
Unfortunately, that’s increasingly the problem, all around the world. A recent New York Times piece tells the story of a Greek woman’s efforts to survive that country’s financial collapse. After losing her job, she tried to start a pastry business, only to find the regulatory environment impossible. Among other things, they wanted her to pay the business’s first two years of taxes up front, before it had taken in a cent. When the business failed, her lesson was this: “I, like thousands of others trying to start businesses, learned that I would be at the mercy of public employees who interpreted the laws so they could profit themselves.”
[Reynolds‘ book The New School: How the Information Age Will Save American Education from Itself is available at Amazon]
This phenomenon isn’t limited to Greece, or even to capitalistic societies. Dissident Soviet-era thinker Milovan Djilas coined the term “the New Class” to describe the people who actually ran the Soviet Union: Not workers or capitalists or proletarians, but managers, bureaucrats, technocrats, and assorted hangers-on. This group, Djilas wrote, had assumed the power that mattered in the “workers’ paradise,” and transformed itself into a new kind of aristocracy, even while pretending, ever less convincingly, to do so in the name of the workers. Read the rest of this entry »
Sacré Bleu! EU Tries to Ban Cheese Names Outside of Europe
Posted: March 13, 2014 Filed under: Food & Drink, Global | Tags: Canada, Cheese, European Union, Feta, Greece, Kraft, Parmigiano-Reggiano, United States 1 CommentThe EU is attempting to ban American companies from using the names of European cheeses to describe their own products. As part of ongoing trade negotiations between the European Union and United States, the EU has requested that only cheeses imported from Europe should bare the appropriate name.
This would mean, for example, that American-made Parmesan would have to change its name as it is not made in the Parma region of Italy. Similarly, feta cheese will only be allowed to be described as such if it comes from Greece.
The EU has already concluded a similar agreement with Canada, where feta cheese manufactured domestically can now only be marketed as “feta-like” or “feta-style”, and the use Greek symbols on packaging is forbidden.
American dairy producers are fighting the plans, which they say would hurt the $4 billion domestic cheese market by confusing customers and making their products seem inferior.