The end of the European Union (again)

The rise and fall of the German dream of 4th Reich!

by Pyros the Athenian

Is there anyone out there who still believes that the European Union has any future? Does anyone believe that the "Greek crisis" has anything to do with Greece (Hellas)? It would be foolish to think that a country -that was never independent- created a crisis that threatens the universal economy. 

(Germany, Austria, Eslovenia, Switzerland, Netherlands, Belgium, Czech Republic, eastern France, Northern Italy and western Poland)

The revival of the Reich -Global governance in the making!
As far as i know Reich is the unification of all Germans, of all the Germanic lands. Well the first step of the fourth Reich was the unification of the two Germanies in 1989. The year zero for the german imperialism. Reich -as history has proven- also means imperialistic expansion. The common currency of the European Union was the second step and the bailout of Greece (Hellas) -through which the central governance will (or at least they will try) be forced, first to the bad boys -the PIIGS- and then as a necessity to the rest of Europe! Europe under the german boot without a "drop of blood"!

Greece (Hellas) forced to enter the nomismatic union
The entrance of Greece (Hellas) in the nomismatic union was not a democratic decision since a refferandum never took place. Greeks (Hellenes) were -perhaps the only among the Europeans- not informed about the benefits or the losses they would suffer.
It is easy to see that Greece in the Eurozone gained nothing. NOT A THING! The "expensive" euro as a currency made greek products and services less competitive. There was a catastrophic (greek word catastrophy) reduction of exports and a signifigant growth of imports. Import companies took the place of the productive ones. Greece (Hellas) almost stopped producing anything. Tourism -which is the "heavy industry" of Greece (hellas)- became much more expensive making -at the same time- Turkey and Egypt more attractive and cheaper destinations. Not to mention the inflation that in many products reached 300%. (For example a bottle of water of 50 drachmas became a bottle of water of 0,50 euros one euro=340,75 drachmas). The income of Greeks started to rapidly decrease. In the sector of agriculture the EU forced Greece (Hellas) to stop producing anything leading Greece to the paradox phenomenon of importing basic foodstuffs such as vegetables from latin America and ...Israel!

Ofcourse Germany saw its exports reaching the peak within the eurozone. Controlling the ECB (European Central Bank) set the rules of the game, deprived independent nomismatic policy from the other members establishing the situation that we are facing today. Destruction of all the southern economies or -i would better say- the non german economies! It is easy to understand that the only one benefitted is Germany. Germany through the nomismatic union gained the privilege of the leader of EU with a signifigant role in the esoteric affairs of the EU members.

The "Greek (Hellenic) crisis" planned and executed by Germany and the local traitors
A week ago a ms Z. Georganta a former member of the Hellenic Statistics Agency, revealed that the greek (hellenic) -state budget- deficit was intentionally presented higher (15%) from the greek (hellenic?) goverment and the German general director of Eurostat Walter Radermacher, in order the greek economy to be put under the surveillance of the IMF, ECB and EE. 

Ms Georganta also revealed a dialogue with mr Randermacher, his answer to her objection about the method used to present the deficit of the greek (hellenic) state budget:

"Speak no more. You wiil do what we want! You will listen to mr Georgiou"

Mr Randermacher General Director of Eurostat.

Mr Georgiou was at the time the chief of the Greek (Hellenic) Statistical Authority. Later it was revealed that he was also working for the IMF from 1989 to July 2010 he was staff of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).From March 2004 to July 2010 he was deputy division chief in the IMF Statistics Department. According to an email, mr Georgiou was informing mr Thomsen of the IMF even when he was positioned at the Greek (Hellenic) Statistical Agency and without informing the members of the authority! 

Mr A. Georgiou chief of the Hellenic Statistical Authority.

The case is in the hands of justice.

Mr Strauss Khann -in March 2011- revealed that he was discussing, the possibility of Greece (Hellas) under the IMF, with mr Papandreou since December 2009. The same time that he was promising that "the money does exist". Rumors (?) about strange bond and CDS exchange concerning mr Papandreou and some relatives and friends led mr Andreas Molzer -member of the European Parliament- in June 27 2011 to ask a parliamentary question with subject: Greek prime minister speculating against his own country

mr Andreas Molzer -member of the European Parliament-

A few days after the elections of 2009 the Bank of Greece (Hellas) (Which -by the way- is not greek at all) changed the negotiation period of the greek bonds, from three (3) to ten (10) days, giving the chance to the speculators, to speculate and rise up the interestes and the spreads. Why should the greek goverment let it happen? Mr Papandreou and mr Papakonstantinou did their best to help the rise of the greek bonds spreads. Whenever they made a statement the spreads jumped to new records. Comparing the greek economy with Titanic (Papakonstantinou February 15th 2010), a sinking boat, country in the intensive care (December 9th 2009), gun on the head, the speculators were partying! The spread of the ten year greek bond in October 2009 when mr Papandreou took over was 1.30 now September 2011 the spread is 22.00! Just five days (April 18th 2010) before the Papandreou's anouncement that Greece (Hellas) asks for help from the IMF, ECB, EE, he had a secret meeting with George Soros!

Greek spreads over German 10/27/2011

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/quote?ticker=.GRK:IND

Looking at the chart above, anyone can jump to various conclusions.

The German plan was not difficult to execute since the Germans had already corrupted the greek political system. SIEMENS was a constant "donor" of the two major parties. 

mr Th. Tsoukatos (chief of the former prime minister's Simitis office)

As mr Tsoukatos -chief of the former prime minister's Simitis office- admitted, he received a million german marks -from SIEMENS- on behalf of PASOK (which is now in governance). The chief manager of SIEMENS HELLAS, M. Christoforakos (whose father was a Nazi associate during the German occupation) escaped in Germany when the scandal was revealed (May 2009) and remains there since then.

M. Christoforakos Studied in Deutsche Schule Athen, DSA, posseses both the greek and german citizenship.

While writing down these lines, La Tribune in September 28th revealed the secret german plan! Code name: Eureca! All of Greece's public property will pass to a company that will sell it for 125 billion euros! AT THE SAME TIME WHEN GERMANY CLAIMS STATE IMMUNITY NOT TO PAY COMPENSATIONS TO THE NAZI VICTIMS! Germany claims (should not according to Amnesty International) the same international  law that itself enroaches upon the greek case of "crisis"! State immunity for Nazi crimes but not for illegal greek debt! Well, these 125 billion will not go to Greece but Greece will buy back its bonds from the speculators! German Reich and speculators satisfied! By now it is easy to understand that the greek "crisis" is nothing more but the will of the 4th Reich to possess at all cost (for Greeks only) the most beatiful and expensive piece of land and revenge the ones who contributed to the fall of the previous Reich. 

The greek newspaper "TO PARON" about Hochtief

Not to mention that only Hochtief (the german company that exploits the greek national airport) has never paid a cent of taxes for ten years! It is estimated that only this company owes 500.000.000 Euros of taxes to the greek state! And the story goes on and on!

The big deception

It is by now proven that Greece (Hellas) is lying over huge oil and natural gas fields! The whole east Mediterranean sea does! It is estimated that Greece (Hellas) can supply Europe with natural gas for fourty years and cover all of its needs 100%. The oil volume is estimated in bilions of barrels! In the Macedonia region exist big gold veins. In the Imia region there is Osmium the most expensive mineral.

  At the time Greece (Hellas): 

1. covers 46% of the wester Europe production in Magnesium,
2. is the biggest Aluminium producer in Europe.
3. is the biggest Bauxite producer in the European Union,
4. second Smiktite prodrucer in the world after the US,
5. is the only european country with significant Nickel fields,
6. is third in the world's production of olive and olive oil,
7. is third in the world's production of Saffron,
8. is the first in the world in merchant shipping.

Now, if we take into account the money that Greece is owed from Germany as war reparations and the loan that the Nazis took from Greece (Hellas) (amount estimated 1,3 trillion Euros) Greece (Hellas) becomes a paradise!

The big deceprion is the effort of the local traitors in association with German Reich and the international banking system to persuade the world and especially the Greeks (Hellenes) that Greece (Hellas) is a bankrupt country! From my point of wiew i see the richest an more powerful (the explanation below) country  in the world, what about you?

The end of EE and Germany
Greeks (Hellenes) and other Europeans -especially the Southerns- were deceived by the hope and the dream of a unified Europe. It is clear that it was the nightmare of fourth Reich! In Greece (Hellas) the corrupted political system was promisisng solidarity, safety and most of all european salaries. That the borders of Greece would be the borders of Europe therefore the Turkish agression would have to deal with EE and the expenses for arming would go to education etc. In 1996 Turks invaded in a small greek island (full of Osmio) beggining a major crisis and EE was not present! Ofcourse at the end it was mainly Germany who stood by Turkish agression in order to rise the profits of the German war Industry! Germany was among the first to recognize FYROM as Macedonia (note that the word Macedonia does not mean a thing in the bulgaric idiom that the Fyromians use as a language because it is a greek (hellenic) word meaning long country. The same applies for the words Alexander and Philipp see Liddel & Scott lexicon of the Greek language). Above i mentioned the catastrophy of greek economy in the eurozone! It turned out that the solidarity of the member states vanished when the greek "crisis" started.
It seems that Greece (Hellas) did not gain anything participating in EE! Any non Germanic country gained anything. This realisation will become a demand of leaving this useless german organization by people of Europe. They will all realise that the effort of Germany to establish a Reich leads to the destruction of Europe -at least-. 
The future of Germany wont' be bright as the Germans will not anymore like to be called such. They will prefer to be Bavarians, Saxxons, Bohemians, because they will realise that they are the first victims of Reich's imperialism. 
Already it is known (according to Handelsblatt newspaper) that Germany is hidding five (5) trillion Euros debt. Add a trillion that owes Greece (Hellas) and make it six! It seems that the fifty year German effort of industrial imperialism and expansion can collapse in a minute and Greece can play a significant role to this (war reperations). Not to mention that a possible greek bankruptcy will destroy the global economy due to CDSs and greek bonds! This situation gives Greece (Hellas) great power that the local traitors are unwilling to use.

People of the world it is time to wake up!

Thanks for reading!

Greek (hellenic) words used in this article:

Crisis, economy, land, history, nomismatic, catastrophic, paradox, phenomenon, eurozone (Europe+zone), role, esoteric, Titanic, political, Eureca, amnesty, scandal, paradise, Europe, Macedonia, Philipp, Alexander, catastrophy. 

Scandal! Germany’s Financial Times Calls Greeks to Vote for ND

Posted by keeptalkinggreece in Politics

Unbelievable! Financial Times Germany (FTD) calls Greeks to cast their vote on Sunday in favor of pro-bailout conservative Nea Dimocratia! In the unprecendeted bold op-ed article with the title “Resist to the  Demagogue” Financial Times Deutschland claims this is its recommendation for the Greek voters on June 17.

 ”Greeks make a historical voting decision on Sunday – even though results as well as consequences are not clear. FTD tells in its vote recommendation, for whom the Greeks should vote,” writes FTD in the article lead.

The despicable attempt to manipulation of voters that raises a lot of questions about what exact interests the FTD represent, reads:

Recommendation to voters: FTD and the majority of the Greeks have a common interest : that your country must remain in the euro.

On Sunday historical elections take place that will be decisive on this issue as well as for the future of the common European currency. Therefore the FTD makes a recommendation to the Greek voters as an exceptional move. Something that the FTD does also for German and EU parliament elections.

 Among others the article claims that Greece can remain in the Euro zone only with parties that accept the terms of the international lenders.

 ”Resist to demagogy of Alexis Tsipras and SYRIZA. Do not trust their promises that the denouncement of the loan agreements is possible without consequences.

 

Your country finally needs a functioning state. For your smooth governance we recommend Nea Dimocratia, even thought the recommendation is half-hearted…The best option for your country would be a coalition government with Antonis Samaras as leader and not Alexis Tsipras…..” and so on, and so on…

If you have a strong stomach, read the full op-ed in Greek Here and in German Here  (this is addressed to non-Greek speaking, 2nd and 3rd generation migrants in Germany, I assume)

 

Home of Spitting Llamas…

 

Reactions on FTD page

 

As expected the article triggered outrage among its readers, Greeks but also Germans.

 

One commented that it looks like a “pre-paid ad by SIEMENS and Ferrostaal” [the two German companies that massively bribed Greek politicians to secure state contracts in telecommunications and submarines).

 

Another wrote: “Dear Fourth Reich. You just can’t stay out of our business, can you?”

 

The comment of one guy who wrote: “very convincing article…thank you so much FT…now i’m sure that my decision is the right one…i will vote SYRIZA…” was ‘applauded’ by many Greek FTD visitors and some also advised “We’ll send Samaras to Germany… YES!”

 

Others speak of “disgrace”, of the “FTD and the German establishment “in panic”, of “provocations” and “threats” garnished with a lot of eF-words.

 

SYRIZA’s Reaction

 

SYRIZA reacted strongly and described the article a “Blatant Intervention”

 

ND’s Reaction

Offended is not only SYRIZA but also nea Dimocratia. In a sharp statement, ND said “Greeks are proud people. We know who we vote for. Make  “Recommendations” somewhere else. Make fixed-provocations, short before the elections, somewhere else.”

 

Interestinig note: FTD totally turns its back to PASOK, the party that took Greece to bailout. No PASOK complains so far… he!he!

 

PS I wouldn’t know that I have a common interest with Financial Times Deutschland? Unless they offer me a job

source: http://www.keeptalkinggreece.com/2012/06/15/scandal-germanys-financial-times-calls-greeks-to-vote-for-nd/

Liberation: Greece cradle of an other world!

No, what happens in Greece, though dramatic, is not a disaster. It is also an opportunity. Because the power of money has, for the first time, exceeded a target rate of previously progressive, thorough and carefully organized destruction of public interest and human dignity. And in a country so famous for its philosophy of life, the antithesis of the Anglo-Saxonic model, and famous for his tireless resistance to the multiple forms of oppression that tried to rein it.

The Greek does not dance and will never dance on one leg, nor bend slavishly or anything else the regimes want him to do. He dances with his hands, as if he is to fly to the stars. He writes on the walls what he'd like to read elsewhere. He burns a bank when he no longer affords to bake with the traditional barbecue. The Greeks are so alive, as the ideology of the deadly threat. And if the Greek is sickened to death, at the end he always gets up. Yes, the economy of Europe wanted to create an example. But amid the frustration of hitting the country that seemed weaker in the euro area, in the extreme violence the masks fell. It is now more than ever, the time for us to demonstrate its true face: that of totalitarianism. Because this is really what is all about. And there is only one answer to totalitarianism: the fight, persistent and tenacious, until the battle, if necessary, since the very existence jeopardized . We have one world, one life, and values ​​to defend. Everywhere the streets are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our parents, who are  hit in front of our eyes, even if they are away. They are hungry, cold and we are with them. All the hits that they receive equally injure us. Every child in Greece who faints at school, invites us to resentment and rebellion. For the Greeks, it is time to say no, and, for all of us, it's time to support them. Because the Greek people are now leading the battle against economic totalitarianism, everywhere destroying public property, threatening their daily survival, spreading despair, fear and indolence through a war of all against all.


Apart from an emotional anger that is defused by destroying the symbols of oppression, Greeks develop a clear anger, the fighters who refused to give their very lives for the benefit of the banking mafia and logic, that of "mad money". In the assemblies of direct democracy, the movement of civil disobedience movement "We do not pay" and the first experiences of self management, a new Greece emerges at this time, it rejects the tyranny of the market on behalf of the people. I do not know how long it will get people to free themselves from their voluntary work, but it is certain that, faced with the absurdity of client politics, corrupt democracy, the rule of grotesque cynicism of banksters (bank mafia) they will have only the option-against any blackmail - to manage thei affairs on their own.


Greece is our past.
It is also our future.
Discover with her again!
In 2012 we all become Greek!


source:http://www.liberation.fr/monde/01012390932-grece-berceau-d-un-autre-monde

Greece’s geopolitical orientation should not be taken for granted

Due to its geography and geopolitics, Greece will be in play for years to come, argues Robert D. Kaplan.

Robert D. Kaplan is Chief Geopolitical Analyst for Stratfor, a Texas-based global intelligence company.

"Greece is where the West both begins and ends. The West -- as a humanist ideal -- began in ancient Athens where compassion for the individual began to replace the crushing brutality of the nearby civilizations of Egypt and Mesopotamia. The war that Herodotus chronicles between Greece and Persia in the 5th century B.C. established a contrast between West and East that has persisted for millennia.

Greece is Christian, but it is also Eastern Orthodox, as spiritually close to Russia as it is to the West, and geographically equidistant between Brussels and Moscow. Greece may have invented the West with the democratic innovations of the Age of Pericles, but for more than a thousand years it was a child of Byzantine and Turkish despotism.

And while Greece was the northwestern bastion of the anciently civilised Near East, ever since history moved north into colder climates following the collapse of Rome, the inhabitants of Peninsular Greece have found themselves at the poor, southeastern extremity of Europe.

Modern Greece in particular has struggled against this bifurcated legacy. In an early 20th century replay of the Greco-Persian Wars, Greece's post-World War I military struggle with Turkey led to a signal Greek defeat and as a consequence, more than a million ethnic Greeks from Asia Minor escaped to Greece proper, further impoverishing the country. (This Greek diaspora in Asia Minor was a massive source of revenue until the Greeks were expelled.)

Not only did World War I have a bloody and epic coda in Greece, so did World War II, which was followed by a civil war between rightists and communists. Greece's ultimate escape from the Warsaw Pact was a rather close-run affair: again, the effect of Greece's unstable geographical location between East and West.

Greece struggled on. As recently as the mid-1970s it was governed by a particularly brutal military dictatorship (led by colonels from the backwater of the Peloponnese), which lasted for seven years, and fear of another coup persisted during the initial stage of its reborn democracy.

Even though the Olympic tradition began in Greece in antiquity and the first modern Olympics were held in Greece in 1896, Greece was denied the right to host the centenary modern Olympics in 1996 owing to the country's lack of preparedness in organisation and infrastructure. Greece did host the 2004 Olympics, but the financial strain that the games put on Greece contributed to the country's economic fragility in the run-up to the current debt crisis.

...read more

Hey, Germany: You Got a Bailout, Too

By the Editors May 24, 2012 2:00 AM GMT+0300

In the millions of words written about Europe’s debt crisis, Germany is typically cast as the responsible adult and Greece as the profligate child. Prudent Germany, the narrative goes, is loath to bail out freeloading Greece, which borrowed more than it could afford and now must suffer the consequences.

Would it surprise you to know that Europe’s taxpayers have provided as much financial support to Germany as they have to Greece? An examination of European money flows and central-bank balance sheets suggests this is so.

Let’s begin with the observation that irresponsible borrowers can’t exist without irresponsible lenders. Germany’s banks were Greece’s enablers. Thanks partly to lax regulation, German banks built up precarious exposures to Europe’s peripheral countries in the years before the crisis. By December 2009, according to the Bank for International Settlements, German banks had amassed claims of $704 billion on Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal and Spain, much more than the German banks’ aggregate capital. In other words, they lent more than they could afford.

When the European Union and the European Central Bank stepped in to bail out the struggling countries, they made it possible for German banks to bring their money home. As a result, they bailed out Germany’s banks as well as the taxpayers who might otherwise have had to support those banks if the loans weren’t repaid. Unlike much of the aid provided to Greece, the support to Germany’s banks happened automatically, as a function of the currency union’s structure.

How It Worked

Here’s how it worked. When German banks pulled money out of Greece, the other national central banks of the euro area collectively offset the outflow with loans to the Greek central bank. These loans appeared on the balance sheet of the Bundesbank, Germany’s central bank, as claims on the rest of the euro area. This mechanism, designed to keep the currency area’s accounts in balance, made it easier for the German banks to exit their positions.

Now for the tricky part: As opposed to the claims of the private banks, the Bundesbank’s claims were only partly the responsibility of Germany. If Greece reneged on its debt, the losses would be shared among all euro-area countries, according to their shareholding in the ECB. Germany’s stake would be about 28 percent. In short, over the last couple of years, much of the risk sitting on German banks’ balance sheets shifted to the taxpayers of the entire currency union.

It’s hard to quantify exactly how much Germany has benefited from its European bailout. One indicator would be the amount German banks pulled out of other euro-area countries since the crisis began. According to the BIS, they yanked $353 billion from December 2009 to the end of 2011 (the latest data available). Another would be the increase in the Bundesbank’s claims on other euro-area central banks. That amounts to 466 billion euros ($590 billion) from December 2009 through April 2012, though it would also reflect non-German depositors moving their money into German banks.

By comparison, Greece has received a total of about 340 billion euros in official loans to recapitalize its banks, replace fleeing capital, restructure its debts and help its government make ends meet. Only about 15 billion euros of that has come directly from Germany. The rest is all from the ECB, the EU and the International Monetary Fund.

Better Prepared

Germany’s changing financial exposure has major implications for its role as a leader of Europe’s response to the crisis. Before Germany’s banks pulled back their funds, they stood to lose a ton of money if Greece left the euro. Now any losses will be shared with the taxpayers of the entire euro area -- particularly France, whose banks still have a lot of outstanding loans to Greece. Perhaps this is what some German officials mean when they say that the euro area is better prepared for a Greek exit.

Ultimately, though, the cost of letting Greece go would come home to Germany. If bank runs and market turmoil forced Portugal, Spain, Italy and others out of the euro area as well, the losses could wipe out much of the capital of German banks. Not to mention the longer-term damage the euro breakup would do to the exports that drive Germany’s economy, and the potential demise of a European project designed to prevent a repeat of the horrors of two world wars.

To prevent such an outcome, with or without Greece, Germany will have to do everything it has so far refused, and more. This would include allowing the ECB to stand behind the debt of sovereigns. The euro area also needs a mechanism that would transfer money to economically troubled countries just as automatically as the region’s payment system bailed out Germany -- an element economists have long said is crucial to making the euro area a workable currency union. As we have advocated, a joint unemployment insurance fund could be a first step toward such a fiscal union.

As German Chancellor Angela Merkel considers the next step in the euro crisis -- one that could help the euro area return to growth or, alternatively, risk the survival of the entire currency union -- she should keep in mind that her country is indebted to the euro system as much as Greece is.

Read more opinion online from Bloomberg View. Subscribe to receive a daily e-mail highlighting new View columns, editorials and op-ed articles.

Today’s highlights: the View editors on the problems with the Facebook IPO; Clive Crook onEurope at the brink; Jonathan Alter on political substance and slander; Ezra Klein on the fight over Bain; Caroline Baum on overregulating banks; Tobias Moskowitz on data-driven policy; Panagis Vourloumis on Greek shock therapy; Junheng Li on China’s economic misinformation.

To contact the Bloomberg View editorial board: view@bloomberg.net.

source: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-23/merkel-should-know-her-country-has-been-bailed-out-too.html

The purpose of Euro!

The euro exit is a bluff

NICOLAS VADOT

LA STAMPA MAY 15th

As speculation rages about a Greek exit from the eurozone, we must grasp that the country cannot survive without the single 

currency and that Europe cannot afford to let it leave. That's why everyone should put their cards openly on the table.

Stefano Lepri

The voters' verdict is already in across several countries and regions: the cure based strictly on austerity within the eurozone has failed. What needs to be done now is to take that reality on board and to start negotiations that promise to be difficult and that may lead to awkward compromises.

Greece, though, must be ready for anything. And it must distinguish between the reality and the threats and blackmail that are flying 

about at the moment.

Return of the drachma

Point one. Greece cannot survive on its own. Without the aid from Europe and the International Monetary Fund (IMF), it will very 

soon run out of money to pay its civil servants' salaries and to import what it needs for survival, starting with food and oil.

Point two. After the restructuring imposed on private creditors, almost half of Greece's debt is today held by Europe and the I

nternational Monetary Fund. If Greece doesn't pay, therefore, it will be mainly the taxpayers in the eurozone – i.e. all of us, at a 

thousand euros each, according to a rough estimate – who will be out of pocket.

Point three. The return to the drachma would be advantageous only in the imagination of poorly informed economists, mostly 

Americans. It now transpires that the George Papandreou government had commissioned a study that showed that even the 

two sectors that bring Greece its most significant revenues, tourism and shipping, would not be much better off with a devalued 

currency.

Point four. The real unknown is what collateral damage – apart from the failure to pay its debt – a possible bankruptcy of Greece 

would cause other countries in the eurozone. First of all, the spread with German treasury bonds could only go up. Certainly, the consequences would not have the same weight for everyone, falling harder on small countries, starting with Portugal, then Spain and Italy, and lighter on Germany.

Solidarity or rock-bottom?

There is no definite answer in the minds of the ministers of the Eurogroup that met in Brussels on May 14 to the question: should 

more support be held out to Greece, or should it be left to hit rock-bottom? At first glance, at least for Italy, solidarity seems cheaper than refusing to help; peering into the future, a Greece that has not been stabilised would become a ball and chain.

Since two political crises are intertwining here, one that affects the decision-making mechanisms of Europe and the other the Greek 

political parties, it's time to think about the alternatives that need weighing up, and to deploy a political rationale in doing so.

In Athens, a political system is collapsing. One must ask if the defeat of the two parties that previously dominated – New Democracy and the Socialists – is due to the tight deadlines demanded by Europe to clean up Greece's debt or to the unfair and inefficient distribution of sacrifices, which continues to protect the clientele and interests of the powerful.

Digging deep

Europe had called for shorter deadlines than the IMF was demanding precisely because Europe was wary of the politicians who were in power in Athens. And now Europe is wary of the Greek voters as well. Their votes have shifted to politicians from emerging movements, who are telling them a lie – that Greece can blackmail other countries more effectively by threatening to drag them into the abyss too if they fail to open their wallets yet again. To confront these illusions, it is up to Germany and other countries demanding austerity to show that blackmail leads nowhere, because they themselves will not fall into the abyss. They need rather to come clean and set out exactly what acts of solidarity they would be willing to perform for other countries weakened by the crisis in the event that Athens does form a government bent on a tug-of-war. Otherwise, telling the Greeks to "sink or swim" would prove to be a bluff – one that the markets are already tending to believe.

source: http://www.presseurop.eu/en/content/article/1989641-euro-exit-bluff

Europe Has Bet The Farm

From Mark Grant, author of Out of the Box

Things that go Bump in the Night

Europe is heading for a showdown and in a number of places; that much can be acknowledged with certainty. The first, and perhaps the most important, is the stand-off between France and the European Commission. The EU budgetary office is demanding that France reduce its deficit to 3.00% for 2012 while the projection is for 4.50% so that the Commission is threatening France with large fines. Mr. Hollande ran his campaign upon a reduction in the retirement age, more generous pensions, shorter work hours and more governmental spending so that the budgetary miss is likely to be larger than forecast; somewhere around 5.2% in my estimation. France then finds itself, one way or another, with a larger budgetary deficit and if the EU then imposes fines and sanctions Paris may thumb its nose at Berlin/Brussels in what could be a rather nasty affair with unknown consequences.  Mrs. Merkel in one corner and Mr. Hollande in another slugging it out will not make for harmonious relations. Then there are the issues of Greece and Spain and the Socialist reaction is bound to be very different than the Austerity imposition as demanded by Germany. Jawohl!

“After all, one can’t complain. I have my friends. Somebody spoke to me only yesterday. And was it last week or the week before that Rabbit bumped into me and said Bother!”

                                             -Eeyore

The new EU fiscal pact is becoming something of a deviated piece of humor as Spain is being released from its constraints and Greece is now only constrained by the fear and loathing of the country removing its hand from the honey pot. “Keep Eating,” is the resounding cry from all of the European politicians as they are truly frightened of the old bear not following orders. It may well be that the new political dandy in Greece is correct; Europe may soon be begging for Greece to take the money under almost any terms as they do not wish to dance the jig of contingent liabilities becoming real ones and having to be accounted for in actuality with all of the pending losses that this would entail. What will they say in Berlin; “Mein Gott, waren wir nur ein Scherz“(My God, we were just kidding.) If Greece defaults or leaves the Eurozone then the ECB will be broke and have to be re-capitalized, the IMF will take one serious financial hit, the EIB will be seriously impaired and while the Greek bonds are mostly held by governmental bodies now the municipal debt, the derivatives, the bank loans are still to be found in securitizations of many of the large European banks and American banks who will be forced to recognize thier losses. Charades is so much fun until someone comes up with the answer.

The real debt of Greece is approximately $1.30 trillion and as contingent morphs into actual the impending explosion may become reality. This amount of money is 40.60% of the entire GDP of Germany because it is a small country that now has a giant debt given its population. Europe has, in fact, bet the farm and the decision now rests entirely with the Greek electorate. The European Union has played its hand badly and reality is very close to biting off the hand that fed it! I want to repeat this for you, I want you to understand the gravity of what Europe is facing; Europe has BET THE FARM and the croupier is about to roll the dice. We are all facing a momentous instant in time and all of the noise in the background is quelled by the showman announcing the main event; Let’s Roll.

“You are about to have your first experience with a Greek lunch. I will kill you if you pretend to like it.”

                                           -Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis

source: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/europe-has-bet-farm