Greeks still uncertain about their country's financial future.
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How the world sees Greece
Monday, July 20, 2015
As Greek banks reopen, attention shifts to passing reforms EU has demanded
Alexis Tsipras’s troubles are far from over with struggle to muster cross-party support for bailout terms and talk of early elections on the horizonThe reopening of banks and repayment of debts returned Greece to a semblance of normality on Monday but the ruling Syriza party admitted it faced considerable political challenges in pushing through reforms. Continue reading...
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Greek Banks Reopen With Limits Still In Place
Also today, Greeks were greeted by higher prices on basic goods because of a eurozone-imposed sales tax of between 13 and 23 percent.
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Greek Banks Start Long and Uncertain Journey to Recovery
Restoring trust in the lenders is one of the most important tasks that officials in Athens and in the eurozone face as they try to revive the economy.
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And You Thought All Kenyans Were Alike: Misconceptions Kenyans Have of One Another.
With the half-Kenyan-Luo American President Barack Obama scheduled to arrive in Kenya on July 24, I thought it would be an opportune time to re-submit this piece that first appeared in Mwakilishi then Jambonewspot.com. My piece was a counterpoint to the article "10 Amusing Misconceptions Foreigners Have About Kenyans" that seemed to peddle the romantic (and bigoted) notion that all Kenyans, indeed Africans, are alike. While I realize that the article by travelstart.co.ke was a marketing/sales pitch much like Sir Richard Branson's "Why I Love Kenya" infomercial for his uber-expensive and exclusive Mahali Mzuri safari camp, it was directed at the nebulous "foreigners" who medoubts can tell the difference between a Kenyan and a Nigerian let alone locating either on a map! My response is directed at the so-called "WanaKenya Halisi" or "genuine Kenyans" who have repeatedly displayed the same ignorance about fellow Kenyans from different tribes as the "foreigners" have towards Kenyans/Africans in general! Much like the tongue-in-cheek and satirical "Stuff White People Like" by Christian Lander, this article is intended to expose the silliness and puerility of the mindset that espouses ethnic, tribal, racial misconceptions and xenophobia. It is also far from complete or all-encompassing. Enjoy! 1. Kenyans Are Homogenous. They are not. Kenyans are as diverse and as varied as the human race! Where do those who bloviate about the monolithic and cookie cutter Kenyan think the term "Kenya 42+" originated from? 2. Ujaluo Itaniuwa. I have never quite understood this one but it is Kiswahili (or Swahili) for the expression "Being Luo will kill me." It was explained to me as "affirmation of the 'swag' or confidence Luos have regardless of their circumstances" to which I responded "Sure, if you say so." 3. All Luos Eat Fish. This misconception speaks to the fact that Luoland is home to the 2nd largest fresh water lake in the world - Lake Victoria. Said lake is a source of fish - tilapia, Nile Perch, Omena and an assortment of other piscis or as Patrick "PLO" Lumumba would say, icthyes, Latin and Greek for fish respectively. The recent advent of fish farming in parts of Kenya beyond Luoland has thrown this misconception into a tizzy as industrious and ever-entrepreneurial Kenyans of all persuasions discover that rech ngege or mbuta are excellent source of proteins not to mention yet another way to earn a living. 4. All Luos Throw Stones. I will blame this misconception of Luos on fan(atic)s of Gor Mahia Football Club, especially after a loss to the their shemijis AFC Leopard! I have to confess that this is a misconception belied by a childhood memory and incident involving throwing stones. Since I plan to run for political office, I won't get into the details of the story but suffice to say, I, my brother and two non-Luo friends of ours did a fairly decent imitation of those stone-throwing sore losers! Come to think of it, wasn't the recently-elected MP for Kabete, one Ferdinand Waititu and his then-Embakasi constituents, caught on camera hurling stones at some people who had offended their sensibilities? 5. Luos Are Lazy. This misconception speaks to the dilapidated and decrepit conditions of Kisumu, the main city of Nyanza and of Kibera, arguably Africa's largest shantytown. Both locales are predominated by Luos and arguably unkempt and unkept supposedly because the inhabitants, Luos, are too lazy to take care of their communities! On the other hand, were one to delve into the details surrounding the misconception regarding the "lethality" of Nyeri women they would discover that part of the reason the Women of Nyeri are prone to slice and dice their menfolk - pun unintended - is because of their alleged laziness and inability to take care of business - in more ways than one. I could get into the political reasons why Kisumu and Nyanza have been late to develop their economies but that would be obfuscation and outside the scope of this list! 6. Luos Believe in "Tunaomba Serikali." This is an interesting misconception that adds to the narrative that "Luos are lazy" and given the recent budget and other efforts (by Kenya's government) to help ALL Kenyans, reminds me of the Red State/Blue State debate on welfare here in the US. 7. All Nyeri Women Are "Lethal." Any statement that begins with "all" and "every" immediately lose credibility. Having said that, this misconception has its roots in the sensational (and recent) media reports of women from Nyeri "abusing" or committing violence against their husbands or boyfriends. None other than Maendeleo Ya Wanaume (the male version of a women's rights movement) chair Nderitu Njoka has condemned the rising cases of gender-based violence against men in Nyeri County! Silly me for thinking that ALL women are "lethal". Okay that's a joke! Actually what does that even mean; "lethal", that is? 8. All Kisii Men Are Hot-tempered. Wasn't this "quality" once the sole purview and domain of the allegedly "hot" Latin (and Italian) lovers? The "sizzling" men of Nyaribari and Mosocho must have missed the memo that assigned them that enviable characterization, instead giving it to the likes of Enrique Iglesias and Fabio! Maybe I am confusing being "hot-tempered" with being "hot-blooded" and/or being "hot." I am so confused! 9. All Luos Are Dark-skinned. This characterization has its roots in the genealogy of the Luo people. Most Luos originated from the Nilotes of Southern Sudan who have dark skin, a function of the hot sun of the Sahel region. Beyond the anthropological and biological explanations regarding this misconception, the following thoughts come to mind: - Is there something wrong with being "dark-skinned?" - Why, pray-tell, are women across Africa, heck across the world (save one Lupita Nyongo) so obsessed with skin-lightening creams if the Luos "ose kao" as in "already own" the attribute of being "dark-skinned?" - The most prominent AND famous Luo Barack Hussein Obama is as fair as the chemically-lightened Vera Sidika and Kenya's other "socialites." However, Mr. Obama's fair skin is natural courtesy of his bi-racial parents. 10. All Nairobi Watchmen Come From Western Kenya. I would file this misconception under the heading "Birds of a Feather Flock Together." It is the same phenomenon that results in some ethnic groups dominating certain sectors of the job market. Stateside, I would compare this to the food/service industry. One member of the family/group finds a job in a sector of the economy and s/he tells a relative or friend about the opportunity. The relative or friend tells a friend or relative....and soon the particular industry is dominated by people who are connected; are identical. 11. Some Kenyan Tribes Have "More" Thieves Amongst Them Than Other Tribes. I would love to see the statistics that support this contention! And even after seeing the data, I will temper my conclusion with the adage "if you torture the data long enough, it will tell you what you want to hear!" Think how the neo-cons and George W. Bush manipulated the "evidence" to "prove" that Iraq had WMDs! 12. All Kikuyus Are Thieves (Okuyu Jakuo/Wasapere/Kinyambi). In parenthesis are Luo, Luhya and Kamba interpretations of this misconception. This misconception is a variant of the misconception that "some tribes have 'more' thieves than others" and is more pointed in its intended target - Kikuyus. While the misconception is a function of demographics and the evolution of the Kenyan society - since independence, it is also belied by President Uhuru Kenyatta's recent "List of Shame"; a list that was as diverse as Kenya 42+. Put another way, there are thieves dotting the entire landscape of Kenya's 42+ tribes. 13. There Are no Birds in The Air in all of Ukambani; Kaaos Ate Them All. Seriously? Now this is a funny one. I am not a Kaao as in I am not Kamba but this Jaluo loves him some pheasant, Cornish hen, and an assortment of other aves I will not mention publically least I incur the wrath of ornithologists AND members of PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) alike. 14. Maasai Hawavalii Suruali And That's Why They Are Big Where it "Matters." That the Maasai do not wear pants/trousers i.e. hawavalii suruali because their "shyt is big" reminds me of the myth that "black men have big %#&s. It is also one myth that my Maasai friends; make that ALL black men would love to "prove" and hold on to because "size matters." Makes one wonder what purveyors of said myth are compensating for or trying to overcome! 15. All People Who Tuma Salaams Over The Radio Are Luhyas (Shikhokho wa Shitswetswe Akiwa Butere Angependa Kumsalimiako Roselina Amashetse Shivelele etc.). Come again? Let me date myself for a worthwhile cause: Back in the days of George Opiyo, Sam Madoka, Abdul Haq and "Mahamjam Mike", those tumiaring salaamus spanned the width and breadth of Kenya's 42+. 16. The Favorite Meals of Luhyas is Ukali na Ndeke. I will go out on a limb and guess that ndeke is Luhya for kuku as in chicken. If that is indeed true, see my comments on Luos and their affinity for "fis". 17. All Kikuyus Love Money. Puleeeze!! ALL Kenyans love money. 18. Luhyas Love Food And Steal All The Under-garments Hanging on Clothes' Line. I am sorry but given the progression of the girth of most Kenyans, I vehemently beg to differ with the first half of this misconception about members of my sister's husband's tribe! Tumbo kubwa or "public opinions" aka pot-bellies are visible across Kenya's 42+ - men AND women; not just in Kakamega, Busia, or Bungoma! Now the second half of the misconception re: under-garments is just sick and twisted. It also says more about the person or people holding it to be true than it does about the tribe that gave us Joe Kadenge, Victor Wanyama, my good friend "Phandom" Mudavadi and my brother-in-law! 19. Kambas Always Wear Yellow-, Red-, Purple- And Orange-Colored Clothing Items. Absolutely and without a doubt NOT TRUE! The single most stylish and fashion-forward Kenyan I have ever known - to this day - male or female - is my ex- who was Kamba. Simply put, Kamene was the embodiment of avant garde et haute couture fashion that seamlessly and elegantly blended ALL colors of the Pantone Chart including the aforementioned yellow, red, purple and orange! There is also the blogger Sharon Mundia who I am going to guess, based on the last name "Mundia", is Kamba. Cutting to the chase: Ms. Mundia elicits a sense of style and co-ordination that belies this misconception about her Kamba tribe! And if she is not Kamba, her ability to mix-n-match colors way beyond the alleged "primary Kamba colors" more than makes up for the misconception! 20. All Luo Men Have Foreskin. See the second paragraph of the comments re: the misconception "Luhyas love food and steal all the under-garments hanged on clothes' line". Come to think of it, how would a stranger know anything about the anatomical configuration of one's "manhood" unless they have been intimate with them? This is one question I have been dying to ask Moses Kuria - Kenya's SME on all matters foreskin-related! 21. All Kenyans Love Beer And Nyama Choma. Last I checked, I was and still am Kenyan and I don't "love" roast meat nor have I ever drank beer or any alcohol for matter. 22. All Kikuyus And Kalenjins Are Corrupt. Six words: President Uhuru Kenyatta's "List of Shame." Google and study the list. It is Kenya 42+. 23. Witchcraft Only Happens in Kisii, Coast And Ukambani. I am originally from Nyanza and can thus attest that this misconception is indeed just that - a misconception. I have relatives who are so steeped in sorcery, wizardry and enough hocus-pocus that they would scare the pants off Voldemort. 24. Nyanza Women Are "Burly." Beyond seeing my comments on Luhya's love for food, I will offer the following disclaimer: "Burliness" is in the eye of the beholder and from my perch here in the diaspora, my take on what constitutes a "burly" woman is definitely skewed and tainted by life in the epicenter of the on-going battle over the body image of women - California! For additional evidence regarding this misconception, let me recommend a trip to the annual Las Vegas Seven-a-side Rugby tournament in "Sin City" aka Las Vegas. If you cannot make it to Vegas, then perch yourself near an entrance or exit of any event/occasion that brings Kenyans together. At the risk of drawing the wrath of Kenyan women, my take is that Kenyan women are fast catching up with and in some cases surpassing their male counterpart on matters of midriff girth! So, as evidenced by this partial listing of misconceptions Kenyans have of one another, the country is a diverse and rich collection of people who know they are as different as foreigners think they are homogenous! -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Reuters: Tsipras cost Greece 30 bln euros
Head of employers' federation frets at damage done by capital controls
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Euro Edges Higher on Optimism on Greece
The euro rose against the dollar and the yen in light trading Monday as investors took a positive view of Greece's efforts to repay its loans and restore ...
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Greece news live: Government clears its debts as banks reopen
… Where next for Greece's banks? The Greek parliament still has … .55 Greece to create a "bad bank" The Greek government … feeling. #Greece— Dim Rapidis (@rapidis) July 20, 2015 09.37 Greeks make …
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How Greece’s credit went south
The crisis between Greece and the euro zone appears to be reaching at least a temporary resolution. But if Greece finds itself back again in a year — as it has several times since the onset of the debt crisis — how might it raise funds outside the IMF ...
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Banks Union appeals to Greeks to return their money to banks
President of Greek Banks Association Louka Katseli appealed at the citiznes to return their money to the banks. “Banks are absolutely trustworthy,” Katseli told Mega TV “as guaranteed by the ECB and the Bank Association, but they would have been even more powerful if 40 billion euros had not been […]
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EU has to settle for 32,000 places for relocation, falling some 8,000 short of target
European Union interior ministers have fallen well short of finding takers for the relocation of 40,000 refugees who have made perilous boat trips across the Mediterranean into Italy and Greece.
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Greek Gov’t Spokeswoman: No Plans for Early Elections at this Time
The government has no plans for a snap general election in the near future, the new deputy press minister and government spokeswoman Olga Gerovasili said on Monday, in an interview with ANA-MPA. “Elections are not useful at this time and are not among the government’s intentions,” she said, predicting that more than 120 [government] MPs
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Residents in Neapoli, Greece Set Up IndieGoGo Campaign After Fire
Laconia in southern Peloponnese, suffered significant damage from the 79 fires that broke out on Friday in Greece. According to reports, more than 40 houses were damaged in the city of Neapoli while around 10,000 olive trees were burned. Villages in the area, a children summer camp and several touristic areas were evacuated, during the fire, which has
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Gold Price: This is how events in China and Greece have contributed to plummeting prices
What's happened to the price of gold? Gold is now the cheapest it's been for more than five years. You can buy an ounce of gold for $1,088 (£697) – a ...
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Paul Krugman Shocked By Greek Govt’s Lack of Back Up Plan
Acclaimed American economist, professor of Economics and International Affairs at Princeton University and op-ed columnist for The New York Times Paul Krugman talked to journalist and author Fareed Zakaria about the current Greek financial crisis’ developments. During his interview at CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS,” the 2008 Nobel Prize winner shared his recent surprise regarding the Greek government’s strategy, saying: “It didn’t
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Greece Takes 42nd Place Among Richest Countries in the World
Qatar, Luxembourg and Singapore are not just three of the smallest countries in the world, they are also the three richest countries on the planet. A recent analysis released by Global Finance Magazine “the most commonly accepted method of determining the wealth of countries and comparing generalized differences in living standards on a whole between
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German FinMin Was Reportedly Willing to Pay Greece €50 bln for Grexit
German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble was willing to offer Greece 50 billion euros to exit the Eurozone, according to Heard in Europe, a blog of EurActiv. Heard in Europe cites a “high level official” who recently talked with Schaeuble. A French journal called Mediapart said that before the July 5 referendum, Schaeuble had been quoted as asking what the
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Greek banks stage a limited reopening
Customers gain access to cash in safe deposit boxes but other capital controls remain
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EU falls short on asylum quota scheme
Second setback for burden-sharing plan to help Greece and Italy
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Life inside Colnbrook detention centre: There are no windows, no wind
Asylum seekers can spend years in limbo at Colnbrook detention centre. Nana Varveropoulou gained unique access, taking their photographs and encouraging them to record their lives during the torturous wait Nana Varveropoulou calls her photographic record of life inside Colnbrook immigration removal centre No Man’s Land. The term fits perfectly. Close to Heathrow, so that once word comes through that detainees’ appeals for leave to stay have failed they can be bundled on to planes out of the UK, it is a holding pen for the stateless. They are supposed to be at the centre for no more than three months, but some are held here for years in legal limbo.Colnbrook, which houses more than 400 detainees, is a shadowy place where the media spotlight seldom penetrates. Serco – which ran it until 2014, when Mitie took over the contract – says 80,000 have passed through since it was opened in 2004. Varveropoulou’s photographs and those taken by the inmates who signed up for the workshops she ran there are remarkable. But what is even more remarkable is that they were taken at all. Privately managed centres such as Colnbrook, run on exactly the same lines as prisons, do not encourage interlopers. Somehow, the Greek-born 38-year-old interloped. Continue reading...
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Low-cost trading might actually have a high price
“When I run massive positions, at best I feel apprehensive, but I usually feel like crap,” he admitted, lightening up enormous European longs. “I don’t know what I would’ve done on Sunday if markets had been open.” Last weekend was the most politically volatile in recent memory. “Having them closed probably saved me from myself,” he admitted, knowing stocks would’ve tanked on the break-up of the Eurogroup meeting. But by the open, a deal was done, stocks surged. “If I knew then how savagely Germany would treat Greece, I would’ve been short. So how do I feel now? Blessed.” weekend notes by Eric Peters The S&P 500 gained 2.4% last week, in the wake of Greece’s missed interest payment and political meltdown. I have an even better one for you – the EuroStoxx index, which is like the Dow Jones of Europe, was up 4.3%! Even if you knew the news ahead of time – “Greeks Vote No on Referendum” – you still have no way of knowing how this news will be interpreted by the markets (tens of millions of people you’ve never met, all buying and selling for different reasons). Remember that stocks kicked off 2013 with a massive rally as the sequester got underway. Remember that Treasury bonds actually spiked higher the day that Standard & Poors downgraded them for the first time ever in 2011. Had you entered the intuitive sell trade on these and many other big bad events over the last few years, you’d have been poleaxed by what Jeff Gundlach likes to refer to as “the bloodless verdict of the market” again and again. Your intuition can reliably keep you out of trouble in the real world, but the markets function differently. They are not set up to reward you for your instincts. The CIO that Eric Peters is quoting above is fortunate that markets aren’t a 24/7 affair with wide open access. I believe that most investors are as well. Silicon Valley is enamored with a slew of new tech startups that offer free and instantaneous trading. The technology is cool and the price is, well, as good as it gets, but the larger question to me is “Why?” If an investment isn’t promising enough to justify paying seven dollars to execute the trade, maybe it’s not an investment worth making. Maybe there’s an unexpected benefit to there being some layer of friction between people and their ability to make moves. Perhaps the relatively minor gateway of a trade confirmation screen – “Are you sure you’d like to place this order?” – or a small trading commission ends up being the thing that stands between the kind of frivolous transacting that undoubtedly destroys more value than it creates. Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger say it is very unlikely that they can make hundreds of smart decisions each year. They can get the relatively few big decisions mostly right, which is why their investment process is oriented away from having to make a lot of good calls all the time. Can a guy trading out of boredom from his phone say otherwise with a straight face? I’m all for efficiency and the trend toward lower investment costs. It’s a huge win for investors in the long run. But at what point do lower short-run costs create larger long-run costs by encouraging self-defeating behavior? Investors who are free and unfettered to act on their every impulse and whim are not necessarily being empowered – in many cases they are being endangered. Jack Bogle has made this case in terms of the ETFs that have gradually sucked assets away from traditional ’40 act mutual funds. He views them as carrying a built-in incentive to trade rather than invest because they’re moving up and down all day. He’s partially right – but a tool is only as good or as bad as the end user. Free is never free; there’s always a price. This includes market access. Join the conversation about this story »
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Greek banks reopen to a surprise: no deluge of panic-stricken customers
‘People have behaved so responsibly, so maturely,’ say staff at historical Athens headquarters of National Bank of Greece on first day after 21-day forced closureAt 6am on Monday morning Dimitris Rombopoulos was at his post as the security guard outside the National Bank of Greece. By 6.30 the first of a small but steady stream of people, mostly white-haired pensioners, had begun to appear. Rombopoulos, tall, dark, his tie slightly askew, braced for the worse. “I thought after three weeks of the banks being closed it’s going to be crazy,” he said. “I thought maybe I’d need reinforcement.”So when the giant doors of the bank’s historical headquarters at 86 Aeolou Street finally opened, Rombopoulos had a bit of a surprise. “About 70 people had gathered and most of them were pensioners wanting to withdraw cash,” he added. “And that was about as big as the crowd got.” Continue reading...
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Greek stock exchange prepares to reopen
Banks partially begin business after three weeks
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Attaining Innocence -- Overcoming Turkey's Dark History
Four years ago, my father passed away in Turkey. My mother and I went there this year to settle some undealt paperwork. "It was only two years ago that I learned of your existence, there was a TV series in which one of the characters named Joseph, was the Assyrian/Syriac," the administrator of the municipal office said unashamedly. She has since traveled to my native city Midyat in southeast Turkey - to see for herself - the old grounds of Assyrian / Syriacs. I pointed out my childhood home on a picture she showed me. She carefully asked my mother and I about why my Turkish is poor, why we left the country, and why we never moved back. Her nervousness made her drop some papers on the floor. She held up her sun-bleached hair with a pair of Louis Vuitton sunglasses, wearing a gray sleeveless top and a skirt. Outside you could hear the call to prayer - it was the month of fasting - Ramadan, the Muslim holy month. Most outdoor cafés were still full of people who either drank traditional tea or ate ice cream. They were dressed as if in any other tourist resort. I told her about my grandparents' suffering, why my parents are illiterate, and about how we got stuck in Sweden; because they were afraid that something would happen to us children if Turkey ended up in war with Greece. A Christian country fighting a Muslim country. The Christians in Turkey were therefore seen by some as the enemy. She wanted to know about the genocide of my people in the shadow of the First World War. When I told her most of my grandmother's family was thrown into a well after being brutally murdered, as well as how my grandmother survived the well, the tears began to flow from the administrator's eyes. With wet eyes, she ordered tea for us while I gathered her papers that had fallen by my feet. Mother felt safe with our new acquaintance. She couldn't stop talking about the five Assyrian / Syriac girls, briefly kidnapped from school when she was a child. The scare tactics, so Christians could be excluded from education. That is why my mother can't write. "It feels like I'm the perpetrator, as if it is I who has kidnapped and killed. I have gone to the best schools in the country, researched at one of the better universities. "You are our country's shame, the fact that you don't even exist in teaching materials means I can never trust research again." While she wiped away her tears, she asked if there were books about us in Turkish. I thought of the book I am reading this summer, "The last Christian", how it keeps me awake at night. The author Klaus Wivel traveled to Palestine, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Syria to answer the question if Christians are persecuted. What he saw shocked him, and he managed to convey the feeling. This is a book that should be in every school, the book that all politicians ought to read. But it has barely been mentioned, with only Swedish and Danish versions available. She asked a vital question. "I read the newspapers in other languages. Why don't journalists report on the expulsion of non-Muslims currently taking place in many Muslim-dominated countries?" -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Why Greeks Are Reluctant to Spend Money
After a three-week shutdown, Greek banks have re-opened for Greeks, but people still aren't free to withdraw and spend money freely.
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VAT hike sends prices soaring for Greeks and tourists as banks reopen
Many goods and services will also become more expensive as a result of a rise in VAT approved by parliament in Athens, among the first batch of austerity measures demanded by creditors.
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Greek Fest brings Mediterranean dancing, food to Niles
Having just come back from Greece, Chris Hanes of Lombard headed for the Greek taverna tent at the Big Greek Food Fest of Niles Friday, July 17.
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BlackRock Buys Greek Debt Seeing Peers too Pessimistic on Prices
BlackRock Inc., which oversees about $4.7 trillion, bought Greek debt last week, benefiting from prices that were overly depressed by investor concern ...
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As Greece's banks reopen, the plot in Germany thickens
The spat between Wolfgang Schäuble and Angela Merkel is a proxy for the conflict in German society over whether or not to push Greece out of ...
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Budding police constables must speak second language in Met pilot scheme
Hopefuls must have command of English plus one of 14 other languages including Yoruba, Hebrew, Arabic, Greek and Portuguese Aspiring police constables must speak a second language to join London’s Metropolitan police under a month-long pilot scheme.Scotland Yard is hoping the new criterion will help police “engage with London’s diverse communities as effectively as possible”. Continue reading...
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Greece reopens banks and pays off some debt in first steps towards normality
Officials confirm that almost all of €7.2bn bridging loan went into repaying money owed to the ECB and IMFGreece has taken a step back to normality after its banks reopened following three weeks of closures and receipt of a €7.2bn (£5bn) loan, with almost all of it spent on repaying debts. Greek officials began paying back international lenders shortly after the emergency bridging loan arrived in the Greek government’s bank account on Monday. Continue reading...
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Greece Adjusts to New Normal as Banks Reopen
Greek banks were open for business Monday for the first time in three weeks, as packages of emergency aid allowed the embattled Mediterranean economy to finally start getting back on track. Greece's government is still reportedly keeping a tight cap on ...
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Greece Is In A Deflationary Spiral According To Online Prices
As Greek banks re-open today after a 3-week closure and as the European state works toward reaching a new deal with creditors, it’s still unclear what the full effect of the run on Greek banks has been on the macroeconomy in both Greece and the rest of Europe. While some have [...]
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Fort Gansevoort opens in New York City's Meatpacking District
New York is no stranger to food, art, or retail, but when independent curator Adam Shopkorn was presented with the opportunity to take over a 19th-century Greek Revival row house on the corner of Gansevoort and Little West 12th Street, he jumped at the chance to open a unique space that would [...]
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From Greece to Iran: the importance of credibility
A billboard in Tehran. David Holt, CC BY-SALord Palmerston, Britain’s 19th-century prime minister, was reputedly the first person to have coined the phrase that Nations have no permanent friends or allies, they only have permanent interests. Many statesman have staked their careers on that claim, none more famously than Ronald Reagan when he quoted an old Russian proverb in referring to his negotiations with then Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev about an arms control treaty, Trust, but verify. The gist of both is that sometimes countries have to take a chance and make deals with people that they don’t trust because the possible benefits outweigh the obvious costs. They have to put aside the historical track record – the facts – in order to try to create a new relationship beneficial to everyone. In effect, you need to stick to your interests and ignore everything else. After many years of friction and negotiation, there is something deeply symbolic in the fact that a deal between Greece and the other members of the EU, and between Iran and the permanent members of UN’s Security Council plus Germany, was concluded in the same week. In both cases, the critics can understandably point to the track record of failure and deceit. In both cases, the advocates can suggest that the terms of the final agreements take into account that distrust in building safeguards for implementation – the “verify” component. But in the end, progress – in one case toward mutual prosperity and in the other toward nuclear stability – involves a substantial leap of faith where none appears justified. So looking at both agreements, why did all sides reach an agreement? And whose reputation has suffered in their aftermath? Greece: whose reputation is really on the line? Has he been humiliated? Alkis Konstantinidis/Reuters Of the two, the outcome of the negotiations between Greece and its eurozone partners was perhaps more predictable – Greek defiance followed by capitulation. The Greeks have stressed that they feel “humiliated.” But whose reputation has really suffered as a result of these events? When the euro was created in 1999, strict laws were created about budgetary expenditures that all partners had to follow. Members of the eurozone have to respect the Stability and Growth Pact, which sets agreed limits on deficits and national debt. Each member country has to stay within the limits on government deficits (3% of GDP) and debt (60% of GDP). Eurozone member states face fines if they exceed these amounts. If a country broke the rules in three consecutive years, the European Commission could impose a hefty fine of up to 0.5% of its GDP. Greece became a member in 2001 and inherited these rules. But it was an unspoken secret that Greece was unprepared to meet these requirements. Like other members, it routinely ignored them. Indeed, proceedings were initiated against Greece as early as 2005 but were abandoned, largely for political reasons. If countries like France could flout the rules, then why not Greece, a country with a small economy that was far less important to the health of Europe’s economy? By 2006, even Germany’s debt exceeded the 60% limit. The pact’s guidelines were reformed in 2011 to allow for greater flexibility. Nonetheless, everyone trundled along, pretending that Greece’s behavior was acceptable when it clearly wasn’t. Yet German and French banks had spend years pouring tens of billions of euros into Greece in search of profit, ignoring the growing mountain of Greek debt. Their investment behavior was reckless, similar to American banks before the Great Recession. But, like their American counterparts, they anticipated that they wouldn’t have to pay the bills if things didn’t work out. They would snare the benefits but avoid the costs – what economists call “moral hazard.” The French and German bankers were right. In 2012 they faced oblivion under a mountain of Greek debt. By this year, all but a small fraction of the debt had been moved from their balance sheets to those of their national governments and to international creditors. The exposure of these banks has now been significantly reduced. Greece may feel humiliated. Its reputation may have suffered to the point that many suspect that the final agreement can’t even – or simply won’t – be implemented by any Greek government. But the agreement masks a challenge to the credibility of the French, the Germans and everyone else that ignored their own rules in search of profit – and then chastised the Greeks for their financial folly. And ultimately, as was the case in the US in the first Obama administration, it is the taxpaying citizens of these countries who will foot the bill. Which Iran negotiated the deal? The deal with Iran is even more complex, in large part because it is hard for the Western powers to know who is in charge – and credible. The representatives of supposedly moderate President Hassan Rouhani declared victory last week because the agreement allows Iran to escape from the crushing weight of UN and American sanctions and provided the opportunity for greater future collaboration with the West on a number of issues. But, on July 18, Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei undermined any spirit of detente by declaring Iran’s avowed opposition to the US and calling once again for the total destruction of Israel, which he described in his speech as a “terrorist, baby-killer government.” While his speech may have been designed to appease hard-liners at home, the effect abroad will be to undermine President Obama’s efforts to convince the US Congress that it should verify the agreement and to reinforce Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s claim that it is a “historic mistake.” Both Iran’s credibility as a member of the “community of nations” and the agreement’s credibility in portending a new collaboration with the West, was, I would argue, swiftly and brutally destroyed. President Obama’s credibility also suffered a major setback, unless he can convince his Republican opponents that Iran can be boxed in by the terms of the agreement, despite its reinforced reputation as an ambitious and unrelenting threat to the US and its regional allies. Verify – but trust? So, as a new week starts, the question remains: will either the July 13 Greece agreement or July 14 Iran deal achieve its promise for, respectively, prosperity and greater policy coordination in Europe and nuclear stability in the Middle East? One thing is clear: when it comes to statecraft, “trust” is just as important as “verify” when it comes to negotiating truly momentous agreements. In its absence, the prospects for peace and prosperity look grim.
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EU fails to reach migrant resettlement target
EU ministers failed to agree Monday on how to redistribute an agreed total of 40,000 Syrian and Eritrean migrants from overstretched Italy and Greece, officials said.
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Germany, Greece and the New World Order
With the Greek crisis being played out before our eyes, Germany is being accused of a variety of draconian policies and taking a hard line against Greece, and by extension the Greek people, to further Germany's aims. Many have brought up WWII as an example of how the Nazis forced the Greek central bank to provide loans to Germany during World War II after pillaging the country and massacring Greeks, leaving countless orphans and a destitute and starving population in its wake. Yet worn torn nations forgave Germany's war debt to help Germany get back on its feet, so to speak. But as Greek officials and Spiegel Online point out, Germany never paid back the loans Greece was forced to make to the Nazis. According to economist Michael Hudson, the most successful debt jubilee in recent times was gifted to Germany, the country now most opposed to doing the same for Greece. The German Economic Miracle followed massive debt forgiveness by the Allies. Yet, Germany shows zero empathy for Greece to relieve her debt. (See links below) Germany's disregard for Greek lives didn't begin during WWII, however. It can also be traced back to WWI. For Germany, any policy that advanced its economic or commercial interests, no matter how horrendous and inhumane was and, apparently, still is acceptable. Just prior to WWI, Talaat and Enver, two of the three key Pashas ruling the Ottoman Empire's Young Turk Party, formally known as the Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), were firmly committed to Germany's vision ... at least the part they thought they understood. As Minister of War, Enver suggested that the German General, Otto Liman von Sanders, be appointed Inspector General. It gave von Sanders an extraordinary amount of control over the Ottoman military. According to U.S. Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Henry Morgenthau, Sr., Germany dragged Turkey into the Great War with the support of only a few of those top Young Turk officials. It was a war the Ottomans were poorly equipped to fight. At least one month before the Ottomans openly declared war on 29 October, 1914, Germany's growing control over the Empire became clear. Germany was already requisitioning Ottoman supplies in Germany's name for her own use. Referring to a September 29, 1914 document for the requisitioning of a shipload of oil cake, the German Ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Baron von Wangenheim (1912-1915), boasted to Morgenthau that he had requisitioned the lot by the steamship Derindje for the German Government. To Morgenthau, this proved "Germany was exercising the powers of sovereignty at Constantinople." It wasn't the only thing Germany and the Young Turks were requisitioning. The confiscation of farm animals and everything else needed for the war left citizens destitute and starving. And without their men who were drafted for the war, there was no one to work the land or care for the family, which caused hundreds of thousands of deaths, not only on the battlefield, but at home. Soldiers were sent to fight poorly dressed for war. Some had no shoes, and reports of Turkish soldiers pounding on doors and begging for bread were rampant. Morgenthau reported: "The Turkish Government paid its soldiers 25 cents a month, and gave the families a separation allowance of $1.20 a month. As a result thousands were dying from lack of food and many more were enfeebled by malnutrition." So where do the Greeks come into the picture? Indigenous Greeks had lived in what became Turkey for over three millennia, two millennia before the first Turkish tribes invaded. German historian, Hilmar Kaiser, collected German World War I propaganda that "was addressed to both Ottoman and German audiences" in which both Anatolian Greeks and Armenians were targeted. Kaiser writes, "the mass murder of Armenians had opened up new opportunities for German trade and investment." This held true for the mass murder and displacement of Ottoman Greeks and Assyrians as well, as noted in The Times headline: "Extermination of Greeks in Turkey. A German Plot Disclosed." German engineering of the genocidal policies against the Anatolian Greeks was widely recognized. M. Politis, Minister for Foreign Affairs, today laid before the Chamber four new documents proving conclusively that the persecutions of which the Greeks at Aivali and in other parts of Asia Minor were the victims were carried out in accordance with a plan for the extermination of the Greek race in Turkey devised by the German General Staff, which aided and supervised its execution. Greek men were conscripted into labor battalions where they were worked and starved to death--again leaving women, children and the aged to fend for themselves--and whole Greek villages were emptied with no provisions for the survival. In fact, to insure their demise, it was forbidden to buy or sell to the displaced Greeks, or help them in any way. In some areas of Anatolia, the Greeks were simply massacred. With King Constantine I on the throne of Greece, Germany was sure Greece would not protest against the annihilation of the Greeks under Ottoman rule. Or, if she did, make only token protestations for appearances. Born of Danish and Russian parentage, but more importantly, married to the sister of the Germany kaiser, Wilhelm II, Constantine would make sure Greece would also remain neutral during WWI while he was king, a war planned by Germany and Austria. As late as June 1, 1918, Greek massacres were continuing. As the Chicago Daily Tribune reported: "Million Greeks are massacred: Thrown into Sea - Germans Made the Turk More Efficient in His Murders." At least 1,000,000 Greeks, men, women, and children have perished as a result of organized massacres and deportations by 'the Turco-Teutons' in Asiatic Turkey, ... 'Those of us who were between the ages of 16 and 60 were drafted into the army,' Macrides said. 'Our women and children and the older men were placed temporarily in homes and orphanages until the time when the opportunity offered to dispose of them in the approved Turco-Teuton fashion, which in this instance turned out to be by wholesale drowning.' Morgenthau reported that the Young Turks were so successful against the Greeks, they decided to go after the other Christian 'races' as well, the Armenians and Assyrians. Between 1913-1923, Greek deaths amounted to over one million, 353,000 of whom were Pontic Greeks, Assyrians 275,000, and Armenians 1.5 million, bringing the total Christian deaths to three millions or more. This is not meant to imply that the Ottoman Turks are off the hook for the mass murder of their Christians subjects. According to then German Minister at Athens, Baron Hans Freiherr von Wangenheim (1909-12), as early as July 24, 1909, the Young Turks had already decided to "wage a war of extermination against the Christians of the Empire. .. They would begin in the heartland of Anatolia, where Turkey had the greatest control, and where outsiders had the least access to observe what was being done to the Christians." The Young Turks were apparently waiting for a convenient moment. The Great War and Germany gave them that moment. With such control in Turkey, Germany could have prevented the mass murder and displacement of Anatolian Greeks. Instead, as The Times reported, the "German General Staff, .... aided and supervised its execution." As British historian Arnold Toynbee understood it: Germany's economic activity in Turkey has been not for prosperity but for power, not for peace but for war. In developing Turkey, Germany is simply developing the 'Central Europe' scheme of a military combine self-contained economically and challenging the world in arms[29]. Germany is concerned with Turkey, not for her splendid past and future, but for her miserable present; for Turkey--as she is, and only as she is--is a vital chequer on the chess-board where Germany has been playing her game of world power, or "des staatlich-machtlichen Interessens," as Dr. Wiedenfeld would say. Therefore Germany does not eye the lands and peoples under Ottoman dominion with a view to their common advantage and her own. She selects a "piece" among them which she can keep under her thumb and so control the square. [Sultan] Abd-ul-Hamid was her first pawn, and when the Young Turk Party swept him off the board she adopted them and their colour; for by hook or by crook, through this agency or that, Turkey had to be commanded or Germany's play was spoilt. As Greece's largest stakeholder and most obstinate negotiator, Germany now had her way. As Toynbee pointed out during the WWI period, "She [Germany] selects a 'piece' among them which she can keep under her thumb and so control the square." The representative of that piece, former-Greek Minister of Finance, Yanis Varoufakis was the first casualty. That the Prime Minister, Alexis Tsipras, actually asked Varoufakis to step aside for further negotiations probably revealed too great a weakness on Greece's part. Apparently, Varoufakis didn't fit under Germany's thumb. Closing the banks and making the demands placed on Greece even more onerous then before Syriza was elected, seemed to calculate a rebellion by the Greek people to get rid of Syriza as well. The demand for privatization of even more Greek public assets further strips Greece of the ability to make revenue from those assets. In fact, Greece is being ransacked and left unprotected, like a house with no windows and doors. Even then, the IMF and a number of top economists admit that Greece's debt is unsustainable. So when will the roof be demanded? As Ellen Brown points out, the Greek debt can be cut without hurting the bondholders. A coup d'état certainly seems an appropriate term to use. Or as Varoufakis termed it, "political terrorism". The suffering of the Greek people, who bear the brunt of this terrorism, has fallen on deaf ears. You have to give Germany credit for one thing, however. After two failed world wars, they've finally learned how to wage war without troops, without military machinery and the great financial burden that entails, and without leaving visible, gaping wounds and millions of dead bodies and demolished houses scattered around the world. Germany also no longer has a need for concentration camps and crematoriums. Germany can now wreck the lives of millions of people and take over whole countries without any of those unsightly signs of war. And unlike Germany's last two wars, its new method of waging war has Germany's reputation somewhat battered for some, but for others Germany is praised as a tough but justified negotiator. The new propaganda against the "lazy Greeks" is working in some camps, even though, while the former Greek government was not blameless, all roads lead to Goldman Sachs. Were EU officials too inept to notice something was wrong with Greece's accounting? Or was there something more sinister at play when they ignored what some say were obvious signs? Whatever the answer to those questions, Germany has learned it's much easier and cheaper to wage war and dominate whole nations through finance! Ah! The new world order! For a further understanding of the Greek debt crisis, the following websites are recommended: http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/greek-study-provides-evidence-of-forced-loans-to-nazis-a-1024762.html http://www.counterpunch.org/2015/07/08/71809/ http://www.truthdig.com/report/item/grexit_or_jubilee_how_greek_debt_can_be_annulled_20150716 http://www.huffingtonpost.com/robert-reich/how-goldman-sachs-profite_b_7820794.html -- This feed and its contents are the property of The Huffington Post, and use is subject to our terms. It may be used for personal consumption, but may not be distributed on a website.
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Greece news: Greek banks reopen, but a hefty new sales tax
Greek banks have opened for the first time in over three weeks – a move that the government hopes will help get the economy back to normal following a period dominated by fears over the country’s future in the euro.
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Greek banks tapped more ECB emergency funding in June
#economy
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.enikos.gr |
‘Bridge loan’ takes effect! Greece makes payments to IMF, ECB
Meanwhile, back in the 'real economy' that comprises GDP... {crickets}
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
EU countries fail to meet goals to tackle migrants crisis
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - The European Union failed on Monday to agree on how to spread 40,000 asylum seekers in Greece and Italy among its members over the next two years, postponing the decision until the end of the year, EU diplomats said.
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Greek pilot lands in Turkey, withdraws cash from local ATM! Or so goes viral hoax
According to (real) new reports, some people actually called the Turkish municipality to inquire about the 'incident'
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| READ THE ORIGINAL POST AT en.protothema.gr |
EU again falls short of target for migrant relocation
BRUSSELS (AP) — European Union interior ministers have fallen well short of finding takers for the relocation of 40,000 refugees who have made perilous boat trips across the Mediterranean into Italy and Greece.
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Greece reopens banks, starts repaying some debts
ATHENS (Reuters) - Greece reopened its banks and ordered billions of euros owed to international creditors to be repaid on Monday in the first signs of a return to normal after last week's deal to agree a tough new package of bailout reforms.
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Partial relief
A man waits for customers outside his shop in Athen’s central market on Monday. Greek banks reopened Monday after a three-week shutdown imposed to stop a run on ATMs from crashing the financial system, but citizens woke up to widespread price hikes as part of a cash-for-reform deal with the country’s creditors. Taxes went up on many products and services.
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Greek Ministries Reshuffle, Officially Change Leadership
On Monday the Greek ministries that were reshuffled on Friday had their official changing of the guard. In the Labor Ministry, George Katrougalos replaced Panos Skourletis who will be now leading the Ministry of Productive Reconstruction, Environment and Energy. “The agreement with the creditors is not Varkiza because the guns, meaning power, were not surrendered,” Katrougalos said referring to
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US stocks edge higher at midday; gold dips
Encouraging earnings news helped nudge U.S. stocks higher in early afternoon trading Monday. Investors had their eye on the latest corporate report cards after weeks of fretting over Greece's debt crisis. Gold slumped to its lowest level in five years, pulling mining stocks lower.
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Greece repays about 4.2 billion euros to ECB
Greece repaid the European Central Bank on Monday, the bank said, clearing a key obligation worth about 4.2 billion euros (£2.9 billion) with one of its top lenders, after receiving temporary funding while it negotiates a bigger bailout deal. The 3.5 billion-euro bond and 700 million-euro interest payment to the ECB was crucial. It also comes after Greece repaid about 2 billion euros to the International Monetary Fund, clearing all its arrears after missing several payments in June and July.
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