Also a tragedy that I'm still buying a Globe.
"Greek retiree kills himself in main Athens square" Associated Press, April 05, 2012
ATHENS - A Greek retiree shot himself dead Wednesday in the busiest public square in Athens during morning rush hour, leaving a note police said linked his suicide with the country’s acute financial woes.
Hours later, more than 1,500 antiausterity protesters gathered in the square, responding to social media calls for peaceful demonstrations accusing Greek politicians of driving people to despair with harsh cutbacks implemented to secure vital international bailouts.
Limited scuffles broke out between the protesters and riot police, who used a small amount of pepper spray to repel youths throwing bottles of water at them.
The 77-year-old retired pharmacist drew a handgun and shot himself in the head near a subway exit on central Syntagma Square which was crowded with commuters, police said. The square, opposite Greece’s Parliament, is a focal point for public protests.
The incident jolted public opinion and quickly entered political debate, with the prime minister and the heads of both parties backing Greece’s governing coalition expressing sorrow.
Yeah, they are sorry that the decisions they made led this guy to end his life, sure.
According to a text of the suicide note, the man said the government had made it impossible for him to survive on the pension he had paid into for 35 years.
All so THIEVING, LOOTING BANKSTERS can GET PAID!
And I know, I know, they took a loss on the bonds, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. I wouldn't worry about them that much after the Fed and ECB have tossed trillions into their coffers to "stabilize" them.
“I find no other solution than a dignified end before I start searching through the trash for food,’’ read the note.
What scares me is that could be my future in the good, old U.S.A.
Police did not confirm whether it was genuine.
But if it were some bullshit terrorist out of the Gladio handbook or bin Laden.... sigh.
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"Beleaguered Greece sets May elections" Associated Press April 12, 2012
ATHENS - Greece’s prime minister called Wednesday for a general election May 6, after his coalition government pushed through landmark financial relief deals that rescued the country from the threat of bankruptcy but condemned his recession-burdened countrymen to greater hardship.
Lucas Papademos, a former vice president of the European Central Bank, was appointed premier in November and spent five months pushing through harsh austerity measures in order to secure a vital international bailout and a major debt relief deal with banks....
Of course, Greece is in deeper debt than it has ever been, but you know. You can't question failed policies, you can't question the conventional "wisdom," you can't point out the policy is intentionally designed that way because it has become increasingly clear that GOVERNMENTS WORK FOR BANKS in the western democratic world!
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Related: Markets Pick Papademos to Govern Greece
I wonder who they will pick to be elected this time.
Also see: Greece lowers recovery expectations
And things just keep getting worse:
"Cyprus has first visit by Israeli leader" February 17, 2012
NICOSIA, Cyprus - Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, paid a historic visit to Cyprus yesterday, aiming to strengthen what he declared to be a “natural relationship’’ between the countries in a volatile and quickly changing region.
The visit was the first by an Israeli leader to the nearby island nation, which along with Israel has natural gas interests in the Mediterranean and is coping with rising tensions with Turkey....
Although Cyprus is only a 50-minute flight from Tel Aviv, ties between it and Israel have long been chilly. But Israel’s relations with Turkey have deteriorated over the past three years, while Cyprus has been looking to cement ties with neighbors as a bulwark against Turkey’s growing influence.
Another bridge between Israel and Cyprus has been the discovery of huge natural gas deposits in the Mediterranean Sea. Exploration has found an estimated 25 trillion cubic meters of gas in Israeli waters and up to 230 billion cubic meters in Cypriot waters.
See: Israel Grabs Lebanese Gas
Is there anything they don't steal?
Turkey opposes any Greek Cypriot oil and gas search that denies breakaway Turkish Cypriots what it says is a rightful claim to gas wealth. And it has dismissed a Cypriot-Israeli deal demarcating maritime borders.
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