"Many German tourists drop Greece from vacation lists" by Alex Webb | Bloomberg News, May 27, 2012
FRANKFURT - After Germany’s insistence that Greek adhere to the terms of the bailout agreement, some Greek politicians have evoked memories of the country’s Nazi occupation during World War II.
From what I understand the Greeks gave the Nazis a devil of a time in the 1940s.
The turmoil in Greece also has led to speculation that the country may leave the euro zone.
Meet the bankers, the new Nazis.
Actually, that's a misnomer. Turns out the Nazis were opposed to the private banking cartel. That's why they have been demonized and distorted -- among other reasons -- all these years. I'm not saying they were a great bunch of guys, no government is; however, the received history regarding that group is a distortion at best and an abominable and unholy lie at worst.
The leader of Greece’s Syriza Party, Alexis Tsipras, urged Germans during a visit to Berlin to show their solidarity in picking his country for their summer vacation.
Tsipras has pledged to rip up the terms of Greece’s rescue and halt the austerity measures that the government has already agreed on with creditors.
“You’ll experience hospitality that is always warm-hearted, to Germans certainly,’’ said Tsipras, whose party led a recent poll of voting intentions for June 17 elections. “We believe our country is part of a great family, and you’re our big brothers.’’
Related: Greece's Rigged Election
Also see: Greeks say Merkel suggested referendum on euro’s future
She just got the rig job results she wanted.
The Germans need encouragement....
Some German concerns were fueled after reports that a 78- year-old Dutchman had been hospitalized after an attack by two men in southern Greece who mistook him for a German....
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Related:
"In another incident widely believed to be linked to extreme rightists, a reporter for the Jerusalem Post, Gil Sehefler, said he was beaten Tuesday by a group of masked assailants wielding sticks as he tried to photograph a group of immigrants....
Gladio, an Israeli false flag, or a hoax?
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"Berlin forest boy story proven untrue" ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 16, 2012
BERLIN - The forest boy mystery is solved: It’s not true.
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Why does that just sound so familiar?
Related: Den of Lies
The Holocaust™ Is a LIE!!!!!
Holohoax™ Case in Massachusetts Court
Herman Rosenblat's Holocaust memoir of love is exposed as a hoax
The Diary of Anne Fraud
The Long Litany of Jewish Lies
The Truth Shall Make You Free
Let's stick with the theme:
"Demjanjuk attorney files complaint against doctors" Associated Press, June 14, 2012
BERLIN - John Demjanjuk’s attorney has filed a complaint with Bavarian prosecutors claiming that pain medication administered to the 91-year-old former Ohio autoworker helped lead to his death as he awaited an appeal of his conviction on Nazi war crimes.
The guys health was already in decline, but was he given a shove? Dead men can no longer talk, cui bono.
In a 12-page complaint, attorney Ulrich Busch asks prosecutors in Rosenheim to open an investigation of five doctors and a nurse on suspicion of manslaughter and causing bodily harm to Demjanjuk, who had kidney disease and other serious ailments.
The drug named in the complaint, Novalgin - known in the
United States as Metazimole or dipyrone - is a commonly used pain
medication in hospitals in Germany and around the world.
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Related: Demjanjuk is Dead
Still no peace.
"German lawmakers booted for neo-Nazi garb" June 14, 2012
BERLIN - The president of Saxony’s state Parliament expelled eight far-right lawmakers from the assembly Wednesday for wearing clothes favored by German neo-Nazis.
The National Democratic Party lawmakers refused to remove T-shirts and shirts from the Thor Steinar company in an “openly provocative act,’’ Parliament spokesman Ivo Klatte said.
The brand, with its runic symbols and Nordic themes, is popular among neo-Nazis in Germany, even though the company has distanced itself from far-right extremism in the past.
The lawmakers were banned from Parliament’s next three sessions after refusing to change or leave, Klatte said. They left voluntarily only after police entered the assembly hall to enforce their expulsion.
Parliament’s rules forbid clothes, posters, or stickers expressing a political opinion in the assembly hall, Klatte said.
Thor Steinar clothes are “typical for the far-right scene,’’ and assembly president Matthias Roessler said that wearing them amounted to an overt expression of a political opinion, Klatte said.
Lawmakers from center-left and far-left opposition parties have been sanctioned in the past for wearing political stickers or posters in Parliament.
The National Democratic Party lawmakers said the shirts were worn as a protest action targeted at the rules banning such clothes, said party spokesman Thorsten Thomsen.
“No caucus member was wearing clothes that explicitly express a political opinion,’’ he said, adding that Thor Steinar was merely a fashion brand.
The National Democratic Party entered the state Parliament in 2004 with eight lawmakers. A year later members caused outrage when they walked out instead of observing a moment of silence for Holocaust victims.
In 2008, on the 75th anniversary of Hitler’s elevation to German chancellor, the party’s lawmakers in the northeastern state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania refused to rise from their seats during a moment of silence in honor of the Nazis’ victims.
That guy sure makes the newspapers a lot for a fella whose been dead nearly 70 years.
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And meet the Jews of the 21st century -- except their story is real.
Speaking of which, let's get back to the present:
"Pressure rises as Italy, Spain pay more on loans" June 15, 2012
MILAN — The rise of Italy’s and Spain’s borrowing costs to alarming levels on Thursday heaped pressure on leaders to prevent Europe’s debt crisis from engulfing its largest countries. But no grand solution appears imminent.
Germany’s chancellor, Angela Merkel, opposes proposals that many experts are pushing because they would increase costs for Berlin. Merkel has found herself isolated from the leaders of Spain, Italy, and France, who want the 17 countries in the euro currency union to move quickly to bind their governments’ finances and debt.
Just as Heir Hitler did.
That could take the form of jointly issued debt or European-wide guarantees on bank deposits. Either step would spread the risks that individual countries bear across the eurozone. But Germany, which as Europe’s largest economy bears most of the cost of bailouts, is reluctant to expose itself to more costs.
Bankers still screwing Germany after all these years.
The proposed steps are expected to dominate talks at next week’s summit of Group of 20 leaders in Mexico.
Compounding the debt crisis is the fear that’s gripped European banks about lending to each other — a key element of a stable banking system.
‘‘The European banking system is paralyzed,’’ said Nicolas Veron, senior fellow at the Bruegel think tank in Brussels. ‘‘So many banks hold massive amounts of Spanish and Italian government bonds that are losing value. We no longer have a functioning interbank [lending] market in the eurozone.’’
Experts warn that the need for a solution is urgent, and that European leaders must signal to investors soon that a consensus is forming around some plan.
Uh-oh. That's when you reach for your wallet.
They note how fast fears about Spain have spread to Italy. Matters could worsen this weekend, when Greece will hold elections that could determine whether that country sticks to the terms of its bailout.
Abandoning the bailout deal would probably require Greece to leave the currency union, bringing uncertain consequences for Europe and the global economy.
Not to worry: Greece's Rigged Election
‘‘We’re at a tipping point,’’ said Michael Hewson, a senior analyst at CMC Markets. ‘‘You either have to deliver or disband.’’
Here’s a look at the situation by country:
■ Germany: Any major steps to ease Europe’s debt crisis must meet Berlin’s approval. So far, Merkel has balked at anything that might heavily expose Germany to other countries’ financial weaknesses. Merkel has long favored austerity as the best way for governments to heal their finances. But that stance is under fire, with sentiment in Europe shifting toward seeking ways to foster growth.
Merkel is unlikely to agree to allowing greater government spending to spur growth. But she might be open to allowing some countries to slow their pace of spending cuts.
Beyond growth, market experts say European nations must act to integrate their finances and debt to boost confidence in the eurozone. Fears that Spain or Italy cannot manage its debts could subside if a stronger country like Germany agreed to shoulder some of it.
Merkel said Thursday that Germany is open to wide-ranging reforms — such as eurobonds or a centralized banking authority with the power to bail out banks. But she cautioned that they’re no quick fix for the crisis. Europe’s weak governments must fix their public finances first.
That is the thing that put us all in this mess.
‘‘Yes, Germany is strong,’’ she said. ‘‘But we also know that Germany’s strength is not infinite.’’
Hitler found that out the hard way.
■ Italy: The interest Italy must pay to raise $3.76 billion in three-year loans jumped Thursday to 5.3 percent, the highest rate since December. Italy also auctioned 10-year bonds at a worryingly high rate of 6.13 percent. Investors are demanding a high rate for fear that Italy might soon need financial aid.
A European deal to save Spain’s banks has failed this week to defuse worries about Spanish debt.
See: Skipping Through Spain
‘‘They mucked up Spain so badly that now it’s impacted Italy,’’ said Gary Jenkins of Swordfish Research.
Italy has the eurozone’s third-largest economy. For now, it can finance its debt. But the rising cost of doing so is causing pain. With the economy in a deep recession, the debt is expected to keep rising. Figures released Thursday showed it hit a new high of $2.4 trillion in April.
■ Spain: Its troubles keep growing....
“The clock is definitely ticking,” said Michael Howson, an analyst with CMC Markets.
■ Greece: It isn’t clear what effect a Greek exit from the eurozone would have. Some say it would fuel fear that other countries like Portugal might leave as well, threatening to create a domino effect.
Because Europe, as a whole, has the largest economy in the world, a Greek exit would roil financial markets. It would also hurt Greece’s trade with countries like the United States and Japan.
Won't have to worry about it now, right?
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Next Day Update:
"Greek coalition talks to enter second day; Probailout parties stick to game plan" by Nicholas Paphitis | Associated Press, June 19, 2012
ATHENS - President Obama and other world leaders voiced relief over the possible formation of a pro-austerity government, cautiously calling it a positive opportunity for the country to overcome its crisis. The president called on European nations to work together with the new Greek leaders to make the bailout happen....
The socialist PASOK party, led by former finance minister Evangelos Venizelos, criticized Syriza chief Alexis Tsipras for his refusal to join in governing Greece. “You can’t have some people choosing the easy position of being in opposition and lying in wait for the government to fail - or rather trying to create the conditions for the government, that is the country, to fail,’’ Venizelos said.
In a joint statement, European Council president Herman Van Rompuy and European Commission president Jose Manuel Barroso also said that fiscal and structural reforms were the best way for Greece to overcome its economic challenges.
But an early-market rally faded quickly Monday as investors turned their attention back to the other financially unstable economies in Spain and Italy. Greece has survived for more than two years on rescue loans from its European partners and the International Monetary Fund. The vital bailouts are conditional on Greece continuing with its unpopular package of spending cuts and pushing through new structural reforms.
That's what the Greek voters voted for?
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"Europe relief from Greek vote to be fleeting; Country left in vulnerable economic state" by David McHugh and Menelaos Hadjicostis | Associated Press, June 19, 2012
ATHENS — Europe is struggling to put out several fires, not just the one in Greece. Heavily indebted Spain and Italy saw their borrowing costs rise Monday, increasing pressure on their government finances and keeping alive fears that another big bailout might be needed.
You can thank the merciless, billions-per-quarter-in-profits banks for that.
That would considerably strain the eurozone’s ability to protect its members and keep the currency union together.
‘‘The crisis is far from over,’’ Commerzbank analyst Christoph Weil said in a note to investors. ‘‘A sovereign default by Greece and the country’s exit from the monetary union have probably been avoided for the time being.”
The eurozone’s challenges run deep. The economy is expected to shrink this year, with the so-called peripheral countries like Greece and Spain in painful recession. Many of its banks remain on life support, propped up by emergency credit from the European Central Bank.
Europe is a substantial trading partner with the rest of the world. If it falls into a deep recession sparked by a default in Greece or a massive bailout for Spain, orders for goods made in the United States and China are going to start falling off.
No clear route out of the crisis has been laid out, and expectations are uncertain whether a June 28-29 summit of European leaders in Brussels will prove any more convincing than previous ones that failed to restore confidence....
One beneficiary of Sunday’s result in Greece may be President Obama, who has urged European leaders to take more vigorous action to avoid a threat to the US and global economies. The election win for New Democracy increases the likelihood that any disruptive Greek exit from the eurozone would not happen until after Obama’s contest with challenger Mitt Romney in the November presidential election, rather than before.
In a key development Monday, Athens cleanup crews swept up central Syntagma Square and took down election posters as Greeks waited for the formation of a new government that is unlikely to bring any immediate relief to the suffering of people who have lost jobs and small businesses in a 5-year-old recession and financial crisis....
No, it is going to bring MORE PAIN!
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