#4
texhooey, AFAIU that's pretty much what happened. Papdemos (whatever) was the handpicked ECB technocrat that was supposed to force all the German austerity measures through the recalcitrant Greek parliment.
#6
This is easy. Sell some of those islands. Isnt that how the US got Alaska and Florida? I know some buyers. The Russians want a warm water port - and then perhaps might then not need to protect Syria'a back (and its Syrian port used by the Ruskies). The Turks have always thought some of those islands are theirs. (the actual ownership has transfered many times) The Palastinians need a real home. And the Isrealites need land (so it seems) The Brits need a warm water island to vacation on as does all the Northern Europe countries. This could all be done and the blessed Euro saved from serious depreciation. I am a synic of course. The Greeks main source of revenue is tourism and they are doing a great job of reducing that to rubble. The Greeks only represent 2and half percent of Europes GDP. Why fund this nonsense. Sell those islands!
#8
The American schadenfreude with respect to the Europeans will be on the other foot when the Greeks leave the Euro and EU only to petition to join the Dollar and the U.S.
As a self-governing "Commonwealth" just like Porto Rico has been for over a century.
#9
"the Greeks leave the Euro and EU only to petition to join the Dollar and the U.S."
They can petition all they like.
Not only no, but HELL NO.
Posted by: Barbara ||
02/11/2012 19:58 Comments ||
Top||
#10
..well, newc, there's always trading California to China for all those US Treasury debts they're holding, with a 100 year retention lease on the San Diego area with option to buy back.
[Emirates 24/7] Eurozone finance ministers on Thursday put off a decision on a new bailout to save Greece from bankruptcy, giving Athens less than a week to meet three conditions in return for the aid.
The demands were set during talks between Greek Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos and his 16 eurozone counterparts in Brussels, hours after rival Greek politicians struck a deal on austerity measures demanded by foreign lenders.
"Despite the important progress achieved over the last days, we did not have yet all necessary elements on the table to take decisions today," Eurogroup chief Jean-Claude Juncker told a news conference.
The eurozone will hold a new meeting next Wednesday if all conditions are met, said Juncker, Luxembourg's prime minister.
Venizelos had urged his counterparts to endorse the debt relief deal, but the ministers first demanded that the Greek parliament approve the austerity measures agreed by the political parties when it convenes on Sunday.
The two other conditions are additional structural spending cuts of 325 million euros for 2012 and "strong political assurance" from coalition leaders that they will implement austerity measures, Juncker said.
Greek politicians reached a last-minute deal Thursday on new austerity measures demanded by international lenders in return of the 130-billion-euro (ê171 billion) bailout.
In parallel, Greece has negotiated a debt writedown with its private lenders, hoping to slash 100 billion euros from its 350-billion-euro debt mountain.
But after seeing Greece drag its feet on reforms for the past two years, finance ministers want proof that Athens will follow through on its promises this time, warning that April elections should not thwart the reforms.
"All these measures are important to ensure a smooth implementation of the progamme, also after the upcoming (Greek) general elections," Juncker said.
"These three elements that I mentioned need to be in place before we can take decisions," he added.
[An Nahar] Pope Benedict XVI could be the target of an liquidation plot, according to a document published on Friday by the Il Fatto Quotidiano daily which the Vatican dismissed as "delirious".
The newspaper published a confidential document dated December 30, 2011 which was apparently sent by retired Colombian cardinal Dario Castrillon Hoyos to the Vatican warning of unspecified plans to kill the pope.
Castrillon Hoyos reportedly met the pope in January to discuss the threat.
The document from the Colombian cardinal says that the plot was mentioned by the archbishop of Palermo Paolo Romeo during a visit to China in November.
Romeo reportedly said that he had heard of a plot to assassinate the pope "within the next 12 months" but did not give further details.
Asked about the reported comments on Friday, however, Romeo said that the words attributed to him were "absolutely without basis."
"It is so outside of reality that it should not be given any consideration," Romeo was quoted by Italian news agency ANSA as saying.
Vatican front man Federico Lombardi told Agence La Belle France Presse: "It's clear that this document contains crazy considerations that are devoid of any reality."
Lombardi said he did not deny the existence of the document but added that its contents "should not be taken seriously at all."
According to other comments attributed to Romeo in the document, Benedict now has a very confrontational relationship with the Vatican's powerful Secretary of State Tarcisio Bertone and is trying to replace him.
Experts said the release of the document could be part of a power struggle within the Vatican administration to try and force Bertone to leave.
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Eurozone finance ministers on Thursday put off a decision on a new bailout to save Greece from bankruptcy, giving Athens less than a week to meet three conditions in return for the aid.
[An Nahar] Pope Benedict XVI could be the target of an 
