Cyprus and European instability

Certainly it comes as no suprize to me that the opening of banks in Cyprus did not lead to a panic. How could it anyways with all the restraining laws on withdrawals and transfers. As for writing a cheque well, it wont be honored in Cyprus. So the citizens of this island watch as forces much larger and way beyond their control play with their fate. After the unanimous rejection of the five to eight percent trim deal that the Eurogroup offered the talk was of a fifty to eighty percent trim on all deposits over 100000 euros. It is hard to guess what will happen. The fallout from this financial bust will be felt in ripples across the continent. Certainly the Cyprians where not the only people whose economy was based mostly on banking. There is Malta and Luxemberg who are also a part of the European Union. So this union has become uneven, undemocratic, economic only in its nature. There is still no real constitution or even a roadmap of what human rights and rights of the individual that this union would be willing to guarantee or at least protect for its member citizens. There are no borders to this union and no guarantee to its members of any kind for protection of their independence. What the union does offer, and this thanks to the Maastricht deal signed not so long ago, is the ability to plunder. Big members can plunder smaller ones without having to pay any kind of taxes, without any kind of hinderance that a national bank might offer. There is no way to resist this and I am not sure when the concentration of power and sovereignty to one member only will stop. The only sure thing is that if things continue this way Germany will once again become a superpower. Her influence on the lesser union nations already has reduced them to the status of satellite states.

Cyprus fulcrum...

Certainly it would be a feat of German engineering to balance east and west on a point. Question is will they be able to balance so many opposing interests in such a small amount of time. The last year has passed through the hourglass with little or no change to the status quo so why now? There is a big scuffle over the first six or so billion of funding needed to get Cyprus out of its present situation. If the Cyprians sign the deal then there will be no problem for an additional twenty or more billion euros. It is truly a cunundrum this German financial engineering that can shut down a country for nearly ten days now. No money, food and medicine shortages, you know, the stuff that is typicaly done to former colonies... there is a ring around the moon tonight, I wonder if it is a healing ring or not. Such a highly orchestrated inability to reach a deal on both sides. So many players and so much at risk in the eastern mediterranean. The little island where east meets west...

Cyprus says... no.

After a weekend barrage of scare tactics and lightly veiled threats by the Troika the Cypriot parliament settled in to vote for its salvation. Then a funny thing happened. Instead of this little pipsqueak nation ratifying the deal, like Greece and Portugal and Ireland and Spain, with the usual two thirds that the troika requires, Cyprus did something totaly unheard of. Its parliament voted a resounding no with not a single vote in favor. Not one member of any faction voted yes. Merkel and her merry band of thieves found their first bit of resistance. Sure they are very busy trying to convince the entire world that they have the only viable solution. Sure they insist that Europe can't keep funding little Cyprus. Sure they are dropping hints that all this Russian money in Cyprian banks is somehow illegal. Certainly they had no qualms about taxing it. They are ridiculous and at last someone has found the power to resist the beast. The bankers and that little clique of theirs can now, as the Greeks say, fart mentos (farting mint flavoured candy is a reference to a chill that passes through you). Shine on you crazy diamond...

The Cypriot Affair

This blogger is always looking for something interesting to write about. The news today is a real whopper. Seems that our global village has become so intertwined that nobody can do anything without disturbing someone elses slumber. After the exceedingly brave and humane stance taken by the EU bankers on a "bail-in" plan for the failing Cypriot banking system the fall out begins. Comments like "the Cypriot economy is too small to affect us" or "we do not need to bail you out" did alot to arouse public sentiment on that small island. The political leaders, just like back in the days of the "Internationalists", new how to play their game. Simply put everything on the playing board when you know you have a better hand. Now Soimble and Merkel and their merry gang have to back peddle and reword their previous comments. You simply can't ask a tax haven, similar to the Swiss model, to start taxing deposits. The Russian bear awakes and kicks out all foreign banks from her soil in reaction. Then Putin gives the go ahead for Gazprom to draft its own bail-out plan for Cyprus with hard cash in return for natural gas development rights. The ace up the sleeve? Cyprus has already signed with Israel for military protection of its exclusive economic zone. To re-cap last weeks events, European bankers and the IMF both refuse yo bail out little Cyprus. Cyprus agrees to a "bail-in" plan as prescribed by her European partners. The Cyprian political leaders insist on full participation even from small depositors. Russia reacts. Europe rescinds. Everyone waits to see. Germany can't survive without Gazprom gas. Will the house of Fugger finaly fall? Will there be a Lutherian reaction to this constant transfer of debt to the small guys with the inevitable suffering that it produces? We wait to see on this first day of Orthodox lent...

After-Before Kozani

What can I say about the latest piece of artistry and technological wizardry. It was just last week when we turned on our t.v. sets to see the results of a bank robbery gone sour. The faces of the arrested assailants were splattered all over the screen of our receivers as we gazed upon a brave new world. A world all too familiar where the state knows no bounds and no laws apply to it. A world where dissidents are marginalized and end up having no voice. An unfriendly polarized and violent world where in the flash of a moment years and years of lawmaking and earnest efforts at a moral and just society with deep democratic tradition and beliefs are shattered as a broken glass. These youths where no ordinary bank robbers of course but where in fact members of a hard left group with a long winded name. Their beating and the subsequent illegal publication of their photos are meant to send a message to others who would folow their example of armed struggle. I fear the opposite message has been sent. Determination is part of human nature and after a total of 3000 suicides over four years directly linked to this economic crisis the country is quickly turning into a powder keg. The fuse of violence is lit and now it is simply a matter of time. Will wiser men and calmer voices prevail? Here are some photos of the same robbers before the photoshop touch ups:

Greece attacks...

What can one say after two consecutive wekends of terrorist attacks in Athens. The first weekend we saw six small bombs placed in the residences of prominent members of the press and politicians. Last weekend just passed we had a bomb go off in one of our busiest malls, "Athens the mall". No victims so far. It was an expected consequence of two years of extreme tax hikes and wage reductions that have more than doubled our personal taxes and reduced our incomes in half, our real income by more than two thirds. This means that more and more people are being driven into the only tax bracket that pays no taxes. It is the zero income tax bracket but you will pay there too if you own your house up in that village where you are hiding. You simply wont pay income tax if you have no income. 26 percent unemployment and that does not include the long term unemployed, anyone more than two years without a job. Things are tough in this country and with an oligarchy that still refuses to cough up taxes and spends its time travelling and shopping abroad, with over 600 billion euros in untaxed money stashed abroad and with over a third of the population being driven to starvation and poverty I guess bomb attacks are on the agenda. Sure doesn't suprise me when the present government will not alow peaceful demonstrations by choosing the unrestrained use of tear gas and violence. It is too much to ask of one to shut up and cough up while the crooks of the past run off scott free. 

Right Lagarde Stick

                                                                                                                                      

This stick is designed to make you sweat! It is the Lagarde stick, a usb stick that Christine Lagarde gave to Greek tax authorites with a list of names of possible tax evaders. The list includes names of politicians as well as businessmen and journalists all with large bank accounts abroad. The usb stick ended up in the hands of the finance minister last year and a copy of it was later published by a journalist. A new copy of the stick was provided again and as it turns out the original had been tampered with and names of relatives of the then finance minister had been erased. How Lagarde, the Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, became privy to information of individuals private bank accounts remains a mystery. Also the ability to investigate this list further and to uncover more names is questionable. Has this information been legally obtained and is the list complete or just a pot pouri of corrupt officials excluding some that are equaly guilty in order to serve some darker political purpose. What are the motives behind the sharing of this sensitive information. Why would Lagarde use this method to finger point specific members of the Greek parliament as well as the private sector. The ruckus that has been created in public life here has a clear purpose. It is dividing the country dangerously with an ever deepening rift. Will we be able to keep it together or will we end up seeing the first signs of civil war? Civil unrest is part of everyday life but has been considerably thwarted by the desperation created in our daily struggle to survive. The little guy has little chance in the present state of affairs to either survive, protest or even complain.