Political, financial turmoil in Greece

Now that is a shock.......NOT!

It's all very murky, Lily. It's hard to be sure about anything, but the YES leaders appear to be the very people that caused all this debt in the first place. It seems the MSM in Greece is run by a handful of people - what a surprise! - who are the very extremely rich people that have dodged taxes for generations, whilst blaming the peasants for not working twelve hours a day.

Naturally, the media is in favour of YES, and is churning out the usual blood-chilling warnings of doom. I find the whole business pretty nasty, as none of them seem to be bothered about ordinary Greeks - not that that is unusual with elites.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-04/drones-eye-view-massive-numbers-behind-greek-no-vote

Comment:

The OXI rally was massive, the biggest seen in many many years. There was also an attempt to create distress by 500 hooded and masked club-bearing men who were crushed by the "MAT" (Greek Riot Police) before making any trouble.





The NAI rally was significantly smaller, full of posh Athenian shits listening to club music.

Figures.

That crowd looks way bigger than the reported 20,000.  

I do hope that they have honest vote counters too.

There's so much at stake, I will be surprised if someone doesn't try dirty tricks - this is quite a good piece:

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-04/why-euro-finished

In the eurozone, there’s only one nation that counts in the end: Germany. The eurozone has effectively made it possible for Angela Merkel to save her domestic banks from losses by unloading them upon the Greeks. This would not have been possible had Greece not been a member of the eurozone.

Ms Merkel did appear to lose her usual cool last week; she can usually be relied upon to be rational, if nothing else. But her intervention, along with other German politicians, made things worse, not better.

Between bullying German Chancellors, and Confederate flags, people that should know better have ripped the scabs off wounds everyone thought had long since healed. And it's turned out that they haven't healed at all.

It's a very good piece, Bonny.  It really lays it out as it is.....

Some of them should resign, for sure.

Voting is underway:

http://news.sky.com/story/1513481/voting-takes-place-in-greek-bailout-referendum

Voters in Greece have been going to the polls in the country's bailout referendum, as they decide whether to accept a deal offered by international creditors.

Opinion polls suggest the "Yes" and "No" camps are neck-and-neck.

.....which is, of course, just about the worst possible result, as it means that whoever wins, the country will be split down the middle.

No reports yet of any dirty tricks, beyond the predictable media fearmongering about the world ending if Greeks dare defy their Imperial masters.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-05/economist-calls-victory-no-camp-sees-60-voting-oxi

The EIU Europe @TheEIU_Europe
To reiterate our Greece calls:

We expect (60%) a "no" vote in the referendum.

Grexit is now our baseline (60%).

http://country.eiu.com/article.aspx?articleid=613293645&Country=Greece&topic=Politics …

Here's hoping it is.

It's certainly going to be interesting, Lily....

I'm watching Fox just now, Lily, and the US anchor has gone pale because the Athens reporter has just said it is almost certainly a NO.

Never mind economics, the political implications are interesting....

To be honest, Bonny, it doesn't make sense for them to continue as they have been.  I imagine Germany and the troika are going to be on the edge of their seats because of what the next step might mean.  

Who would be the first to follow?

Take your pick, Lily - just about every country in the eurozone except Germany.....oh Lord, I would love to be a fly on the wall at Ms Merkel's house today.

I can't even begin to work out what happens next. But it's worth remembering that Greece actually runs at a profit without these huge debts, so someone involved in setting up a rival to the IMF might fancy making an investment.

Also worth remembering that 92% of this debt has been caused by banks being propped up, and NOT the Greek people.

It's all very interesting.

You would think that the Greek people would be grateful for being allowed to prop the banks up, Bonny.  

I switched to RT, as Fox were looking a bit stunned, and rumours are spreading that NO has won by 10%-15%. First actual results shouldn't be long.

Wow.....hoping its true!!

OMG.

http://rt.com/news/271735-greece-bailout-referendum-euro/

george mastropavlos @g_mastropavlos
This is how the map of Greece looks at 8.7% of votes: "NO" 60% - "YES" 40% #Greferendum #OXI

That's the first official votes coming in.

OMG!  That will be good in the long term but hard in the initial stages?

RT again:

17:42 GMT:
With about 17 percent of the vote counted, the “No” vote is leading with 60.49 percent, ahead of 39.51 percent for “Yes,” an Interior Ministry said.

Lily, I have absolutely NO idea what happens next. But don't be surprised if German bankers start leaping off the Deutsche Bank roof....

The greedy bankers could do with a shake up.....I mean they do seem to despise the little people.

IMO, they handled this about as badly as possible, Lily. Suppose you're an ordinary Greek, none too sure how you'll vote because it's all so complicated. Then German politicians start threatening you, telling you your democratically-elected government has to go - or else.

What's your reaction going to be, besides ?

Exactly, Bonny.  They are certainly telling the little people that they don't have a voice but that they must succumb to their masters.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2015-07-05/marine-le-pen-anti-euro-french-presidential-frontrunner-lauds-greek-victory-over-eu-

Quote from a longer piece:

Le Pen, the leader of the anti-immigration, anti-euro National Front party, said in a statement that the anticipated result was a victory against "the oligarchy of the European Union".

"This 'No' from the Greek people must pave the way for a healthy new approach," said Le Pen.

"European countries should take advantage of this event to gather around the negotiating table, take stock of the failure of the euro and austerity, and organize the dissolution of the single currency system, which is needed to get back to real growth, employment and debt reduction."

Here is why we suggest the ECB panic: Le Pen's star has been on the rise in France and in Europe in the past year since her National Front party performed well in European parliamentary and French regional elections. Surveys suggest she could make the second-round run-off in the 2017 presidential election, if not win outright.

Yes, a Frexit would finish the whole failed experiment off nicely. Oh, and I had almost forgotten, but there is a general election in Spain in the autumn, and Podemos are expected to do well.