Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras really screwed the pooch when he called for a national referendum on austerity cuts and accepting a bailout. His own country voted overwhelmingly to say no, to the cuts, but he has no other option – they’ve run out of money, and need yet another bailout.

Apparently the borrower forgot: when you’re broke, the lender has all the leverage.

(Via Reuters) Skeptical euro zone finance ministers demanded on Saturday that Greece go beyond painful austerity measures accepted by Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras if he wants them to open negotiations on a third bailout for his bankrupt country to keep it in the euro.

The ministers postponed until Sunday a decision on whether to recommend starting talks on a new loan for Athens and sought further commitments first on product market liberalization, labor laws, privatization, state reform and more defense cuts, plus a promise to pass key laws next week, officials said.

The Eurogroup session will resume on Sunday, five hours before heads of state and government of the 19-nation currency area are to meet to decide on Greece’s fate in the euro zone. (more…)

WASHINGTON POST – An emergency summit of European leaders called to salvage Greece’s financial rescue broke up acrimoniously late Tuesday, with officials saying the country now has just five days to avoid bankruptcy.

Following a day of talks in Brussels aimed at finding a way out of months of bitter deadlock, European leaders were scathing in their assessments of Greece’s proposals, calling them inadequate and demanding that the Greek government return with a detailed plan by Friday morning.

The leaders of all 28 European Union members will then meet on Sunday in what officials said would be the final chance to save Greece from economic oblivion. (Read More)

• Before agreeing to EU demands Greece put their financial strategy to a vote. • The electorate voted “no” in a referendum where the question asked is should the government reduce benefits in order to become fiscally responsible. • However, the Greek government cannot sustain the benefits being paid – and needs a bailout to be solvent. • The EU member nations have said no to any further bailout without spending cuts.

ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece faced an uncharted future as its interior ministry predicted Sunday that more than 60 percent of voters in a hastily called referendum had rejected creditors’ demands for more austerity in exchange for rescue loans.

Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras, who was gambling the future of his 5-month-old left-wing government on the vote, insisted that a “no” vote would strengthen his hand to negotiate a better deal with creditors, while a “yes” result would mean capitulating to their harsh demands. (more…)

The government of Greece gets themselves into financial trouble with unsustainable social benefits and promises. Now, when they run out of money, they begin confiscating funds from those who actually saved money. “Recapitalization”, the ultimate spread the wealth program.

2016 will be known as the year when “socialism” confronts “capitalism”.  Bernie Sanders, Elizabeth Warren and Hillary Clinton leading Socialism Team U.S.A.

(Financial Times) Greek banks are preparing contingency plans for a possible “bail-in” of depositors amid fears the country is heading for financial collapse, bankers and businesspeople with knowledge of the measures said on Friday.

The plans, which call for a “haircut” of at least 30 per cent on deposits above €8,000, sketch out an increasingly likely scenario for at least one bank, the sources said.

A Greek bail-in could resemble the rescue plan agreed by Cyprus in 2013, when customers’ funds were seized to shore up the banks, with a haircut imposed on uninsured deposits over €100,000. (more…)

Last week a host of top level executives within FIFA, soccer’s governing body, were indicted in a massive corruption sting. Despite the corruption and bribery scandal the governing body re-elected Sepp Blatter for another term as president for the organization. However, Blatter is despised by the fans and larger soccer community as a whole.
Watch this quite funny John Oliver (HBO) video for context

UPDATE: Here’s the actual indictment -> CLICK HERE

The case is the most significant yet for United States Attorney General Loretta E. Lynch, who took office last month. She previously served as the United States attorney in Brooklyn, where she supervised the FIFA investigation. Ms. Lynch and F.B.I. Director James Comey were expected to hold a news conference on Wednesday morning in New York. (more)

(Via Buzzfeed) The U.S. Department of Justice will file corruption charges against several officials in soccer’s worldwide governing organization, multiple reports said late Tuesday.

The charges are part of an indictment against FIFA officials, and according to The New York Times include allegations of fraud, racketeering, and money laundering that has taken place over the last two decades.

Picture of plainclothes Swiss police showing documents to FIFA hotel clerk: pic.twitter.com/LVV8Ai9hxt

— Sam Borden (@SamBorden) May 27, 2015

The Swiss Federal Office of Justice announced that it had detained six officials Wednesday. The officials have been “detained pending extradition,” and authorities in Switzerland were acting in coordination with U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. (more…)

Typical perpetually aggrieved leftist response when they don’t get their way…. riot, complain, shut sh*t down etc. 

(Via Daily Mail) The mob chanted ‘get the Tories out’ as large sections of the city were shut down as a result of the demonstration.

Some of the protesters brandished highly offensive home-made banners proclaiming F*** The Cuts’, while others described the Conservative Party as Tory Scum.
Protesters threw bottles, cans and smoke bombs at the police. Scuffles broke out when the demonstrators, blaring hooters, banging pots and chanting obscenities, confronted lines of police outside the gate protecting the Prime Minister’s official residence.
(more…)

Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery – Winston Churchill
The problem with socialism is that you eventually run out of other peoples’ money. – Margaret Thatcher

Excerpts of Analysis from the U.K. Election:  Liberalism Self-Destructs !

♦  Polling in the weeks before the election had Conservative and Labour parties neck-and-neck in the days and week’s leading up to the May 7 election. The polling included Nate Silver’s – and it was completely wrong.
♦ Labour ended up with a heavy trouncing, down 24 seats when Nate Silver’s fivethirtyeight.com had them gaining 11, while it predicted the Conservatives would lose 24. In fact the winners, Conservatives, gained 25 seats and achieved an overall majority.

♦ President Obama’s campaign mastermind suffered a humiliating end to his political career today as the British Labour party he was paid almost $500,000 to help to victory plunged to a catastrophic defeat. (more…)

David Cameron’s conservatives (Tories) won even more seats than exit polls suggested, 7am forecasts now predicting an outright majority with 329 seats (326 needed for majority).

Labour (Liberals) lost approximately 24 MP seats, and Liberal Democrats were the BIGGEST LOSERS overall seeing 49 seats lost to SNP and Conservatives.
Scotland’s SNP (Scottish Nationalist Party) destroyed the Liberal Democrats winning all by one seat in Parliament, and virtually guaranteeing another referendum for independence.
The UKIP party placed third in overall aggregate votes, but was only able to win one seat outright, and a second possible. (more…)

Results are beginning to come in from the U.K. election and Liberals throughout Great Britain are aghast at the early indications.

All polling -SHARED BY MEDIA- prior to election day today showed a virtual dead heat between the conservatives (David Cameron) and liberals (Ed Miliband).  However, the exit polling is not even close – But Remember These Are Exit Polls, Not Official Results.
(Via Daily Mail) [At 11:00pm UK] David Cameron’s hopes of remaining in Downing Street received a huge boost tonight as a shock exit poll showed the Conservatives are on course to make gains in the general election.
The poll predicts that not only will the Tories be the biggest party but they will make gains on their 2010 tally of MPs, winning 14 seats to reach a total of 316. In a devastating blow for Ed Miliband, Labour faces being left with 17 fewer seats than Gordon Brown, slumping to 239 and raising doubts about his troubled leadership. (more…)