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…)

(Reuters) – British voters get to decide on Thursday who they want to rule the world’s fifth-largest economy in a tight election that could yield weak government, propel the United Kingdom towards a vote on EU membership and stoke Scottish desire for secession.
Prime Minister David Cameron’s Conservatives and Ed Miliband’s opposition Labour Party have been neck and neck in opinion polls for months, indicating neither will win enough seats for an outright majority in the 650-seat parliament.
“This race is going to be the closest we have ever seen,” Miliband told supporters in Pendle, in northern England, on the eve of the vote. “It is going to go down to the wire.”
Cameron said only his Conservatives could deliver strong, stable government: “All other options will end in chaos.” (more…)

• *Greece has signaled its willingness to default on its upcoming IMF payment
• *Sets in place a plan to shift from Euros to a new issue of Greek controlled Drachmas
• *Tspiras boards a plane for Moscow
• *Seeks alternative creditors in Russia and China
• *A “Grexit” would be the de facto end of NATO and shift alliances in the Aegean from Europe to Russia
• *IMF formally withdraws staff from Athens….

Greece arrives at an existential fork in the road:  which way to turn? Continue to go West or strike out for an unknown path heading East ——————————————————————————————————————————–

The far-Left Syriza party of Greece, contrary to assertions of the European Monetary Union (EMU) has not agreed to further “austerity” measures, but has decided to double down on its threats to default on its IMF payments and align itself with Russia.

The Telegraph explains some of the backstory for Syriza’s popularity and rejection of “austerity” measures that don’t include significant debt write-offs (forgiveness).

“…One might righteously protest at what amounts to open blackmail by Mr Tsipras, deeming such conduct to be a primary violation of EU club rules. Yet this is to ignore what has been done to Greece over the past four years, and why the Greek people are so angry…

An apartment building for “middle class” Athens residents, in a “decent” part of Athens, 1 block from our 4 star hotel  (Jan 2015).  According to local social workers, 50% of the population of Greece has migrated from the countryside to Athens in an effort to find work and pool resources with other like-impoverished family members. (Click to embiggen detail)

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(more…)

Bloomberg News doesn’t call it that, they call it: “Obama’s Next Move May Be Lifting U.S. Protection of Israel at UN”.

(Bloomberg) — While the world remains fixated on the negotiations over Iran’s nuclear program, the Obama administration is facing another foreign policy showdown in the United Nations Security Council.

The administration has signaled that it might abandon the decades-long U.S. policy of protecting Israel at the UN and back a Security Council resolution laying out terms for a two-state solution to the almost 67-year-old dispute between the Jewish state and the Palestinians. (more)

However, make no mistake – it is the Power Doctrine. We could burn another thousand words explaining it again, but, well, honestly, few would accept it until it actually comes to pass. And it will come to pass.

President Obama is a fellow traveler and ideological compatriot of Samantha Power. It’s not a matter of “if”, it is entirely a matter of “when”. (more…)