Greece: Island Of Democracy.

by Jerry Alatalo

Reading articles on the situation in Greece has led to looking at possible connections between a Citigroup-written Dodd-Frank-rollback provision snuck into the December 2014 “Cromnibus”, must-pass spending bill in the United States Congress – and how Greece ran up its debt. Could it be that Citigroup and other Wall Street megabanks placed huge derivatives bets on Greece continuing to pay its creditors, saw the rise of Syriza in Greece and a strong possibility the party would win the January 2015 Greek election, and that Syriza would fight further austerity to the point of default?

Who knows what top managers at Citigroup were thinking when they arranged for members of the US Congress to insert Citigroup’s derivatives/swaps bailout provision in the spending bill. Maybe the move was specifically in response to political developments in Greece and large “bets” which had the real chance of losing Citigroup and others great sums of money. Maybe the provisions became inserted because of growing awareness by Wall Street of imminent changes in the world’s finance/banking system, and coming monumental losses from losing “bets” on derivatives contracts. No matter the real reasons, some estimates of global derivatives totals include the word quadrillion – one thousand trillion.

What the specific reasons for Citigroup, its lobbyists in Washington, and collaborative (colluding?) members of Congress were for successfully inserting the derivatives provisions can only become known by the American people through asking those individuals responsible for getting it passed into law. At any rate, it’s interesting to go back to December 11, 2014 and listen to Senator Elizabeth Warren, unsuccessfully, try to keep the provision out of the spending bill.

The Citigroup provision passed in December 2014 specifically takes aim at Dodd-Frank legislation having to do with “Prohibition of government bailouts of swaps entities”.

Here’s some of what Senator Warren said before the vote on “Cromnibus” in December 2014:

“If big Wall Street banks want to gamble with their own money and live with the consequences of those risks, that’s how markets are supposed to work. But they shouldn’t get to gamble with government insured money and they shouldn’t get to run up to the government when the deal goes sour”.

“House Republicans are moving quickly to try to jam this bill through today before their own members have had a chance to digest this Wall Street bailout provision”.

Ms. Warren pointed out that a “fact sheet” on the provision was intentionally confusing, written to obfuscate, and designed for diverting attention so to increase the odds of passage.

“A vote for this bill is a vote for future taxpayer bailouts of Wall Street. When the next bailout comes, a lot of people will look back to this vote to see who was responsible for putting the government back on the hook to bail out Wall Street”.

“This fight isn’t about conservatives or liberals; it’s not about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about money and it’s about power right here in Washington. This legal change could trigger more taxpayer bailouts and could ultimately threaten our entire economy, but it will also make a lot of money for Wall Street banks. This change will be a huge boon to just a handful of our biggest banks – Citigroup, JP Morgan, Bank of America…”

“The American people sent us here – Republicans, Democrats and Independents – they sent us here to stand up for them, to stand up for taxpayers, to protect the economy. I urge my Republican colleagues in the House to withhold their support from this package until this risky giveaway is removed from the legislation. It is time for all of us to stand up and fight!”

Members of Congress weren’t convinced by Elizabeth Warren, the Cromnibus spending bill passed along with the Citigroup provision. If Wall Street banks lose big money on derivatives/swaps bets, the American people will become forced to bail them out.

(Thank you to Senator Elizabeth Warren at YouTube)

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That December 2014 event is interesting to consider in contrast to what economist Michael Hudson said recently on the situation in Greece.

“At the G8 meetings in 2011, President Obama went over along with Tim Geithner (then Treasury Secretary) and said ‘our big campaign contributors are on Wall Street, and they’ve made huge bets that Greece could pay’. If Greece doesn’t pay then these gamblers and derivatives players are going to lose their bets. You’ve got to sacrifice Greece, and you’ve got to drive it into poverty, and lend the Greek government the money to pay the bondholders so our Wall Street banks won’t lose money”.

“So the European Central Bank told the International Monetary Fund (IMF), ‘if you want to be a player you’ve got to ignore what the staff said’, and they did. (The IMF staff had determined Greece was unable to pay back more loans) The European Central Bank, the IMF paid over $100 billion euros to the bondholders, so Greece, instead of owing private bondholders, they owed the IMF and European Central Bank. Now the European Central Bank wants to get paid, but the debts can’t be paid”.

“So the European Central Bank says, ‘Ok, Greece. Sell us your islands, sell us your ports, sell us your land, sell us your raw materials… This is foreclosure time, and if you can’t pay we want everything in the public domain. And you also have to impose austerity. You only have a 60% unemployment rate for youth. You’ve got to increase the unemployment rate to 80%, double the emigration, in order for us to make the loans to your government – that will turn right around to pay us!’

“It’s either austerity or we will ‘smash and grab’. Take your pick”.

Bill Black added:

“…Crony capitalism. You can’t keep a country – at least there’s no economically rational basis for doing so, and of course it’s completely inhumane – to keep a country in a condition where it constantly will be in ever-greater debt. And that’s precisely what the Troika wants to do, and as Michael said, German politicians have openly demanded that Greece begins selling islands. In other words, selling the nation. Just a complete disruption of sovereignty”. 

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(Thank you to TheRealNews at YouTube)

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Greece’s Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras was recently quoted as saying:

“My personal view is that their plan is not to push Greece out of the Euro zone. Their plan is to end hope that there can be a different kind of policy in Europe”.

Greece missed the June 30 deadline on its $1.6 billion payment. Has anyone seen those 85 people who own as much wealth as half the world’s population? If anyone does see them, ask them if they could “pass the hat” for the birthplace of democracy. If you think that’s going to happen, I’ve got some islands in Greece to sell you…

Viktor Yanukovych: Donbas Is Genocide.

by Jerry Alatalo

BBC interviewed former Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovych recently, overthrown in February 2014 in what he calls an “illegal, unconstitutional coup”.

Some excerpts from the interview:

“When I left Ukraine there was peace. I didn’t want a war to happen. … Wages were paid on time in Ukraine; Ukraine was developing; we were thinking about the future. And what happened to the country after? This is the worst scenario that could ever happen. I will say this: it’s a nightmare that one could only see in a bad dream – but it’s real. The war is on, people die, people suffer. The country is split”.

On the over 100 deaths by sniper fire of police and protesters on Maidan in February 2014:

“I approached Ukraine’s Prosecutor General with a request that the facts were investigated publicly. Because the people don’t know that there is no investigation – it’s been 1 1/2 years. On the contrary, all the traces of the crimes that took place in Maidan are being destroyed. And today – 1 1/2 years later – Ukrainians understand that the government and the president weren’t interested in the killings. Those interested in the killings were the radicals and criminals who wanted to seize power in that way”.

“I did everything to not allow a war in Ukraine. And unfortunately in 1 1/2 years the authorities didn’t even start an investigation (into) who was shooting those people in uniform. The ones who were protecting the government buildings, those who maintained the order. They were fulfilling their duty”.

On Crimea:

“What is better for the people of Crimea? War or peace? The people will say peace. That’s when Crimea had a referendum, the people fear for their future, for the future of their kids. And Crimea didn’t accept the right-wing radical ideology that Maidan wanted to bring to it. And the people of Crimea – 90% of them – voted to leave Ukraine. I think it’s very bad, but it’s a consequence of Maidan. It’s a consequence of the radical nationalist movement that scared the people of Crimea, who were traditionally pro-Russian”.

“We understood the moods in Crimea and during the presidency of Yanukovych there was no question about secession or separatist movements. Today it is already a fact – today there is war. They talk about getting Crimea back. How? By war? Do we need another war? By the way, now people start talking about Transnistria – 500,000 people live there”.

“Now, you know, we should talk about the people of Crimea. Crimean citizens see everything that has been happening in Donbas, and they try to imagine what could have happened to them had they not gone to Russia. What would have happened to Crimea? The same as with Donbas or even worse?”

Viktor Yanukovych’s hometown is Donbas:

“I can’t watch without feeling pain. I see familiar faces and places, destroyed buildings, you know. It’s very hard. My ancestors’ graves are there; my parents’ were buried there, my relatives and friends. Of course it’s a terrible tragedy. I think what is happening now in Donbas is genocide. Genocide of Donbas people”.

“30% of Russians have ethnic roots in Ukraine, Russia can’t stand aside. … My opinion is that the constructive role of Russia is preparing the Minsk agreements. Why the Minsk agreements not being implemented now? This is the question for the two sides to answer. Donbas and Kiev”.

After seeing a post critical of BBC for showing its British viewers only segments of the interview dealing with Yanukovych’s rich lifestyle and private zoo, it took a short time of searching to find a video of the interview including topics focused on the important aspects of the crisis in Ukraine. In the interest of transparency and truth about that currently tension-filled area of the Earth, Viktor Yanukovych’s interview has been shared here.

This writer does not take “sides” in any conflict because there are no sides on this Earth – only truth, oneness and the human family. To allow the best chance for peacefully resolving differences between people of different nations and regions, what is first necessary is building a truth/fact-based foundation before moving forward.

Reported numbers of deaths since March 2014 from Ukraine’s civil war range from 6,000 to 50,000.

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