Europe

Amid Austerity, Greek Doctors Offer Help to Poor

"Until recently, Greece had a typical European health system, with employers and individuals contributing to a fund that with government assistance financed universal care. Things changed in July 2011, when Greece signed a supplemental loan agreement with international lenders to ward off financial collapse. Now Greeks must pay all costs out of pocket after their benefits expire. The changes are forcing increasing numbers of people to seek help outside the traditional health care system. Elena, for example, was referred to Dr. Syrigos by doctors in an underground movement that has sprung up here to care for the uninsured." Continue reading →

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The most powerful person in the global economy

"The most powerful person will soon be the president of the European Central Bank, the Italian banker Mario Draghi. In the last few weeks, we have seen an extraordinary expansion of the European Central Bank’s powers. It can now set interest rates, control financial markets, and effectively dictate tax and spending policies across what remains — despite its current difficulties — the world’s largest single economic bloc. But history suggests that when you concentrate too much power in a single pair of hands, and even worse when the person who wields that power is not limited by any form of accountability, the results are catastrophic." Continue reading →

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Spanish unemployment tops 25 percent

"Spain announced Friday that its unemployment rate broke the 25-percent barrier for the first time as austerity cuts squeezed the recession-struck economy. Tens of thousands of jobs were destroyed in the third quarter, even as Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy’s government raised taxes, cut spending and pondered whether to snatch a eurozone rescue line. Among workers aged 16-24 the jobless rate towered at 52.34 percent in the third quarter, only slightly down from 53.27 percent in the previous quarter, the institute said. After more than a year of recession, the soaring jobless figures and biting cuts have prompted growing street protests." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSpanish unemployment tops 25 percent

Nigel Farage: We Are Headed To A ‘One World Government’

“We’ve reached a point in this where, despite the massive economic the massive economic, political, and social problems that exist within the eurozone, and indeed an argument that the North and the South of Europe are diverging by the day, despite all of that, the political class have got so much the upper hand in Brussels, that, actually, they are moving to more and more extreme tactics. (This is being done) to lock countries in to a new form of government which is so far removed from any concept of liberal democracy that I think it’s quite frightening." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNigel Farage: We Are Headed To A ‘One World Government’

Greek government loses track of, asks again for stolen Swiss account data

"Greece has asked France to re-send it a list of Greeks with Swiss bank accounts, Finance Minister Yannis Stournaras said on Wednesday, after an original list delivered in 2010 apparently went missing. The list was originally acquired from France's then finance minister Christine Lagarde two years ago and is part of account data leaked by an HSBC bank employee in Switzerland. The first recipient of the data, former finance minister George Papaconstantinou, on Wednesday told a parliamentary committee that he did not know what had happened to the original version." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGreek government loses track of, asks again for stolen Swiss account data

Secession Fever Sweeping Europe Meaningless Without Debt Repudiation

"It is time for the restoration of formerly independent countries, each with their own unique cultural and ethnic heritage, that were forced at gunpoint into larger empire states. Venice wants out of Italy, Catalonia out of Spain, Bavaria out of Germany, Scotland and Wales want to leave the United Kingdom, the Flemish want out of Belgium. Even Vermont and some in the South want to regain their former status as sovereign republics separate from the most debt-ridden empire in world history, the U.S. Just as important, Greece, Italy, Ireland, Spain and Portugal – with demands in Germany itself – want to leave the EU and euro witches' brew created by their leaders." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingSecession Fever Sweeping Europe Meaningless Without Debt Repudiation

Nobel Selects EU … World Snorts

"Regulations pour out of the EU like smog while half of the union is bankrupt and the other half resent paying the bill. How all this is either laudable or peaceful is beyond us. Watching Greece and Spain (and soon France) go up in flames is to watch a spectacle of failure. But the EU has always been a spectacle and its handlers continue to try to manage its persona and profile with less and less success. The more it fails, the more those behind its misguided formation try to defend it and prop it up." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingNobel Selects EU … World Snorts

Convicted Italian earthquake scientists resign over L’Aquila quake verdicts

"Earthquake experts worldwide expressed shock at the manslaughter convictions of six Italian scientists who failed to predict the deadly L'Aquila quake, warning that the decision could severely harm future research. Two scientists resigned their posts with the government's disaster preparedness agency Tuesday after a court in L'Aquila sentenced six scientists and a government official to six years in prison. Seismologists were aghast at the court's decision, noting that earthquakes remain impossible to forecast with any kind of accuracy." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingConvicted Italian earthquake scientists resign over L’Aquila quake verdicts

Cash-strapped Cyprus plots Russian exit from austerity

"The Russians, quite correctly, view Cyprus as a convenient backdoor to the European Union – and they are not alone. The Chinese have also started arriving, encouraged by what they regard as an incredibly low bar to immigration. Forget all those tricky visa forms, for anyone prepared to spend €300,000 on a property in Cyprus there is the bonus of eligibility for permanent residency. Once this is achieved, the owner is entitled to move anywhere within the EU. For the price of a shoebox in Shanghai, Cyprus is offering a gold-card travel pass and much more besides." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCash-strapped Cyprus plots Russian exit from austerity