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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Jun-2011
17-Jun-11 World View -- Short-term bailout of Greece is now expected

Web Log - June, 2011

17-Jun-11 World View -- Short-term bailout of Greece is now expected

Turkey debating invasion of Syria, with support from U.S.

This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com.

Short-term bailout of Greece is now expected

Greece 2 year bonds at 30% interest (Bloomberg)

Greece 2 year bonds at 30% interest (Bloomberg)

The yields (interest rates) on Greece's 2 year bonds briefly exceeded 30% on Thursday, before settling down at just 29.69%. Greek and European officials are desperate, and don't know how to stop this gathering disaster. There was lots of talk on Thursday about a partial bailout. French President Nicolas Sarkozy and German Chancellor Angela Merkel will meet in Berlin on Friday, and are expected to put aside their bitter differences to agree, either on Friday or on a scheduled meeting in Luxembourg on Sunday, to agree to provide Greece with the latest tranche of last year's bailout, even though Greece has not met the required conditions. This stopgap will allow Greece to pay its bills through September. Then another meeting will be held on July 11, to come up with a new bailout agreement to carry through 2012. AFP

If Greece doesn't default, then it will be because the EU will renegotiate last year's bailout with much more liberal terms -- or possibly no terms at all beyond "just take the money." Ireland's Finance Minister Michael Noonan is taking advantage of the situation with Greece to change the terms of Ireland's bailout by demanding investor participation. Portugal has not yet demanded to renegotiate its bailout, but that could happen any time. Bloomberg

"Contagion" from the Greek situation spread to Spain on Thursday, as Spain had to pay investors unsustainably high yields on bonds. Reuters

Turkey debating invasion of Syria, with support from U.S.

After three months of widespread slaughter, torture and mutilation of peaceful Syrian protesters by security forces of president Bashar al-Assad, Turkey is considering invading Syria to set up a "security zone" or "buffer zone" on Syrian soil along the border separating the two countries. This would be a major escalation of the crisis, and might lead to military conflict between Syrian and Turkish forces. Telegraph

A couple of days ago, I quoted some analysis from Debka that "military and intelligence sources report that Monday, June 13, the US deployed the USS Bataan amphibian air carrier strike vessel opposite Syria's Mediterranean coast with 2,000 marines, 6 war planes, 15 attack helicopters, including new V-22 Ospreys, and 27 choppers for landing forces aboard." I just received the weekly subscriber-only Debka newsletter, forwarded to me by a subscriber, and it provides some clarification. The US warships aren't there for an American invasion of Libya. They're for defensive purposes. According to reports, the Syrians have threatened to fire missiles deep into Turkey, if Turkish troops enter Syria. According to the Debka report, then the US would provide Turkey with the shield of the AEGIS missile interceptors aboard American warships in the Middle East. Debka

China Patrol Ship Heads to Tense South China Sea

China is sending a large non-military patrol boat into waters where the Chinese have previously had confrontations with Vietnamese and Philippine boats. Chinese media reports emphasized that the voyage is aimed at demonstrating Beijing’s resolve to defend its territorial claims. VOA

Israel will do 'everything necessary' to stop Gaza flotilla

Israel will do everything necessary to prevent a planned international flotilla from reaching Gaza, despite the fact the ships will probably not be carrying weapons, a senior military source said. "No ship will get into Gaza," he said. The flotilla is scheduled to set sail before the end of June. Reuters

Prince Harry will return to Afghanistan

Prince Harry will be granted his wish to return to Afghanistan as an Apache attack helicopter pilot after completing his training next year. He was hastily withdrawn from a tour of Helmand in 2008, after his deployment became publicly known. Telegraph

Harvard Business School rejects finance professionals

Harvard Business School's incoming class will have a substantially smaller percentage of finance professionals than in previous years. Instead, a higher number of students will have manufacturing and technology backgrounds. The article doesn't say so, but I believe that one reason for this is that finance has become a criminal profession. Finance professionals created synthetic securities that were mathematically fraudulent, and sold them as AAA-rated investments. Today, they're charging 30% interest rates, and using the money to pay themselves million dollar bonuses. After financiers did similar things in the 1930s, they were hated for decades. The same thing is happening today. Wall Street Journal (Access)

Oregon outlaws the sale of suicide kits

Oregon may soon outlaw the sale of self-asphyxiation kits. The suicide rate among seniors who have lost their homes, pensions and life savings is increasing, but apparently the Oregon legislature would rather see these people freeze to death in the streets, rather than make their own decisions and control their own lives. Reuters

(Comments: For reader comments, questions and discussion, see the 17-Jun-11 News -- Rise of Gulf Cooperation Council raises concerns in Mideast thread of the Generational Dynamics forum. Comments may be posted anonymously.) (17-Jun-2011) Permanent Link
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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Jun-2011 17-Jun-11 World View -- Short-term bailout of Greece is now expected

Short-term bailout of Greece is now expected

Turkey debating invasion of Syria, with support from U.S.

China Patrol Ship Heads to Tense South China Sea

Israel will do 'everything necessary' to stop Gaza flotilla

Prince Harry will return to Afghanistan

Harvard Business School rejects finance professionals

Oregon outlaws the sale of suicide kits

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Generational Dynamics Web Log for 17-Jun-2011
17-Jun-11 World View -- Short-term bailout of Greece is now expected