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How Scary Can Greece Get?
by Mark Gilbert
With Greeks getting the opportunity to vote on their economic future, let the scaremongering begin. European Union leaders will utter menacing words about the euro-exiting consequences of straying from the path of fiscal righteousness. The threat of financial Armageddon will be bandied about. As is often the case, one of the most useful ways to distinguish signal from noise is to follow the money.
Here's a chart suggesting the Greeks themselves knew all along that the euro crisis wasn't over. It uses official figures from the Bank of Greece to track how much money is on deposit with banks in the country. And it shows that most of the money that fled at the start of the emergency never came back:
When there's a run on a bank -- think of the perennial Christmas movie, ``It's a Wonderful Life'' -- there's a rush to get your money out before your neighbor, in case the bank shuts its doors. When there's a run on a sovereign nation, there's a rush to get money out of the country before the government either imposes capital controls that will lock the cash behind its borders or decides to confiscate some or all of it.
Posted by Aristides N. Hatzis at 9:05 AM 0 comments
Greece's Syriza no longer terrifies some investors
The charm offensive launched by Greece's leftwing Syriza party to persuade foreign investors that it would not wreck the country's economy and finances were it to win power suffered a notable hiccup last month.
After attending a meeting with Syriza economists in London, a hedge fund analyst wrote that their plans for the country were "total chaos" and warned of a run on bank deposits if the party came to power.
As that possibility draws near, with Syriza leading the polls and a snap election set for January 25, the more surprising factor may be the party's success at dispelling at least some investors' worst fears.
Alexis Tsipras, Syriza leader, has abandoned his pledge to "tear up" the bailout agreement with international creditors and is instead emphasising more moderate steps to address the debt load as well as his deep commitment to the euro.
Krishna Guha, of Evercore ISI, warned that, at a minimum, investors faced "a four-week period of elevated uncertainty in which eurozone risk assets will struggle to perform."
But, Mr Guha added: "We believe that Tsipras will prove more pragmatic than past Syriza rhetoric suggests. He has opened back-channels to Berlin, Paris and Frankfurt, and has every incentive to try to negotiate relatively cosmetic changes to Greece's programme and ride the early-stage Greek recovery rather than derail it."
Posted by Aristides N. Hatzis at 8:47 PM 0 comments
Samaras's failed gamble
Antonis Samaras, the centre-right Greek prime minister, lost one election on December 29th. Now he will have to fight another. His New Democracy party's candidate for president, Stavros Dimas, fell 12 votes short of the required three-fifths majority in a third and final ballot by Greece's 300 MPs. As the constitution demands, a snap general election will now be held on January 25th. ND is trailing the far-left Syriza opposition, according to the opinion polls. Once again, the prime minister's chances of victory look slim.
Mr Samaras made two television appeals for lawmakers to back Mr Dimas, a former European environment commissioner, for the ceremonial post. His election would have kept the fragile ND-led coalition in power long enough to negotiate an exit from Greece's unpopular austerity programme with the European Union and IMF, including a precautionary credit line from the euro-zone bail-out fund. Many independent and opposition lawmakers who rejected Mr Dimas are unlikely to be re-elected, yet not even self-interest persuaded them to back the government.
Such stubbornness heralds a bad-tempered election campaign. Alexis Tsipras, Syriza's radical leader, calls Mr Samaras "finished". He plans to renegotiate Greece's bail-out. Although he no longer threatens to halt debt repayments unilaterally if his party comes to power, he still wants to secure a big write-off. Greece's creditors would oppose that, and also Mr Tsipras's proposals to reverse other reforms and launch a €11 billion ($13 billion) welfare package, to be financed by better tax collection. With more than €7 billion of lending suspended until Athens reaches agreement with its "troika" of creditors on more tax, labour and pension reforms, Greece will soon run into trouble. Hard-pressed taxpayers are already struggling; more than €1 billion of income and property tax goes uncollected every month. Mr Tsipras's promises sound alluring to angry, impoverished Greek voters.
Greece's election: The euro's next crisis
Ever since the euro crisis erupted in late 2009 Greece has been at or near its heart. It was the first country to receive a bail-out, in May 2010. It was the subject of repeated debate over a possible departure from the single currency (the so-called Grexit) in 2011 and again in 2012. It is the only euro country whose official debt has been restructured. On December 29th the Greek parliament failed to elect a president, forcing an early snap election to be called for January 25th. The euro crisis is entering a new, highly dangerous phase, and once again Greece finds itself at the centre.
Investors promptly swooned, with the Athens stockmarket falling by almost 5% in a single day, bank shares down by even more and Greek 10-year bond yields rising to a new 2014 high of 9.5% (over seven points above those for Italy). The reason for this collective outbreak of nerves is that the polls point to an election win for Syriza, the far-left populist party led by Alexis Tsipras (pictured). Although Mr Tsipras says he wants to keep Greece in the euro, he also wants to dump most of the conditions attached to its bail-outs, ending austerity, reversing cuts in the minimum wage and in public spending, scrapping asset sales and seeking to repudiate much debt. Such a programme seems, to put it mildly, to sit uncomfortably with Greece's continuing membership of the singe currency.
The early election is likely therefore to create a political crisis in Greece. What happens beyond that is less clear. Investors seem to be betting that the people of Italy, Spain and France will peek at the chaos in Athens, shudder—and stick to the austerity that Germany's Angela Merkel has prescribed for them. But that seems too sanguine to this newspaper. It is hard to believe that a Greek crisis will not unleash fresh ructions elsewhere in the euro zone—not least because some of Mrs Merkel's medicine is patently doing more harm than good.
Greek Election Campaign Kicks Off Amid Uncertainty, Nervousness
by Stelios Bouras
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras formally requested the dissolution of Parliament on Tuesday, marking the beginning of a monthlong election period that the government has already started to frame as a referendum on Greece's future in the eurozone.
In a meeting with President Karolos Papoulias, Mr. Samaras obliquely blamed the opposition Syriza party for blocking December's parliamentary procedure to elect a new head of state.
Parliament's failure to elect a new president in a third and final vote this week has forced Greece to hold early national elections. The elections are scheduled to be held on Jan. 25, some 18 months ahead of schedule.
"When it comes to the security and stability of our nation, then you understand that a battle for truth and responsibility is needed," Mr. Samaras said. "With the country's presence in Europe depending on this battle, you understand that we will approach it with a sense of responsibility for the future of our children."
Posted by Yulie Foka-Kavalieraki at 5:26 PM 0 comments
Risk of Greek fallout hits European stocks
Tuesday 21:00 GMT. Global equities lost momentum on Tuesday, with European equities dropping as the snap election called in Greece drew in further casualties.
Shares on Wall Street also eased but benchmark indices still remain near record highs. The S&P 500 closed 0.5 per cent lower at 2,080.35 points, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the session 0.3 per cent weaker.
The declines were steeper in Europe, where the international FTSE Eurofirst 300 ended the session down 1 per cent at 1,362.85, its weakest close for four sessions. The Xetra Dax 30 in Frankfurt fell 1.2 per cent, while the Paris CAC 40 lost 1.7 per cent and London's FTSE 100 fell 1.3 per cent to 6,547.
The Athens General index fell a further 0.5 per cent to 816.15, heading back toward its weak point for the year of 756.8 after adding to Monday's 12 per cent plunge.
The lingering uncertainty was caused by the potential rise to power of the leftwing Syriza party, which intends to renegotiate Greece's international bailout. After heading sharply higher on Monday Greece's 10-year sovereign borrowing costs eased by 6 basis points to 9.54 per cent.
The odds of Greece leaving the euro have never been higher
by Matt O'Brien
Beware Greeks bearing the same political crisis over and over again. Because eventually this will be how the euro crisis ends: not with a bailout, but a ballot.
It's a tale as old as Homer, or at least it seems that way. The Greek government, you see, has once again collapsed under the weight of the country's austerity program, and anti-bailout parties are leading the polls ahead of new elections. This time, not that it really matters, the ruling coalition led by the right-of-center party New Democracy fell apart after it couldn't get its presidential nominee, a largely ceremonial role, confirmed in three tries. What does matter, though, is whether New Democracy, which is still running a close second, can hold on to power in the snap elections scheduled for Jan. 25. If it can't, then the far-left party Syriza will get its chance to lead Greece in a high-stakes game of chicken with Germany.
Syriza's platform is as simple as it is sensible. They want more spending and less debt. Specifically, they want to spend €1.3 billion, or $1.6 billion, more on food stamps, health care, and restoring electricity to households that can no longer afford it all to alleviate the worst of the country's suffering. And they also want to renegotiate how much of its debt, which even after getting written down before is still over 175 percent of gross domestic product, Greece will pay back. Bankers, of course, think this is "worse than communism," because Syriza is admittedly a little too sanguine about how much money it could raise by—stop me if you've heard this before—cracking down on tax evasion. But, as Wolfgang Münchau points out, there's nothing radical about what Syriza is asking for even if the party itself is. It's pointless to try to make somebody pay back money that they can't pay back. It will fail, and, until you admit that, push them even deeper into poverty. Or, in Greece's case, into the worst depression in history.
Greece's Bad Political Choices
Just when you thought it was safe to invest in Greece again, Greek politicians intervene. Prime Minister Antonis Samaras 's failure Monday to secure 180 out of 300 parliamentary votes for his preferred presidential candidate has triggered a national election, to be held Jan. 25. The stock market tumbled, and yields on Greek bonds rose, in a familiar vote of no confidence.
The greatest fear is that the far-left Syriza party will win enough seats to form a government. Syriza and its leader, Alexis Tsipras, oppose the bailout Greece has received from the International Monetary Fund, European Commission and European Central Bank and have threatened to force a renegotiation that would require foreign creditors to take bigger haircuts on Greek debt. The party also promises free electricity, more spending and a rollback of even the small economic reforms that Greece has made.
Yet the closer the election comes, the warier voters become of Syriza. Its lead over Mr. Samaras's New Democracy party is now between three and four percentage points, down from 6.5 points in October, and it's not certain that Syriza could form a stable government even if it wins a majority. In this sense, Mr. Samaras's tactic of engineering an early election to focus voters on his opponents' shortcomings may be working.
Greek Patience With Austerity Nears Its Limit
by Suzanne Daley
Alexandra Nikolovieni, 55, lost her job escorting young children on a school bus four years ago and has not been able to find another one since. To help financially, her daughter and her son-in-law, who have two children, moved into her house. But now they have lost their jobs, too.
Ms. Nikolovieni, who volunteers at a food pantry in this suburb of Athens, says that every month she sees more and more people like her, qualifying for bundles of groceries and picking out used shoes for themselves or their children.
"Are things getting better?" she said. "I don't think so."
Nowhere have austerity policies been more aggressively tried — and generally failed to live up to results promised by advocates — than in Greece. After more than four years of belt tightening, patience is wearing thin, and tentative signs of improvement have not yet trickled down into the lives of average Greeks.
Now, after its Parliament failed to pick a president on Monday, forcing early elections, Greece faces a turning point in how to heal its devastated economy.
Why Greece's New Crisis Isn't Spreading to the Rest of Europe
by Neil Irwin
Remember "Grexit"? That would be the term, coined by Citigroup analysts in 2012, for Greece exiting the euro currency area, an event that at the time seemed to threaten the very idea of a united Europe and sent tremors through the global economy.
Now, Grexit may be back. But, remarkably, the sense of panic isn't.
The Greek Parliament's centrist governing coalition wasn't able to agree on a new president Monday, and instead called new elections for Jan. 25. Polls point to victory by a more extreme party, the left-wing Syriza, which is skeptical of the European Union.
A Syriza victory would set up a standoff between the most likely prime minister, Alexis Tsipras, and the "troika" of the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund. The new Greek government is likely to insist on a renegotiation of bailout terms, and the European institutions must decide whether to acquiesce or adopt a hard line that might leave Greece with no other choice but to go out on its own outside the umbrella of the single European currency. (Germany's finance minister articulated the hard-line position on Monday, but that's what you would expect him to say at this stage.)
Posted by Aristides N. Hatzis at 12:30 AM 0 comments
Fears for fresh Greek crisis after poll called
Fears of a fresh Greek crisis were ignited on Monday after Athens called a snap general election that could bring the anti-bailout Syriza party to power and put the country on a collision course with international lenders.
Investor concerns were revived after the Greek parliament rejected Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's nominee for president, automatically triggering an election which is to be held on January 25.
Monday's dramatic events revive dormant questions about Greece's place in the eurozone, just two years after the country's debt crisis nearly triggered a break-up of the currency union and shook the European project to its core.
It comes with much of the eurozone struggling with weak growth, the rise of populist anti-EU parties and widespread disenchantment with the politics of austerity.
Investors took fright at the prospect of a victory by Syriza, which has pledged to write off much of Greece's debt and renegotiate the terms of its bailout. The Athens bourse fell almost 11 per cent to a two-year low before regaining some ground. Greek 10-year bond yields jumped to a year high of 9.8 per cent while the government's short-term borrowing costs hit a record high of 12 per cent.
Another Greek Financial Crisis?
Europe Editorial Page Editor Joseph C. Sternberg on what the failed presidential election Monday means for the economy.
Eurozone's weakest link is the voters
by Gideon Rachman
The euro crisis is back. An election in Greece next month and the probable victory of Syriza, a far-left party, will frighten politicians and investors. Once again they will be engaged in a grim discussion of a connected series of possible horrors: debt-default, bank runs, bailouts, social unrest and the possible ejection of Greece from the eurozone.
It is somehow fitting that this crisis should break out at the very end of a year in which markets were lulled into believing that the euro crisis was essentially over. The cost of borrowing of debtor nations in Europe had fallen sharply, reflecting the widespread belief that the European Central Bank's famous pledge to do "whatever it takes" to save the single currency has removed the risk of euro collapse.
That idea was always naive, as events in Greece are now illustrating. The weak link in the theory was European politics – and, specifically, the risk that voters would revolt against economic austerity and cast their ballots for "anti-system" parties that reject the European consensus on how to keep the single currency together.
If that consensus is broken the whole delicate house of cards of debt, bailouts and austerity begins to wobble. And that is what we are seeing in Greece now.
How to Save Greece Now
The Greek parliament's decision to trigger elections by rejecting Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's presidential candidate throws Europe back into turmoil. The European Union can avert a full-blown existential crisis, however, if it acknowledges that Greece's economic pain is real and not entirely self-inflicted, and that austerity fatigue is an issue for more than one euro member.
Polls suggest that the opposition Syriza party may win power in Greece; its leader, Alexis Tsipras, wants to unwind government spending cuts to halt what he calls a "humanitarian crisis'' in his country. If he does win the prime minister's job on Jan. 25, the EU will need to take his concerns seriously, recognize that fiscal backtracking is preferable to seeing Greece exit the euro, and concede that the unfortunate solution to the nation's unsustainable debt is to forgive some of it.
The economic hole Greece finds itself in is a deep one:
The rules of euro membership, laid out in the 1992 Maastricht Treaty, stipulate that a country's debt should be no higher than 60 percent of gross domestic product. Greece's is three times that much -- high enough for the common currency club to show Greece the door. EU leaders know, however, that their earlier failures to punish deficit offenses by Germany and France, combined with persistent transgressions since then, make enforcement impossible.
Greece's Fiscal Odyssey
by Maria Petrakis
Greece has finally emerged from the six-year recession that shrank its economy by a quarter, tripled unemployment and left drugs in short supply. But the struggle over its finances isn't over. Ever since it announced that hidden deficit spending had left the country broke, Greece has been a flashpoint in the European Union's broader economic debates as well as a practical problem for the countries that banded together to adopt the euro. To richer northern countries, Germany in particular, Greece is a spendthrift needing harsh economic medicine. To many Greeks, the depth of their travails has shown the limits – or even folly — of the spending cuts and tax increases pressed on it and other ailing economies like Portugal, Spain, Ireland and Italy. In 2012, conflicts over Greece's debts threatened to tear the euro zone apart. That sense of emergency has faded. Even so, another Greek political crisis is echoing on a continent mired in economic stagnation.
Greece will hold a snap election in early 2015 after Prime Minister Antonis Samaras gambled on shoring up his fragile coalition by forcing a parliamentary showdown. He nominated a successor to the country's current president, then failed to get the necessary support in three separate votes. The anti-austerity protest party Syriza is the favorite to win the ballot, which will likely be held Jan. 25. Syriza's 40-year-old leader, Alexis Tsipras, has promised to write off some of Greece's 322 billion euros of debt, most of it owed to the EU, the International Monetary Fund and the European Central Bank. Samaras has warned that could lead to Greece being forced to leave the euro, a prospect that drove up yields on Greek bonds — but didn't alarm Greeks used to years of chaos. Samaras hopes to make his own deal with the troika of creditors to ease austerity.
Spectre of Grexit once again
by Linda Yueh
After the third and final unsuccessful attempt to elect a president, the stakes are high as Greece will call early elections.
The ruling coalition led by New Democracy is lagging in the polls behind Syriza, an anti-austerity party, whose rise reflects recent polls that show Greeks are frustrated with the EU and even suggest that more Greeks want to return to the drachma than keep the euro. It raises the spectre of Greece's exit from the single currency - or "Grexit" - once again.
It may be unsurprising, since Greece has only just emerged from six years of recession; when it has been that long, it is really more of a depression. The economy is more than 25% smaller now than in 2008, unemployment is around 25%, and roughly a quarter of households live in poverty.
Some 100,000 businesses have closed, and there are many who wonder what could get the economy going, as borrowing costs (yields on 10 year government bonds) have climbed back to 8%, a level considered to be unaffordable. Greece faced those levels when it first sought a rescue.
So, the austerity measures imposed from the rescue programmes piled on top of economic misery help to explain the volatile political landscape.
If Syriza wins the upcoming election and stands by its pledge to challenge the austerity programme, then it again raises the spectre of euro break-up.
Beleaguered Greeks Seek a New Direction as Final Vote Looms
For retired nurse Spyridoula Kantere, the Greek government's nail-biting struggle to elect a new head of state is just a sideshow to her own daily struggles.
The 78-year-old widow, who lost her only son a year ago to a protracted illness, has seen her pension slashed and can't meet loan payments on her €100,000 ($122,000) of debt. She is appealing to the Greek courts for bankruptcy protection. But with thousands of other such requests now jamming the courts, her hearing won't happen until sometime next year.
If Parliament fails next week in its third attempt to elect a new national president, Greece will head to national elections early in the new year. In that case, Mrs. Kantere plans to vote for the radical left Syriza party, in the hope that the opposition might offer her some salvation.
She isn't impressed by evidence that Greece seems to be slowly emerging from its crisis, with its economy returning to growth and an end in sight to strict international oversight by international creditors.
"Things cannot get any worse," she said, fighting back tears. "Greeks are searching the garbage to find something to eat. Shops are closing one after the other. Maybe in the end it would be better if someone else governed the country."
Posted by Yulie Foka-Kavalieraki at 8:41 AM 0 comments
Greeks Used to Years of Chaos Dismiss Samaras's Warnings
As Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's political maneuvers to avoid early elections edge toward a dead end, his warning of turmoil risks falling on deaf ears among Greeks numbed by years of upheaval.
After losing a second vote in parliament yesterday on his candidate for a new president, Samaras needs to win over a dozen lawmakers before a final ballot on Dec. 29. Should he fail, the constitution dictates that elections must be called, with opposition party Syriza leading opinion polls.
"We've already been living through chaos for years now," said Kostas Grekas, a 23-year-old computer-technology student in Athens who graduates next year. "I'd prefer there to be elections now so that Syriza gets in, just to break up the old party system and to see something different."
Greece marked 2014 by exiting a six-year recession that cost the country about a quarter of its economic output and tripled the unemployment rate. While Samaras's pitch is that a change of government would endanger the incipient recovery, Syriza promises to abandon austerity measures tied to the country's international bailout.
Posted by Yulie Foka-Kavalieraki at 12:06 AM 0 comments
A Lot of Uncertainty for Greece in 2015
Yale University Professor of Political Science Stathis Kalyvas discuses Greece rejecting the presidential nominee and what it means for the country with Bloomberg's Guy Johnson on "The Pulse."
Greece Moves Closer to Polls as Samaras Loses 2nd President Vote
by Eleni Chrepa & Antonis Galanopoulos
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras failed to win enough backing today for his nominee for president, bringing Greece a step closer to early elections.
In the second of three attempts, 168 lawmakers in Greece's 300-seat chamber voted for Samaras's nominee, Stavros Dimas, short of the required 200 ballots. Samaras's calls for consensus during the weekend didn't lure enough opposition lawmakers to add to his coalition's 155 votes.
Attention now turns to the final attempt on Dec. 29, when Samaras needs a narrower majority of 180 votes to elect Dimas. Failure will dissolve parliament and lead to early elections. The prospect of an early vote has spooked markets, evoking memories of the financial crisis in 2012 when Greek's euro membership was in jeopardy. Polls showed anti-austerity opposition party Syriza ahead of Samaras's New Democracy.
"There are about five more lawmakers that could vote Dimas in the final vote on Dec. 29," said Aristides Hatzis, an associate professor of law and economics at the University of Athens. The government could gather "a maximum of 175 votes" in the next vote, but will have great difficulty "if it insists on Dimas's candidacy," Hatzis said in a phone interview after the vote today.
Greece's radical left could kill off austerity in the EU
by Owen Jones
Another war looms in Europe: waged not with guns and tanks, but with financial markets and EU diktats. Austerity-ravaged Greece may well be on the verge of a general election that could bring to power a government unequivocally opposed to austerity. Momentous stuff: that has not happened in the six years of cuts and falling living standards that followed the collapse of Lehman Brothers.
But if the radical leftist party Syriza does indeed triumph in a possible snap poll in the new year, there will undoubtedly be a concerted attempt to choke the experiment at birth. That matters not just for Greece, but for all of us who want a different sort of society and a break from years of austerity.
What misery has been inflicted on Greece. One in four of its people are out of work; poverty has surged from 23% before the crash to 40.5%; and research has demonstrated how key services such as health have been hammered by cuts, even as demand has risen. No wonder the country has experienced a political polarisation that has prompted comparisons with Weimar Germany. The neo-Nazi Golden Dawn – which makes other European rightist movements look like fluffy liberals – at one point attracted up to 15% in the polls; though still a menace, its support has thankfully subsided to half that.
Samaras Confronts Peril Putting His Greek Record to Vote
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has become the stabilizing figure during the Greek financial crisis. Now he's facing a vote that may determine whether he becomes a transformational leader or another flawed transition in the nation's perilous politics.
Since coming to power in 2012, Samaras has shed his divisive reputation, secured Greece's position in the euro region and held together a shaky coalition. And he's on track to achieve what many analysts believed was impossible just two years ago: the first balanced budget in more than four decades.
"When Samaras became prime minister, most people held their breath," said Stathis Kalyvas, professor of politics at Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut. "Expectations were universally low. Clearly, he exceeded these expectations by stabilizing the economy and putting the country back on a path toward more sustainable growth."
To save itself, Greece must exit the euro
by Jeremy Warner
Of all the instabilities that concern international investors – from the plunging oil price to the collapsing rouble and the slowing Chinese economy, now fast transmogrifying into a systemic emerging market crisis – Greece is the one that bothers them least.
If you happen to be Greek, or are long of Greek bonds, the latest turn of events obviously matters a lot, but to the great bulk of the outside world it seems a contained and largely irrelevant problem, quite unlike the Greek meltdown of 2011/12 which brought the entire Eurozone close to collapse. It's yesterday's story, now eclipsed by the greater threat of mass retrenchment in emerging markets weighed low by excessive dollar debt.
Things have moved on quite a bit since back then, or at least, that's what eurozone leaders have convinced themselves of; the banking system is stronger, and mechanisms are in place to prevent wider contagion from a Greek default or exit, including, crucially, the bond buying backstop of the European Central Bank.
Tsipras vows to break Greece's 'bad spell'
Greece's radical leftist Syriza party will cancel austerity and ask Europe to erase a big chunk of Greek debt to free the country from the dark spell it has fallen under, leader Alexis Tsipras told Reuters on Thursday.
In an interview at his party headquarters in a gritty Athens district, Tsipras sought to reassure markets wary of Syriza sweeping into power, saying he was committed to keeping Greece in the euro and keeping the budget balanced before debt costs.
"The fear-mongering of 2012 and the fear today that if Syriza comes to power in Greece Europe will be destroyed, in reality works as a self-fulfilling prophecy," said Tsipras.
"A Syriza victory will break the bad spell and liberate markets. It will create a feeling of security."
Fears among investors that Greece is heading for an early national election that will bring Syriza to power have sent Greek stocks and bonds crashing in recent weeks. Markets have been spooked by Syriza's hard line on demanding a debt write-off and plans to cancel an EU/IMF bailout that is keeping Greece afloat.
EU's Greek Drama Needs a Final Act
Judging from Wednesday's vote in the Greek parliament, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras may not get the mandate he wants to keep economic austerity measures in place and avoid defaulting on the country's debt. His would be the responsible path, but it's easy enough to see why Greeks wouldn't want to follow it.
The dispute is haunting international investors again because the European Union in general, and Germany in particular, refuses to write off any part of Greece's sovereign debt. Yet, as most economists acknowledge, the country can never emerge from under its current debt pile -- now close to 180 percent of gross domestic product. And the prospect of endless years of austerity spent in the attempt is political poison.
Samaras brought forward Wednesday's vote for a new president, the first of three, as a vote of confidence. He is essentially daring members of parliament to reject his candidate, Stavros Dimas, because that would force new parliamentary elections -- elections that the anti-austerity, neo-Marxist Syriza coalition might win. Judging by this first vote, in which Dimas secured just 160 votes, it's going to be an uphill struggle. To win in the third round later this month, Dimas will need 180 votes.
Greek premier prepared European ground before vote gamble
Prime Minister Antonis Samaras has bet on Greece's future with an early vote for the presidency. But in contrast to a recent predecessor, he made sure before dropping the bombshell that Berlin and Brussels wouldn't stand in the way.
Samaras's decision last week to bring the three-stage parliamentary vote forward to this month from February took the Greek establishment and financial markets by surprise.
But a select few knew it was coming, among them German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble. With Berlin playing a decisive role in European aid for Greece, Samaras and Schaeuble spoke repeatedly by telephone in the days before the early vote was announced on Dec. 8, according to a euro zone official with direct knowledge of the talks.
They discussed details of Greece's international bailout, which Samaras wants to pull out of a year ahead of schedule. They also talked about bringing forward the vote, this person said, even though the conservative premier has yet to secure a majority of lawmakers for the government's candidate.
Posted by Yulie Foka-Kavalieraki at 10:10 PM 0 comments
Greek Markets Suggest Government May Fall
Greek lawmakers will vote today on whether to back Prime Minister Antonis Samaras's choice for a new head of state. The collective wisdom of financial markets suggests his gambit may fail, leading to elections early next year that could result in the nation defaulting on its debts.
Samaras needs the assent of 200 out of 300 parliamentarians, though he has three chances to muster that support between now and Dec. 29. Observers reckon he needs more than 170 in the first attempt to be on track for a win; the governing coalition controls 155 of the votes. Failure may usher opposition party Syriza into power on a platform of less economic austerity and a renegotiation of Greece's debts.
The Greek bond market has been in a funk ever since early last week when Samaras announced the vote. With three-year yields above 10-year levels, bondholders are signaling their discomfort about the near-term outlook for the nation's creditworthiness and its willingness to meet its obligations:
The stock market is similarly dismayed at the prospect of a change of government, with Greek stocks underperforming their European counterparts:
Greek Lawmakers Gird for High-Stakes Vote
by Stelios Bouras & Alkman Granitsas
Greek lawmakers are scheduled to hold a first vote late Wednesday on the country's next head of state, a largely ceremonial position but one that has become a flash point in Greece's contentious politics and could determine whether the country goes to early national elections.
Few expect the government to garner the supermajority it needs to elect its candidate, former European commissioner Stavros Dimas, in the first round, and two more votes are likely to follow. But the first round, said analysts and government officials, will show whether the government's gambit is gaining traction among lawmakers or is heading toward defeat.
The government—a coalition of the conservative New Democracy and socialist Pasok parties—holds just 155 seats in the 300-seat Parliament. It will have to rely on votes of some two dozen independent lawmakers, as well as renegade deputies in two smaller parties to reach the 180-vote threshold in the final round, tentatively scheduled for Dec. 29.
Greece Revisits the Panic
Stock markets took a tumble last week as the announcement of a snap presidential election in Athens triggered fears about how lasting Greece's reform-and-recovery drive will be. This panic about democracy is instructive.
The vote for the ceremonial role of president, which will likely take three rounds of balloting in the parliament over the next few weeks, has become a test of confidence in Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. He will be forced to call a snap parliamentary election next month if he can't secure 180 votes in the 300-member body for his preferred candidate by the third round. He needs support from 25 independent members to hit that threshold, and he's not certain to get it. If he fails, voters will elect a new parliament at the end of January.
Mr. Samaras's decision to call the presidential election that threatens his government appears to be a gambit to neutralize the increasingly popular far-left Syriza party, which promises to undo painful reforms and force creditors to take bigger haircuts on Greek debt. With negotiations for Greece's exit from its bailout looming, Mr. Samaras seems to hope voters will return his unpopular government to power rather than risk further chaos by handing Syriza power for the exit talks.
The Greek fiscal crisis erupted five years ago, and its side effects continue to inflict immense damage on Europe and the world. But I'm not talking about the side effects you may have in mind — spillovers from Greece's Great Depression-level slump, or financial contagion to other debtors. No, the truly disastrous effect of the Greek crisis was the way it distorted economic policy, as supposedly serious people around the world rushed to learn the wrong lessons.
Now Greece appears to be in crisis again. Will we learn the right lessons this time?
What happened last time, you may recall, was the exploitation of Greece's woes to change the economic subject. Suddenly, we were supposed to obsess over budget deficits, even if borrowing costs were at historic lows, and slash government spending, even in the face of mass unemployment. Because if we didn't, you see, we could turn into Greece any day now. "Greece stands as a warning of what happens to countries that lose their credibility," intoned David Cameron, Britain's prime minister, as he announced austerity policies in 2010. "We are on the same path as Greece," declared Representative Paul Ryan, who was soon to become the chairman of the House Budget Committee, that same year.
Ο Αριστείδης Χατζής για τις πολιτικές εξελίξεις
Συνέντευξη του Αριστείδη Χατζή στη Φούλη Δημητρακοπούλου (ΝΕΡΙΤ Θεσσαλονίκης)
How to Buy a Greek Island
by Stelios Bouras & Nektaria Stammouli
It's the ultimate dream property of the superrich: your own Greek island, drenched in sunshine and surrounded by turquoise water.
Traditionally, these islands have rarely come up for sale, staying in the same families from one generation to the next. But Greek's private-island property market is perking up, bolstered by growing interest from foreign investors, a drop in prices and changes to Greek tax laws. Some 20 privately owned Greek islands are currently up for sale.
Notable new island-owners include Ekaterina Rybolovleva, the 25-year-old daughter of Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. Early last year, a company belonging to a trust affiliated with Ms. Rybolovleva bought the Greek isle of Skorpios from Athina Onassis Roussel, the granddaughter of Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis. (The island was the site, 45 years earlier, of the wedding of the magnate and former first lady Jacqueline Kennedy.) The sale price was reportedly £100 million, or $158 million; a representative for Ms. Rybolovleva confirmed the sale but wouldn't comment on the price.
"After Skorpios was sold, and especially during the past year, there has been an intense interest in the islands' market," says Alexandros Moulas, an agent for real-estate firm Savills . "An intermediate usually gets in touch with us and the name of the actual investor is kept as a closely guarded secret."
Greek stocks and bonds in sharp sell-off
Greek stocks and bonds suffered another sharp sell-off on Thursday amid mounting fears about the country's future within the eurozone and mounting political uncertainty.
Greece's stock market declined 7 per cent following the worst one day fall since the late 1980s this week. Benchmark 10-year government borrowing costs rose 50 basis points to yield 8.79 per cent.
The decline means the Athens bourse has shed nearly a fifth of its value this week after the announcement by Antonis Samaras, prime minister, of a snap presidential election later this month. If he fails to win sufficient support for his candidate, an early general election could follow which investors fear will bring to power the radical left Syriza party that has campaigned on an anti-austerity platform.
"Further volatility cannot be ruled out given the event risk over December," said Peter Goves, an analyst at Citi.
'Grexit' threat could complicate ECB quantitative easing
by James Saft
The return of the idea of a Greek euro exit, as boogeyman or genuine threat, comes at a particularly difficult time, dangerously complicating the already fraught advent of full-scale QE in the euro zone.
A parliamentary vote, set to begin next week, to replace the Greek president may trigger general elections in the new year, elections which the anti-bailout party Syriza could well win.
"We shed blood to take the word 'Grexit' away from the mouth of foreigners, and Syriza is bringing this word back to their mouths," Prime Minister Antonis Samaras said on Thursday, using once more the highly emotive term for a Greek parting of ways with the euro project.
The very idea, much less its invocation by the prime minister, panics Greek markets, which have seen equities lose more than a fifth of their value in three days and a spike in 10-year government bond yields above 9 percent.
There are very good reasons for this, though much has changed since the height of Greece's crisis.
Samaras's gamble
A Greek presidential election is not supposed to make headlines. The ruling party's candidate, typically a low-key retired politician, normally wins the required three-fifths majority after a three-round vote in parliament. In the 40 years since Greece replaced its monarchy with a republic led by a figurehead president, no big political upset has occurred. This time it could be different.
Antonis Samaras (pictured), the centre-right prime minister, has called a snap presidential election for December 17th, two months before Karolos Papoulias, the 85-year-old incumbent, steps down. This is at best a risky gamble. Sensing that political instability might rekindle the euro crisis, financial markets panicked. Prices on the Athens stockmarket plunged by almost 13% the day after the presidential vote was announced; yields on Greek ten-year bonds soared above 8% (see chart).
Mr Samaras said he was bringing the presidential vote forward to restore political stability, which he claimed was being undermined by persistent demands from the far-left Syriza party, led by Alexis Tsipras, a radical populist, for an early general election. Since it came first in the European elections in May, Syriza has kept a strong lead over Mr Samaras's New Democracy (ND) party in the opinion polls. Yet if Mr Samaras's candidate for the presidency, Stavros Dimas, a former European environment commissioner, fails to win 180 out of 300 votes in the final round, Mr Tsipras will get his way, as an early general election must then be held.
Για γέλια και για κλάματα
του Αριστείδη Ν. Χατζή
Από το πρωί της περασμένης Παρασκευής και για τέσσερις ημέρες το Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών αποκόπηκε από τον κόσμο. Καμία ηλεκτρονική υπηρεσία δεν λειτουργούσε, δεν είχαμε πρόσβαση στην ηλεκτρονική αλληλογραφία και φυσικά οι φοιτήτριες και οι φοιτητές μας δεν μπορούσαν να επικοινωνήσουν μαζί μας, να παραδώσουν εργασίες, να δουν τους βαθμούς τους ή να έχουν πρόσβαση στο εκπαιδευτικό υλικό. Η διακοπή αυτή δεν οφείλεται σε βλάβη αλλά στη βίαιη κατάληψη του Κέντρου Δικτύου από μια ομάδα τραμπούκων, οι οποίοι μάλιστα απειλούσαν να καταστρέψουν τον εξοπλισμό αν επιχειρούσε κανείς να τους βγάλει έξω από τον χώρο που κατέλαβαν παράνομα. Ο λόγος που αναγκάστηκαν να διακόψουν την κατάληψη ήταν για να αποφύγουν σοβαρές ποινικές ευθύνες σε περίπτωση κάποιου «ατυχήματος» σε ένα από τα πανεπιστημιακά νοσοκομεία – που βέβαια κι αυτά αποκόπηκαν από το Διαδίκτυο. Όμως μας «υποσχέθηκαν» ότι η πρόσβαση που έχουμε από την Τρίτη το πρωί είναι προσωρινή. Θα επανέλθουν…
Ασφαλώς όλα αυτά ακούγονται εξωφρενικά στους φυσιολογικούς ανθρώπους και τερατώδη στους συναδέλφους μας στο εξωτερικό. Όταν χρησιμοποίησα εναλλακτική διεύθυνση για να έρθω σε επαφή με τους τελευταίους, μου έκαναν μερικές απλές, αφελείς ερωτήσεις: «Γιατί δεν επενέβη ο εισαγγελέας; Η παράνομη βία δεν είναι αυτόφωρο έγκλημα; Το πανεπιστημιακό άσυλο δεν προστατεύει την ελευθερία επικοινωνίας και την ακαδημαϊκή ελευθερία;»
Η πανεπιστημιακή κοινότητα τι έκανε; Με λίγες εξαιρέσεις, τίποτα απολύτως. Πάσχουμε άλλωστε από βαριά μορφή μιθριδατισμού. Έχουμε συνηθίσει ακόμα και τις πιο ακραίες πράξεις βίας, αυθαιρεσίας και αυταρχισμού. Έχουμε μάθει να ζούμε μέσα σε ένα άθλιο περιβάλλον, να εργαζόμαστε με μισθούς εξευτελιστικούς και να σκύβουμε το κεφάλι σε κάθε τραμπούκο. Μην περιμένετε πολλά από εμάς.
Οι φοιτήτριες και οι φοιτητές; Την προηγούμενη εβδομάδα κατάφεραν να σπάσουν την παράνομη κατάληψη της Νομικής. Στη συνέλευση του φοιτητικού συλλόγου ανεξάρτητοι φοιτητές/τριες πέρασαν ένα δικό τους ψήφισμα υπέρ των ανοικτών σχολών απομονώνοντας τις κομματικές παρατάξεις. Αυτό δεν εμπόδισε τους τραμπούκους να καταλάβουν τη σχολή την Τρίτη και να την κρατούν κλειστή με τη βία. Όμως και πάλι φοιτήτριες και φοιτητές έκαναν ό,τι μπορούσαν για να ανοίξει, δυστυχώς χωρίς αποτέλεσμα.
Ζούμε σε ένα κράτος το οποίο αδιαφορεί για την παιδεία, ιδιαίτερα την ανώτατη, εκτός αν μπορεί να αποκομίσει πολιτικά οφέλη. Με ένα υπουργείο Παιδείας που κουρεύει ερευνητικά προγράμματα για να αναδιανείμει το ποσό σε δραστηριότητες περισσότερο επικερδείς πολιτικά. Το πανεπιστήμιο έχει γίνει ένας τεράστιος άθλιος σκουπιδότοπος, χωρίς φύλαξη, γεμάτος άσχημα graffiti, αφίσες και ιπτάμενα κουρέλια.
Η μόνη παρηγοριά είναι το μάθημα, η επαφή με τις φοιτήτριες και τους φοιτητές. Και η έρευνα, η ανάπηρη έστω επαφή μας με τον κόσμο της επιστήμης. Μας τα αφαιρούν κι αυτά. Κάθε τραμπούκος μπορεί να μας απαγορεύσει να κάνουμε μάθημα, κάθε θρασύδειλος νταής μπορεί να μας εμποδίσει να επικοινωνούμε ηλεκτρονικά με τον έξω κόσμο.
Αναρωτιέμαι λοιπόν…Τι μας απομένει; Δεν μπορούμε να προστατεύσουμε τους εαυτούς μας, δεν μπορούμε να προστατεύσουμε τους φοιτητές μας, δεν μπορούμε να προστατεύσουμε την εκπαιδευτική διαδικασία. Απουσιάζουν ακόμα και οι βασικές προϋποθέσεις στοιχειώδους λειτουργίας. Ποιον κοροϊδεύουμε παριστάνοντας ότι αυτό είναι πανεπιστήμιο;
* Ο Αριστείδης Χατζής είναι αναπληρωτής καθηγητής Φιλοσοφίας Δικαίου και Θεωρίας Θεσμών στο Πανεπιστήμιο Αθηνών.
Εδώ θα βρείτε το άρθρο σε PDF (όπως δημοσιεύθηκε στα Νέα)
Εδώ θα βρείτε το άρθρο στην ιστοσελίδα των Νέων
Εδώ θα βρείτε ένα πρόσφατο σχετικό κείμενό μου για τη βία στα πανεπιστήμια και εδώ παλαιότερα κείμενά μου για την κατάσταση στην ανώτατη παιδεία
Samaras Appeals to Lawmakers' Principles and Pocketbooks
With his choice for the presidency, Prime Minister Antonis Samaras made an appeal to Greek conservatives -- and to the self interest of opposition lawmakers.
Nominating Stavros Dimas, a 73-year-old former European commissioner, offers conservatives in the 300-seat parliament a candidate in line with their values, and gives Samaras a chance of staying in office.
It also gives those members concerned that the rise of anti-austerity Syriza party could cost them their jobs a reason to side with the government, said Aristides Hatzis, an associate professor of law and economics at the University of Athens. Samaras will have to dissolve parliament unless he can muster the support of 180 lawmakers for Dimas.
"Many of these guys were elected in 2012 for the first time," Hatzis said by phone yesterday. "And it will probably be the last time."
Tsipras May Become Next Greek Leader, Mixing Mao With Bond Yield
As Alexis Tsipras moves closer to taking control of Europe's most indebted country, he's trying to convince bond investors they have nothing to fear.
The 40-year-old leader of Coalition of the Radical Left, better known as Syriza, alarmed an entire continent at the height of the euro-area crisis in 2012, when his party narrowly lost the second Greek election that year. He campaigned then on a pledge to tear up the country's bailout agreement, risking a euro exit. Now he's pledging fiscal prudence.
"We don't want to return to deficits," Tsipras told the Greek parliament in Athens during a debate last night. "We don't want new borrowed money."
Tsipras is trying to convince voters exhausted by five years of austerity that he can walk a tightrope between rolling back spending cuts and balancing the budget. While economists question the math underlying his pledge, some investors say the prospect of a Tspiras government isn't reason to panic just yet.
"If Syriza wins the elections then there might be maybe a short-term repricing in Greek assets, but I don't think it's going to be a long-lived weakness," said Nicola Marinelli, who helps manage 110 million euros ($135 million) of assets at Pentalpha Capital Ltd in London. "It might even be an opportunity to buy."
Greece Turns Triumph Into Tragedy
by Simon Nixon
Greece's latest drama has the potential to turn into a tragedy. Six months ago, the country seemed to be past the worst and there was widespread optimism among policy makers and the markets that the overhauls had laid the foundations for an investment- and export-led recovery.
Foreign investors had snapped up Greece's first government-bond issue since the start of the eurozone debt crisis and had poured fresh capital into the banking system.
The long-stalled privatization program was attracting serious expressions of interest from global companies and hedge funds, and private-equity groups were on the hunt for bargains.
The mood today is rather different. If anything, the economy has outperformed expectations, growing 0.7% year-to-year in the third quarter, the fastest growth of any eurozone member, boosted by tourism.
Next year, Athens expects growth of close to 3%. Unemployment is finally falling and the country is delivering both a primary-budget and current-account surplus.
Greek radical left spooks global bond investors
Investors are increasingly worried about the outcome of Greece's forthcoming presidential election, which could enable radical leftwing party Syriza to take power in March.
Senior Syriza politicians visited London two weeks ago to present their economic programme to a number of large fund houses and banks, but the meetings have sparked anxiety among investors.
A leaked memo from Joerg Sponer, an analyst at Capital Group, the ninth-largest fund house globally, with $1.4tn of assets, described the programme as "worse than communism" and "total chaos". "Everybody coming out of the meeting wants to sell everything in Greece," he said.
Syriza denied that Mr Sponer was at any of the meetings it held, but acknowledged other Capital Group analysts were present. Capital Group said the memo did not represent its universal house view.
Since the Syriza meetings took place, a flurry of Greek bankers and brokers have travelled to London to try and reassure clients. The Syriza road-trip "has made some investors quite nervous", one of the bankers said.
Oil Price Plunge Lends Unexpected Hand to Southern Europe
The plunging oil price is giving an unexpected lift to Europe's crisis-battered southern periphery as decreasing fuel costs help spur demand.
Spain, Europe's fourth-largest economy, could add as much as 1 percent to annual growth with oil prices between $80-90 a barrel, the government said. Italy, which is in its fourth year of recession, stands to boost GDP 0.3 percentage points with a sustained $10 oil price drop, according to BNP Paribas SA.
"There's no doubt lower oil prices will act as a stimulus to growth in the region," Frederik Ducrozet, a Paris-based economist at Credit Agricole, said by phone. "Greece, Spain, Portugal and Italy would be clear beneficiaries."
The region's crisis-ravaged southern arc is looking forward to an unexpected boon from the oil drop after years of contraction left record debt levels and unemployment that confound economic recovery. As importers of oil, the countries gain economically from the plummeting price through lower energy costs and increased buying power for consumers.
The Greek Patient: Europe Debates Third Bailout Package for Athens
It's no accident that "pathos" is a Greek word. Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras, at least, is a politician who is fond of sprinkling his speeches with the kind of emotional appeal that Aristotle long ago identified as an effective stylistic device.
"The era of bailout packages is ending," Samaras promised in September during an appearance in Thessaloniki. "Greece is now welcoming the new Greece."
Samaras knew the line would guarantee him applause from his audience, but the promise also came a bit prematurely. Following the announcement, Greece got a small taste of what it might mean were Greece were released from the oversight of the troika, comprised of the European Commission, the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund. The more often Samaras spoke of a "clean solution," the more yields rose on long-term Greek government bonds. At the beginning of September, the rates had been 5.8 percent, but they soon climbed to almost 9 percent.
It was the financial markets' way of hinting that it is still too early to grant Greece full fiscal independence.
One high-ranking EU official compared the situation to a patient who has survived intensive care but wants to leave the hospital early. A relapse is certain and the subsequent care will be much more involved than if the patient had stayed in the hospital long enough for full recovery. Greece's second bailout package officially ends in a month's time, but it is already certain that the country will require additional funding from its EU partners.
Greece's Creditors Likely to Extend Its Bailout After Talks Fail
Greece's international creditors are looking at extending the country's bailout program by up to six months, two eurozone officials said Wednesday after two days of marathon negotiations with the country's officials here failed to reach an agreement.
The country's so-called troika of lenders—the European Union, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund—is leaning toward a six-month extension of Greece's current program, one eurozone official said.
The IMF and Germany, often aligned when it comes to the Greek bailout program, back the idea, a second official said.
The talks in the French capital, which began Tuesday afternoon and continued almost nonstop for 24 hours, were aimed at wrapping up the final review of the country's austerity and reform program. They come as Greece fast approaches a year-end deadline to hammer out a new financing deal with creditors.
The financial markets have looked negatively on the possibility of Greece's early exit from the program. In addition, Greek banks could be cut off from the European Central Bank's cash lending if Greece is not under internationally approved supervision.
Greece Submits Budget With Troika Talks Still at Impasse
by Marcus Bensasson and Christos Ziotis
Greece submitted its 2015 budget to parliament without prior sign-off from its international creditors as talks with them remained stalled.
The plan sees the government posting a budget surplus before interest payments of 3 percent of gross domestic product next year, or 5.6 billion euros ($7 billion) compared with a forecast of 2.9 percent of GDP in an earlier draft of the budget last month, Alternate Finance Minister Christos Staikouras told reporters in Athens today. Hours earlier, talks between the government and officials representing the European Commission, European Central Bank and International Monetary Fund, known as the troika, ended without an agreement over those forecasts.
"The risk of a complete breakdown is quite high," said Aristides Hatzis, an associate professor of law and economics at the University of Athens. "This is a pre-electoral message. There's a competition going on between the government and Syriza over who can unshackle Greece from the bailout accord the quickest."
Give Greece a Chance
Greece's creditors are testing the country's endurance -- again. If they keep pressing, they could split the euro area apart, which would be a disaster for them as much as for Greece. They need to stop insisting on the impossible, and find a way to relieve the country's debts.
The European Commission, the European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund have told the government of Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to cut the country's debt burden, the biggest in the euro area, by reducing public spending even further. In return, they propose a last injection of bailout money and an emergency credit line.
The offer is toxic because further efforts to reduce debt through fiscal tightening are almost certain to fail. And that's assuming they don't plunge the country into political instability, as they well might. Polls suggest that the radical left-wing Syriza party, led by Alexis Tsipras, is in a strong position to replace Samaras's moderates in elections next year. (A few months back, Syriza rode a wave of anti-Europe sentiment to victory in elections to the European Parliament.)
Posted by Aristides N. Hatzis at 12:07 PM 0 comments
Grecovery
The euro area stayed in the doldrums in the third quarter, according to data released on November 14th. Output rose by 0.2% compared to the second quarter, equivalent to just 0.6% on an annualised basis. That was only slightly faster than the meagre 0.1% growth in the second quarter (0.3% annualised). Against this dismal backdrop there was one nice surprise: of the 14 countries in the 18-strong currency union that reported data, Greece fared best, growing by 0.7%.
It turns out that the Greek recovery started in the first quarter of this year, when it grew even faster, by 0.8%, according to the new figures (for technical reasons quarterly figures had been suspended since 2011); it then slowed to 0.3% in the second quarter. The upturn has meant that the economy is now growing on a yearly basis (see chart). Apart from a blip in early 2010 just before the first of two bail-outs, this is Greece's first spell of annual growth since the start of 2008. Between the pre-crisis peak, in the second quarter of 2007, and the trough at the end of last year, GDP contracted by 27%, a decline rivalling America's in the early 1930s.
Even though the euro zone as a whole is doing badly, the Greek recovery looks set to continue, at least in the short-term. An economic-sentiment index compiled by the European Commission stood at 102 in October, well above its level a year before, when it was 92, let alone during the worst of the euro crisis, when it sank below 80. Since the indicator tends to track GDP growth this suggests a decent start to the current quarter.
Greek Election Campaign Kicks Off Amid Uncertainty...
The odds of Greece leaving the euro have never bee...
Why Greece's New Crisis Isn't Spreading to the Res...
Beleaguered Greeks Seek a New Direction as Final V...
Greeks Used to Years of Chaos Dismiss Samaras's Wa...
Greece Moves Closer to Polls as Samaras Loses 2nd ...
Greece's radical left could kill off austerity in ...
Samaras Confronts Peril Putting His Greek Record t...
Greek premier prepared European ground before vote...
'Grexit' threat could complicate ECB quantitative ...
Samaras Appeals to Lawmakers' Principles and Pocke...
Tsipras May Become Next Greek Leader, Mixing Mao W...
Oil Price Plunge Lends Unexpected Hand to Southern...
The Greek Patient: Europe Debates Third Bailout Pa...
Greece's Creditors Likely to Extend Its Bailout Af...
Greece Submits Budget With Troika Talks Still at I...


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text:
Editing Creatures 2 (section)
==Compatibility== {{#evt: service=youtube |id=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCyEgm53qaQ |alignment=right }} The original version of Creatures 2, and its Albian Years counterpart, will run on Windows 2000, Windows Millenium Edition and Windows XP, but not Windows Vista, Windows 7, Windows 8/8.1 or Windows 10. The [[GOG Creatures Collection|GOG]] Albian Years version, however, is fully compatible with these operating systems. [[Deji]] has also found a [http://creaturescaves.com/forum.php?view=12&thread=3202 fix] to get the regular game to run on Windows Vista and Windows 7. There are multiple methods available to run the [[GOG]] release of Creatures 2 on modern versions of Windows. Please note that these fixes may not work with older versions of Creatures 2. ===DXWnd=== You can use [[DXWnd]] to launch Creatures 2. This is a program that re-implements certain APIs that have been broken in Windows 8 and higher. DXWnd fixes all lag & redraw issues in Creatures 2, and even scales the output on HiDPI screens. ===Other workarounds=== There are some other workarounds available to get the most out of Creatures 2. * You can avoid the [[Black Box of Doom]] by either following [http://creaturescaves.com/community.php?section=Resources&view=78 this guide] or drag the [http://dege.freeweb.hu/ dgVoodoo 2] wrapper files (D3D8.dll and D3Dlmm.dll) to its install directory. * Due to the broken APIs in Windows 8 & higher, the game seems to suffer from severe lag when it runs at a 1080px resolution. One way to fix the lag is to lower your screen resolution to 1366x768. * The GOG version asks for Creatures 2 to be run in 16-bit mode. It will prompt you to change it, though you will have to change it back manually. A workaround for this can be found [https://www.gog.com/forum/creatures_series/running_creatures_2_in_32_bit_color_mode here], making launching Creatures 2 much easier, and removing the need to change the color depth back when finished. Some parts of the user interface, including the status bar and "Tip of the day" window, won't display properly in Windows 10. There is currently no known workaround for this.
All contributions to Creatures Wiki are considered to be released under the CC-BY-SA and GFDL (see Creatures Wiki:Copyrights for details).
What is the name of the game series that this wiki is about? This is not a trick question.
Retrieved from "https://creatures.wiki/Creatures_2"

redpajama_set_name: RedPajamaCommonCrawl


text:
Premier On Morgan's Point: 'Work Has Begun'
[Updated with video] "I am pleased to announce that work has begun," Premier Paula Cox said today [Oct 1] at a press conference held to update on progress for the hotel development at the Morgan's Point site.
The Morgan's Point project is scheduled to include a luxury hotel and condominium project, a golf course, a marina, boat launching and docking facilities, beach clubs, tennis courts, restaurants, shops and more.
"We have started the remediation work which is the responsibility of the Government and is necessary to prepare the site for the construction. This project is being managed by the Office of Project Management and Procurement [OPMP]," Premier Cox said.
Premier Cox continued: "OPMP has already begun to secure the perimeter of the Southampton site and to clear vegetation and other unnecessary obstacles in order for asbestos abatement works to begin in earnest on 8th October, 2012.
"One of the challenges that we have discovered is that many persons have used the vacant land to store their property. Both the Government and the developers must ensure that there is no risk to life and limb and that all building equipment that is on the property is secured.
"Therefore, we can no longer allow unauthorised entry to or unauthorised storage on the site," continued Premier Cox. "For the duration of the works, only personnel authorised by OPMP will be allowed access to the site… "
Premier Cox also talked about employment opportunities saying: "The OPMP is currently negotiating with all known certified asbestos remediation companies to allocate specific buildings for each of them to work on. In other words, rather than tendering and allowing only one company to benefit, we will be ensuring that contractors 'share the wealth'.
"Not only will contractors be benefitting. This strategy will provide opportunities to some of our unemployed Bermudians," said Premier Cox.
"Traditionally, Bermuda has not had enough skilled and qualified people working in the asbestos abatement field. I am pleased to announce today that, OPMP, in conjunction with the Department of Labor & Training, will be offering up to 40 currently unemployed persons the chance to attend a free four-day training seminar to certify them as competent in working with asbestos.
"The Department of Labour and Training is currently short-listing suitable persons who will go through the recruitment process that will qualify them for employment.
"After qualification, Government will work with the contractors to ensure that as many employment opportunities as possible are given to these trained personnel on the Morgan's' Point project. Interested persons may apply at the Department of Labour and Training."
The Premier's full statement follows below:
I am pleased to provide an update on the work that is being done to progress the hotel development at the Morgan's Point site.
With me today is the Chairman of the Morgan's Point steering committee, Mrs. Janet Albion, Interim Director of the Office of Project Management and Procurement and Ms. Rozy Azhar, Assistant Cabinet Secretary, a member of the Committee.
The Steering Committee is an intra-agency board composed of the Financial Secretary and Permanent Secretaries from the Public Works; Government Estates and Information Services; Environment Planning and Infrastructure.
Mr. Craig Christensen representing the principals of Morgan's Point Limited, who are developing the site, attends the steering committee meetings as an ex-officio member. Mr. Christensen has been working very closely with the Office of Project Management and Procurement.
This demonstrates Government's commitment to working closely with the developers to progress this development and to ensure that we meet our commitments on schedule and within the allocated budget.
Like many others, the Greens who have recently purchased Fairmont Hamilton, Equator Re, the Irish company that has domiciled in Bermuda; Link Bermuda; and our other loyal local, insurance and international companies, the Morgan's Point developers believe in the rejuvenation of Bermuda and in hard working Bermudians. As a result, this project will provide jobs for our people in the short-term, medium-term and long-term.
I am pleased to announce that work has begun!
We have started the remediation work which is the responsibility of the Government and is necessary to prepare the site for the construction. This project is being managed by the Office of Project Management and Procurement [OPMP].
OPMP has already begun to secure the perimeter of the Southampton site and to clear vegetation and other unnecessary obstacles in order for asbestos abatement works to begin in earnest on 8th October, 2012.
Therefore, we can no longer allow unauthorised entry to or unauthorised storage on the site. You will be aware that public notices have been issued this week to advise owners of boats, equipment and other unauthorised items currently stored at Morgan's that they need to remove their property from the site to allow the works to progress.
For the duration of the works, only personnel authorised by OPMP will be allowed access to the site, and this includes access via the bays and waterways. While these steps are necessary, the remediation work poses very little risk to the environment and the public.
In the next few weeks, the OPMP will set up a dedicated website to allow the public to see progress on site. The website will also include links to the developer's site when it becomes available.
You will remember that in May 2012, I issued a press statement on how the procurement processes would benefit Bermudians in which I stated: "The Office of Project Management and Procurement has almost completed the recruitment of project managers which will provide direct management of more complex projects allowing for the increased use of smaller businesses.
This is intended to spread the wealth and reduce the risk of over- reliance on only the limited number of general contractors. There will be an announcement in due course on one major project that is intended to involve a number of small contractors, under the guidance of an OPMP project manager, to complete the first phase of the project."
I am pleased to highlight that this is the project that I was alluding to. The OPMP is currently negotiating with all known certified asbestos remediation companies to allocate specific buildings for each of them to work on. In other words, rather than tendering and allowing only one company to benefit, we will be ensuring that contractors 'share the wealth'.
Not only will contractors be benefitting. This strategy will provide opportunities to some of our unemployed Bermudians.
This initiative will allow us to expand the number of certified Bermudians in the field, thereby reducing our dependency on overseas resources and prepare our people not only for employment on the remediation project but for future opportunities as well.
This Government is committed to providing the infrastructure to encourage investment in Bermuda and by, doing so, getting all of our people back to full employed.
Morgan's Point Submits First Phase To Planning
Construction Progressing At Caroline Bay
Videos/Renderings: Morgan's Point Development
Cove Named One Of "10 Exceptional Condos"
Minister On Guarantees For Morgan's Point
Video/Photos: Morgan's Point Development Plans
#BermudaPolitics #BermudaRealEstate #BermudaTourism #Construction #HotelNews #MorgansPoint
Category: All, News, Politics
Articles that link to this one:
Fahy: 'Take Them All With A Grain Of Salt' | Bernews.com | October 2, 2012
Man Killed: Industrial Accident At Morgan's Point | Bernews.com | February 5, 2013
street wise says:
Busy, busy, busy! Is there by chance an election in the offing…?
Pete Tong says:
Work has begun where?. Show us images of the excavation equipment digging the place up. This is electioneering propaganda..
i gotta be me says:
and wth does SHE have to do with it? the development of Morgan's Point is a private enterprise…
ABM says:
I take it you have never been to Morgans Point have you?
Come Correct says:
They have already demolished a few buildings haven't they? I think that's what those big piles of twisted steel and rubble were. If the government was really smart though, they would have volunteers (KBB) or someone for a small fee (by weight maybe) pick up as many of the blank round casings fired by the regiment and sell the brass. Before anyone says you will never find them, the GPMG (general purpose machine gun) ejects belts of empty cartidges from the bottom. There would be piles of thousands of rounds all over. I guarentee you could find over 1000lbs of brass in a day, matter of fact, if you were an inmate in for a petty crime eligable for parole that would look pretty good to the parole board wouldn't it? Person with the most weight in brass wins a get out of jail free card lol. Bang free labour and funding for mirrors… If I was any more of a genius I'd amaze myself .
Do you remember MR,Hunt one of the owners at Morgans point sitting in a pay loader ?well he said work was under way !!!! that was over a year ago.
Premier says work is under way !!!!!!!I do not know who to believe anymore.
Soooo….after all of the fluffy waffle has been filtered out what she is really trying to say is that the developers want all of the junk, that Government has allowed to be dumped on the property over the past 14 years, removed before any real development can start.
Put another way, if Government had kept the property secure with proper fencing all of this time, there would be no need for huge expense, on the publics dime, to clean up the site for the new owners.
Another misspeak or a simple we have to decieve you? Slap all the lipstick on the pig that you can. It is still a pig.
Call us ... says:
Please call us when actual development starts. You know, when the developers actually break ground.
All this announcement says is that government is going to clean the place up.
Ground has been broken. I know this cause thats where I store my boat.
Captain no-one says:
So how much storage were you paying ? How did you access it when you wanted to get to it ? Hell, how did you even get to put it there in the first place ?
I've been looking for a convenient/inexpensive place in the west end to store a boat during off season for years .
Every time I've been by the 'gate' it's secured or there's people there who won't let me get within 50 feet of it.
navin johnson says:
no ground will be broken until the asbestos has been abated….when first announced Government mentioned that it would take at least 2 years to complete the process…..but now that Government is hiring 40 unemployed people and training them for 4 days it may only take a week or two…..hope they can afford to give the 40 people masks and proper safety gear…..
More Confused says:
This sounds very irresponsible "We are taking 40 unemployed persons, and in 4 days will turn them into skilled asbestos abatement workers". I hope you are not consigning them to a lingering death.
It takes about 20 years before the effects of asbestos exposure to show, and it is irreversible. Not only the workers, but their families too are at risk.
Interesting it takes 4 weeks to become proficient to be a drywall expert, 4 weeks for a nail technician but only 4 days for asbestos. What new learning technique is being taught? It sound a valuable export to show the world that you don't need years of experience. Turn it into a source for working tourists. Bermuda is So Much More. Learn a trade in no more than a month.
DarkSideOfTheMoon says:
At this website is says you can become certified in NJ after 28 hours:
http://www.ehow.com/how_5642323_certified-remove-asbestos.html
Stop trying to spin when you don't even know the facts.
By the way the next time your "more confused", type a question into google and click on a link…
wcydwylias says:
yup. and you can find proof of the easter bunny and santa clause on the internet too.
Mad Dawg says:
Ok Darkside. Will the Bermuda trainees go through an equivalent to the state-mandated examination and certification, like they have to in New Jersey? And will only licensed people who have passed the examination and been certified be allowed to work on asbestos abatement, like in New Jersey? Or did you just select the facts about New Jersey asbestos abatement training that support your point of view?
So I am looking for job, and according to the ad in 28 hours I can be a certified asbestos removal expert ? and what is the pay for this job ? and how are the certified dry wallers doing ?
What "god" says:
From what I hear, one of the workers cant lift any dry wall because it is to heavy, and left it all to one of the other employees, while could only manage to hold the door open……..
I used to do this in Bermuda as a summer job, its not rocket science! I was in my teens then, Im 45 yhese days and still kicking. Speak about what you know!
Just call the election.
Where they gonna take this stuff; Holiday Inns or Parlaville Park.
Gonna cost millions just to containerise the asbestos.
Sort of like the clearing job at the ClubMed property but on a grander scale? Is the taxpayer paying for this? Has a developer been announced? Who will own the hotel and who will run it? What happened to Mr. Christensen and Mr. Hunt? Are they still involved?
Last I remember, they were feeling hard done by Government – is this still the case? Is there doe other group willing to invest? Madame Premier, some answers please.
I'm not sure whether you guys are kidding here or not! I'm no massive fan of the present Gvt but, please get your facts right before criticising!
@Victor – did you miss the part of the statement where it clearly states Mr Christensen is working closely with the Gvt team, or did you choose to ignore it?
@more confused – asbestos abatement is not a trade! It is a skill, much like you can go on a four day project management course and say you have that SKILL! In four days you can be taught to identify and how to work with asbestos – particularly if you have had previous construction experience. This SKILL is internationally recognised i.e. those with the certificate could choose to work anywhere in the world.
@call us – again read the statement. Gvt's job is ONLY to remediate, then hand over to the developers, they are working together. Gvt isn't responsible for the development side.
@Pete Tong – diggers don't prove a thing! Asbestos abatement has clearly been identified as the first phase, if they bring in excavation machines for that there really would be a massive health problem like @more confused is alluding too!
Jees – not everything the Gvt does is wrong. I'm the first one to criticise when they are, but why not get some facts before you talk garbage!
Petra, and when development actually starts, please let us know. Until then all this announcement says is that government is going to clean things up. If/when the developers actually begin work then, and only then, will government have something to brag about.
Sorry – we'll have to agree to disagree here, the Gvt were told by Morgans Point Ltd that if they (Gvt) cleaned the land up, that they would build a hotel, marina etc etc etc
The agreement took years to negotiate. Gvt are now holding up their end of the bargain, but by my reckoning, if no development takes place then we need to look to Morgans Point Limited for the answers, not Gvt.
And just how many times have we heard that before. When the developers actually start work I'll believe it. In the interim, where's the new hotel on the Club Med site – seems that we heard the same noises then.
Are pics available Bernews? Paula Cox seems to be confused between what is development & what is cleanup. I'm sure a clarification will follow since it is quite clear that there are those who do not trust the PLP. Gotta wonder why?
Opressed says:
Pure lies. Nothing could be further from the truth.
There is so much toxic contamination up there it will be at least 5 years to properly clean up. Hopefully by that time Ewart, Paula and the rest of these dreamers will be just a very, very bad memory.
And who exactly on island is qualified to provide an opinion on this?
On what exactly? Whether its there or not? I know and wikipedia knows. Whether or not it will take five years to clean up? Personally I don't care if it takes 10 years, contrary to what some might think, hogfish actually tastes better without the toxic chemicals. How to remove it? Um…carefully? But I'm not qualified so its anyones guess right now.
Studies were carried out years ago on the toxic makeup of everything at NOB. I believe Government doesn't want you to know what exactly is there, it might not be what we want to hear, and more lies will have to be told.
I'm afraid everytime we have an electrical storm, cuz the whole friggin island might blow up with all the lies being told nowadays.When Paula tells you there is no toxic waste over there, maybe she and her cohorts should be the first to prove it.
Please Line my Pocket says:
Dont forget that big OIL HOLE down there!
Verbal Kint says:
That's the big problem.
""Therefore, we can no longer allow unauthorised entry to or unauthorised storage on the site," continued Premier Cox."
So this government previously allowed unauthorized entry and unauthorized storage to the site???
Where does the asbestos go next? Is this the same asbestos which was sitting in containers down at Southside in 1998. The UBP did not know what to do with it. The PLP promised to deal with it quickly in 1998.
One of many PLP promises to get things done that never happened. The asbestos was moved to the Government quarry. Out of sight, out of mind, right? Is this the same stuff, now moved to Morgans Point? 14 years later & still not dealt with.
Asbestos, in a dry dusty form, is harmful. Wet asbestos is harmless.
Load the stuff onto a barge. Take it out to sea in very deep water & dump it. Should have been done years ago. How much has the shuffling of this stuff around the island cost us?
Why don't we save the ocean environment, not contribute to rising sea levels and launch the crap into space… Where's Terry Lister and his bredrens at NASA when you need them? After all we never got paid for the Uighers so they owe us a favor right?…right? What's that? The favor has been returned when?!.shhhhhhhhhhh! First Bermuda commandement, thou shalt not speak ill of the doctor or you will be condemned to an eternity of voting oba/ubp.
Keepin' it Real...4Real! says:
the only person who knows the truth about asbestos i see very good …ASBESTOS WHEN WET IS HARMLESS…USE IT LIKE TYNES BAY DOES IN ROUGHSHOD CONCRETE FOR LEVIES OR BREAKWATERS. Dig a f#@kin Hole or something …why does it always cost millions of $'s to do what is elementary…thats why we're broke….waste waste waste ….another thing …i read the first paragraph and stopped …Mr Hunt please dont waste your MONEY on HOTELS …GOLF COURSES…CONDO'S IT WILL NOT FLOURISH AS YOU THINK…WHAT HAS HAPPENED TO BERMUDA FOR BERMUDIANS …YOU ARE JUS MAKING A PLACE WHERE WE CANT GO UNLESS WE FALL INTO A CERTAIN FINANCIAL CLASS OF CITIZENS….YOU PEOPLE ARE IN FOR THE RUDEST AWAKENING….YOU ALL CAN'T SEE PAST YOUR F#@KING NOSES FOR THE ALMIGHTY DOLLAR BLINDS YOU…jus remember the dollar isnt and soon wont be ALMIGHTY….im tired of trying to awaken the asleep…zombies are real.
I'm not sure if you've notice but America…sorry that's unfair to the civilians living there… The federal reserve is about to start WW3 to make sure the dollar stays almighty or as they like to call it, the Petro-dollar. If you have noticed, great, if you want more info, go to the recent articles on the Uighers, I posted a link to a video too.
#Got to be kiddn me says:
@Keppin it real. I totally agree what a waste of land. I understand the hotel and marina but the golf course is the biggest waste of space I have ever heard yet.. We already have the most golf courses per capita in the world so why do we need another one for? It will not make the money it cost to build it in 20yrs. A better use of the space would be to create a enterainment hub and fun town, kinda like a sin city to get more tourist and natives money out there pockets, and also give this boring island a bit of nightlife and fun we can all enjoy.. Its a pennisula so its one way in and oneway out so with plenty cctv the place can be 100% safe for all to enjoy.. The current plans will only favor the old wealthy tourist and natives and will never be financially in reach of the average cruise tourist(which is our bread and butter)or bermudian and will not add any fun factor to our BORING island.. I've travelled to many tourist meccas ie. Cancun Mexico,Miami,Las Vegas,Thailand and they all have one thing in common it s the sin city/ fun town/Tourist trap.. U are guaranteed a good time and it doesn't matter how much it cost u are happy and can't wait to return and do it again…
#FoodForThought
Jim Bean says:
mmmm…..serious electionnering!
IF development happens here soon, I see it being led by local groups who have a long-term commitment to the Island. No one else is likely to invest now. The Greens showed their commitment to the future here, maybe others will follow suit. We shall wait and hope.
C.B.A says:
Bermudians aren't dumb. You can't announce that work has begun and pretend that you've done something great just because Wayne Furbert highlighted your mistake on another project recently.
easy to say that work is being done if no one is allowed to enter the site. like area 51
Why were these people allowed to store their boats and whatever there in the first place ?Paula Cox PLEASE resign !!!!!and let we Bermudians have a chance to survive….
We need Gary Moreno, to investigate….think about it folks no one will allowed to enter the site !!!!!for fear of life and limb !!!! give me a break .
GoodIdea BadIdea says:
I think with asbestos abatement and the high probability of hazardous materials (fuel, sludge and the like) the government will have a high liability whilst the abatement and cleanup are ongoing. They don't really have any choice but to bar the public from the site until it's clean.
Technically the site should have been off-limits and cleaned up immediately after the Navy abandoned the site. But like most of this land that was previously run by other agencies, the government has left it to rot and become unsafe rather than get it over with (Tudor Hill, Naval Annex, Nasa complex, former hospital at Kindley).
Hell – you can head over there any time you like. Breathe in all the asbestos you want. Apparently there's plenty of it to go around (and not the stuff that's embedded – more like the stuff used to wrap pipes).
ok if ur gonna put another golf course there for the rich n famous….we bermybies want port royal acreage to be agricultural once again…we gonna need to supply ourselves when usa cant do it anymore or the cost of importation blows through the roof, trust me its coming,
Lmao… I like how u keepin it real 4real.. All they (Bda Gvt)really need is to read our blogs and steal our ideas and watch how the economy rebounds.. I personally don't care they can take all the credit as long as my kids have a future ill be happy..
Argosy says:
"We had to deceive you….." lives on!
Sorry, it's our turn now and we will deceive you when you FINALLY call the next election.
Enough nonsense already, PLP jokers.
Work has begun !
LOL SURE it Has! lol
Ha ha ha hehe ….
Yah ruyght . this is not April First , its October First….
April fools day was like months ago .
Is financing in place for the hotel development. There is no point spending millions of dollars of money you don't have to clean up the site if nothing is going to happen afterwards. Also at what stage of the development is the hotel going to be built. These questions need to be answered or else this whole thing is just a bunch of hot air.
I doubt if any money is in place. Money does not like to sit still for long. Also money does not like instability & Bermuda is not a very stable place for investment right now. Money does due diligence before comitting itself to anywhere. It is well aware of the PLP & the total failure it has been to Bermuda for the past 14 years.
What happens next is up to the voters of Bermuda. If they want Morgans Point developed anytime soon, they will first have to throw the PLP experiment down the drain.
M.P.Mountbatten JP says:
I'm very proud of you Mr.Hunt ; You see anything is possible with DREB out of the fr!gging way . Premier Cox wants nothing more than a hug and a well done .
Formidable Deviant says:
Come on guys, wise up, this isn't about asbestos removal or where the developers have gone. There is no hotel, there never was a hotel, it was Ewart's lies, and now it's a desperate Paula's lies. That's the only issue here, whether you trust these people to run this government for another few years, because that's what she wants you to think, and that is the SOLE point of this press announcement.
The costs to clean up the site will probably run upwards of $100 million, and the Goverment of Bermuda has . . . nothing, flat a$$ed broke.
That is correct.
Rick Olson says:
UMPA LUMPA
Sandgrownan says:
events in bermuda says:
I don't really agree with the Premier about the plan to build a hotel on Morgan's Point. I wish she would consider other options!
Y-Gurl says:
Oh come on Paula is that the best spin you can come up with? I guess we'll see and hear a lot more of this kind of fabrication as we get closer to the election, it keeps the opposition busy.
Iron Maiden says:
I am sorry, but has Paula always talked so proper? And does she speak like this at the dinner table? Big, weird and interesting choice words, over accentuation, etc.
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text:
UCSD Team Unmasks Family of Immune System Invaders
Cancer Researchers Describe Gene That Halts Spread of Aggressive Childhood Cancer
UC San Diego Scientists Chart Rapid Advances of Fluorescent Tools for Life-Science Research
New Technique Offers Hope For Pain Relief And Improved Mobility For Patients With Spinal Tumors
UCSD Researchers Link Novel Mutated Gene to Mental Retardation and Imbalance Syndrome
Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine have identified a genetic cause for a form of pediatric brain malformation involving the cerebellum. Future research based on these findings could lead to ways of preventing or treating children with Joubert Syndrome Related Disorder (JSRD.)
The research team, directed by Joseph Gleeson, M.D., Director of the Neurogenetics Laboratory at the UCSD School of Medicine and associate professor in the Department of Neurosciences, have identified a new gene that, when mutated, leads to JSRD. Their findings will be published on-line May 7 in advance of publication in the journal Nature Genetics.
JSRD is a group of neurodevelopmental syndromes marked by absence of the middle part of the cerebellum called the vermis, along with features including poor balance, jerky eye movements, mental retardation and autism. The most consistent feature seen in children affected with JSRD is a striking finding on brain MRI called the "molar-tooth sign," in which the base of the brain takes on the appearance of a tooth. A subset of JSRD patients also displays disease in other body organs including the retina, kidneys and liver.
The discovery of the new gene linked to JSRD was found in collaboration with scientists at the Mendel Institute in Rome, under the direction of Enza Maria Valente. The researchers studied a large family from Sardinia, Italy, with several members exhibiting the disease. Within the family, in which the parents were second cousins, the scientists discovered a new genetic interval and the presence of the CEP290 (Centrosome-associated protein 290) gene. The research teams identified inactivating mutations in CEP290 in this family and mutations were also identified in families with similar diseases in Turkey, the Palestinian region of Israel and Pakistan. This gene has not previously been implicated in human disease, and encodes a novel protein, previously identified as a centrosomal-associated protein, but with unknown function.
Once the mutations were identified, the group set out to understand the role of the protein in development of the human cerebellum. They found that the gene was produced predominantly in the population of neurons in the brain called cerebellar granule neurons. They also discovered specific protein targets suggesting that the gene may control cell division in the cerebellum during the human development, which would account for the cerebellar defect seen in these patients.
"The results are interesting, because they connect JSRD with other diseases in which retina, kidney and liver are diseased," said Gleeson. These diseases, including recessive kidney cyst disease, Senior-Loken, Bardet-Biedl and Meckel syndromes, are caused by genes that encode proteins localized to ciliated structures or the centrosome. "The data suggests that JSRD may fall into these groups of conditions, although the exact mechanism of how the CEP290 protein regulates cerebellar development remains unknown."
In 2004, Gleeson and his colleagues – along with scientists at Harvard University – discovered mutations in the AH1 gene found on chromosome 6 DNA. The gene is responsible for the most common of three known forms of Joubert Syndrome and was the first genetic defect clearly associated with the disorder.
Additional contributors to the current study include Jennifer Silhavy, Suguna Krishnaswami, Madeline Lancaster and Carrie Louie from the Gleeson lab; Francesco Brancati, Giuseppe Barrano, Maro Castori, Emanuele Bellacchio and Bruno Dallapiccola from the Valente Lab; Eugen Bolshauser, Children's University Hospital in Zurich, Switzerland; Loredana Boccone, Ospedale Microcitemico, Cagliari, Italy; Lihadh Al-Gazali, United Emirates University; Elisa Fazzi, University of Pavia, Italy; Enrico Bertini, Bambino Gesu Hospital in Rome and the International JSRD Study Group.
Funding for this research was provided by grants from the U.S. National Institute of Neurological Disease and Stroke, the Italian Ministry of Health, the Fonazione Pierfranco e Luisa Mariana ONLUS, the March of Dimes, the Simons Foundation and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund Award in Translational Research.
UCSD Health Sciences Communications HealthBeat: News


Cricklade have set up one of the petitions to the PM that have been getting so much press recently (Road User's petition has had national coverage). Any additional names will obviously help their cause and so please make your voices heard in supporting Cricklade's continuing fight for their centre.
I wanna say that many thanks for sharing this link, This one is truly very helpful. I will surely share this one,m with my all friends.


If you're travelling to Twickenham Stadium from afar, this map should give you some insight into the surroundings to help you find your way from the various stations and buses.
Parking is fairly restricted on match days, so if you do want to arrive by car we recommend visiting our page on parking around Twickenham Stadium or perhaps try one of the many pop-up car parks in the area.
Most people will arrive by tube or train. The nearest station is Twickenham, and it's about a ten minute walk from the stadium – although longer if you arrive at the same time as everyone else.
For more detail on finding your seats, have a look at our Twickenham Stadium seating plan.


Atlassian ranks project attributes as the third most important factor impacting performance in the category of data.
It's not surprising, since project attributes are precisely the rules used to manage issues, and there's so many things you can decide. Below is an infographic of the configuration of screens and schemes associated to every project.
But this is only part of the picture! There are yet other entities, like permission schemes, that don't even show here.
One of the secondary effects of scaling Jira or running a large instance for many years is that it can become cluttered, and unused schemes are one of the most common types of junk because they accumulate by design.
Whenever a project is deleted, Jira doesn't delete the workflows, screens and schemes associated with it for the simple reason that they might be shared with other projects.
But if there are no other projects associated, all those entities become orphans. And unless handled with extreme care, orphans start to pile up.
This is very tricky even for very well administrated instances precisely because the number of orphans can grow with every project deletion, independently of whether the projects were created as a test or for any other reason: as soon as the default options are altered, there is potential for clutter!
Instead of working on removing the clutter periodically, like Atlassian shows here, a cost-effective solution would be to block the creation of orphans altogether, so you don't ever have clutter in your instance again.
Project deletion with Profields was designed specifically to solve this problem. Profields' Bulk Operations can be adopted as the standard procedure for project deletion precisely because the app checks whether there are other projects using associated entities; if the answer is no, it then removes them as well.
Select the project or projects you want to delete.
Hint: You can either select projects one by one by project key or use basic or advanced searches to filter projects with common attributes. For example, you may want to delete all projects assigned to John Doe.
Did it work? Enjoy a clean, fast Jira experience!


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Apple TV HD available at MacCafe.
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Every Mac® comes with a one-year limited warranty and 90 days of telephone technical support.3 AppleCare+® for Mac extends your coverage to three years from the original purchase date of your Mac and adds up to two incidents of accidental damage coverage, each subject to a service fee of $99 for screen damage or external enclosure damage, or $299 for other damage, plus applicable tax. In addition, you'll get 24/7 priority access to Apple experts via chat or phone.
Configurable processor, memory, and storage options are available.
1For complete details, see terms at www.apple.com/legal/sales-support/applecare/applecareplus.
2Subscription may be required to access some content. Available on iTunes. Title and app availability are subject to change. Some applications are not available in all areas.
Apple, the Apple logo, AppleCare and Apple TV are trademarks of Apple Inc., registered in the U.S. and other countries. TM and © 2019 Apple Inc. All rights reserved.
Go to www.apple.com/apple-tv-hd/specs/ for a complete set.