China – Conservativenuke's Weblog

The Greek government recently announced that banks would be shutdown for six business days, ATM withdrawals would be limited to €60 per day, and that the Athens Stock Exchange would remain closed on Monday. Time is almost up for Greece and the actions taken by the Greek government won’t solve any financial problems. PM Tsipras and the Greek government are still blaming everybody but themselves for this mess. Tsipras wants the deadline for the bailout program to be extended past June 30th to allow time for a referendum. The following are some statements made my Tsipras:

“It is now more than clear that this decision has no other aim than to blackmail the will of the Greek people and prevent the smooth democratic process of the referendum,” and “They will not succeed. These moves will have the exact opposite effect. They will make the Greek people more determined in their choice to reject the unacceptable … proposals and ultimatums of the creditors,“

They're right you know, there's no future for Greece in the E.U. Time to start printing million drachma bills out... — They’re right you know, there’s no future for Greece in the E.U. Time to start printing million drachma bills out…

I bet Greece's Finance Minister is real happy right now. I wonder how he'll blame this on the Germans? — I bet Greece’s Finance Minister is real happy right now. I wonder how he’ll blame this on the Germans?

Members of left wing parties burn a European Union flag during a protest in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Sunday, June 28, 2015. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the Bank of Greece has recommended that banks remain closed and restrictions be imposed on transactions, after the European Central Bank didn't increase the amount of emergency liquidity the lenders can access from the central bank. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos) — Members of left wing parties burn a European Union flag during a protest in the northern Greek port city of Thessaloniki, Sunday, June 28, 2015. Greek Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras says the Bank of Greece has recommended that banks remain closed and restrictions be imposed on transactions, after the European Central Bank didn’t increase the amount of emergency liquidity the lenders can access from the central bank. (AP Photo/Giannis Papanikos)

Couldn’t Tsipras just be honest and say give my country more free money while forgiving our debt? If the Greek people are interested in regaining sovereignty they should vote to leave the E.U. and dump the Euro. The Greeks also need to reduce government spending and dump socialism. I suppose that there’s simply no way that anything will work out well for Greece. Even if Greece receives any help from the Russians or Chinese, the coming years will be even more painful than the last five have been. The Greek healthcare system has been going downhill for years now while Greeks pensions continue to stay fat. Obviously what Greece needs is more socialism and not less. I wonder how much higher the Greek unemployment rate can go, which is currently over 25%?

Here are some of the more interesting comments from the articles I linked to:

Yahoo! News-Greece imposes capital controls, banks to remain shut

Yahoo! News-Parliament approves referendum; Greece’s future in balance

Bloomberg View-Greece and Germany Agree the Euro can’t work

It seems that the Chinese will start construction of a canal through Nicaragua at the end of December. A Chinese business magnate by the name of Wang Jing and his Hong Kong Nicaragua Canal Development Investment Company (NKHD) made an agreement with Nicaragua in June 2013 to build a canal and actually seem to be getting ready to start construction now. Engineers are starting to show up and perform surveys, analyze the soil, and assess environmental impact although the Nicaraguan government already agreed to allow the NKHD to own the land for then next fifty years prior to making any assessments. Chinese contractors have gone to various peoples homes to determine property values, though aren’t required to pay any fair amount for their land. NKHD isn’t even required to actually finish the project nor can it be held responsible under the agreement for anything that goes wrong. The agreement was authorized under legislation that was rushed through the legislature in seven days and no public input for the law occurred. The Nicaraguan Constitution was recently re-written just to allow the agreement and legislation for the canal to pass.

Many Nicaraguans are opposing the plans to build the canal with many of President Ortega’s former supporters and former revolutionaries claiming they are ready to fight the army and police. I find it hard to blame them, they didn’t really have much say in the matter and if anything goes wrong or the canal ends up not being profitable there’s really very little Nicaragua can do about it. I wonder what would happen if the canal is built yet unprofitable or if one of the two active volcanoes along the route goes a little too active? Maybe good ties with Communist China wasn’t such a great idea? What if enough people join the New Contras and actively fight against the government and NKHD? Only time will tell I guess…

The Economist – A man, a plan-and little else

Spiegel Online – The Red Canal: Uncertainties Surround Nicaragua’s New Waterway Project

The Daily Beast – China’s Nicaragua Canal Could Spark a New Central America Revolution