- A 'long way to go' in talks between Greece and EU troika
- Iraq: 100 dead in a wave of sectarian terrorist attacks
- France providing direct aid to rebel opposition in Syria
- How to start a new business in America today
A 'long way to go' in talks between Greece and EU troika
Antonis Samaras - Greek Prime Minister
With Greece's membership in the eurozone hanging in the balance, Greek
officials are struggling to cut another 11.5 billion euros of public
spending out of the budget over the next two years. The Greeks have
to convince the EU "troika" of organizations bailing out Greece -- the
European Commission (EC), the European Central Bank (ECB) and the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) -- which arrived in Athens on
Friday, that the cuts are real and will actually be implemented,
unlike a number of previous promised cuts that were forgotten as soon
as the bailout money was received. After Sunday's meeting, Greece's
Finance Ministry said,
"They have objections to some of the measures. They
want more details to understand some of the measures better.
This is just the start, there is a long way to go."
The troika officials have to approve the cost cutting measures to
secure the next tranche of the 31.5 billion euro EU-IMF bailout.
Approval is also required from the Socialist and Democratic Left
political parties. A decision will be reached by early October, just
in time to save Greece from bankruptcy.
There's a lot of talk these days about "Grexit," Greece's exit from
the euro currency. Last year I proposed the "Kick the Can Theory" for
the European financial crisis. It says that if you want to know
what's going to happen, just assume that European leaders will look
for a way to "kick the can down the road," meaning that they'll do the
minimum possible to postpone the crisis a little longer, to prevent a
current disaster without fixing the problem, so that the crisis will
recur in worse form weeks or months later. The Kick the Can Theory
has been right every time so far, and so we can expect that the
politicians will find some way to approve the bailout payment.
Kathimerini
Iraq: 100 dead in a wave of sectarian terrorist attacks
A wave of more than 20 attacks, thought to be by Sunni terrorists, on
Sunday left hundreds injured and up to 100 dead across Iraq. The
terrorist blasts were coordinated, targeting crowded marketplaces and
security forces in at least 11 cities across the nation. In Baghdad,
car bombs killed dozens in six mainly Shia Muslim neighborhoods.
Sectarian attacks have been increasing in Iraq for the following
reasons:
- The Syrian conflict is becoming increasingly sectarian, with
the Alawites, an offshoot of Shia Islam comprising 12% of the
population, is oppressively ruling over Sunni Muslims, comprising 2/3
of the population. The Syrian conflict is inflaming sectarian
tensions throughout the entire Mideast.
- The withdrawal of American forces last December has allowed much
greater freedom for al-Qaeda linked terrorist groups to attack Shia
targets in Iraq.
- On the day after the final American withdrawal, the Shia
government issued an arrest warrant for Iraq's leading Sunni
politician, vice-president Tareq al-Hashemi, further inflaming Sunni
anger. Al-Hashemi has been hiding in Kurdish territory and in Turkey
out of reach of the Shia government, but on Sunday a Baghdad court
sentenced al-Hashemi to death by hanging in absentia.
From the point of view of Generational Dynamics, the entire Mideast is
headed for a major sectarian Sunni/Shia war.
Australian Broadcasting and
LA Times
France providing direct aid to rebel opposition in Syria
In a potential escalation of the Syria conflict, France has started
providing direct aid and money to rebel-controlled areas and is even
considering supplying anti-aircraft weapons to the opposition. It's
now been several weeks since Lakhdar Brahimi replaced Kofi Annan as
Syria's "peace envoy," but as far as I know, he's accomplished nothing
except to say several times that he has no idea what to do.
RT
How to start a new business in America today
From the "Financial Topics" thread of the Generational Dynamics Forum,
Higgenbotham is providing the following prudent and sage advice on how
to start a new business in America today:
These would be my thoughts on starting a business.
First, get ready for a post-collapse world. In the current
pre-collapse world, existing businesses are conditioned to operating
in the pre-collapse environment. They will be lost post-collapse. This
is when the prepared entrepreneur can step in.
To get ready for the post-collapse world, travel to a third world
country or to a country that has already collapsed and observe how
business is conducted. Talk to the locals to get an idea of what
business conditions were like pre-collapse and try to envision how the
conditions in the US that are different pre-collapse will change the
post-collapse environment vis-a-vis the country you are observing. I
chose to travel to one of the poorest areas of the former USSR to make
observations. It was formerly pretty well off because it was a
manufacturing area and not too far from Moscow.
Begin by pilot testing an idea with a very limited amount of capital
at risk. My thought would be less than 10% of capital should be risked
on the whole initial operation. Operate on a cash basis and under the
radar. Let's say that a formula for laundry soap has been obtained and
someone wants to make an attempt to manufacture this product. I would
not rush headlong into buying equipment, renting space, and other
things a conventional business person might do today. Instead, pay a
contract manufacturing outfit to mix some up on a small scale, then
figure out how to sell it. Observe what equipment the contract
manufacturer is using and do some research because that equipment may
be picked up for pennies on the dollar at auction when the
bankruptcies roll in. If it's thought that the future of America will
most resemble Detroit, Michigan or Las Vegas, Nevada, and there are
probably better places to consider but people can understand what I am
talking about by mentioning those places. Take the product there and
live there a few months. Figure out what works best to move it in the
post-collapse world of strip mall flea markets, craigslist, or
whatever is envisioned. See if customers match the envisioned
post-collapse profile and find out what else they need to buy where
they would seek alternatives to the current distribution channels, in
order to save a few bucks or which may be shut down,
post-collapse. Probably enough said, but that's my general idea.
Generational Dynamics Forum
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail