EU-MENA revolution consolidation

[vanlose kid]

Italian Students Storm Milan Goldman Sachs Office
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/14/2011


While hardly the explanation for why the EURUSD has surged nearly 100 pips in the past 45 minutes on absolutely no news (or, in this bizarro market, explaining it perfectly), and as the market focuses its attention on where the line of angry young protesters is longer: by the New York Stock Exchange or in front of the Apple store, Italians, once again betrayed by their politicians who were bribed by Berlusconi to vote for him in the latest vote of "confidence" (at a price of €250k per vote), have decided to make their feelings for financial innovation, and its patron saint, known, by storming the Goldman office in Milan. From Corriere: "on Friday students took to the streets to demonstrate for and against the public school funds the crisis and the government. The procession was attended by about ten thousand young people (two thousand according to initial estimates of the Police Station). The raid at the headquarters of U.S. bank Goldman Sachs was the first action of the student demonstration. A group of twenty boys tried to get a surprise in the Milanese headquarters of the U.S. bank, Bossi in the square, near Piazza Cordusio. Rejected by some employees of the home, the young people then smeared with spray paint the hallway and throwing bags full of garbage to the cry of "Goldman Sachs has the courage to face the future without young people." We doubt this is the last expression of love for those who do God's work in Europe, primarily with austerity-delaying FX swaps... Now that the delay can no longer be delayed.

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/italian-s ... nt-1773358

video here: http://milano.corriere.it/milano/notizi ... 5465.shtml

from 2007:

Italians claim country run by Goldman Sachs


Goldman Sachs men: Massimo Tononi, Mario Draghi and Romano Prodi By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
12:01AM BST 29 May 2007

Italians grumble that Goldman Sachs runs their country, much as the Jesuits ran countries during the Counter-Reformation.

Premier Romano Prodi is an ex-Goldman Sachs man, as is central bank president Mario Draghi and the deputy treasury chief Massimo Tononi.

The price paid for having so many friends at court is that the elite bank inevitably becomes entangled in the financial scandals that so often swirl around the Italian political class.

For the past month, Goldman Sachs has been dragged into a widening corruption probe into the Siemens-Italtel merger dating back to the mid-1990s.

The inquiry has moved uncomfortably close to Mr Prodi, who was on the Goldman Sachs payroll from 1990 to 1993 and again in 1997 after his first stint as prime minister.

Politicians from the Forza Italia party have jumped on suggestions that Goldman Sachs may be involved, making damning allegations in the Chamber of Deputies under parliamentary immunity.

The inquiry is just one of several probes across Europe into a €400m (£273m) network of black accounts used by Siemens to grease deals.

Prosecutors in Bolzano, Northern Italy, claim to have unearthed a Siemens payment of DM10m (£3.2m) to a Goldman Sachs account in Frankfurt in July 1997. From there it ricocheted around the world, going to London and Tokyo before returning to Germany in yen - according to Italy's financial newspaper Il Sole.

A Goldman Sachs employee summoned for questioning earlier this month said the DM10m payment had been made for an unknown third party.

Italian Treasury Police raided the Milan office of Goldman Sachs in February, where they removed a file called "MTononi/memo-Prodi 02.doc", among other papers.

They have also obtained a letter to Siemens from the Frankfurt office of Goldman Sachs in 1993 pitching for business on the Italtel deal.

At the time, Italtel was being privatised by the Italian state holding company IRI, which Mr Prodi had run in the 1980s and would soon run again before becoming prime minister in 1994.

The letter said Goldman Sachs's "knowledge of IRI and its management could be extremely important in a negotiation. Since March 1990 our senior adviser in Italy has been Professor Romano Prodi".

It is reported that Goldman Sachs later secured the work as an adviser on the Siemens-Italtel merger. The bank refused to comment, deeming the matter confidential.

"We refute any suggestion that our actions are improper and we are co-operating fully with the authorities in the investigation," said the bank.

Bolzano prosecutors said Mr Prodi is not a target of their probe although they are examining his fees from Goldman Sachs. Mr Prodi received £1.4m between 1990 and 1993 through a Bologna consulting company named Analisi e Studi Economici, jointly owned with his wife. The company secretary later told The Daily Telegraph that much of the money came from Goldman Sachs.

Mr Prodi has been dogged by allegations that he sold off state properties cheaply to friends and political allies.

The most controversial was the sale of the Cirio-Bertolli-De Rica food group in October 1993 to Fi.Svi, a shell-company, that sold it on immediately for 310bn lira (£100m) to Unilever, where Mr Prodi had been a paid consultant until weeks earlier. Credito Italiano had valued the stake at 600bn-900bn lira.

Goldman Sachs was deeply involved in this transaction. A memo from the bank's London office sent to Unilever in Milan, dated August 24, 1993 and marked "strictly confidential", discusses the deal in depth and suggests that Mr Prodi might have been involved - a claim that he has always denied. "Fi.Svi is going to call Prodi in order to have full support in this discussion with Unilever," it said.

A Rome prosecutor, Giuseppa Geremia, concluded in November 1996 that there was enough evidence to press charges against Mr Prodi for conflict of interest, but by then he was prime minister. She set off a firestorm.

Ms Geremia later told The Daily Telegraph that intruders broke into her offices. The case was shut down within weeks by superiors. She was exiled to Sardinia.

Allegations of wrongdoing by public figures come with a big health warning in Italy, where political scores are often settled through criminal probes. "Goldman Sachs is being dragged into this by the Right-wing politicians to get at Prodi. It is trial by newspapers," said one observer.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/mark ... Sachs.html

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[vanlose kid]

Greek Army threatens coup

Jose Manuel Barroso, President of the European Commission, last year a prescient when he said to fear that several Southern European countries may fall prey to civil war and their democracy would be lost? Several Greek troops have now indeed threatened a military coup against the government because the Greek people, according to the union officer ANEAD feel “to foreign powers to be sold”.

http://blog.alexanderhiggins.com/2011/0 ... ope-31181/

today:

Militarised Eurogedfor rumoured to be in Greece (VIDEO)
Thursday, October 13, 2011 Hellas Frappe



Several blog reports have been circulating the news over the last few hours that that the Eurogendfor riot police is in Greece. For those you who do not know, the European Gendarmerie Force (Eurogedfor) is a whole brigade, consisting of Germans and Dutch dressed in civilian clothing that are specialized in riot situations. Basically it is an intervention force, designed after the French Gendarmerie and the Italian Unita Specializzate Multinazionali (MSU) of the Carabinieri and has militarised police functions as well as specialises in crisis management.


The reports said that they came via Igoumenitsa port and moved to Larissa, where, according to information-they camped, probably at the Air Force there that recently closed. The same sources claim that the very next day trucks carrying camouflaged armored vehicles also came to Greece through the same port.


The news was just mentioned on Kontra Channel with Terence Quick as well, but it was underlined that they could not confirm these reports either.


Why would they come to Greece anyway? Has there been a threat on our Parliament and we don't know about it? Is there some kind of other national threat? Has our government declared a state of emergency?


Hellasfrappe believes that it is none of the above. If the news is true then this force is here to do what it does best... beat people up. As if the brutality from the riot police in Athens was not enough, they decided to ship military police to Greece in order to contain the people from rioting and or protesting?


If this news proves to be true, then it is crystal clear... the Greek government has declared war on its very own people.




Read more: Militarised Eurogedfor rumoured to be in Greece (VIDEO) ~ H E L L A S F R A P P E http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/1 ... z1aloBkNL8
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

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[vanlose kid]

Gov't denies reports of Eurogedfor's arrival, eye-witness reports say otherwise


Friday, October 14, 2011 Hellas Frappe

The rumours that the European Gendarmerie Force (Eurogedfor) is in Greece is still headlining the blogosphere today since it is still unclear whether they are here or not.

The Eurogedfor is a whole brigade, consisting of Germans and Dutch dressed in civilian clothing that are specialized in riot situations. Basically it is an intervention force, designed after the French Gendarmerie and the Italian Unita Specializzate Multinazionali (MSU) of the Carabinieri and has militarised police functions as well as specialises in crisis management.

A couple of hours ago and after a massive load of information about their arrival began making headlines on most of the Greek news blogs; the Greek Ministry of the Protection of the Citizen (in other words the Law and Order Ministry) denied the reports. But then again there is the issue with the government’s “credibility” since it has lied to the people of Greece on so many accounts that it is difficult to actually believe when they are telling the truth and when they are not anymore.

The only reason the issue is still being broadcasted on most of the blogs is because there are too many eye-witness reports that claim otherwise. We already know that officials had given in and admitted that some units had come to Greece about eight months ago for combat exercises and training (or so they say), but this is only after their arrival was exposed, so do we believe a government that has lied to us, or do we believe the tens of eye-witness reports? You decide.

Late last night hellasfrappe also posted a relevant story, but we stressed that we could not confirm the reports. (click here for that story)

Even defencenet –which has the sources to confirm this- posted a relevant story on this claiming that it too could not confirm the reports, but it received information that Eurogedfor entered through Igoumenitsa, fully equipped with armored vehicles. It said that the unit travelled to some place in Thessaly, but the information is still unclear.

A separate report on another military news site (onalert) said that residents from Igoumenitsa and Larissa witnessed a crowd of men dressed in civilian clothing, holding briefcases with the initials EGF, and huge transport trucks carrying armored vehicles. The same eye-witness reports said these units arrived in Igoumenitsa and made their way to Larissa’s former air force base. This would make sense since a unit of this magnitude as well as its material could only be hosted in a former army base.

If they are here, then maybe they are here to take part in joint police exercises with our police forces, but the “time chosen for these exercises” raises many questions.

Don’t forget the Greek Parliament is set to vote on extremely harsh (and crucial for our lenders) measures in the next few days, and this already has half of the country on the streets in a barrage of strikes. Protests are expected to heighten over the next few days… So the issue of “timing” should be taken into consideration.

We do not want to even think that the Troika sent them to protect the government and prevent resistance from the people, because if that is the case, then our government, (who knows if they are here or not) has simply declared war on its own people.

Besides, if this force is used in a riot it would have the opposite effect on Greek rioters anyway: This will surface even further feelings of resistance from Greeks. Anarchy will take place from the eldest to the youngest. It is not that long ago that Greece was under a military dictatorship, and the wounds are still too fresh to be wiped away from people’s memory. People will risk anything and everything to stop this and they will even rise up from their death beds and fight.

When trying to confirm the reports this morning as a follow-up to last night’s story, hellasfrappe also remembered that back in June Vice-Premier Theodore Pangalos had said that the country would devolve into complete anarchy, with tanks roaming the streets, a population on the verge of civil war, with mass suicides, just for dramatic impact, should bankers not get their way.

Was he warning us from then?

So “bankers” have sent these troops here…??????

O re glentia…

In all seriousness, the Eurogedfor is no laughing matter. They use armored fighting vehicles, and equipment which were created to perform war-related missions in areas such as Kosovo, Afghanistan, etc., where conventional forces are unable to carry out special missions in repression of crowds.

May God have mercy on this government if it even allows for this to happen against the people!



Read more: Gov't denies reports of Eurogedfor's arrival, eye-witness reports say otherwise ~ H E L L A S F R A P P E http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/2011/1 ... z1altv3AJW
http://hellasfrappe.blogspot.com/
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution

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[vanlose kid]

After Goldman, Italian Protestors Besiege, Storm Headquarters Of Berlusconi's Fininvest
Submitted by Tyler Durden on 10/14/2011 10:36 -0400

Rating Agency


First Goldman, next the heart of all that is wrong and corrupt with Italian politics: the headquarters of Silvio Berlusconi's Milan Fininvest office itself. And this is just the beginning: many more protests are expected to take place tomorrow as "outraged" civilians take the streets of Rome.

From Il Fatto Quotidiano (Jedi speak - ON):

On the eve of tomorrow's event on October 15, Collectives student of Milan and the province back to the streets. A procession started at ten from Largo Cairoli passed through the center of Milan chanting slogans against the government and banks. Stormed the windows of many branches of credit, such as Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit. During the morning was also attempted in the raid Milan offices of rating agency Goldma Sachs, after the events in recent weeks had involved Moody's and Standard & Poors. The procession then walked Piazza Cadorna where about noon, corner of Via Paleocapa students threw rotten fruit and vegetables against the police, agreed to block access to the building housing the offices of Fininvest. "We trust you will never have, thief mafia", the students shouted at the Prime Minister Berlusconi.

Clip:



http://www.zerohedge.com/news/after-gol ... -fininvest

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[vanlose kid]

Syria is heading for full-blown civil war, top UN official warns
Ten people have died in the latest clashes as protesters urge more people to defect from the Syrian security forces
Martin Chulov in Beirut guardian.co.uk, Friday 14 October 2011 17.40 BST Article history


Large rallies urging further defections from the Syrian security forces have been attacked by government gunmen, as a senior United Nations official warned that the country was sliding towards a full-blown civil war.

At least 10 people were killed across Syria, taking the death toll in the six-month uprising to more than 3,000, not including loyalist members of the security forces who continue to target demonstrators.

Deir Azour in the Kurdish north was a scene of violent clashes between security forces and defectors who had been urged to swap sides by thousands of chanting activists.

In recent weeks a largely passive rights movement inside Syria has taken on a more militant tone, with activists openly seeking weapons and soldiers who have fled the army battling with their former colleagues. The Syrian government says around 1,100 security officers have been killed.

On Thursday, at least 36 people were killed nationwide, 25 of them either former or serving security force members. Friday's demonstrations were called in support of the defectors, who Syrian activists say hold the key to the future of an uprising that has become a grinding struggle.

"We know the world is not coming to help us," said one man speaking by phone from Homs. "We will do what we have to do. Our brothers in the security forces are increasingly waking up. And soon we will fight alongside them in large numbers."

The UN human rights commissioner, Navi Pillay, called for more to be done to stop the violence. "The onus is on all members of the international community to take protective action in a collective manner, before the continual ruthless repression and killings drive the country into a full-blown civil war," she said in a statement.

"As more members of the military refuse to attack civilians and change sides, the crisis is already showing worrying signs of descending into an armed struggle."

The UN and the international community have been accused of being flat-footed in their response to the crisis, in stark contrast to the enthusiastic intervention in Libya that led to Muammar Gaddafi's ousting in August.

The US and Europe have ruled out military intervention and Washington's push for more aggressive sanctions against Damascus was stymied last week by the UN security council after Russian and Chinese vetoes.

The US and Britain this week demanded that the Syrian regime stop intimidating activists abroad. US officials announced the arrest of a Syrian national who they claimed had filmed and threatened activists in Washington and then flown to Damascus to discuss opposition activities inside the US with the president, Bashar al-Assad, and his inner sanctum.

Britain called in the Syrian ambassador to warn against using embassy officials to threaten UK-based activists. Amnesty International recently claimed regime monitoring of activists was taking place in around 30 capitals.

In Lebanon, the Syrian ambassador Ali Abdul Karim Ali denied claims that Syrian officials had been responsible for the abduction of three opposition activists near Beirut.

The Lebanese security force chief, Major General Ashraf Rifi, said the alleged evidence against the embassy was "conclusive". Sources close to him said they had video evidence, written testimonies and intelligence evidence that proved the embassy was active in the abductions. Ali called on him to publicly reveal what he had.

Assad this week claimed that the "most difficult phase" of the uprising had passed. His supporters staged a mass rally inside Damascus, which was cast almost as a victory parade.

However, Friday's protests erupted in areas that the regime was considered to have controlled in recent months. The city of Homs remains out of its control, with armed demonstrators protecting neighbourhoods and the Syrian military stationed on the city's perimeter.

The former Lebanese president Amin Gemayyel said Assad had little option but to continue with the lethal crackdown if he intends to try to cling to power. "Such a regime needs a minimum of brutal repression. Without it he won't be able to lead the country," he said.

"His regime has been built on fear and repression and if you take that away he has no legitimacy. If the people start to lose their fear he is finished. But they are not there yet."

A protester from Homs said the city feared no one. "Tell Bashar he is finished and we will prevail," he said. He would not give his name.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/oc ... ity-forces

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[Project Willow]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/spain/9467635/Spanish-mayor-hailed-as-modern-day-Robin-Hood.html

Spanish mayor hailed as modern-day Robin Hood
A Left-wing mayor of a small town in Andalusia has become a modern-day Robin Hood, organising robbing raids on local supermarkets to feed the poor of his community.


By Fiona Govan, Madrid

5:40PM BST 10 Aug 2012

Juan Manuel Sanchez Gordillo has, over the past week, led several raids on supermarkets around the town of Marinaleda, near Seville in southern Spain, arguing that "someone has to do something so that families can eat."

Mr Sanchez, 53, an avowed communist with a bushy grey beard who has been mayor for 33 years and a member for the regional parliament of Andalusia for the United Left party (IU), did not take part in the raids themselves but stood outside the supermarkets directing his "comrades" over a megaphone.

At one Carrefour supermarket on Tuesday around a dozen trolleys were filled with staples such as milk, sugar, oil, pasta, before being wheeled out through the check-out without payment.

Another similar looting, at a Mercadona in the neighbouring town of Ecija occurred later the same day and Mr Sanchez vowed the raids would continue.

"There are people who simply don't have enough to eat," explained Mr Sanchez, describing the raids as a symbolic and peaceful reaction to the government's handling of the economic crisis.
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"We've decided to expropriate basic foodstuffs and give them to the soup kitchens, which are struggling to provide for everyone because demand has increased."

The major political parties have condemned the raids, which come at a time when Spain is grappling with deep austerity cuts and a nationwide unemployment of nearly 25 per cent.

In the Andalusia region, where the collapse of the construction industry has hit particularly hard, the unemployment rate has soared to nearly 34 per cent.

Five people have been arrested for taking part in the raids but police have not arrested Mr Sanchez because of his position as regional MP. Instead, he has been asked to give a statement in front of an investigating magistrate.

Civil Guards on Friday also moved in to dismantle a protest camp on the grounds of a vast estate owned by Spain's Defence ministry where Mr Sanchez was sleeping out with more than a hundred members of the Andalusia Workers' Syndicate (SAT).

The protestors took over the finca of Las Turquillas, a 1,200 hectare (3,000 acre) farm near the town of Osuna, two weeks ago, demanding a more equal distribution of land in Andalucia, which has a tradition of large private landholdings.

Under the slogan "The land for those who work it!" a call to arms dating from before the Spanish Civil War, activists had taken over unused farmland on the estate and planted vegetables inviting unemployment workers across the region to join their self-sufficient community.

Mr Sanchez labeled the dismantling of the camp by authorities as "heavyhanded" and a "sign of the return of fascism".

Mr Sanchez's actions have led him to be dubbed in the nations' press as "the Robin Hood of Spain" and "the revolutionary of Andalusia".

Marinaleda, a town of 3,000 residents run by Mr Sanchez since 1979, has attracted people from across Spain to join its farming cooperative and a municipal housing programme.

[Luther Blissett]

Frankfurt is apparently burning as riots have broken out around the European Central Banks.

http://m.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31938592