It is plain to see that the path for Greece is to default and leave the EU and Euro behind.  Once it has done this, the IMF will assist Greece as its debt load will have mostly disappeared.  The people of Greece must realize that there is no future for Greece in the EU. In fact there is not future for the EU in its present format either. The EU has become what it never was proposed to be. That is a destabilizing entity tearing nations apart, with one nation Germany demanding that all nations follow the German model and using its money power to enforce its will.  Ms Merkel must step down, as too should the president of the EU. The decision making of Ms Merkel is faulty, also the EU President seems to be pandering to the wishes of the German political leader as it seems are several other EU member nations.The German political party in power seems to be forcing Ms Merkel to do anything to keep it in power. Remain in power at all costs seems to be M Merkel´s political party war cry... Berlin first demands the country borrows billions to join the currency. Berlin then asset strips anything that opposes the great German engineering program. Then when Greece can't pay the interest on the loans demanded by Berlin, they demand Greece borrows more & hands over more devalued assets .....Then (pppp) Germany threatens to boot Greece out unless it borrows even more money but knowing their are no longer any assets to use as collateral it demands law changes to impoverish the people until at least 2060 on the promise of 'more new cash'.  So Greece go against it's own people, change the laws & agree to the demands of Berlin, then Berlin goes back on it's promise & changes it's mind!!! ....

What on earth is any country doing in Berlins Euroland or EU? ..... the only thing I'll ever thank Gordon Brown for is the words 'on ya bike Merkel, we ain't joining the toxic Euro!'.

What the EU has failed to realize is that Greece does not actually need more taxes or higher rates anywhere close to it needing far more aggressive efforts to collect its already existing tax rates and raising the rates only results in more aggressive efforts at tax evasion among Greeks.

The IMF as lender of last resort has made absolutely clear its position that the Greek debt must be reduced to an amount Greece can realistically pay or it will not lend any further funds to Greece. It is tired of listening to Greece as a constant beggar that at times has spent 457% of its actual tax revenue and lied about its budget to get into the Euro Zone in the first place.  Instead of trying to squeeze money out of Greece, Germany and its partners should be mandating the construction by some of their own manufactures of factories or facilities in Greece so that the Greek GDP can grow enough to make the debt payments realistically doable without continuing further borrowing...It is plain to see that the path for Greece is to default and leave the EU and Euro behind.  Once it has done this, the IMF will assist Greece as its debt load will have mostly disappeared. The people of Greece must realize that there is no future for Greece in the EU. In fact there is not future for the EU in its present format either. The EU has become what it never was proposed to be. That is a destabilizing entity tearing nations apart, with one nation Germany demanding that all nations follow the German model and using its money power to enforce its will.

Ms Merkel must step down, as too should the president of the EU. The decision making of Ms Merkel is faulty, also the EU President seems to be pandering to the wishes of the German political leader as it seems are several other EU member nations. The German political party in power seems to be forcing Ms Merkel to do anything to keep it in power. Remain in power at all costs seems to be M Merkel´s political party war cry.

The European Union is a submarxist/corporatist construct  based on failed 19th cent mechanistic social engineering theory  and controlled by an unelected 'elite'.  It is anti-democratic, which it disparages it as 'populism'  and regards both individual personal sovereignty and the national expressed sovereign democratic choice of the population as 'egotism'.

The question is - why would anyone in their right mind in the 21st cent want to be a part of such an outdated social relic construct?  ''The most puzzling development in politics during the last decade is the apparent determination of Western European leaders to re-create the Soviet Union in Western Europe.”― Mikhail Gorbachev... So yet another truth about the whole EU emerges, It reveals how any democracy is made useless, and deflected from its purpose by EU undemocratic one size inflexible impositions for dominating social and economic policies. It is indeed a very real fascism, no matter what the EU or its cogs and gears affiliations and hierarchy declare.  The light is dawning upon more and more people so as to reject this EU totally, and not just parts of it as Cameron claims to do.  This Greek scenario seems to remind and indicate a WW 2 position for conquered lands. If the Nazis rolled in and dominated and pillaged all, their installed government could say this is why we shoot and enslave you, because you are of no other purpose if you are not obedient to our dictatorship. They could do this with a friendly smile and their unique socialist realist advertisements are just a part of their doctrine, declaring they are saving your nation from itself. The EU is of such a corporate board room mentality straight out of New York with Wall Street and a UN made into puppets by its human rights that are part of the setup and fail, yet override democracy everywhere.  But then in reality they created the EU; its master is the federal USA corporatocracy.  Greece as all European countries, are entitled to freely find their own level of enrichment's or austerity according to the talents and efforts of the culture and people.  It concludes that the EU is a giant fascist bulldozer for any self determination. The push for integration will come regardless of this kind of view, however sensible it may be. Brussels has boundless ambition and no brakes. The point is to participate in the backlash of which he speaks, and to use it to to damage to the monster. The Treaty of Rome was not, as it were, built in a day - and the walls of the prison it creates will likewise need to be gradually undermined. The Greek crisis has brought worthwhile progress in that endeavor.

The former head of Portugal’s Banco Espirito Santo, Ricardo Salgado, was put under house arrest on Friday after being questioned by a magistrate over his role in the bank’s collapse, his lawyer said.  Francisco Proenca de Carvalho called the measure “disproportionate” in remarks to the press after the 12-hour questioning.  On Monday the former banker was questioned by the state prosecutor, who decided to send him for further questioning in front of an investigating magistrate.  The prosecutor referred in particular to suspicion of forgery, breach of trust, tax evasion and money laundering, in a statement released on Friday. Portugal uses EU bailout cash to shore up troubled Banco Espírito Santo.  Once one of Portugal’s largest lenders, BES collapsed after reporting a record loss last year and its three holding companies declared themselves insolvent, facing allegations of accounting fraud.  The bank’s woes threatened to drag down Portugal’s economy, which had only gingerly emerged from a three-year bailout, prompting the government and the European Union to swiftly come to the rescue. The assets of the ailing bank were transferred into Novo Banco as part of a €4.9 billion (US$5.4 billion) bailout of BES, including €3.9 billion from the government.  For a year numerous enquiries have been opened by the Portuguese authorities to determine who is responsible for the scandal.   Salgado was forced out as head of BES after 23 years in June 2014 amid allegations of accounting irregularities at one of the bank’s Luxembourg-based holding companies.   Banco Espirito Santo shareholders seek explanation  At a parliamentary session in December, Salgado denied “having given instructions” to falsify the BES accounts.   But the Bank of Portugal has since started a series of proceedings against most BES executives, including its former chief, suspected of “malicious acts” and “ruinous management”.  The authorities have also seized property belonging to the Espirito Santo family, Portugal’s last banking dynasty, and its financiers.  The questioning of Salgado comes a year to the day after his arrest in connection with another financial matter, where he was indicted for money laundering before being released on bail of €3 million.

I am just wondering how much longer this Greek tragedy is going to drag on. I can understand why Eurozone leaders do not want to eject Greece from the Eurozone because they are unwilling to admit that they got it wrong as far as this artificial currency is concerned and that they broke their own rules when Greece entered the EZ. However, surely even they must realize that throwing good money after bad (as they will do if yet another bailout is agreed) is nonsensical. Rather than wringing their hands at a delay to the talks, it might be better to scrap them altogether and let the Greek government take full responsibility for its economic future. If that involves Grexit, so be it .... "European Central Bank board member Christian Noyer has called for an immediate recapitalization of banks after bail-out talks are concluded. Creditors have estimated banks will need an injection of up to €25bn to return to health." The question I would ask is "Where will this money come from ?" Will the Luxembourg Lush once again unilaterally decide that the EFSF can be used again just to spite the UK ? Will the ELA limit be raised ever higher which will definitely annoy the German taxpayer ? Of course however they manage to get the funding through one thing is for certain, the moment it goes in, the Greek population will immediately withdraw it and so the circus will continue going around and around. The eventual outcome will be the same no matter how hard they try to prevent it, Greece will either leave or be cast out of the EZ.

This is the shocking story of Operation Gladio...

Given the depth of the EU-induced depression in Greece, and the huge strain this has put on Greek society, it is remarkable how calm and peaceful Greece is. It remains one of the safest countries in the world, and visitors can expect a warm welcome.Forget the pictures you have seen of supermarkets with empty shelves. That is simply not correct. The supermarkets are as well stocked as ever, and the restaurants just as capable of serving good food.  True, it is inconvenient not to be able to use credit cards in some places, but foreigners can take, I think, up to 600 euro a day from cash machines and if you bring enough cash, you can get really good bargains, as trades people here will give significant discounts for cash ... EU-induced depression? Give me break, Tom! How can you possibly believe such nonsense? The Troika is a huge mitigating factor, they didn't 'induce' any depression at all. If it weren't for the billions upon billions in aid, the depression in Greece would be far worse. For example, in 2010, without aid, the Greeks would have had to cut their budget deficit of 10% of GDP in one stroke. You could argue that the Troika should have given even more money, and you could argue that the Troika's bailout conditions were too harsh, but you can't argue that the Troika induced the depression in Greece. That's just BS ... The Troika was imposed as part of an EU coup to ensure compliance with a bailout of the euro and French and German banks disguised as a bailout of Greece, and to impose the most bone-headedly stupid and punitive austerity measures imaginable.  By forcing yet more debt on a country drowning in debt, and imposing the measures it did, the Troika ensured that the Greek economy shrank by more than the US did in the Great Depression - thus making its debt problem even worse.  Even the IMF has been forced to admit the truth and is currently blaming the EU for the mess, but at the time it culpably ignored protests from non-European members that the Troika's measures were destroying Greece.  So yes - EU-induced depression is a very accurate term.