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New Oil Discovery Offshore of Greece, Game Changer?
So now they want to destroy the Mediterranean, the Aegean, and the Ionian Seas by Drilling….a way of helping Greece exit the Euro while immediately giving strength to the Drachma. Lots of angles in this move.
The U.S. Looks To Exploit The Greek Re-Default
August 6, 2012 | 3 comments | includes: EIS, GREK, NBL, RSX, SPY, TUR
A geopolitical drama driven by newly discovered oil and bad debt is unfolding around the eastern Mediterranean, and it may be a game changer for Greece. Preliminary estimates indicate there are 22 billion barrels of oil offshore of Western Greece below the Ionian Sea and some 4 billion barrels of oil below the Northern Aegean Sea, according to Global Research.
Former International Monetary Fund economist and Treasury assistant secretary Charles Collyns was in Athens and Rome the last week of July, along with Treasury Secretary Timmy Geithner, as Greece’s global lenders – the IMF, the European Union and the European Central Bank – prepared for a new audit of Greece to see if its €130 billion bailout had any positive effect (see proposed reforms). The findings, due in late August, will determine whether Greece will receive fresh loans of €31.5 billion by September, according to Yahoo! news.
August 20, Greece faces another rollover of €3.2 billion of its existing debt. The expectation is this will be just one more shuffled deck chair on the Titanic as it borrows from one member the Troika (EFSF) to pay another (ECB). I am not so sure.
The assumption is that this status quo, Nash Equilibrium, mutually assured destruction model will continue indefinitely. But Geithner and his lieutenant Collyns have been actively dialoging with the Greeks. The public message seems to be one of promises to do everything to assist Greece “if necessary” should that country return to the drachma and, by extension, exit the EU, called the Grexit.
A Grexit would offer the U.S. an opportunity to step into the geopolitical breach, and be a player in new oil and minerals discoveries off of Greek and Israeli shores. Turkey has previously stated it would consider it an act of war if Greece drilled further into the Aegean. Clearly, Greece needs backing and support, the kind that the U.S. could provide. Right after Secretary of State Clinton visited Greece to lobby on energy in 2011, the Greek government created a new government agency to run tenders for oil and gas surveys and drilling bids.
To resolve matters with Turkey, there is a proposal by both Clintons’ operative Richard Morningstar to form an oil revenues deal offering Greece 20%, Turkey 20% and the U.S.-backed Noble Energy (NBL) of Houston (the company drilling in Greek and Israeli offshore waters) the lion’s share of 60%.
This has upped the prospect for a geopolitical gambit by the U.S. that has several objectives:
1. To gain influence on Aegean Sea as well the Levantine oil and gas assets, and to establish a Greek Corridor of influence between Cyprus, Israel and Greece. The area off Israel and Cyprus has been the site of new oil and gas discoveries. Cyprus, too, is an insolvent EU basket case. This article from Oil Price.com discusses the “pipeline battle” between Russian and U.S. interests.
With recent confirmation of oil in the Greek Aegean and off Israel, the U.S. has stepped up its game. The strategy is to offer Greece and Cyprus carrots. After all, it’s the European Troika that is the hardball creditor, not the U.S. In fact, by offering Greece “almost unqualified support in the event of a return to the drachma,” the U.S. is betting on the strong likelihood of Greece becoming formally insolvent before any more bailout monies are available from Berlin-am-Brussels.
[more]
This move really bothers me on many levels, but first and foremost is the drilling for oil and possibly ruining the seas mentioned above. We saw what happened in the Gulf. Plus the geopolitical finances that would occur. Yes it would help Greece and possibly Italy’s financial problems along with helping Israel and Turkey, but at what cost? And what other diplomatic problems would happen?
Image credit [top]: Boom showing signs of oil at Breton Island NWR By USFWS/Greg Thompson
749 Comments
@toniD: The most recent NPR reporting has gone with “punk rockers” and “punk rock band” as stand-in pronouns for Pussy Riot. The reporter said Pussy Riot at least once so as to establish a proper noun.
Lo, these many days later, the press is beginning to catch on to the giggles they have been providing to the rest of us. Apparently they noticed the thousand-or-so comedians who have been joking about button-down folks forced to say Pussy Riot on the air.
Two, four, six, eight,
Who do we appreciate?
Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova!
Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova!
Yekaterina Samutsevich, Maria Alyokhina, and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova!
Nope. It works better with Pussy Riot.
Salon.com @Salon
Eric Boehlert @EricBoehlert
I said this yesterday….
Jason Leopold @JasonLeopold
Crank, here’s news re your Repub candidate for Senate:
Crooks and Liars @crooksandliars
Henry Decker @HenryADecker
Salon.com @Salon
Daily Kos Labor @DKLabor
The Associated Press @AP
AFL-CIO @AFLCIO
Boing Boing @BoingBoing
The Nation @thenation
ThinkProgress @thinkprogress
Jon Tester @jontester
Reuters Top News @Reuters
Max Blumenthal @MaxBlumenthal
[This is despicable! And a lot of the blame goes to JoeWalsh for opening his big mouth!]
WILLARD WONKA
toniD,
A few days ago, when McCaskill’s name came up, I told two lady friends that McCaskill had produced pro-Akin advertising prior to the primary. They said (paraphrasing), “WTF?”
They still seemed to think I was making it up after I explained McCaskill’s choose your own fruitbat opponent strategy.
…but both ladies have plenty of time to learn what Akin is all about and I suspect that they will recall our conversation.
Blue Hussein DuPage @BlueDuPage
Chuck Grassly’s really pissed at Romney. Read the article!]
Free Press @freepress
[snippet]
William K. Wolfrum @Wolfrum
US Reality Check @USRealityCheck
@Crank Bait: He’s really, really way out there. You were right!
Here’s Pussy Riot:
Translation:
Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, Drive away Putin
Drive away! Drive away Putin!
(end chorus)
Black robe, golden epaulettes
All parishioners are crawling and bowing
The ghost of freedom is in heaven
Gay pride sent to Siberia in chains
The head of the KGB is their chief saint
Leads protesters to prison under escort
In order not to offend the Holy
Women have to give birth and to love
Holy shit, shit, Lord’s shit!
Holy shit, shit, Lord’s shit!
(Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, become a feminist
Become a feminist, Become a feminist
(end chorus)
Church praises the rotten dictators
The cross-bearer procession of black limousines
In school you are going to meet with a teacher-preacher
Go to class – bring him money!
Patriarch Gundyaev believes in Putin
Bitch, you better believed in God
Belt of the Virgin is no substitute for mass-meetings
In protest of our Ever-Virgin Mary!
(Chorus)
St. Maria, Virgin, Drive away Putin
Drive away! Drive away Putin!
(end chorus)
The blog post linked below gives a rundown of Akin in Missouri (yes, funny you should ask, it is an intentional pun). Even if you don’t read the post, the title tells most of what you need to know.
———-
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2012/08/10/1118611/-MO-Sen-Todd-Akin-Makes-Santorum-look-like-a-hippie
MO-Sen: Todd Akin Makes Santorum look like a hippie.
Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes
Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes
Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes
Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes
ThinkProgress @thinkprogress
John Kiriakou @JohnKiriakou
[A whistle blower who told the truth about Bush's Water Boarding. Now the DOJ bringing him to trial for telling the NYT the truth!]
GottaLaff @GottaLaff
Ari Berman @AriBerman
60th Street @60th_Street
Bloomberg News @BloombergNews
Charles P. Pierce @ESQPolitics
[Love that Charlie!]
Salon.com @Salon
@Crank Bait: Did you vote in their poll?
I did!
Hah! I had to look twice….
Angela Rigopoulos @angela_rig
@toniD: I voted for making Teabangelism pins which, I guessed, would be voting with the plurality. It was.
In These Times @inthesetimesmag
Los Angeles Times @latimes
[This is neat! Mars definitely has no life other than the mountains and gravel. Barren planet so far. But it's worth clicking the link.]
Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune
[ Wish we could do this in the Federal House!]
Right Wing Watch @RightWingWatch
The Associated Press @AP
Salon.com @Salon
[Good article]
Bloomberg News @BloombergNews
US Reality Check @USRealityCheck
Andrew Kaczynski @BuzzFeedAndrew
Planned Parenthood @PPact
ThinkProgress @thinkprogress
Majority Report @majorityfm
Kentucky Distressed That Their God-Fearing Students Are Dumb | Crooks and Liars
@toniD: may be a good cause toni but sorry, that sound (can’t call it music) is atrocious – really not good
i like their name though
http://healthland.time.com/2012/08/17/my-brain-made-me-do-it-psychopaths-and-free-will/?xid=gonewsedit&google_editors_picks=true
My Brain Made Me Do It: Psychopaths and Free Will
Why judges hand down shorter sentences to convicted psychopaths when their behavior is blamed on the brain
…Schwartz called the new study “terrific,” noting in particular that hearing evidence of biological causes of behavior had a larger impact on how mitigating the judges considered the convict’s psychopathy than on the actual sentences they handed down. Among the mitigating factors that judges cited after hearing the neurobiological evidence was the idea that mental illness made the perpetrator less responsible for his behavior.
As one judge in the study explained: “The evidence that psychopaths do not have the necessary neural connections to feel empathy is significant. It makes possible an argument that psychopaths are, in a sense, morally disabled, just as other people are physically disabled.”
Consequently, as Schwartz says, “If you sentence to punish, it will reduce sentencing. But if you sentence to protect society, it may well increase sentencing, by implying that the perpetrator is incorrigible.”…
—————————————————
It’s a study of the perceptions of the nature/nurture influences on behavior. It’s a study of the judgement applied to a person who has some or all of the tools to knowingly and willingly do wrong versus having fewer of the tools to knowingly and willingly do wrong.
I think about this a lot. Probably too much. In a weird way, it is an extension of the Jesuit’s instruction that the measure of sin is intent. One person’s mortal sin is another person’s venial sin…or not a sin at all. But the study goes beyond guilt. It exposes another quandary: Incarceration as punishment or incarceration to protect society?
It’s as if some of us have a coin to flip: Do wrong or do right. We have a 50/50 chance. Others have a polyhedron: Most of the faces say wrong while a few of the faces say right. The odds are very different.
mire August 17, 2012 5:36 pm
@toniD: may be a good cause toni but sorry, that sound (can’t call it music) is atrocious – really not good
—————-
Probably not an Apparat Chicks fan, either?
Bloomberg News @BloombergNews
joseph dana @ibnezra
Slate @Slate
The Associated Press @AP
Rolling Stone @RollingStone
[snippet]
Last week, Mitt Romney picked Paul Ryan, the Republican architect of Congress’s radical right-wing budget plan, as his running mate. Ryan has previously cited Rage Against the Machine as one of his favorite bands. Rage guitarist Tom Morello responds in this exclusive op-ed.
@mire: It’s not our type of music Mire. I don’t care for it either but I don’t like what Putin and Co are doing to these girls. The young people seem to like their music. My parents couldn’t stand the Beattles and the Rolling Stones.
@Crank Bait: It is an interesting study. I wonder how many judges are psychopaths? I think there are a few on the Supreme court! There has to be judges that are themselves psychopaths or sociopaths.
The Young Turks @TheYoungTurks
happy birthday mire
romney reminds me of berlusconi. there are a lot of parallels there, a crook with a shady past, dirty ties to mafia in berlusconi case, to death squads cia with romney; both of them touting their cachet of savvy entrepreneurs and business people, self-made men (ah that’s a bitter laugh); seeking power for the love of country, to save it, sacrificing themselves for this higher duty; ultra rich and not saying how they made their riches other than again repeating like a mantra that they are such good business men – lots of media backing up their lies
both of them facing some kind of reckoning for their crimes unless they gain power and they can then use their power to legalize their illegalities
yes i know that berlusconi is known for other stuff – at least in the international press – but if you look at the politics it is very similar
well ok, romney doesn’t have the populist streak – berlusconi had to have that to seduce the italian dumbards – so that’s typically italian, that he would appeal to the macho aspect as well; yes of course romney is different in that; romney is not as smart as berlusconi; with the rr combination with ryan – the similiraties increase; ryan supposed to have the charm that berlusconi has (gaaag) and romney has not, so he fills that void…. i know i know…. but remember that the lemmings need charisma, and yes i know ryan doesn’t have it either but i can see how the morans can potentially find some charm there…
slick sleezy and shady ultra wealthy tax dodgers – schemers and crooks
at least on that we could agree there are some similarities
Chris Hayes is on with The Rev. Al right now. Also Krystal Ball.
Bill Maher @billmaher
@dan: thank you Dan – it’s been a pretty good day so far. Going to dinner out tonight
mire: “You kids stay off my iPod!”
I’ll put up an open thread. A true open thread for Up tomorrow. I’ll do it later tonight.
Then I’ll work on a topper. Have a few ideas floating around in my head but need to research.
This flare I’m in has held me back a bit.
@mire: Nicely written. I don’t know how accurate are the parallels between Berlusconi and whomever but it doesn’t matter; I’m a sucker for a well-written piece sprinkled with parenthetic humor.
Incidentally, I think gaaag might be the sound a cat makes while coughing up a hairball.
@toniD: the cast for tonight looks like a bust
peter byck, mark cuban, reihan Salam, alex wagner, chelsea handler
@dan: Mark Cuban? Isn’t he the one that would not let Melissa talk on her own show?
Reihan Salam? Yech! Alex Wagner is good, she may give Cuban a bit of sass. The other two I’m not familiar with. Need to google them.
Peter Byck is a film director from Louisville, Kentucky. His most recent and substantial work is the documentary Carbon Nation, narrated by Bill Kurtis.
Chelsea Joy Handler (born February 25, 1975) is an American stand-up comedian, actress, best-selling author, and producer.
Crooks and Liars @crooksandliars
Crank, Akin was on Fox News….
Greg Sargent @ThePlumLineGS
[snippet]
[Now Akin wants to do away with Civil Rights? Way over the top!]
The Hill @hillballotbox
[I hope Carmona wins over Jeff Flake in AZ! Flake is a flake and a tea bagger! They're running for John Kyl's Senate seat.]
TYT on Current TV @TYTonCurrent
TYT on Current TV @TYTonCurrent
GottaLaff @GottaLaff
Mediaite @mediaite
800-year-old medieval village in Tuscany goes up for sale on eBay
toniD August 17, 2012 6:45 pm
…[Now Akin wants to do away with Civil Rights? Way over the top!]
———-
You recently wrote that Missouri might be under the throes of a contagion wafting from its bordering states. You even included southern Illinois (as distinguished from the rest of Illinois) but you should have included Tennessee and Kentucky.
I don’t have much experience with eastern Missouri. I’ve been to St. Louis and the surrounding metro burbs many times for short visits. The same is true for Hannibal to the north and Farmington to the south and a few other forgettable towns but I can’t say I really know the area and the people. The people I have known over the years (and met in various places) who grew up in eastern Missouri were okay but that might be because I avoided the people who irked me.
I subscribe to the old saying: Kansas City is the easternmost western city and St. Louis is the westernmost eastern city. It might be bullshit at this late date but the residents (former and otherwise) I have known might as well have grown up on different planets. Even the dialects are different.
That said, Todd (I can’t see that name without thinking of Bill Murray and Gilda Radner) Akin was born in New York City. He matriculated in a hoity-toity progressive prep school near St. Louis, went to Massachusetts for a degree, then returned to St. Louis to become a master bible diviner.
Perhaps the Northeast deserves some of the blame, not to mention southern Illinois nearby St. Louis. Maybe Todd was destined to be a self-righteous boil on any ass he called home?
Whatever the case, I hope his handlers and supporters keep pumping his ego. It’s easier to give him plenty of rope than to make McCaskill do the dirty work.
Speaking of McCaskill, I suspect that a progressive is hiding beneath her pandering-to-good-ol’-boys hat. If so, her progressive self will never see the light of day. Missouri is split like much of the country—urban Left and rural Right. She needs to pander to keep her seat.
ifc on cable is showing from dusk to dawn tonight.
its probably just me, but i really enjoy a good vampire movie that features clooney, tarrantino, and hayek
back to the t***ty twister.
Citizens for Ethics @CREWcrew
Steve Marmel @Marmel
LOLPAC Left Out Loud @lolpacorg
The Raw Story @RawStory
Dark spud @Darthtater36
LOLPAC Left Out Loud @lolpacorg
Crooks and Liars @crooksandliars
Demetri Kofinas @CoveringDelta
Christopher Hayes @chrislhayes
Steve Weinstein @steveweinstein
Paul Ryan paid a higher federal tax rate than Romney
USA TODAY – 33 minutes ago
WASHINGTON – When it comes to their federal taxes in the last two years, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney has paid a lower federal tax rate than his running mate, congressman Paul Ryan…
——————–
I haven’t read the article, if ink on a USA Today page can be called an article. I don’t have to. Besides, I’m too busy laughing.
Mediaite @mediaite
[The WH and known journalist are pissed because Obama is going to local news and lessor known news shows.]
Greg Sargent @ThePlumLineGS
Ryan J. Davis @RyanNewYork
Bill Maher @billmaher
60th Street @60th_Street
Chris Hays and Krystal Ball on with Rev Al tonight:
toniD August 17, 2012 8:46 pm
Ryan J. Davis @RyanNewYork
Pat Robertson says don’t adopt disadvantaged kids, they could grow up weird. http://bit.ly/StSE11
—————-
Near the end of the article, ol’ Pat says this: “OK, let’s get to the next question. I’m in trouble.”
That’s Patspeak at Virginia Control for “Abort! Abort! Abort!”
US urges review of Pussy Riot sentences
Independent Online – 3 hours ago
————–
Suggests any subject, verb and object without Pussy in it.
Josh Marshall @joshtpm
Chicago Tribune @chicagotribune
RonSupportsYou @RonSupportsYou
Jon Tester @jontester
Gaius Publius @Gaius_Publius
Steve Weinstein @steveweinstein
Crooks and Liars @crooksandliars
SeniorInfo4U @SeniorInfo4u
[I hope he gets heckled in Florida in front of his Mother!]
Jason Leopold @JasonLeopold
Jason Leopold @JasonLeopold
Ari Berman @AriBerman
ThinkProgress @thinkprogress
Mediaite @mediaite
Open Thread til I can put up a new topper:
http://www.proligarchy.com/?p=2503
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