" NO to the 4th Reich"

Demonstrators display a banner that reads " NO to the 4th Reich" prior to an protest in Athens on Tuesday Oct. 9, 2012. German Chancellor Angela Merkel makes her first visit to Greece since the eurozone crisis began here three years ago. Her five-hour stop is seen by the government as a historic boost for the country's future in Europe's shared currency, but by protesters as a harbinger of more austerity and hardship. More than 7,000 police will be on hand, cordoning off parks and other sections of central Athens, to keep demonstrators away from the German leader who is due to arrive Tuesday in the Greek capital for talks with conservative Prime Minister Antonis Samaras. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

Greeks protest Merkel visit

Demonstrators, dressed as Nazis, wave a Greek and a swastika flag as they ride in an open-top car in Syntagma Square in Athens as they protest against the visit of Germany's Chancellor Angela Merkel, October 9, 2012. Germany's Angela Merkel arrived in Greece on her first visit since Europe's debt crisis erupted here three years ago, braving protests to deliver a message of support - but no new money - to a nation hammered by recession and fighting to stay in the euro. REUTERS/Yannis Behrakis

Merkel Urges Greece to Maintain Austerity as Way to Stay in Euro

By Brian Parkin and Marcus Bensasson 

German Chancellor Angela Merkel
used her first visit to Greece in five years to maintain pressure on Prime Minister Antonis Samaras to meet austerity pledges, proclaiming her desire to keep the country in the euro.
The two leaders stood side by side at a press conference as protesters massed outside the Parliament building in a capital city on virtual lockdown. Merkel has become the face of austerity in a country suffering a fifth year of recession, which many Greeks blame on German-led conditions attached to emergency loans.
“I want Greece to remain in the euro,” Merkel told reporters today halfway through her six-hour visit. “A lot has been done, much remains to be done.”
At stake is Greece’s membership in the 17-nation euro and the payment of 31 billion euros ($40 billion) from bailout commitments first made in 2010. Since then, the debt crisis has frustrated policy makers and stunted the region’s economy. Spain
 is considering asking for help and Cyprus is in talks for a lifeline, following Ireland, Portugal and Spanish lenders.
“Merkel is on a carrot and stick exercise: show support and hope for the plight of Greeks with the reminder that there has to be a quid pro quo,” Ralph Brinkhaus, a lawmaker from her Christian Democratic Union and a member of parliament’s finance committee, said in an interview today. “Merkel’s primary constituency is Germany, not Greece: she knows what millions of voters back home expect her to say.”
Athens was the scene of protests on and around its main Syntagma Square as thousands of Greek citizens vent frustration over Merkel’s perceived role in the country’s economic misery. Some 7,000 police were deployed in the capital, with some firing tear gas. Merkel’s destinations are cordoned off.
Merkel’s trip to Athens, her first since July 2007, reciprocated a visit by Samaras to Berlin in August this year and underscored her desire to silence the calls from her own coalition to kick Greece out of the currency union.
“Merkel’s visit to Greece first of all proves that we are breaking an international isolation that existed to now. And this was due to our mistakes as well. The political power and image of a country corresponds to its credibility.”
Merkel has softened her tone on Greece since Samaras’s election earlier this year. He formed a coalition after beating back a challenge by parties that advocated tearing up the terms of Greece’s rescues and calling the bluff of the so-called troika of international creditors -- the IMF, theEuropean Central Bank and European Commission -- at the risk of triggering global meltdown in financial markets.
Calling Greece a friend contrasts with the threat she delivered in November 2011, when former Prime Minister George Papandreou
 proposed a referendum on austerity measures. She said the ballot, subsequently rescinded, “will revolve around nothing less than the question: does Greece want to stay in the euro, yes or no?”

-Bloomberg

Τα Υπ’Όψιν podcast 7/10/2012

Στα Υπ’Όψιν αυτής της εβδομάδας, συζητάμε:
-Τα μεθεόρτια του αμερικανικού προεδρικού debate
-Ανεργία στο7,8%: είναι το εισιτήριο για το Λευκό Οίκο;
-Μέρκελ – Έλληνες: μαζί για 6 ώρες. Τί θα μάθει; Τί θα μάθουν;
-Τουρκία-Συρία: πόσο ελέγχει τα όπλα ο Ασάντ;
-Βενεζουέλα: ιστορικές εκλογές
-Ανθρώπινα Δικαιώματα και αμερικανικό Ανώτατο Δικαστήριο

Και στη δεύτερη ώρα:
-Βραβεία Νόμπελ Ειρήνης: αλλάζοντας τον κόσμο χωρίς βία
-Μηνιγγίτιδα και Ιός του Δυτικού Νείλου ξαναγυρίζουν στις ΗΠΑ
-Υπέρβαροι και οι κριτές τους: ποιός καταπιέζει ποιόν;
-Το μπλέ μέλι και το μενού με τα κέρατα
-Η  Ρώμη απαγορεύει να κλειδώνεις την αγάπη
-«Ημέρα Επιστροφής της Κλεμμένης Πετσέτας»: μέχρι εδώ και μή παρέκει!

Τα Υπ΄’Οψιν για πληροφόρηση, σχόλια και πολλή μουσική!
Ακούστε μας στο https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwUN0MyNkhsTHR1Zkk/edit

Download the October 7 Ta Yp' Opsin podcast

The October 7 Ta Yp' Opsin (Consider These) news roundup podcast (in Greek) available for download:

First Hour:
- First presidential debate performances

- 7.8%, a number that delights and divides

- Merkel visits Athens, Troika deliberates

- Turkey responds to Syrian fire

- Venezuela election

- Human Rights concerns around the world

Plus, in the Second Hour:

- Nobel Prize speculations

- Meningitis fears and West Nile virus relief

- Who is the bully in 'Cruel words' about obesity?

- Blue honey and a roadkill delicacy

- Rome breaks the bonds of love

- Denver schedules a towel amnesty day

Download here:

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwUN0MyNkhsTHR1Zkk/edit

Ta Yp’Opsin (Consider These) weekly podcast with Greek Chicago journalists Elena Spilioti and George Zorbas. Discussion, analysis and great music!

Basta!

An Italian man has eluded Vatican security and scaled the 130-meter (426-foot) high dome of St. Peter's Basilica to protest the austerity measures that Italy has enacted.
Officials said Wednesday that the man, who said he was the owner of a beach resort, refused appeals from government ministers offering to meet with him if he would come down. He scaled the dome on Tuesday night.
He put up a banner saying "Help! Enough Monti!" That referred to Italian Premier Mario Monti, who has been implementing tough austerity measures and economic reforms to bring down Italy's debt and deficit and spur economic growth.
(AP)

Τα Υπ’Όψιν podcast της 30/9/2012

Στα Υπ’Όψιν της 30/9/2012, μεταξύ άλλων, ακούστε:

-Αμερικανικά προεδρικά ντημπέϊτ: ποιός φοβάται ποιόν
-Ελλάδα: η έκθεση που αργεί και η λίστα του ΣΔΟΕ που σπεύδει
-Ευρωπαϊκοί προϋπολογισμοί που αναστατώνουν
-Κίνα: ξεκαθάρισμα δημοφιλών υποψηφίων προς το Συνέδριο του Νοέμβρη
-Η ζωγραφιά του Νετανιάχου και απρόβλεπτες ιστορικές στιγμές στην έδρα του ΟΗΕ

Και στη δεύτερη ώρα:
-ΧΡΟΝΟΛΟΓΙΟ: Η γέννηση της σημερινής Κίνας και ο λόγος του Ρούζβελτ στο Σικάγο
-Εκλογές ΗΠΑ: αξιόπιστα γκάλοπ με κούπες του καφέ ( και άλλες ανορθόδοξες μεθόδους)
- Η Εβδομάδα Απαγορευμένων Βιβλίων και οι Ναζί του Άϊνταχο: απαγορεύσεις εκφράσεων συνέχεια
-Το μέλλον σε σπίτια-σπιρτόκουτα και αυτικίνητα χωρίς οδηγό
-Οι δύο Μόνα Λιζες και ο κλεμμένος Ρενουάρ
-Αστυνομικοί ...τυροκομιστές

Τα Υπ’Όψιν εδώ:
https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B1KU27prGcwUZ2swU3o4U0o1UG8/edit

για ενημέρωση , συζήτηση και πολλή μουσική!