Omnion
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Hello and welcome to CyberPhoenix
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The anti-globalization pressure group Attac has published a study indicating that the bulk of the rescue funds made available for Greece have tended to go to help banks. Ordinary people haven't profited much, it said.
More than three quarters of all rescue funds for Greece went directly to banks and rich investors, the German daily Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Monday, quoting a fresh study by the anti-capitalist pressure alliance Attac.
The group said out of the 207 billion euros ($276 billion) earmarked so far by international creditors, 160 billion euros ended up with Greek lenders and investors.
"Political elites have not been trying to rescue the Greek population, but the finance sector," said Lisa Mittendrein from Attac Austria.
According to the calculations made by the pressure group, the government in Athens put 58 billion euros into the domestic bank's recapitalization program. Another 55 billion euros were used to pay back sovereign bonds and 11 billion euros more to buy back accumulated debt.
Berlin not amused
Attac maintained that an additional 35 billion euros were spent with a view to sweeten the 2012 debt reduction scheme also known as the Greek haircut for affected insurance companies and investment funds.
The group also reported that only a small proportion of the money that actually did reach the Greek state budget could be used do anything meaningful for the population, as 35 billion euros had to be spent on debt servicing for the holders of sovereign bond bills.
"The widespread belief supported by European politicians that the various rescue packages for Greece have helped ordinary people in the country is no longer tenable," Mittendrein commented. Instead, she argued, Greeks have been made to foot the bill in terms of harsh austerity measures with all the known drastic social consequences like record-high unemployment.
The German government rejected the conclusions made by Attac, arguing that Greeks have profited from the government in Athens having more time to implement reforms. Berlin also claimed that all Greeks had profited from saving lenders from bankruptcy.
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Turkey has warned that it could use its army to quell protests. German Chancellor Angela Merkel has said that she was "shocked" by footage of clashes between police and protesters.
A Turkish minister has said that the government could use soldiers to end the protests that began peacefully three weeks ago against plans to raze a popular city park - one of Istanbul's green spaces. Turkey's trouble has flared with fresh intensity since Saturday, when officers evicted campers from Gezi Park.
Police "will use all their powers" to end the unrest, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said in a televised interview. "If this is not enough," he added, "we can even utilize the Turkish armed forces in cities."
The minister has joined his colleagues in striking a bullish tone to intimidate people into avoiding demonstrations. The protests began as a sit-in to stop developers from razing Gezi's 600 trees; they escalated after a brutal police response, spreading nationwide and now focus as much on Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan's perceived authoritarian tendencies as the local green space. So far, violence has killed at least four people and injured more than 5,000.
‘Terrible images'
On Monday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel said that she was "shocked, like many other people," by the images of police and protesters clashing in Turkey since May 31.
"There were some terrible images, in which one could see that, in my view, too hard a line is being taken," Merkel said in an interview broadcast on RTL television before her departure for the G8 summit in Northern Ireland. "What's happening in Turkey at the moment does not in my view reflect our understanding of a freedom to demonstrate, freedom to express an opinion."
As protests continued on Monday, Turkey's two main trade unions, KESK and DISK, which represent hundreds of thousands of public sector employees, organized a one-day work stoppage, their second strike action since protests began. Groups of several hundred union members took to the streets in Istanbul, Ankara and the western city Izmir calling for the police violence to "end immediately."
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One Sunday morning, a little girl and her mother go to church. Halfway through, the little girl tells her mother she's going to be sick. Her mother tells her to go in the bushes behind the church. The girl leaves and comes back after about five minutes. Her mother asks her if she threw up.
''Yes," the girl says. "But I didn't have to go all the way 'round the back. There was a box near the front door that said 'For the Sick.'''
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A little girl is in line to see Santa. When it's her turn, she climbs up on Santa's lap. Santa asks, "What would you like Santa to bring you for Christmas?"
The little girl replies, "I want a Barbie and a G.I. Joe."
Santa looks at the little girl for a moment and says, "I thought Barbie comes with Ken."
"No," said the little girl. "She comes with G.I. Joe, she fakes it with Ken."
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One fine afternoon, a smiling boy arrived home from a dental visit. He called out, “Hey mom, I have no cavities today.”
His mom stared at him wide-eyed and quite surprised. But she smiled and then frowned knowing the expected. “Let me guess,” she said, “You have not a tooth left.”
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One day a little girl came running into her house yelling, "Mommy, I got five dollars!"
The mother was curious, so she asked her child where she got the five dollars from.
The little girl replied, ''Tommy down the street gave me five dollars for doing cartwheel while he sat in the tree.
The mother told her daughter, "Don't you know that Tommy is just trying to see your panties."
''OOOOhhhh'' said the little girl.
The next day the little girl came running into the house yelling, "Mommy, I got ten dollars. The mother asked, "Where did you get the ten dollars from?"
The little girl replied, "Tommy down the street gave me ten dollars for doing a cartwheel while he sat up in the tree and laughed."
The mother replied, "Didn't I tell you that he is...''
Before the mother could finish, the little girl said, ''Wait Mommy. I tricked him, I didn't wear any panties today.''
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A little kid gets on a city bus, sits right behind the driver, and starts talking loudly, "If my dad was a bull and my mom a cow, I'd be a little bull."
The driver gets annoyed as the kids continues to yammer on. "If my dad was an rooster and my mom a hen, I would be a little chick."
The kid goes on and on with all the animals he knows, when finally, the bus driver yells, "What if your dad was a bum and your mom was a drunk?"
The kid smiles and says, "I'd be a bus driver." -
One day a man goes to a pet shop to buy a parrot. The assistant takes the man to the parrot section and asks the man to choose one. The man asks, ''How much is the yellow one?''
The assistant says, ''$2000.'' The man is shocked and asks the assistant why it's so expensive. The assistant explains, ''This parrot is a very special one. He knows typewriting and can type really fast.''
''What about the green one?'' the man asks.
The assistant says, ''He costs $5000 because he knows typewriting and can answer incoming telephone calls and takes notes.''
''What about the red one?'' the man asks.
The assistant says, ''That one's $10,000.''
The man says, ''What does HE do?''
The assistant says, ''I don't know, but the other two call him boss.''
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Little girl: "Why does your son say, 'Cluck, cluck, cluck?'"
Mother: "Because he thinks he's a chicken."
Little girl: "Why don't you tell him he's not a chicken?"
Mother: "Because we need the eggs." -
Johnny was playing outside when he really had to go to the bathroom. He runs in and his grandma was about to take a shower. He looks at her crotch and says, “Whats that?” She says, “Well, it's a beaver, Johnny.”
The next day the same thing happens, only his mom is taking the shower. He says, “Mom I know what that is. It's a beaver, but I think grandma's is dead because it's tongue is hanging out.”
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There was a little boy and a little girl in a bathtub having a bath. Suddenly the little girl looked down at the boy.
"Can I touch it?"
"No way -- you already broke yours off!"
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Wilfred had just learned his abc's and was very scared of doing them in front of the class. The teacher, though, told him that the best way to conquer his fears would be to just go ahead and do it. So, trembling, he stood in front of the class and began.
"ABCDEFGHIJLKMNOQRSTUVWXYZ."
"Very good, Wilfred. But you forgot the P. Where's the P?
"It's running down my leg."
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Hello and welcome to CyberPhoenix
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Hello and welcome to CyberPhoenix
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Hello and welcome to CyberPhoenix
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What did Alan Kay mean by: “The Internet was done so well, but the Web, in comparison, is a joke. It was done by amateurs”?
When digital pioneer Alan Kay speaks, programmers listen. But like anyone who puts forward an opinion, Kay opens himself up to being misinterpreted. That was the case last July, in an interview with long-running publication *Dr. Dobb's Journal*. At one point the inventor of object-oriented programming chimed in:
The Internet was done so well that most people think of it as a natural resource like the Pacific Ocean, rather than something that was man-made. When was the last time a technology with a scale like that was so error-free? The Web, in comparison, is a joke. The Web was done by amateurs.
Stack Exchange user kalaracey can't have been the only programmer confused about the meaning of Kay's quote, but he's the one who asked about it. Several devs answered. -
The United States wants to provide additional military support to the Syrian rebels. Both sides in the conflict are already getting weapons from abroad. Will the weapons of war increase the chances for peace?
Rebel forces in Syria are coming under increasingly heavy pressure. Two weeks ago they lost the strategically important border town of Qusair, where Lebanese Hezbollah fighters helped Syrian government troops to gain the upper hand. And on Friday (14.06.013) there was more fierce fighting in Aleppo, the country's second-largest city.
No wonder, then, that US President Barack Obama's decision was given an enthusiastic reception by the rebels. "This is what we've been waiting for," explained Khalid Saleh, a Syrian National Council spokesman. "The Hezbollah fighters are already considering advancing on Aleppo. Our people urgently need weapons in order to defend themselves."
So far, though, it remains unclear what form the additional US military support could take, and when exactly it would arrive in the war zone. Ben Rhodes, Obama's deputy national security adviser, did not go into details when making the announcement. However, he did not rule out either arming the rebels or establishing a no-fly zone.
Obama's security advisers may choose to remain vague, but the Wall Street Journal reports that the president himself has already approved arms deliveries to "moderate rebels." The US government has been skeptical about taking this step, because of fears that the weapons could fall into Islamist hands. It seems to have changed its mind following allegations that the Assad regime had crossed a "red line" by using chemical weapons.
Assad's troops have a military advantage
The government's troops are far better equipped than those of the rebels. "The rebels' biggest problem is ammunition," explains Michael Brzoska, director of the Hamburg Institute for Peace Research and Security Policy. "It gets used up very quickly."
He adds that the government side still has a major advantage over the rebels in terms of heavy weaponry. Assad's opponents are, he says, fairly well-supplied with small arms, and they also have a few tanks, artillery or anti-aircraft missiles that they have captured from government forces. What they do not have is a functioning anti-aircraft defense to protect them against the Syrian air force's helicopters and planes.
So far, the rebels have been getting most of their arms from Saudi Arabia and Qatar, which are allied with the West. Most of the deliveries, especially small arms and munitions, are smuggled into the country via Turkey or Iraq, but Assad's opponents are also getting arms from dealers in Lebanon.
The United States has clearly sanctioned the arms supplies from Qatar and Saudi Arabia, but until now, the Americans themselves have only supported the rebels with so-called "non-lethal" military equipment, such as bulletproof vests or night-vision goggles. US advisers are also being sent to Jordan to train the rebels.
The European Union's arms embargo on Syria ran out at the end of May. So far, the EU states have been unable to agree on an extension. France and Britain oppose it, and both are considering supplying arms to the rebels. There are rumors that some European states already have.
Syria conflict could escalate
The German government, on the other hand, is against arming the rebels, fearing that this may lead to an escalation in the conflict. Peace researcher Michael Brzoska also believes it would be a bad idea. He argues that supplying weapons would only mean that the war drags on, and possibly intensifies, as the rebels would be better equipped.
The latest developments, he says, do not bode well for the Syria conference being planned by the US and Russia. "The problem is that both sides in Syria believe that they can win this conflict by military means," Brzoska says. There is therefore little incentive on either side to negotiate: yet Brzoska believes that, ultimately, this is the only way the conflict can be resolved.
Brzoska is also against imposing a no-fly zone over parts of the country. "That, too, would be a further escalation," he says. The government's anti-aircraft positions would have to be taken out, which would constitute a "massive intervention" in the civil war. Yet even this, in Brzoska's opinion, is unlikely to weaken the government troops to such an extent that they would decide to abandon the fight.
Syrian proxy war
More and more Western states now want to arm the Syrian rebels - but with Iran and Russia on its side, the Assad regime has no shortage of supplies, either. Tehran is sending small arms and trainers, and there are rumors of Iranian fighters alongside government troops. Russia also remains a staunch supporter of Assad, supplying him with fighter jets, anti-aircraft missiles and helicopters.
Ultimately, however, the United States, Saudi Arabia and Russia are all using the Syrian civil war to pursue their own ends. Syria has become an arena in which geopolitical power struggles are being played out - and it's the Syrian people who are paying the price. -
EU nations have reacted positively to the news of the election of a moderate candidate as Iran’s next president. They are hoping for a change in tone from Iran, particularly regarding its disputed nuclear program.
A statement released by the European Union's top diplomat on Saturday stressed the 27-nation bloc's willingness to engage with newly elected President Hassan Rowhani
"I remain firmly committed to working with the new Iranian leadership towards a swift diplomatic solution of the nuclear issue," Catherine Ashton, the EU's foreign policy coordinator said in a statement.
Ashton is the chief negotiator in talks between six world powers and Tehran aimed at resolving an international dispute over Iran's nuclear program, which Western nations in particular fear could be a front for efforts to produce atomic weapons. Tehran has repeatedly insisted that its nuclear program is meant for peaceful purposes only.
A spokesman for Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle of Germany, which is part of that group of six, expressed the hope that the new leadership in Iran would cooperate in efforts to find solutions to issues of international and regional concern.
Westerwelle described Rowhani's victory as a "vote by the people for reforms and a constructive foreign policy."
The two other European countries involved in the nuclear talks, France and the UK, both permanent members of the United Nations Security Council, expressed similar sentiments.
"The international community has high expectations from Iran, especially about its nuclear program and its involvement in Syria," French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said. "We are ready to work on this with the new Iranian president."
Criticism from US, Israel
A White House statement criticized how Friday's election was conducted. At the same time though, it said Washington “remains ready to engage the Iranian government directly in order to reach a diplomatic solution that will fully address the international community's concerns about Iran's nuclear program."
Israel noted that Iran's supreme leader, not the country's president, has the last word on foreign policy.
"Iran will continue to be judged by its actions, in the nuclear sphere as well as on the issue of terror," an Israeli foreign ministry statement said.
Rowhani won just over 50-percent of the votes in Friday's presidential election, allowing him to avoid a run-off. More than 72-percent of the country's 50 million eligible voters turned out to cast their ballots.
The lone moderate candidate in the race, Rowhani was supported by reformists and has promised to end what he called the "eight-year dark era" of Ahmadinejad by promoting freedom of expression and the press. He has long been an outspoken critic of Ahmadinejad and accuses him of being needlessly hostile with the international community.
Rowhani, 64, served in parliament from 1980 until 2000, when he became a member of the Assembly of Experts, the body that oversees the work of the Ayatollah Ali Khamenei. He also held Iran's top security post as secretary of the Supreme National Security Council from 1989 to 2005. -
One day, Jeffrey complained to his friend, "My elbow really hurts, I guess I should see a doctor."
"Don't do that! There's a computer at the drug store that can diagnose anything, quicker and cheaper than a doctor. Simply put in a sample of your urine and the computer will diagnose your problem and tell you what you can do about it. It only costs $10."
Jeffery figured he had nothing to lose, so he took his urine sample to the drug store. Finding the computer, he poured in the sample and deposited the $10.00. The computer started making some noise and various lights started flashing. After a brief pause, out popped a small slip of paper on which was printed:
“You have tennis elbow.Soak your arm in warm water.Avoid heavy lifting.It will be better in two weeks.”Late that evening while thinking how amazing this new technology was and how it would change medical science forever, he began to wonder if this machine could be fooled. He decided to give it a try. He mixed together some tap water, a stool sample from his dog and urine samples from his wife and daughter. To top it off, he masturbated into the concoction.
He went back to the drug store, located the machine, poured in the sample and deposited $10.00. The computer again made the usual noise and printed out the following message:
“Your tap water is too hard.Get a water softener.Your dog has worms.Get him vitamins.Your daughter's using cocaine.Put her in a rehabilitation clinic.Your wife's pregnant - twin girls.They aren't yours.Get a lawyer.And if you don't stop jerking off, your tennis elbow will never get better.” -
A man went to England on a trip and met a woman there, they grew to like each other enough for her to come to America with the man on his flight home. When they got back to America the man said, “I would like to show you an American pastime: baseball.”
So the next day the man took her to a baseball game. The first man came up to the plate and hit the ball to right field and got to first base, the next man bunted the ball and got to first base, and the third man came up to the plate and got walked. The man said, “Are you understanding this game?”
The woman answered, “Yes, but what I don't understand is why the thrower hurls the ball at the first man and he hits it. Then he hurls the ball at the second man and he taps it and runs to where the other man was standing. And then the third man, this is the part I don't understand, the thrower hurls the ball and he just stand there, and he hurls the ball at him again and he just stands there, and he hurls the ball at him again and he just stands there, and he hurls the ball at him again and he just stands there then he just walks to the place where the other man was standing.”
Then the man says, “Well that is because he has four balls.”
The woman says, “Poor thing! He couldn't run if he tried.” -
There was a young country boy who was very bright. In fact he was bright enough to be accepted to Harvard.
One of his first assignments at Harvard was to write a paper on a famous person. He didn't know who he would write about so he decided to go to the library and do some research. But he didn't know where the library was. He saw a professor walking down the hall. He stopped the professor and said to him, "Do you know where the library is at?"
The professor looks at him strangely and says, "Young man, here at Harvard we never end a sentence in a preposistion."
The young man says, "Oh, excuse me. Do you know where the library is at, asshole?"
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Dave's friends came up to him after work one day and asked him to go out for a few beers with them.
Dave replied, ''No, I can't. My wife gets really pissed if I come home late.''
Dave's friend said, ''When you get home, just go slide beneath the sheets, pull her panties down and give her oral sex. She won't say anything.''
So Dave goes out with his friends and has a great time. When he comes home hours later, he goes into his room and slides beneath the sheets. He pulls down her panties and begins to give her oral sex. She starts to moan and groan. After a while, Dave tells her that he has to go take a leak and for her to wait there.
When Dave gets to the bathroom he's stunned to see his wife sitting on the john. ''How did you get here?'' he asked.
''Shhhh,'' she replied, ''my mom is sleeping.''
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A guy walked into a pro-shop with a gorilla. "Is anyone interested in a little wager? I've got $500 here that says my gorilla can hit the ball longer and straighter than anybody here at this club."
Everyone in the pro-shop started laughing. The newest pro at the club spoke up, "I'll take you up on that wager. Meet you on the first tee."
When they reached the 585-yard par-5 first tee, the trainer led the gorilla to the tee box and put a driver in his hands. The gorilla smashed his drive right down the middle and out of sight. The ball finally stopped on the green, six inches from the cup.
The pro was astonished. "That's incredible! There's no need for me to tee off. Here's your money."
As the pro walked off the green, still shaking his head, he turned back to the trainer and said, "By the way, how does he putt?"
The trainer responded, "Just like he drives: 500 yards, right down the middle, every time."
Beautiful?
in The Fun & Laughs Section
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There was a lawyer and he was just waking up from anesthesia after surgery, and his wife was sitting by his side. His eyes fluttered open and he said, “You're beautiful!” and then he fell asleep again. His wife had never heard him say that so she stayed by his side. A couple minutes later his eyes fluttered open and he said “You're cute!” Well, the wife was dissapointed because instead of “beautiful” it was “cute.” She said “What happened to ‘beautiful’? His reply was “The drugs are wearing off!”