Cyprus: A Moral Dilemma?

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The volume of ink and airtime being propelled our way on the country of the week, dissecting and analyzing its past, present, and future, may well catapult the name of a small island at the eastern end of the Mediterranean into a verb.  How long before North Americans get “Cyprussed”?

The details of the Cyprus predicament, such as they are, or such as authorities will allow them to be known, are now burdens of discussions from San Francisco’s Market Street to Paris’ Champs Élysées.

We are spectators to the consequences when a country has surrendered  control over its currency, the final vestige of its sovereignty, to a foreign entity.  As we witness the beginning of an endgame when debt is out of control, we passively observe an inquisition and remain impotent bystanders as the inquisition evolves into an imposition.  On this imposition, there cannot be enough light shed.

Bank depositors are an ideal low hanging fruit and with a government’s help, become easy targets.  Rationalizing the ‘plucking’ is performed with reasonable dexterity, as we are informed that, well, after all, those are corrupt banks who launder cash, and tose deposits are half owned by Russian oligarchs, and other unscrupulous individuals from the Ukraine, or elsewhere across Europe, and we won’t hurt the little depositors too much.  And oh by the way, Russia uses these bank accounts to send arms to Syria.  Of course we shouldn’t here ask why these banks received any bailout money in the first place, or why they will receive more under any conditions, given that they are so fraudulent, . . . no point making the Euro leadership queasy.

We will hear much in the coming days about accelerated ‘restructuring’ of debt and  deleveraging of the worst banks and sovereigns, and we will be told that,  “this is a good thing so don’t worry too much about that ten percent (10%) being stolen outright from depositors. We’re cleaning up bank balance sheets, so we’re charging a small fee. It could be worse, we could let the banks just close their doors and the depositors would really be out tens of billions in cash.”

My personal favorite rationalization is the one that presents this decision by the EU as reducing the need to further tax the overburdened taxpayers, and diminishing reductions to the beneficiaries of public spending.  Sure. No point reducing spending, just go after the rich, especially the corrupt foreign rich holding cash in Cyprus.

All of the once-sovereign nations who adopted the Euro must go along with decisions made on their behalf by bureaucrats in Brussels, which to no-one’s surprise are supported by the IMF and its managing director Christine Lagarde, Ms. Statist Liberal herself.   The bankers are in control of the biggest game on earth and governments will tow the line guided by ideologically entrenched self-righteous and uninformed politicians and bureaucrats.

Brussels may also be tweaking Putin’s ears through these actions, requiring Putin to make a decision.   What could go wrong with that stroke of genius?  Keep in mind that Russian banks have tens of billions on loan to Russian controlled businesses based in Cyprus.  Putin really has no choice.  He could step in with three billion or so to shore up the banks in which he and his comrades have stashed billions, however, if he did so, Cyprus would slide further into the arms of the great bear to the North.  Putin would squeeze drastic concessions (called ‘gas deposits’) from the Cyprus leadership, and Brussels and the Europeans would be presented with a further quandary.  Hmm, make that a worse quandary.

European leadership in Brussels has dictated implementation of a historical decision, very consistent with the general socialist leanings of their governments which says,  Private Property Is NOT Sacrosanct.

Corruption in Cyprus is a side story diversion, and the structure of the final imposition is not relevant.  A decision was made.  The EU did nothing over the years to bring any real pressure to bear on the fraudulent bank practices prevalent in Cyprus, so now that there is a serious problem of debt, “the end justifies the means”?  This rather parallels the inaction of the Justice Department in Washington. Will the outcome also be duplicated here?  Will expropriation become common-place, . . . and justified as long as it’s not ME?  Does the Attorney General know enough, or does he have any will to enforce laws which were abused by senior bankers throughout the ramp-up to the economic implosion?  None that we’ve seen.

We may find it sad, perhaps even humorous in an unsettling way when dictators grab private companies and property in places like Venezuela, or some other foreign lands, but we can’t ignore it when leaders of ‘Western’ nations become convinced that wholesale cash-grabbing from private bank accounts makes any sense.

As if we don’t have enough anxiety, now we have to accept the very real potential which an older generation warned us of – banks and governments cannot be trusted to always do the right thing particularly when under pressure.  This is not a question of “if they can do it to Cyprus, will they do it here?”  They will do it.

Morals and principals have already been subdued by fear and self-interests.  It is now a question of, “when will we get Cyprussed?”   No morals to see here.  Move along.

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How ironic, the Russian oligarchs steal money from a dying Socialist nation, and the money is expropriated by the Socialists in Belgium. It’s true, 10% is a paltry amount of theft compared to the larceny abilities of the Russian Elites, but it is macabre or gallows humor.

Will Americans trust Obama and leave their wealth deposits vulnerable to the expropriation of a man who refuses to defend the concept of private property and wealth

The Cypriot banks are tapped of all cash reserves and may not reopen. Thus depositors lose all their money if the banks are declared insolvent.

The banks are purportedly involved in money laundering and high risk endeavors, but the people of the EU are expected to assume the risk in case of failure. This is remarkably similar to our own banking situation a few years ago. The corruption is endemic and rampant, but without IMF bailout approved by Lagarde who is about to get her buns toasted for a slight favor of four hundred million Euros, the corrupt banking system will fail. Government sanctioned corruption is the best gig on the planet and using public sector worker entitlement for buoyancy is part of their scheme: give the workers vast amounts of chump change to keep them quiet and happy, and prepare to rake in billions.

It is startling to realize how complacent the world is to the threat to our economic systems and to freedom itself.

the blowback will hit savings and investment — and future economic growth — all over Europe.

Worse still, it could catch on here.

Already Congressional Democrats are plotting the expropriation of Americans’ private 401(k) and IRA retirement savings accounts in favor of “a guaranteed income.” If bank accounts can be casually expropriated in Cyprus to pay for big-spending governments and bailouts, there is no reason a nice slice of the $19 trillion in retirement accounts can’t get the same treatment.

The IMF and the EU are poised to set the precedent; they are powerless non-countries, but the Europeans have given them the power to steal a major portion of the world’s wealth by expropriation, and we all know how Obama admires the European Socialism model or what will become the 21st Century model for feudalism.

The Free Markets will sort it all out. We don’t need a BIG GOVERNMENT trying to keep the Free Market from working its magic. And if the poor people take the hit, well that is why they are poor in the first place.

@Skookum:

It is startling to realize how complacent the world is to the threat to our economic systems and to freedom itself.

Unfortunately, Low – information types only see the free goodies born of the Barry Regime.

Anyone with a lick of commonsense will quickly see that these attacks on the free-market will only result in a death spiral.

These attacks will only engender out of control governments to take even more, causing the free-market to retract even more, so the governments will need to seize more from the free-market and it will soon implode.

I can only think of one peaceful solution to this dilemma – Strikes by Taxpayers to starve the beast.

But I would love to hear on any better ideas..

@john, #4:

Sometimes when very large financial and commercial entities and conglomerates have been allowed to behave irresponsibly on a massive scale, the free market sorting out process can take the form of national or even global catastrophes. Who or what is there to set and enforce rules to prevent that, if not governments?

Well at least they were proposing to be “honest” in stealing the money of the bank depositors. In the US, the Federal Reserve holds down the interest rates depositors receive, so banks can borrow cheaply, then use the money to buy Treasury Bonds that pay more than the interest rate the banks pay the Federal Reserve. The stealing from depositors in the US is far more sneaky than that in Cyrpus.

BERNANKE SOUND A BELL, YES THE BILDENBERG GATHERING, HE WAS THERE YEARS AGO WHEN I READ OF IT, GEITNER WAS THERE TOO, AND KINGS AND QUEENS GO THERE IN THEIR MEETING,
OBAMA AND HILARY WENT THERE SECRETLY, AT THE BEGINNING OF HIS PRESIDENCY, THEY WHERE WITH
JOURNALISTS WONDERING WHERE THEY WHERE,, AND THEY BOTH DISAPPEAR FOR HOURS FROM THE PLANE THEY WHERE ALL,
AND JOURNALIST FOUND OUT AFTERWARD THEY HAD GONE TO A BILDENBERG REUNION
A COUPLE OF HOURS AFTER,
TODAY I ran in a video about AGENDA 21,
A GLOBAL UN TAKE OVER OF SOCIALIST SEAZING THE MONEY OF PEOPLE, AND THE WEALTH AND CONTROLLING
THE PEOPLE OF THE WORLD, KEEPING THEM HOMOGENOUS ALIKE,
IT MADE ME THINK OF THE HOMOGENOUS DEMOCRATS REPEATING THE MASTER THREATS TO AMERICANS TO FREAK THEM UP.
YES WE FEEL SOMETHING WRONG,AS WE READ FROM ALL OVER THE WORLD,
WE KNOW THEY’RE UP TO NO GOOD,
BY THE WAY, BRUXELL IS ALSO WHERE NATO IS,
DOES IT HAVE A CONNECTION? GLOBAL
AND UN ORG.
MILITARY FORCES ?

FROM FOX-NEWS, ONE MILLION FOR SPENDING ON THE GITMO PRISONERS,
JUST IN NEWS,THAT SPENDING ,

James Raider
hi,
last year I read in my local news paper about CANADA and other countries like JAPAN AND OTHER
REJECTING THE VOLKER’S LAW,
AND ASKING OBAMA TO REMOVE THEIR NAMES ON IT BECAUSE OF SOME BANK RULES WOULD DISADVANTAGE THEM, SO THEY WANT NO PART OF IT,
HAVE YOU HEARD OF IT,AND IF YES, WHAT IS IT ABOUT,
IT GOT MY CURIOSITY THEN, I DID MENTION IT TO ONE BLOGGER AND NEVER GOT AN ANSWER,
BYE

THE DEMOCRATS REJECT THE PAUL RYAN BUDGET
THE DEMOCRAT BUDGET IS LOOKING SURE TO PASS,
THE DEMOCRAT ASK FOR 100 BILLIONS SPENDING MONEY ON IT,

@ilovebeeswarzone: #14,
The odds are that Obama didn’t understand what Volcker was talking about when he came up with what has become known as the “Volcker Rule” which is part of the Dodd-Frank Act. One key piece of it was restriction on “proprietary trading” (trading for the house), and restriction on owning/managing hedge funds. Volcker has since been sent packing, but he’s not an idiot.

The rule has taken a long and complex route through Washington and Wall Street, but in a nut-shell, the reason Canadian Banks want to be exempt, is that they pretend that they don’t have the exposure which U.S. banks opened themselves to with risky investments including obscure derivatives. The real exposure for the 5 major Canadian banks which control the country, is that they have rendered Canadians into worse debtors than Americans. They are dependent on the artificially bloated Canadian real-estate market, which is only being propped up by a completely out-of-control, and hugely fraudulent immigration industry, along with millions of visas issued to who-knows-who, who remain in-country and never leave.

Canadian Banks, who own operations in the U.S., pretend that they are more stable and that their conventional ‘trading operations’ should not be constrained by the Volcker Rule.

Keep in mind that banks take customer deposits – which are guaranteed – and they put large portions of the amounts at risk, which Volcker was attempting to dampen.

Then there are other considerations which get really tricky, like the restrictions on buying and selling foreign government bonds. “Foreign” here applies to foreign from the U.S. and that means Canadian bonds become a no-no.

Long story short, IMHO, banks should be restricted to the business of banking and not what they have ventured into today. The business of banking is itself not complex but banker have certainly pretended that they are geniuses who deserve to live behind towers of marble and limestone. Unlike other industries and businesses, I see banking as a business which should not be allowed to stray with depositors’ money, particularly since taxpayers guaranteed a large portion of funds on deposit.

@ilovebeeswarzone: #14,

It’s worth noting that the large banks have basically ignored the Volcker Rule since they know that this Administration leaves Wall Street alone, and that the Attorney General is out to lunch.

People like Goldman Sachs seem not to pay attention much.

James Raider
thank you, it did worried the CANADIAN IN ORDER
FOR THE PRIME MINISTER TO SEND A LETTER TELLING TO TAKE HIS NAME OUT OF IT,
MENTIONING JAPAN AND OTHER COUNTRIES TALKING FOR THE DANGER THE BANKS SEES IN IT,
I never heard anything after that,
bye

James Raider,
may I ask if VOLCKER IS A PERSON FROM I would think GERMANY,
THE NAME SOUND GERMAN IF I’M RIGHT, and what is his role in it,
BYE

James Raider
you mention GOLDMAN SACHS, IT MADE ME THINK OF GADAFY
ASKING THEM FOR HIS 3 BILLIONS TO FIGHT HIS WAR, THEY WENT THERE TO TELL HIM THEY HAD DONE A BAD TRANSACTION LOOSING HIS 3 BILLIONS, AND GADAFY WENT SO MAD,
THEY RAN OUT AND CAME BACK, AND OBAMA TOLD GADAFY TO RESIGN,
I DID l think this was a rip of to advance the cause of brotherhood friends of OBAMA.
BECAUSE RIGHT AFTER OBAMA DECLARE THE CLOSING OF THE LIBYA BY PLANES
WITH THE UN IN THE SAME BAG AND FRANCE, THIS WAS ONE COUP, WE COULD NOT HEAR NOTHING
ABOUT, IT WAS SEALED LIKE THE BENGHASI COUP,
NOW HE CAN’T WAIT TO GET ASSAD OUT OF POWER,
KNOWING THE ALQAEDA ARE WAITING FOR GETTING IN,
BYE

@ilovebeeswarzone: #18,
The Canadian banks are taking their cues from the U.S. banks and remain in lock-step with the wishes of The Fed. Harper is talented, intelligent leader, who walks a fine line, never straying too far from the socialist tendencies of the Canadian population which is roughly 63% liberal / socialist. He’s got a very tough road to walk with his conservative leanings.

Harper also has accounting background which means he can add 2 + 2 and he gets 4, unlike the joker in the White House who cannot keep anything straight. Still, Harper had to at least look like he was coming to the defence of Canadian banks. He knows he can’t dictate anything to the U.S. related to the Volcker Rule, or much else for that matter, but he is also smart enough to know which battles to engage himself in. This isn’t such a battle. Harper also knows Obama barely knows where Canada is located, and knows that Obama is not aware that Canada is the U.S.’s biggest trading partner, plus Harper was dissed on his last visit to the White House and treated like a servant. It was embarrassing whether you were Canadian OR American.

As for Volcker, you’re close, he’s from German ancestry but he was born in NJ, and was Chairman of The Federal Reserve before Greenspan. For a while, Volker was head of the Economic Recovery Advisory Board, one of the thousands of advisory/bureaucratic ditch-digger-filler groups which Obama has set-up, and exiting that job in 2011, he was replaced with someone with more effective ass-kissing lips by the name of Jeffrey Immelt from GE. Immelt is a real winner who has turned NBC and its affiliated media machines into Obama promotion machines.

James Raider,
yes I remember that one he left STEVEN HARPER TAKE THE BACK DOOR,
I DO THINK THE PM DON’T LIKE HIM, BUT HE IS JUST BUSYNESS FOCUS WITH HIM.
ABOUT JEFFRY IMELT HE MIGHT BE IN THE UNION LEADERSHIP ALSO ?
THE FAVORITE OF OBAMA, THEY PUT HIM IN THERE,
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ABOUT THE GROUP I THINK ITS NAME IS NESSY OR CLOSE
WHO BOUGHT AN OIL BUSYNESS IN ALBERTA, THAT GROUP IS FROM CHINA
WITH SHARE HOLDERS, THEY WHERE PUT ON HOLD TILL INVESTIGATED BUT THEY BOUGHT AN IMPRESSIVE TREASURE OF OUR OIL,
BYE

James Raider,
on another note,
my friend at the farm close, has two daughters working in NORTH WEST TERRITORY,
THEY WORK FOR OIL COMPAGNY AND THERE IS QUITE A LOT OF GERMANS IN THERE,WORKING AND OWNING OIL BUSYNESS, JUST TO SAY,
MY FRIEND WILL GO IN JUNE TO CELEBRATE THE DAUGHTERS MARIAGES,
THEY WILL HAVE TO GO BY HORSE BACK FOR A 20 MILLE TRIP,
TO GET THERE, IT WILL BE QUITE A TRIP, THEY WILL COME BACK IN A SMALL PLANE TO THE FIRST LOCATION AFTER,A NICE CAMP IN THE POLAR BEAR COUNTRY, THEY ARE THERE FOR A WEEK.
I WILL CHECK ON THEIR FARM WHILE THEY’RE GONE,
TO FEED THEIR DOG, A BEAUTIFULL DOG AND HE IS A BEAR DOG CAME FROM THE NORTH AS A PUPPY,
HE IS LOOKING AFTER THE COW WHEN THEY PUT THEM IN THE PASTURE, I’M SURE GLAD HE LIKE ME,
BYE

SKOKUM
FULL MOON,
have we ever seen so much crimes and violent events this MARCH
DOES HOLD HIS NAME OF MARCH WARRIOR,
BYE

THEY close the bank so the people cannot retrieve their money
on top of being willing to let GOVERNMENT TAKE THE 10%
THAT IS SURELY NO MORE TO BE TRUST BANK,
I HOPE THE PEOPLE ALL OVER THE WORLD SUPPORT CYPRUS
AND TAKE OUT MONEY FROM THE BANK THEIR BANK, TOO SMALL TO FIGHT ALONE.
IT WILL CREATE A SUPPORT FOR THAT SMALL COUNTRY,
THE EURO BASH THE DOLLAR BUT THEY ARE LESS SOLID
THAN THE DOLLAR.

I hate to say it but “Crazy Uncle Ron” has been warning about this very thing for years now. There is a way out of this….actually there are a couple of different ways. We can follow the examples of Greece, Ireland and the rest of the EU by enacting austerity measures, stripping the savings and wealth of the people and making sure the bankers get paid back every cent of the money they created out of thin air and loaned to our government with interest. That is the path we are currently on.

Or…we can follow the example of Iceland. What did Iceland do? They said NO In the words of a spokesperson for the anti-bailout coalition, “It is totally insane that taxpayers foot the bill for failed private companies. It was odious. We had to say no.” What else did they do? Well, they jailed the bastards bankers.

What was the true cost to us of bailing out the banks? Between TARP and the Bailout Bloomberg estimates that Presidents Bush and Obama have lent, spent or guaranteed as much as $12.8 trillion to rescue the bankers economy.

Please take the time to learn how our banking system works, know what Fiat currency is and how fractional reserve banking works. I highly recommend G. Edward Griffin’s book “The Creature from Jekyll Island” it is easy to read and will give you basis to start from there is also a pamphlet titled “MODERN MONEY MECHANICS” you can download for free “WARNING” McAfee says that it is an attack page so download at your own risk. I didn’t have any trouble but you may not want to chance it.

Our nation was conquered when Congress abdicated their Constitutional obligation …”To coin Money, regulate the Value thereof” back in 1913. All we have to do take it back. “Crazy Uncle Ron” was right…again.

George Mason of Virginia:

“I have a mortal hatred of paper money.”

John Langdon of New Hampshire:

“I would rather reject the whole [Constitution] than grant the new government the right to issue fiat money.”

George Reed of Delaware:

“The right to issue fiat money would be as alarming as the mark of the beast in [the Book of] Revelation.”

Thomas Paine:

“The punishment of a member of Congress who should move for such a law ought to be death.”

and one more… Baron N.M. Rothschild:

“I care not what puppet is placed on the throne of England to rule the Empire, …The man that controls Britain’s money supply controls the British Empire. And I control the money supply”

Poppa_T
YOU DID IT AGAIN, VERY INFORMATIC, FOR PEOPLE LIKE Me,
and one thing, I can’t understand is why stamps instead of money they give freely
as if it had no value of exchange, it create the thought of the credit card mentality today,
it’s just a stamp , or it’s just a card, and it originate by a suppose to be responsible GOVERNMENT,
WHICH SUPPOSE TO BE AN EXAMPLE ON THE YOUNG PEOPLE AND THE INFORMED PEOPLE,
I THINK THIS TO MY MIND IS THE PROOF OF A NUTCASE GOVERNMENT IRESPONSIBLE,
AND I GO FURTHER IN SAYING THEY PROFIT FROM THOSE STAMPS, SAME AS THE BANKS PROFIT FROM THE CREDIT CARDS,
WHAT IS YOUR OPINION ON IT?
BYE

I have a quick question for everyone. I believe that we have all heard about how fast and how much cash is being printed by the Fed. Does anyone have in their possession a bill of ANY denomination that was printed in 2013, 2012, 2011 or 2010?

Poppa_T
I hope they kept the same faces on it,
and in GOD WE TRUST,
bye

@ilovebeeswarzone:

I’m sure they do Ms Bees, It’s just something I’m curious about because I haven’t seen a new bill in a few years.

Poppa_T
WE MIGHT FIND THEM IN EGYPT,

@Poppa_T:
Just out of curiosity I checked my wallet. Several 2009s, a few earlier, nothing since then. What does this mean?

@Joseph P. Martino:

My friend I have no idea what it means and I have really looked for some sort of answer. If anyone has an answer or a new bill please let me know.

Poppa_T
I would think that the bank would have some if ask for,
did you try.
or phone them before and ask

@ilovebeeswarzone:

Yes Ma’am I did, about two years ago and again about 6 months ago, my bank didn’t have any new bills. They did have some uncirculated currency but it was all pre-2010.

Poppa -T
2010? DID YOU ASK IF THERE WAS A CHANGE ON THE CURRENCY,
A NEW FACE AND A CHANGE QUOTE,
MORE, HOW ABOUT ASKING YOUR CONGRESS REPRESENTANT,
THAT IS AN INTERSTING ISSUE,
OR CAN YOU CALL THE, [FORGOT THE NAME]
THOSE MAKING MONEY,
WOULD IT BE THE FEDERAL TRUST TREASURY?
BYE

@ilovebeeswarzone:

No Ma’am I didn’t ask anything like that, they just told me that they didn’t have any.

Okay… what brought this to my attention is a little personality quirk of mine. I like to get $200 worth of uncirculated sequential $5 bills, place them on a piece thick paper and rubber cement the tops of them so that you end up with something that looks like a book of checks. Then when I pay for stuff with cash I whip out my “check book” of $5’s and peel off as many as needed. You should see some of the looks I get!

*That*, Poppa T, is funny… and quite creative. Might be a marketable item, ya know. You could offer them as a personalized “cash/check” book.

Poppa_T
if they have a new image be careful they might arrest you,
with the new mentality, they are dangerous,
bye
you get the look I get when I pay 5 dollar in pennys

@MataHarley:

I don’t know about that Ms. Mata…I might leave myself open to legal action from my customers…my little “quirk” has required me to explain myself to law enforcement more than once. I have since learned to limit my hobby only to when I have time to spare, or just want to “mess” with someone.

’tis a pity, Poppa T. Loved the idea. What with the grief you’ve taken, you’d think the dollar was a damned Qur’an, fer heavens sake. LOL

Poppa_T
the only thing that I reject is the ciment on the 5 dollar bill,
this could put you in trouble,
if I’m right we cannot put any whatever on paper money,
in CANADA IT’S A FELONY,
PLEASE DON’T JOIN THE FELONS, 88.8 THOUSANDS AND COUNTING SOME OF THEM
DID NOT EVEN DESERVE THE LABEL AND FOR LIFE PREVENTING THEM FOR FINDING A JOB,
TOO OFTEN ONE OFFICER WILL ARREST FOR A SMALL THING WHICH COULD BE FIX WITH A FIRM TALK AND WARNING,
BECAUSE THE BUSINESS LABEL THEM AS DANGEROUS ALL CRIMINAL
WE HAVE A POST FROM THEM TELLING STORY, THEY HAVE NO REASON TO LIE WITH US HERE.

Never thought of that aspect, James Raider. Actually a case could be made on Poppa T’s behalf that it is essential for the visually impaired. The books could be coded with braille or markings so they could know exactly how much they were pulling out. Coin change isn’t much of a challenge, what with the different sizes.

Poppa_T
it is yes a good idea, you should get it register ,
the braille mark is another good one

James Raider
you just gave an opening for jobs, many jobs,
don’t forget the felons need to work,

@Poppa_T: The first laugh I’ve had in a long time. Brilliant!

Thank you my friends but I can’t take credit for the original idea, one of my great-uncles started doing it back in the thirty’s, I learned it from him when I was just a sprout…but it is still fun to see a cashiers eyes when you start peeling off bills. And if anyone does see a 2010 or newer bill, please let me know.