Stream of Reading (Prepare to be Forwarded) – An Archive of What I'm Reading
On Tuesday, Latvia’s central bank chief Ilmars Rimsevics called the introduction of a new currency in Greece the “most realistic scenario.” The country is in its second week of capital controls and banks remain shut in the wake of a referendum which saw some 61% of Greeks vote against the terms of the latest bailout…
Citing dismal conditions at Rikers Island and a 16-year-old who committed suicide after he was jailed without charges for three years, the city of New York announced Wednesday plans to eliminate bail requirements for non-violent and low-level offenders. http://gawker.com/teen-jailed-fo… According to the AP, which broke the story, about 45,000 people are held on bail in…
The turmoil in China’s stock market is so bad that some companies are calling it quits. Over 700 Chinese companies have halted trading to “self preserve,” according to the state media. That means about a quarter of the companies listed on China’s two big exchanges — the Shanghai and Shenzhen — are no longer trading….
Yes, take down the Confederate flag from its place on the grounds of the state capitol in South Carolina. It doesn’t deserve the state’s sanction. Take down the statues of Jefferson Davis, and please take his name off Route One in Virginia. But leave Robert E. Lee alone. He opposed secession, and in his later…
An address on the Grand Concourse in the Bronx was once as prestigious as any in New York City. It was where upwardly mobile Jewish, Irish and other immigrants flocked when they arrived here in the 1920s through the 1950s. The boulevard’s four-lane grandeur echoing Paris’ Champs d’Elysees, its architecturally stunning apartment buildings, public transit…
German Chancellor Angela Merkel toasts with beer in Dachau, August 20, 2013. REUTERS/Michael Dalder Stop me if you’ve heard this one. The Greeks, Italians, Spaniards and Irish walk into a bar, where the French and Germans are the bartenders. It’s happy hour, and the Germans and the French are serving half-price drinks. Although everyone quickly…
By heeding their government’s advice and voting “No” in the referendum on Sunday, Greek citizens sent an unambiguous message. Much like the fictional Americans portrayed in the movie “Network” who threw open their windows and shouted out, “I’m as mad as hell and I’m not going to take this anymore,” the Greeks are demanding that…
On Sunday, Greek PM Alexis Tsipras put his political future and, more importantly, the future of the common currency in the hands of Greek voters. It was the political equivalent of pushing one’s chips all in at the poker table and after Sunday’s referendum, Tsipras appears to have been holding a better hand than Junker,…
Earlier today, as has become a symbolic custom, Tsipras spoke to Russia’s Putin by phone. Aside for the referendum, the topic of their conversation was unknown, but both sides rushed to note that financial aid was not among the topics of discussion, which assures it was. However, with the Greek negotiations still ongoing even if,…
With the only thing that matters in the hours ahead, at least until China reopens and the Pandamonium repeats, is the sheer chaos out of Greece which now literally changes the narrative by the minute, here is a convenient timeline of everything that has happened so far this morning starting with Varoufakis’ unexpected resignation and…