Greek Jan-May budget deficit widens 4.5 pct

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Greece's budget deficit widened in the first five months of 2012 compared to the same period last year as a deep economic recession hurt revenues while spending grew year-on-year, the country's finance ministry said on Tuesday.

The central government deficit widened 4.5 percent year-on-year to 10.88 billion euros but turned out smaller than the government's 12.89 billion euro projection for the five-month period.

Debt-laden Greece is scrambling to meet fiscal targets set by its international lenders under a bailout plan so that it can continue to receive EU/IMF funding and avoid default.

Supporters and opponents of Greece's international bailout are virtually neck and neck going into a June 17 election that may decide the country's future in the euro zone.

Alexis Tsipras, the leader of the radical left SYRIZA party has said he wants to scrap the 130 billion euro bailout and renegotiate the tough conditions demanded by international lenders.

Greece's battered economy is expected to shrink by 5.0-5.3 percent in 2012, its fifth consecutive year of recession, based on recent forecasts by the Bank of Greece and the OECD.

Austerity measures including cuts in wages and pensions and higher taxes have weakened domestic demand and driven unemployment to a record high of nearly 22 percent, fueling public discontent.

The data released on Tuesday refers to the central government budget deficit, which excludes local authorities and social security spending and does not coincide with the general government budget gap, the benchmark for the EU's assessment of Greece's fiscal performance.

Greece's primary balance, which excludes debt servicing costs, remained in deficit mode at 2.36 billion euros in the five-month period.

The country's budget deficit reached 9.1 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) last year from a shortfall of 10.3 percent in 2010. Athens is targeting a budget gap of 6.7 percent of gross domestic output this year.

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THE GREEK HERACLES WAS A BLACK MAN AND THE AFRICAN INFLUENCE ON GREEK AESTHETICS

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By Samuel David Ewing It has occurred to me lately as I pondered about the next article for this section that the lineage, pedigree, or family tree of the Greek Heracles must be clarified once and for all. Diodorus Siculus and Herodotus recorded that it was the Egyptian Heracles who was the hero who performed the legendary 12 Labors, subdued the animals of the wild that had threatened the people, ushered in the building of cities, water systems, fortifications, and laws. Walter Burkert has estimated that this original Heracles was renowned as far back as 20,000 years ago. The Greek Heracles ended up receiving honors for the accomplishments of his predecessor, having the title of "Heracles", furthermore by the Bronze Age of Greece in which the Greek Heracles was said to have lived the taming of the wilderness had already been accomplished. The Greek Heracles was not likely to be wearing lion skin armor, wielding a club, with spear as weapons, and the danger of lions ru
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Griechenland: 2,5 MRD Euro Stromschulden – Versorger schaltet bald erste 50.000 Kunden ab!

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In Griechenland wird der staatliche Stromversorger in Kürze damit beginnen in einem ersten Schritt 50.000 Stromkunden den Saft abzudrehen. Die Außenstände belaufen sich insg. auf 2,5 Milliarden Euro. Betroffen werden vor allem Firmenkunden sein. Eine Katastrophe für die (vorhandene?) Konjunkturerholung. Es gibt einen handfesten Grund, warum die Höhe der Stromrechnungen in den letzten Jahren explodierte… Griechenlands staatlicher Stromversorger PPC hat Außenstände bei Stromkunden von insg. 2,5 Milliarden Euro, 1,8 Milliarden davon bei gewerblichen Kunden. Schulden haben insg. 2,1 Mio Stromkunden in Griechenland. Wenn man das umlegt auf die Gesamtsumme, wären das rein rechnerisch 1.190 Euro Schulden pro Stromkunde, aber bei 1,8 von 2,5 Milliarden Schulden durch gewerbliche Kunden dürften die Privatkunden natürlich deutlich kleinere Summen offen haben. In einem ersten Schritt will PPC demnächst 50.000 Stromkunden den Saft abdrehen nach vorheriger Mahnung, so berichtete es vor Kur
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Griechenland: Sozialkassen schaffen parallele Staatsverschuldung

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FMW-Redatkion Die Sozialkassen in Griechenland schaffen derzeit eine Art parallele Staatsverschuldung. Da die annehmen, dass ihre Löcher aus den jetzt fließenden 86 Milliarden Euro vom 3. Hilfspaket nicht gestopft werden, haben sie angefangen in Eigenregie Kredite aufzunehmen. Da sie Rentenfonds, Krankenkassen etc staatliche Einrichtungen sind, erhöht sich damit per Saldo die Staatsschuldenlast Griechenlands noch weiter, auch wenn der Staat Griechenland kaum darum bemüht sein dürfte diese Extra-Schulden in seine eigenen Schulden einzurechnen. Aber Schulden sind Schulden. Wie die angesehene griechische Zeitung „Ekathimerini“ berichtet, hat das „Social Insurance Institute“ im August ein kurzfristiges Darlehen (wird wohl eine Dauerumschuldung) über 110 Mio Euro aufgenommen. 70 Mio davon gab man an seinen öffentlichen Versicherungsfonds weiter, 40 Mio davon an seinen kommunalen Versicherungsfonds. Auch schieben das „Social Insurance Institute“ und der „Generational Solidarity
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THE GREEK HERACLES WAS A BLACK MAN AND THE AFRICAN INFLUENCE ON GREEK AESTHETICS

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By Samuel David Ewing It has occurred to me lately as I pondered about the next article for this section that the lineage, pedigree, or family tree of the Greek Heracles must be clarified once and for all. Diodorus Siculus and Herodotus recorded that it was the Egyptian Heracles who was the hero who performed the legendary 12 Labors, subdued the animals of the wild that had threatened the people, ushered in the building of cities, water systems, fortifications, and laws. Walter Burkert has estimated that this original Heracles was renowned as far back as 20,000 years ago. The Greek Heracles ended up receiving honors for the accomplishments of his predecessor, having the title of "Heracles", furthermore by the Bronze Age of Greece in which the Greek Heracles was said to have lived the taming of the wilderness had already been accomplished. The Greek Heracles was not likely to be wearing lion skin armor, wielding a club, with spear as weapons, and the danger of lions ru
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