Greeks Withdraw $1 Billion a Day Ahead of Vote

The question of the day, to which we all know the answer (but I want to ask the question anyway), Are the Nannycrats Afraid of Democracy? Here is a comment someone posted on the Guardian Greek Election Blog

In spite of all the huffing and puffing and bluffing, once again the Greek puppets will likely dance to the strings of the Troika and pass austerity measures required for Greece to get the next tranche of money. Unions, lawyers, pensioners, and workers in general are not pleased with Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and have planned a major series of strikes. I expect violence if Samaras musters the votes to pass the bills. There is likely to be violence before the vote as well.

(NICOSIA, Cyprus) — The Cypriot government was struggling Tuesday to gain parliamentary support for a plan to confiscate a part of people’s bank deposits, a deeply unpopular scheme that needs to be passed if the country is to qualify for an international bailout and avoid financial disaster. The government amended its initial proposal Tuesday morning to shield small savers from the plan, which aims to raise €5.8 billion ($7.5 billion) in return for €10 billion ($12.9 billion) from other eurozone countries and the International Monetary Fund.

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Stock index futures rose on Thursday after Wall Street suffered its worst day in eight weeks, but the session was predicted to be volatile ahead of a key vote later in the day on a bill to cut the U.S.

Afghanistan's electoral watchdog said on Tuesday that it has received over 3,000 complaints about irregularities in the run-up to Saturday's parliamentary election and on polling day itself.The Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) said 1,388 complaints had been received specifically about election day irregularities -- which could affect the results -- ahead of a 4 pm (1130 GMT deadline) deadline for submissions.ECC commissioner and spokesman Ahmad Zia Rafaat told AFP that on top of those complaints, another 1,700 had been lodged relating to problems ahead of the vote.

Thousands of Greek protesters poured into the streets hours before a key austerity vote on Thursday as more grim news battered the eurozone just days ahead of a crunch summit on Europe's debt crisis.Police fired tear gas as clashes broke out with hooded protesters on the sidelines of a rally in central Syntagma Square, where 35,000 people gathered on the second day of a general strike that has crippled the public sector and much of the country.

Mercenary Links Roundup for Tuesday, June 28th (below the jump). 06-28 Tuesday