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Who: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ
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Reaction to the Greek Referendum Vote

06 July 2015 | Pago Pago, American Samoa
Kimball Corson
Greece has rejected by popular vote the last terms of the EU troika. The No vote was by a margin of 62 to 38. Reactions so far, with my observations, are --

German Chancellor Angela Merkel's deputy said Athens had wrecked any hope of compromise with its euro zone partners by overwhelmingly rejecting further austerity. Merkel herself was quiet. -- Good.

Merkel and French President Francois Hollande conferred by telephone and will meet in Paris on Monday afternoon to seek a joint response. Responding to their call, European Council President Donald Tusk announced that euro zone leaders would meet in Brussels on Tuesday evening (1600 GMT). -- Appropriate.

German Vice-Chancellor Sigmar Gabriel, leader of Merkel's center-left Social Democratic junior coalition partner, said it was hard to conceive of fresh negotiations on lending more billions to Athens after Greeks voted against more austerity. Leftist Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras had "torn down the last bridges on which Greece and Europe could have moved towards a compromise," Gabriel told the Tagesspiegel daily. -- A knee jerk reaction, I say.

Italy's foreign minister, Paolo Gentiloni, said the euro zone should resume efforts to reach a deal with Athens. -- A better position.

There was a thunderous silence from top EU policymakers in Brussels and Frankfurt who conferred by telephone, but avoided public appearances to comment on an outcome that was a stunning setback for EU governments but delighted Eurosceptic populists. -- An appropriate response, I think.

The European Commission said in a brief statement that it "takes note of and respects" the referendum result. -- Ditto, I say.

European Parliament President Martin Schulz said the EU should start preparing a humanitarian aid program for Greece. -- True, regardless.

Any future negotiations will run up against the hardening of opinion in Germany. ----- True.

In Britain, anti-EU UK Independence Party leader Nigel Farage commended Greek voters for "calling the EU's bluff" and said "The EU project is now dying. It's fantastic to see the courage of the Greek people in the face of political and economic bullying from Brussels," -- Baloney, mostly.

Eurosceptics in the Netherlands and Italy joined the chorus of glee at the EU's discomfiture. -- Silly.
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Vessel Name: Altaira
Vessel Make/Model: A Fair Weather Mariner 39 is a fast (PHRF 132), heavily ballasted (43%), high-aspect (6:1), stiff, comfortable, offshore performance cruiser by Bob Perry that goes to wind well (30 deg w/ good headway) and is also good up and down the Beaufort scale.
Hailing Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ
Crew: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
About:
Kimball Corson: I am a 75 year old solo sailor, by choice. However, I did take on a personable, but high maintenance female kitten, now a full grown cat, named KiKiPoo when she is sweet, or KatKatPo after she has just killed something like a bird or bat. [...]
Extra:
Although I was a lawyer and practiced law with good success for thirty years, creating significant new law, I never really believed in the law, the politics of law or in the over reaching self-interest of most lawyers I met. Too much exposure to Nietzsche and other good and seriously thoughtful [...]
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Profile

Who: Kimball Corson. Text and Photos not disclaimed or that are obviously not mine are copyright (c) Kimball Corson 2004-2016
Port: Lake Pleasant, AZ