SPECIAL REPORT - Karamanlis' Vision Gone - South Stream Is History! Gov't Signs TAP Pipeline Project Instead

credit defencenet

The incomprehensible happened. The greatest gas pipeline project in history, South Stream, which would have benefited Greece gep-strategically, and which was one of the greatest accomplishments of the former conservative Costas Karamanlis government, has been pushed to the side -actually it was shelved- by Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos. On Thursday the governments of Italy, Greece and Albania confirmed their political support for the Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) project with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU). The signing was held on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting in New York, and in the presence of representatives from the US government

Is this decision in favor of Greece, or is it just another blow against Russia, via Greece, in their ongoing US-Russian pipeline war? Well here is the latest on this story... And you can judge for yourselves.

According to defencenet sources, last week when Avramopoulos chaired a defense and foreign affairs committee meeting, in order to brief members about the government's policy on the issue of oil and natural gas pipelines, conservative MP Militiadis Varvitiotis asked what the fate of South Stream was, and almost instantly Avramopoulos answered that it wasn't one of the government's priorities and that the the TAP pipeline would now be endorsed. (In other words... The South Stream project has been shelved).

The Trans Adriatic Pipeline (TAP) is a natural gas pipeline project that will transport gas from the Caspian region via Greece and Albania and across the Adriatic Sea to Southern Italy and further into Western Europe. The project is aimed at enhancing security of supply as well as diversification of gas supplies for the European markets. TAP will open a new so-called Southern Gas Corridor in Europe and establish a new market outlet for natural gas from the Caspian Sea and beyond. The project is designed to expand transportation capacity from 10 to 20 cm per year. TAP also envisages physical reverse flow of up to 80 per cent and the option to develop natural gas storage facilities in Albania to further ensure security of supply.

TAP’s transportation solution will be approximately 800 kilometers in length (Approx.: Greece 478 km; Albania 204 km; offshore Adriatic Sea 105 km; Italy 5 km). Transport will begin near the Greek-Turkish border (Komotini), cross Albania and the Adriatic Sea, and connect with the Italian natural gas distribution system near San Foca in Italy.

TAP’s shareholders are EGL of Switzerland (42.5%), Norway’s Statoil (42.5%) and E.ON Ruhrgas of Germany (15%).

(Editor - The countries backing this project do not surprise us one bit... And we know they helped to topple Mr. Karamanlis... Especially Germany)

The committee members were stunned, and asked the Foreign Ministry to clarify what he just said, but he refrained from commenting.

Following the committee meeting some of the members decided to discuss it with other conservative MPs including the late premier, Mr. Karamanlis. According to the same article in defencenet, Karamanlis was very disappointed when he learned that the government he has supported decided to withdraw from participation in this project. And for good reason, the South Stream project was by far a better choice for Greece. Apart from the fact that the project was one of his government's greatest accomplishments, it would have given enormous benefits to Greece, as well as would have generated thousands of jobs for our people. Most importantly it would have unhooked us from having to rely on Turkey (or succumbing to Ankara's wishes in fear that they would cut off our supply and re-route it elsewhere if we did not do their bidding). Unfortunately now, and after the signing of the TAP pipeline project, we will totally depend on Turkey, on all levels, commercially and Geo-strategically.

(Editor - Think about it... Will Ankara force us to compromise on issues that involve the Aegean, the East. Med., Thrace, etc...)

Until today, Karamanlis -and anyone with common sense- believes that participation in the South Stream project should have been given top priority and continued at all costs. Besides, there is no evidence that the famous Shah Deniz II deposit (which is to supply the TAP pipeline) can deliver efficient needs both in the medium and long-term. One more thing that we should keep in mind is that we are talking about Azerbaijan here, which is basically another Turkey, but with a different name. Also, we should take into consideration that deep Greek-Armenian ties are not respected by these two nations.

Also, the South Stream project is greater and with more diverse possibilities. So much so that even Turkey wanted a share in this project and had even given its permission so that the pipeline can pass through the Turkish EEZ in the Black Sea.

In fact the offshore part of the South Stream pipeline is planned to carry 63 billion cubic metres (2.2 trillion cubic feet) of natural gas per year. Pipeline sections in Serbia, Hungary, and Slovenia will have capacity at least 10 billion cubic metres (350 billion cubic feet) per year.  At least two gas storage facilities would be constructed of which one would be an underground storage facility in Hungary with capacity of minimum 1 billion cubic metres (35 billion cubic feet) and another one in Banatski Dvor, Serbia with capacity of 3.2 billion cubic metres (110 billion cubic feet).

Compare the numbers for yourselves...

Unfortunately in Greece, the political and business elite do not bother -or care- to look at the possibilities mentioned in the above paragraph, nor do they care about what benefits this can have for Greece's economy. In fact they have never supported the interests of the nation and its people who are literally starving. The only thing they care about is how fatten their own personal wallets and step up the ladder of fame in their own elite circles.

The TAP pipeline would have been the second or the third pipeline that was planned to cross through Greece, as part of the diversification of Greece's energy market but let's not kid ourselves, this particular pipeline is going to first cross in Turkey (which is not one of our greatest alleys and in fact is a very hostile country to Greece). What we are trying to make you understand is that if Ankara -who will now become the policeman in the region for the West- deems it necessary then it can easily cancel the supply of gas to Greece, and re-route it to other countries such as Albania for example. And this is the main reason why South Stream was by far a better choice.

We are not criticizing the project itself, for any type of development only benefits our country, but let's not kid ourselves, the TAP project mostly benefits its Northern European stakeholders and is a direct success for the US State Department, the US Department of Energy as well as US Geo-strategic interests in the region in its ongoing pipeline war against Russia.

Much can be said about Karamanlis from his competitors, but one thing is certain, he wanted to change the course of this nation and give it the right to develop and stand on its own without being shackled to foreign interests. Even the Secretary of Golden Dawn, Mr. Nick Michaloliakos told his colleagues that he may have immense political ideological differences with Karamanlis, but he recognizes that the former Prime Minister had the courage to alter the fate of this poor nation with simple pipeline diplomacy. He wasn't the only one, even radical left MPs have said the same to the media, adding that Karamanlis worked for the nation, and never for his own personal glory.

We agree.

And that is why we will continue to support men like him who work towards the benefit of this poor country and its future and not for their own personal gain.

References
http://www.trans-adriatic-pipeline.com/en/news/news/detail-view/article/339/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans_Adriatic_Pipeline
http://www.defencenet.gr/defence/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=56342&Itemid=139

TIME MACHINE - Sept. 28 1989, The Trial Of Andreas Papandreou Begins

English: Prime Minister Andreas Papandreou on official visit with United States President William J. Clinton, Washington, April 1994. Courtesy White House Photo Office Ελληνικά: Ο Ανδρέας Παπανδρέου με τον Μπίλ Κλίντον κατά τη διάρκεια επίσκεψης στις ΗΠΑ, 1994. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The catalyst that accelerated the political death of Andreas Papandreou's and his PASOK party's popularity were the charges about his direct involvement in financial scandals. Election year 1989 brought a trying period for Papandreou: he was defeated at the polls, his health worsened and accusations about his involvement in financial and other scandals increased until he was formally charged with being responsible for widespread telephone tapping enacted by the state-controlled telephone company OTE, and for the embezzlement at the Bank of Crete.

"The Dirty .89" (or To Vromiko '89) literally began 23 years ago today, or on September 28, 1989, when the then leader of the PASOK party Andreas Papandreou was ordered to face criminal charges of influence peddling and accepting huge bribes at the head of a party that apparently gorged on corruption.

At the time and after two days of emotional debate, the Parliament accepted the findings of a probation commission that portrayed Papandreou as the willing accomplice of corrupt officials who conspired with a prominent banker to loot the state of more than $200 million US dollars, by a party line vote of 165 to 121.

The 12-member investigating commission concluded that Papandreou had accepted more than $700,000 in bribes as part of a $200-million embezzlement from the Bank of Crete. The bank's former owner, 34-year-old George Koskotas, was an overnight sensation in Greece and a prominent Papandreou supporter until the bottom dropped out of his financial empire last year. Koskotas fled, was arrested in the United States on a Greek fugitive warrant and then fought extradition from a Salem, Mass., jail cell.

Koskotas claimed Papandreou blackmailed him into embezzling millions by skimming interest to state enterprises with large deposits in the Bank of Crete. He noted that money was used to finance Papandreou's failed bid for a third term.

Parliamentary investigators, who interviewed a dozen witnesses, including Koskotas, charged that Papandreou used his influence to direct state funds to deposit at the Bank of Crete. Papandreou was bribed to head off a central bank audit of Bank of Crete books, the investigators' report alleges.

Papandreou, a former economics professor at UC Berkeley, also is accused of accepting a bribe to arrange the vastly reduced payment of back taxes by a Greek businessman, thereby clearing the way for the businessman to sell an Athens hotel to Koskotas.

Parliament also voted to file charges against a former finance minister in a tax reduction case and against a former economics minister for allegedly being aware of ongoing scandals but failing to act against them. A former undersecretary of industry was also accused of accepting bribes to allow the illegal construction of facilities for a publishing empire that Koskotas also controlled.

At the same time, four of Papandreou's former ministers were also stripped of their legislative immunity and ordered to face charges. One, who had served as deputy prime minister and justice minister, was accused of accepting a $2-million US dollar bribe in the same banking scandal.

The action had been anticipated, nonetheless, the accusation of criminal misconduct by the late Papandreou and his ministers as well as the scale of corruption outlined in the parliamentary findings were unprecedented.

"I personally accept my share of political responsibility for the scandal. . . . The criminal side of the case does not touch me," Papandreou had said. "The accusations against me are the product of the sick imagination of a fugitive swindler and all of those who are hiding behind him. During all my years of political life in Greece, never -but never- were my morals in doubt." But Papandreou's protestations made no impact on the 300 Greek MPs.

Nonetheless, and even though he was under a cloud of possible scandal and removed from power, Papandreou continued to dominate the Greek political stage.

Editor's Note - Fast forward to 2012, it is interesting to see that his son George Papandreou might soon be called to face criminal charges on how Greece resulted to the IMF, and if the parliamentary probe proves him guilty then he too will face this country's Highest Court just like his father did. As an old proverb says... "A nation that forgets its history is doomed to relive it again."

Was 9/11 An Inside Job? - Find Out Why It Happened And the Masterminds Behind This Tragedy (VIDEOS)

September 11, 2001 attacks in New York City: View of the World Trade Center and the Statue of Liberty. (Image: US National Park Service ) (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

So if 9/11 was really an “inside” job then who were the people “inside” that actually did it? Well the videos presented below, as well as the links to well researched information certainly stirs the senses and from what it seems the author, Kevin Ryan, has really done his homework by bringing to light some of the people “Inside” the buildings that were targeted and destroyed on 9/11. Interestingly, most of the people pointed out in some of these videos, or "the masterminds" are shockingly related or affiliated with the Bush family, or are linked directly and indirectly to think-tanks, defence companies, security agencies, and even Wall Street. Kevin Ryan's report "Demolition Access" which inspired these videos offers us keys through the very enormity of detail that he's presented about the intercontinental integration of the supranational Corporate Government, (otherwise known as "Corpotocracy" or New World Order).

So who is Kevin Ryan: Mr. Ryan lost his job at Underwriter Laboratories for publicly insisting that executives in that Corporation and in the United States Department of Commerce's National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) not lie about tests findings as to the resistance against fire of Twin Towers' structural steel. He continued on his truth-telling course. He joined with Steven Jones in proving thermitic reactions in the steel and dust of debris from the Twin Towers' explosions. He listed "The Top 10 Connections between NIST and Nano-thermites" in another far-reaching and ground-breaking paper. He also counseled Naomi Klein (author of the Shock Doctrine) and Naomi Wolf and others whose "confabulations" deny realities that most threaten them.

Considering the catastrophic incidents of September 11 2001, certain troubling but irrefutable conclusions must be drawn from the known facts. The video below is the first video in this post, that will raise some "common sense" questions. The videos that will follow will be more specific to Ryan's article.

In the next video we can see that though their interlocking partnerships are endless and often secret, the Ruling Few -or the Masterminds- are really few. They are also really limited in their visions of the present and future. The very lack of compassion that allows them to carry out acts of terror such as " '9/11' " and "7/7", as well as to carry out practices of deceit, theft, bigotry, impoverishment, etc, also blinds the Ruling Few (the elite, neo-cons or the 1%) to imminently possible solutions through cooperation. They're bound to systems of exploitation and speculation that are failing as fast as the largest Banks and Stock Markets were in 2008-2009 before our national governments fed these obviously illogical, inhumane and malignant corporations and institutions more trillions of currency.

The only real question about the Ruling Few's trajectory is whether the people of this earth, and especially those in the West, let them further feed from us and thereby take us down. Our courage must answer now whether we'll choose to stay bound to the Ruling Few's systems of credit and debt, their centuries-old game of creating money from nothing and empires for free, a game that inevitably brings the people of this world to suffer and die in acts of terror and war.

As you watch the next video it would be wise to follow its labyrinthian connections. Trace the links between the Boards and conspirators among the millionaires and billionaires it names. See what happened when thousands died. Never forget this event, and come to grips with how the whole world changed after this historic and tragic event.

Here is Kevin Ryan's four part study:

• Tenants - Part One of the authors Kevin Ryan's 'Demolition Access ...' presents 'Tenants' of the Twin Towers and WTC Building 7. His Part One especially investigates those tenants of WTC Buildings 1 and 2 that occupied airliners' impact-zones on 9/11/01. It also examines these tenants' means, motives, and opportunities for profiting from the " 'War on Terror.' "

• Security - Part Two examines companies and individuals that provided presumable 'Security' for the two Towers and other property in the WTC complex. At least 29 individuals are named in this part as executives in Corporations' or Governments' offices (whether Federal, New York State, or New York City) that were nominally responsible for protecting the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan between 1973 and 2001.

• Four Leading Players - Part Three of Kevin Ryan's study is a relative encapsulation, titled 'Caryle, Kissinger, SAIC and Halliburton: A 9/11 Convergence', focusing on four of the more well-known Corporations or individuals integral to New York City's former World Trade Center and the" 'War on Terror.

• Clean-up and Cover-up - And the final installment concerns companies and individuals responsible for 'Clean-up' at the " 'Ground Zero' " site in Lower Manhattan. We meet individuals and Corporations new and old to the 'Demolition Access' study in its concluding part.

He then gives us very good and sound advice on how we can get rid of all these greedy war mongers!

1. MOVE YOUR MONEY INTO SMALLER BANKS - He suggests that in the first phase we must get rid of these Central Banks. "The step of withdrawing funds from the largest commercial Banks, as in the 'Move Your Money' campaign', is one good though partial turn. The step of moving sources of Government funding to publicly controlled Banks that can invest without usury in the public's well-being, such as the Bank of North Dakoka with its singular $1.3-billion surplus now does, also makes sense, per the advice of Ellen Brown and Conan O'Brien. The step of a mass public withdrawal of funds from the largest commercial, supranational Banks in a 'National Strike' is a further, dramatic and radical step.
2. COME TO GRIPS WITH THE TRUTH - More basic than any of these sensible rebellions and practical alternatives is recognition of the whole picture that Kevin Ryan has again helped us to see.  We must therefore throw off the deeper psychological holds that the Ruling Few have imposed on us. Act on what what we know to be true. Reject the very basis for the crippling nonsense of the " 'War on Terror' ". Reject the transparently false pretext for the Ruling Few's wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq and Yemen, and elsewhere. Say aloud to each other obvious truths. "9/11 was an inside-job." "9/11 is a big lie." Say these obvious truths simply, calmly, forthrightly, and build from them to take our freedom and prosperity with tools of the 21st century.
3. JOIN SOCIAL MOVEMENTS - Creatively join the social movements that can overturn and leave behind the psychological and spiritual ills that hold us in thrall--the psy-ops and death-grips and RFID-chips of technology made totalitarian.
4. BUY HOME GROWN PRODUCTS/ SIUPPORT COMMUNITY - Proceed forward. Turn to each other, combine resources and forces, and proceed forward. In the United States, check out possibilities at the Organic Consumers Association website. Likewise that of the American Monetary Institute. Likewise the 'Solutions Revolution' at Bill Jablonski's puppetgov.com. Part from the Corporate Government as naturally as peoples move away from ruins and deserts and the tyrants and systems that would debase, dumb-down, and annihilate them.

Source - http://www.911review.com/articles/ryan/demolition_access_DonPaul.html

Editor's Note - Excellent, just excellent... we are totally glued and in "awe". We applaud and appreciate Kevin Ryan's courage, clarity, compassion and humor for dedicating his life in seeking the truth about this tragic event. He is indeed an inspiration to us all.

Huh? - Banking Plan to Steal Your Money & Blame Fake Muslim Cyber Attack (VIDEO)

English: Hundred Dollar Bill (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

The following article was written by Susanne Posel and posted on the occupycorporatism web site. Apparently it claims that some officials in the US are planning to kick-off a new propaganda plan that aims to blame Iran of committing cyber-attacks on large American banks.

Specifically the article says that Senator and self-proclaimed Zionist Joseph Lieberman declared that it was Iran who cyber-attacked Bank of America and JPMorgan Chase in 2011 and began with more frequency in 2012. 

"Lieberman, as the chairman of the Homeland Security and Government Affairs Committee states that the financial attack was spurned from the state-sponsored anti-Muslim film circulating the Middle East thanks to CIA-operatives al-Qaeda. Lieberman explains: “I don’t believe these were just hackers. I believe this was done by Iran and the Qods force, which has its own developing cyber-attack capacity. And I believe it was in response to the increasingly strong economic sanctions that the United States and our European allies have put on Iranian financial institutions.”

The US government is planting the propaganda seed that according to “highly classified” documents provided by the Join Chiefs of Staff’s Intelligence Directorate confirm that Iranian hackers are committing cyber-attacks against US financial institutions. This report assures that US mega-banks are a “valid target” of the Iranian “cyber army”. However, the attackers used a known forum that is utilized by the CIA-controlled Anonymous to issue threats and brag about their successes.

The timing of the newly formed “digital al-Qaeda” and their expressed anger over the US-produced anti-Muslim film are questionable considering how the US and Israeli government are setting the stage for a justified war with Iran. This fake hacker group is threatening other countries controlled by the Zionist regime, such as France, Germany and Britain. According to the false flag group: “The army was recently formed and we have started to work as a team after we used to work individually. The hacking operations are of course a response to the offence against the prophet, peace and blessing be upon him.”

Radware, a security firm, analyzed the attacks and concluded that the alleged Iranian nameless, faceless cyber army accused to attacking BoA and JPMorgan Chase did not conduct the attack.

This week, Wells Fargo & Co. upped their cybersecurity measures after being attacked by a nameless, faceless group calling themselves Cyber Fighters of Izz ad-din Al Qassam. Wells Fargo announced in a formal statement: “We apologize to customers who may be experiencing intermittent access issues to wellsfargo.com and online banking. We are working to quickly resolve this issue.”

Customer complaints included difficulty logging-in as well as pages not loading properly.

Cyber Fighters of Izz ad-din Al Qassam claimed that their attack was retaliatory for the anti-Muslim film produced by the US government.

According to House Representative Mike Rogers, the anti-Muslim film was released to cover the US government’s involvement in the bombing and death of US Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens at the hand of the CIA-sponsored al-Qaeda.

The film in question is actually a 14 minute trailer written, produced and directed by Sam Bacile, a.k.a. Nakoula Basseley Nakoula who is an FBI informant , an Israeli citizen and the pasty used by the Zionist regime in order to facilitate a manufactured revolt of fake Islamic tension in the Middle East.

Just as the false flag bomb threats called in by anonymous members of al-Qaeda earlier this month, this banking threat has the hall marks of a state-sponsored false flag to unnerve the American public, mask a planned implosion of the US economy through the ultimate theft of the banking cartels: the money deposited into private checking accounts by banking customers.

On August 9th the banks were given the legal authority to steal money from their customer’s private accounts just as Jon Corzine had with MF Global with the ruling on Sentinel Management Group.

Based on the ruling, regulatory systems such as the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and Securities Investor Protection Corporation (SPIC) will not insure customer funds, investments, depositors and retirees who hold accounts in banks. In fact, the FDIC has announced that beginning in January 2013, they will stop insuring all deposits. Of the estimated $1.6 trillion in deposits, and a measured 85-90% in the hands of the mega-banks, large depositors are expected to close their accounts due to the lack of security.

The money in deposits will be funneled through the US Treasury for short-term securities. It is expected that the US Treasury will offer negative interest rates and this combination will surely cause a run on the banks that will put Spain and Greece to shame. Read more by clicking here"

New "Rail Hotel" To Welcome Guests In Thessaloniki

Still confused as to which hotel to choose while visiting Thessaloniki? Why fuss with luxury five-star resorts or traditional suites,  book a room at the new "rail hotel". Trains have always had a romantic feel about them, and your home away from home can become adventurous and very comfortable with the new hotel that is expected to be created at the Railway Museum in Thessaloniki.

Specifically, a luxury Belgian train coach, from 1946, is apparently going to be converted into a hotel and it will be permanently set up at the Thessaloniki Railway Museum in the Kordelio-Evosmos municipality. The "rail hotel" will be able to host up to 30 guests.

The idea, concept and/or initiative comes from an 83-year-old railway pensioner, and president of the "Friends of Thessaloniki Railway" society, Mr. Efthymis Kontopoulos. Currently the coach is under restoration work, and it will soon open its doors to welcome guests.

MUST SIGN BY ALL - Petition To Declare Greece's EEZ

A petition for the declaration of Greece's Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) was recently set up via the Internet and aims to gather signatures from Greek citizens in Greece, the Diaspora, as well as friends of Hellas from all over the world.  By signing the petition, we will show the world, policy centers, decision makers and especially our leaders that when the issue is debated on in the Greek Parliament that we stand firm on its execution and are in favor of this development. By signing this petition, each one of us requests that the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), also called the Law of the Sea Convention or the Law of the Sea treaty, is finally implemented so that we can finally move ahead with the exploration and exploitation of hydrocarbons that we suspect exist in the Greek territorial waters. By signing this important and VITAL petition we will safeguard our territorial waters, and especially the (questionable by some Greek) sovereignty of our islands. And finally by signing this petition we will help our economy to efficiently and strategically exit the economic crisis with the dynamism and pride that characterizes us as a people.

Sign petition by clicking here

Με αυτές τις υπογραφές του ελληνικού λαού, θέλουμε να δείξουμε σε όλους τους πολιτικούς φορείς και ειδικά στη Βουλή των Ελλήνων, όπου θα ψηφιστεί το νομοσχέδιο του Νόμου της ελληνικής ΑΟΖ, ότι ο καθένας μας ζητά την εφαρμογή του Δικαίου της Θάλασσας στην πατρίδα μας, για να αξιοποιήσουμε τους υδρογονάνθρακες που βρίσκονται στα ελληνικά κοιτάσματα, έτσι ώστε να βγούμε αποτελεσματικά και στρατηγικά από την οικονομική κρίση με τις ίδιες τις δυνάμεις μας και με την αξιοπρέπεια που μας χαρακτηρίζει.

In order to further achieve this goal, as well as help towards its materialization, HellasFrappe has also decided to post a petition ad link on its main page in order to support this initiative even more.

We here at HellasFrappe ask that our readers also post this story on their walls, so that more people can sign this petition.

Thank you
HellasFrappe