SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 11:54 P.M. ET:

GREEK SALAD – From Fox: ATHENS, Greece – Greece's five-year financial crisis took its most dramatic turn to date Sunday, with the cabinet deciding, after an 8-hour session, that Greek banks would remain shut for six working days and restrictions would be imposed on cash withdrawals.  The Athens Stock Exchange would also not open on Monday, financial sector officials confirmed.  A decree published in the official Government Gazette stipulates banks will not open Monday morning and will remain closed through Monday, July 6. The finance minister could decide to short or extend that period.  Withdrawals from ATM with credit or cash cards will be capped at 60 euros ($66) daily. The decree said ATMs would be working at the latest 12 hours from its publication, meaning cash machines would open by early afternoon, at the latest.  We also had a "bank holiday" when Franklin D. Roosevelt came into office in 1933.  It did help to stabilize the banking system which was being hit by massive withdrawals, but the Great Depression went on until World War II.

CHILLING MESSAGE FROM ISIS – From Fox: Islamic State is marking its first year as a self-proclaimed caliphate by calling on sympathizers around the world to take up arms and commit acts of terror.  It was on June 29, 2014 that the terrorist army then known as ISIS announced it had established a government run by a medieval version of strict Islam in territory that spanned northern Syria and Iraq.  Since then, the group has metastasized throughout the region, recruiting locals and foreign fighters alike and blazing a trail of death and misery. With the beginning of Ramadan on June 17, the terrorist organization has issued a call for stepped up attacks in the Middle East and around the world.  And, as we reported earlier today, American authorities are deeply concerned about possible attacks coinciding with our July 4th weekend.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCHOLARSHIP – New York City is now entering a new "progressive" era under the ludicrous leadership of its Fidel-loving mayor, Bill de Blasio.  Strange, but this seems like something the city tried in the past, with catastrophic results.  From the New York Post:  "How do you fix a failing high school?  Change the grades.  Under pressure to boost student achievement, the state-designated “out of time” Automotive HS has resorted to rigging Regents exam scores.  The failing scores of five students who took the Regents in January were switched to passing scores of 65 or higher on their transcripts, the city Department of Education has confirmed.  One junior saw his scores upped to pass two exams required for graduation — Living Environment (biology) and algebra — even though he had failed both classes. The student insisted he deserved a break on the exams because “I studied my ass off.”  In 2011, the state banned “scrubbing” — the practice of re-scoring tests that fall just short of passing. In 2013, the DOE tried to fire a teacher who raised the scores of five students on a Regents physics exam. In 2014, city scores plummeted after a new rule barred teachers from grading tests given at their own schools.  Now, the city has sanctioned it.  Ah, back to the sixties, that wonderful era of chaos and crime. 

June 28, 2015