United Bases of America

Good graphic on all the bases of the US around the world. I am reminded of one more pic that I saw a few years ago.

Link here

Michael Hudson on Europe's woes

Never has the gap between pretended aim and actual effect been more hypocritical. Making interest payments (and even capital gains) tax-exempt deprives governments of revenue from the user fees they are relinquishing, increasing their budget deficits. And instead of promoting price stability (the ECB’s ostensible priority), privatization increases prices for infrastructure, housing and other costs of living and doing business by building in interest charges and other financial overhead – and much higher salaries for management. So it is merely a knee-jerk ideological claim that this policy is more efficient simply because privatizers do the borrowing rather than government.


Brilliant read on the Euro zone and its myriad problems.
read more here