America Has Ceased to Exist | Doug Casey @ Reason

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and if you care to sign up and see the ‘Meltdown’ video from Casey Research, it’s here

Banks Build Contingencies for Euro Zone Breakup | NYT

via Banks Build Contingencies for Euro Zone Breakup – NYTimes.com.

“…. On Friday, Standard & Poor’s downgraded Belgium’s credit standing to AA from AA+, saying it might not be able to cut its towering debt load any time soon. Ratings agencies this week cautioned that France could lose its AAA rating if the crisis grew. On Thursday, agencies lowered the ratings of Portugal and Hungary to junk.

While European leaders still say there is no need to draw up a Plan B, some of the world’s biggest banks, and their supervisors, are doing just that…”