Here's what we're following this morning:

 (via Never Yet Melted)

France shows caution on EU integration - Wall Street Journal | Three years into the sovereign-debt crisis, the 17 members of the Eurozone are still struggling to agree on how to fix the flawed architecture of their monetary union.  So much for "Measure Twice, Cut Once."  Countries want Germany's money, but they don't want Germany's control over the continent.

Putin says that the West "clings to Arab influence with airstrike democracy" - Russia Today | I love a pol who doesn't mince words.  Kinda puts Clinton's admonition to Russia and China to "get off the sidelines" into perspective.  (In that same speech, remember, she told countries to make it clear to Russia and China that [they] will "pay a price for their positions."

Food and extreme weather - Mother Jones | The message from the Midwest is clear: chemical-intensive, industrial-scale farming is vulnerable to spells of hot, dry weather.  The solution lies right beneath our feet.

The biggest scandal in Britain's history yet not a single Occupy sign - Counterpunch | The LIBOR issue has yet to unfold in the manner in which we believe it will unfold.  As I posted in an earlier Tweet today (about 500a at https://twitter.com/InvestingSense), 13 of the 16 banks would have had to have been involved in the rate rigging activity.  This isn't just Barclays...but there is a price that you have to pay for screwing with America.  All of this lends support to the view that banks (and governments!) have lost sight of their responsibilities to their customers.

Economic Report Card = FAIL | The Burning Platform | All of us are held accountable in each of our professions.  Why should some have any different level of accountability.  Somehow, too, I seem to remember something about 3 million jobs created since 2010.

Two landslides in the making for Election Year 2012 - Charles Hugh Smith | "Hey: it's not as bad as the Great Depression!"  Almost as bad as "Betting on America" or "Winning the Future."  WTF, indeed.

Walking into Weimar America - AlterNet via Truthdig | Leave it to a historian to do what economists cannot: register the likeness between Germany's pre-fascist history and what could be America's.  This is what happens when a nation turns its back on democracy and on its middle class.

About Romney's $100 million IRA - Talking Points Memo | How many of you have an offshore account?  Or an IRA tied to an offshore account?  Anyone have multiple homes?  Remember that, this November, when you think EITHER of the candidates represents the "Little Guys" out there.

The curse of advanced economies in resolving banking crises - VoxEU | Successful crisis resolutions have been characterized by transparency and resoluteness in terms of resolving insolvent institutions.  Uh...about that "transparency" thing.

When The Sex Pistols came to Tulsa - Dangerous Minds | Even though the men interviewed didn't "get it," they at least gave TSP credit for having the stones to do something like this on the enemy's turf.