Go Blondes Go!! It's like a Paris Hilton Festival

We're smart, we're beautiful and know our right from our other right!
In Latvia, the nation's blondes are marching for the greater good, and it won't even blow out the long end of the yield curve. Any of you guys starting to wonder what airfare to Latvia is?

Organisers said they were determined to bring positive energy to their country, which is expected to see its economy contract by 16 per cent this year. I know it brought some positive energy to me!

The parade was part of a "Blonde Weekend" which also featured a blonde golf tournament, a little lady fashion show, an evening ball, and a children's drawing competition.
"It's a great time to spend in the parade and contribute to a charity," said Ieva, one blonde spectator.
"Finally something different, something positive because I'm tired of hearing about the crisis," said another, 70-year-old Ausma. Read THE TELEGRAPH


Hot Latvian ladies have been in the news a couple times these past weeks. Apparently Latvian prostitutes are "reliable economic indicators" and according to business (or lack thereof), there's no sign of quick economic recovery.

Eastern Europe About To Go Bankrupt....and it will take Western Europe down the tubes with it.

Denial runs strong in the European psyche.....always focusing blame on the US, to hide their own incompetence. Yesterday Latvia became the third government to fail from the financial crisis, following Belgium and Iceland. The Dollar Is winning the Ugly-Currency Pageant

The Telegraph: Stephen Jen, currency chief at Morgan Stanley, said Eastern Europe has borrowed $1.7 trillion abroad, much on short-term maturities. It must repay – or roll over – $400bn this year, equal to a third of the region's GDP. Good luck. The credit window has slammed shut.
Not even Russia can easily cover the $500bn dollar debts of its oligarchs while oil remains near $33 a barrel. The budget is based on Urals crude at $95. Russia has bled 36pc of its foreign reserves since August defending the rouble.

"This is the largest run on a currency in history," said Mr Jen.
In Poland, 60pc of mortgages are in Swiss francs. The zloty has just halved against the franc. Hungary, the Balkans, the Baltics, and Ukraine are all suffering variants of this story. As an act of collective folly – by lenders and borrowers – it matches America's sub-prime debacle. There is a crucial difference, however. European banks are on the hook for both. US banks are not.
Almost all East bloc debts are owed to West Europe, especially Austrian, Swedish, Greek, Italian, and Belgian banks. En plus, Europeans account for an astonishing 74pc of the entire $4.9 trillion portfolio of loans to emerging markets.

They are five times more exposed to this latest bust than American or Japanese banks, and they are 50pc more leveraged (IMF data).
Spain is up to its neck in Latin America, which has belatedly joined the slump (Mexico's car output fell 51pc in January, and Brazil lost 650,000 jobs in one month). Britain and Switzerland are up to their necks in Asia.

Whether it takes months, or just weeks, the world is going to discover that Europe's financial system is sunk, and that there is no EU Federal Reserve yet ready to act as a lender of last resort or to flood the markets with emergency stimulus.

USA looks pretty good as Europe meltsdown

As bad as the economy is in America, the situation is much worse in the Europe. Iceland is bankrupt and the government has been toppled. France and Latvia are facing rioting in the streets. Other European governments are watching their currency value collapse and unemployment rise to staggering levels.

France paralyzed by a wave of strike action, the boulevards of Paris resembling a debris-strewn battlefield. The Hungarian currency sinks to its lowest level ever against the euro, as the unemployment figure rises. Greek farmers block the road into Bulgaria in protest at low prices for their produce. New figures from the biggest bank in the Baltic show that the three post-Soviet states there face the biggest recessions in Europe.

This is not a cumlitive effect.....this all happened in just the last week. Just goes to show what I've always said about the news media and politics in Europe...they love to focus their populace on everything bad about the US, to keep them from seeing how bad it actually is in their own backyard. Any wonder why they love Obama so much?

Bachelor Party Central

Latvian girls urged to say 'no' to sex tourists

Latvian girls are being urged to steer clear of one-night stands with tourists as part of a campaign to prevent the capital, Riga, turning into the "Bangkok of the Baltic".

The move comes following a huge increase in visitor numbers to the country, which has become popular with British stag parties looking for cheap alcohol - and sex.

Latvian girls will be asked to consider very carefully whether they should agree to have sex with a visitor in return for a drink. READ ON