Europe  continues to be the boiling cauldron which may affect the US  presidential election and plunge the world into another financial  meltdown. European leaders continue to try and work through the  troubling fiscal issues and squabble over austerity versus spending.

The Markets: European markets closed mixed. Britain's FTSE 100 slid 0.8% and CAC 40 dropped 0.5%, while the DAX in Germany rose 0.2%.

The  unemployment rate for the 17-nation eurozone held steady from the  previous month at a record 11.2% in June, according to Eurostat, the  European Union's statistical office. In the broader 27 nations that make  up the EU, the unemployment rate in June remained at 10.4% -- unchanged  from May.

Eurostat also said that inflation was unchanged in July, at 2.4%.

http://money.cnn.com/2012/07/31/investing/stocks-markets/index.htm?iid=mkt_SF_news

Lithuania: A  Belarusian man driving a Porsche sports car emblazoned with the red and  yellow flag of the Soviet Union was denied entry into Lithuania on  Tuesday on the grounds that the public display of such symbols in the  Baltic country is illegal.

Under  the rule of the former Soviet Union for almost half a century, Vilnius  banned the public display of Soviet symbols in 2008, sparking protests  from former colonial master Russia.

The  bonnet of the offending Porsche 966 - driven by a 26-year-old man - had  a giant Soviet flag painted on it complete with a yellow hammer and  sickle symbol and star, Rokas Pukinskas, a spokesman for Lithuania's  state border guard service, told Reuters.

"The  border guards suggested the driver leave his car behind and enter  Lithuania by foot or by bus, which he refused to do", Pukinskas added.

Belarus,  ruled by former Soviet collective farm boss Alexander Lukashenko since  1994, revels in its past as one of the Soviet Union's 15 republics and  encourages nostalgia for the defunct state.

Lithuania  and Hungary are the only two European Union countries to outlaw public  displays of Soviet symbols. However, the fine of 500-1000 litas (150-280  euros) for violators in Lithuania is rarely issued.

http://reuters.com/article/2012/07/31/us-lithuania-porsche-idUSBRE86U15020120731

From the Cornfield, we must remain vigilant less we get caught with our pants down in the event the Euro Zone crumbles.