As I am sitting in one of my favorite cafés in the center of Zagreb, I cannot stop staring at a man in his late forties or early fifties sitting several tables away from me. His head looks almost normal, but the rest of his body is humongous. Nay, gargantuan. And it is drooping into his crotch. His ballooning belly is resting on his knees, but there is a huge bulge between them, as well. It looks as though his belly has spilled into his crotch. While I am staring at him, he is eating one piece of pastry after another. And drinking one soft drink after another. He looks American, but he is actually Croatian. I heard him say a few words to a waiter when I came to the café. Indeed, America’s humongous belly has spilled across the Atlantic. And into Croatia’s eager crotch. This sort of obesity was simply unimaginable in this country even a decade ago. Which only goes to show that the American empire is still alive and well. As well as getting fatter by the day. By now, it is spilling across the Pacific, too.