Video: Boxing kitten

This just makes me smile.



Okay, so perhaps I'm missing my little canine dominatrix:

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Palin, who played a key role in losing McCain the election, has 'advice' for Romney

She actually seems not to realize that she's a joke.  And that she played a significant role in losing the election for McCain once the public figured out that there wasn't much there there.

Now for the English language as only Sarah Palin can mangle it:

Palin, who is known to accuse journalists of having a liberal slant, said media “manipulation” would continue to pose as an uphill battle for Romney.

“Four years ago, Sean, they chose their one and they did all that they could to usher him into the White House. We are going to see the same tactic this is go around,” she said. “The filter that the media has is something that a politician, a candidate, has to be extremely astute in — kind decimating that filter and getting through it so that the public has the correct information.”

Yeay, the woman who created the 'death panel' lie, which helped sour the American public on health care reform, is worried that the media is manipulating people. Palin's definition of "manipulation" is when the media calls her out on her lies.  Palin prefers it when people let her lie with impunity since, after all, it's the only way Republicans can win policy or elections - by conning a sadly-gullible American public. Read the rest of this post...

House Ethics Committee decides to do nothing, as usual

Surprise, surprise, the House Committee on Ethics announced this week that it would do... nothing.

The committee said it would take a pass on allegations that Rep. Vern Buchanan (R-FL) inaccurately reported positions he had held and income he had received on his annual financial disclosure statements between 2007 and 2010.

The committee confirmed that Rep. Vern Buchanan had filed inaccurate financial forms, but said the omissions were inadvertant, no different from the “hundreds or thousands of errors” it sees each year in such reports.

What response did Buchanan, the GOP's top fundraiser, have to this:
He said the omissions amounted to chump change -- an interesting way to describe an amount roughly equivalent to one-third of the median annual income of families in his native Florida.

A letter from the congressman’s attorney said that the nearly $15,000 amounted to “somewhere between 0.0000434% and 0.00000962% of his total assets” -- noting the “small error relative to the size” of his holdings.

Well, lucky him!!

Turns out his troubles may not be over. Even though NewsMax has decided that the Ethics Charges Are Politically Motivated, the House panel is continuing to investigate allegations that Buchanan once offered to pay a former business partner $2.9 million if he agreed to sign a false affidavit claiming he knew nothing about plans to reimburse employees of Buchanan’s car dealership. The FBI, Internal Revenue Service and a federal grand jury are conducting separate investigations. Read the rest of this post...

Job openings up in May

Clearly the Republicans are not going to like this positive news. Since they're more concerned about scuppering the economy, they're going to have to think of a new plan to extend the misery for Americans.

The number of positions waiting to be filled climbed by 195,000 to 3.64 million, partially countering the 294,000 drop seen in April, the Labor Department said today in Washington. Another report showed confidence among small companies slumped in June.

Increasing demand for workers indicates some companies see an opportunity to expand as sales improve. At the same time, the report showed firings also picked up, indicating the European debt crisis and slowing growth in emerging markets like China may be prompting some employers to cut back.

“The labor market still looks pretty tenuous,” said Michael Feroli, chief U.S. economist at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in New York. The April report “sent some worrying signals that maybe things were in free fall. You have the May report and you can see businesses were turning a bit more cautious, but they weren’t completely pulling back.”

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List of LIBOR banks involved in setting U.S. dollar rates

I'm using this as a reference piece for the LIBOR bank scandal.

LIBOR is the London InterBank Offered Rate. LIBOR banks (see below) send the British Bankers' Association (BBA) a daily estimate of the rate they would be charged by other banks if they were borrowing.

(As noted in our LIBOR backgrounder, that's an estimate of rates, not actual rates; and it's the rate to borrowing, not to lend. That is, the banks only report their own estimated costs. That's why there's a LIBOR scandal. Those estimates are fudged in so many ways, all to benefit the reporting banks.)

As FedPrimeRate.com, a reference site, states:

There are many different LIBOR rates (maturities range from overnight to 12 months) for numerous currencies, including U.S. dollars[.] ...

Back in the mid-1980's, the world banking system adopted the LIBOR as a much needed benchmark for short-term, interbank loans. The LIBOR rates are now internationally recognized indexes used for pricing many types of consumer and corporate loans, debt instruments and debt securities across the globe. ...

LIBOR rates are fixed every UK business day by the global media corporation Thomson Reuters, in association with the British Bankers' Association (BBA), a nonprofit trade association.

LIBOR (again, just a series of estimated interbank interest rates) is determined in 10 currencies, but these four are primary, for obvious reasons (link pdf):

The four major LIBOR currencies are US Dollar, Sterling, Euro and Yen, but the recent commentary has been primarily in respect of Dollar LIBOR.

The list of banks involved in setting the Dollar LIBOR rate appears below. Three American banks and 16 foreign banks are surveyed for purposes of fixing LIBOR in U.S. dollars ("U.S. dollar fixing").

The American banks included in the panel surveyed by the BBA for U.S. dollar fixing are:

• The Bank of America
• JP Morgan Chase
• Citibank, NA

There are 16 non-U.S. banks surveyed for U.S. dollar fixing in London. These banks are:

• Bank of Nova Scotia
• Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd
• Barclays Bank plc
• BNP Paribas
• Credit Agricole CIB
• Credit Suisse
• Deutsche Bank AG
• HSBC
• Lloyds TSB Bank plc
• Rabobank
• Royal Bank of Canada
• Société Générale
• Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation
• The Norinchukin Bank
• The Royal Bank of Scotland Group
• UBS AG

Why does this list matter? This is the list of potential perps in the LIBOR scandal. This is why the Fed is involved, and also the Feds (U.S. Justice Dept). I've seen estimates of #350 trillion to $800 trillion in loans and contracts hooked to LIBOR.

Our previous LIBOR coverage:

• Switzerland investigating bank rate-fixing abuses — Feb 4, 2012
• Barclays fined for manipulating Libor rates — June 28, 2012
• More banking scandals out of Wild West London — June 29, 2012
• Barclays scandal takes down Chairman, CEO remains for now — July 2, 2012
• This week in Not-Rule of Law — July 2, 2012
• Barclays CEO Diamond resigns under pressure — July 3, 2012
• LIBOR for Laymen—What is it and why should you care? — July 5, 2012 — Our backgrounder
• Barclays knew about Libor corruption four years ago — July 7, 2012
• Deutsche Bank under investigation for Libor manipulation — July 8, 2012
• Why the U.S. Justice Dept is investigating the LIBOR scandal — July 9, 2012
• Did the Bank of England approve Barclay's false LIBOR rate submissions? — July 10, 2012

Just trying to make sense of LIBOR, so that when the Big Boys (Our Betters) blow up the world again, us Littles have a fair shot at understanding how they did it.

GP

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I just paid $111 in Paris for drugs that cost me $411 last month at Costco

I just arrived in Paris today for my annual medical tourism and house-sitting (and working with Chris to devise AMERICAblog 3.0). The money I save on my asthma drugs by buying them in France rather than in the US (at Costco) will pay for my flight to Europe and then some. Here are two drugs I bought today - these are both only a one-month supply.

The first drug is Symbicort.  Note that both drugs, the US version and the French version, are made and sold by the same pharmaceutical company, AstraZeneca.  This isn't some cheap knockoff - which is the lie the FDA is spouting to justify this rip-off of the American taxpayer - it's the same company charging 3.5x the price when it sees that your passport says "American."

And here is another drug for allergies, Singulair, but in my case my doctor prescribes it for my asthma, as it helps to reduce inflammation in the lungs.  You'll note that the French version and the American version of Singulair are made and sold by Merck & Co.  Merck marks it drug up by 400% when it sees that you're American.

Why do companies like Merck and AstroZeneca charge Americans nearly four times what they charge Europeans for certain drugs?  Because they can.  European governments refuse to let companies like Merck and AstroZeneca make such obscene profits on their prescription drug sales, so they tell those companies that if you want to sell your drugs in Europe, you're going to lower the price and only make a "reasonable" profit.

So what do the drug companies do?  They cut their prices in quarter in Europe, and then quadruple the prices in America to make up the difference.

Americans are quite literally subsidizing cheap prescription drug prices in Europe (we are in essence paying a drug tax forced on us by both political parties) and we have both Democrats and Republicans in Washington - who are all beholden to Big Pharma - to thank for it.

Oh, but it gets better.

I just was searching the AMERICAblog archives, and I found this post from July of 2009, nearly three years ago. In it, I talk about the price I paid for Symbicort in France at the time, versus what I paid in the states.

Here's what I found.  The price of Symbicort in France three years ago was 54 Euros ($66) - that's the same price Symbicort goes for today in Paris - AstraZeneca hasn't increased the price one cent in three years.  But a funny thing happens when you look at the price of Symbicort in the US over that same time period.  Three years ago it was $194.  Today it goes for $233.  That's a 20% increase in the price of the drug since 2009.

So, AstraZeneca is not only charging Americans 3.5x what it charges Europeans for the same drug, but over the past three years AstraZeneca has kept the relatively-low price of the drug in Europe stable - a zero percent increase in the price charged Europeans - while AstraZeneca increased the already-exorbitant US price by 20% while US inflation never topped 3% in any of those three years.

We're already paying the price of socialized medicine in America, with none of the benefits. Read the rest of this post...

GOP still has no replacement to offer over Obamacare

They don't get it and never will get it. They're only about obstruction and towing the corporate line, so of course they can't propose anything other than destroying Obamacare.

Nobody is arguing that Obamacare is perfect because it's not. It's still too much of a corporate giveaway but it's a start. The Republicans are glad to stay with the old system that everyone hates and really, it's too easy for them to take that position. Despite arguing about government run healthcare, they almost all take it while in Congress so they don't have a care in the world.

Unlike the rest of the country that has to deal with being told to pay more for insurance by their employer, Congress has it easy. Don't expect movement from this group because their plan is as good as it gets.

House Republicans generally avoided talk of replacement measures on Tuesday as they mobilized for an election-season vote to repeal the health care law that stands as President Barack Obama's signature domestic accomplishment.

Instead, they lambasted the 2-year-old law as a threat to the nation's economic recovery and predicted some Democrats would join them in repudiating it.

"This is nothing short of economic malpractice," said Rep. Nan Hayworth of New York, citing tax increases, government mandates and other items in the law. "We can and we must do better."

Fine, so give everyone a plan and quit obstructing. If the Republican plan is so great, it will win over the public, right? Since the public has only heard reheated old ideas and talk of scrapping Obamacare, they're going to be reluctant to dump everything for nothing. Read the rest of this post...

Video: Man tells Romney he won't vote for a Mormon

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TSA allegedly calls deaf traveler "f**king deafie"

And as you might imagine, the traveler in question is deaf. The TSA is an institution that can't turn the corner and get beyond it's extensive history of problems. Some of their recent lowlights include spilling the cremated remains of a traveler and then laughing, hiring child rapists and murderers, molesting senior citizens, and breaking a life-saving insulin pump. That's just the most recent history.

The Republican response is to outsource the TSA duties to companies that donate heavily to Congressman Mica which is hardly an answer. While it may be SOP in DC for politicians, in this case, he's playing with national security.

The TSA needs a lot more pressure from the political class because they fail to get it. This is not acceptable.

While I was going through the TSA, some of them started laughing in my direction. I thought it might’ve been someone behind me, but I found out otherwise.

They went through my bag (for no reason), and found a couple bags of candy I brought. I was told I wasn’t allowed to fly with that (wtf? I’ve flown with food before — these were even sealed still because I brought them right in the airport). I was then asked if I would like to donate the candy “To the USO”. Since I know the airport there has an Air National Guard base, and I figured it would go to the soldiers, I (annoyed) said sure, why not?

The guards, as I was getting scanned, started eating the candy they just told me was for the soldiers. In front of me, still laughing at me (very clearly now). One of them asked why they were laughing, and one of them came up to me, pointed at my shirt, laughed at me and said, “F**king deafie”. The Louisville TSA called me a “f**king deafie” and laughed at me because I was deaf, and they expected wouldn’t say anything back (or wouldn’t hear them). Make no bones about it — she was facing me and I read her lips. There was no mistake. I would later find out that they had called at least 4 other individuals the same thing.

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The GOP plan to gerrymander the Electoral College

And folks, it would be legal. Here's what you need to know to understand the plan:

■ The Electoral College elects the president, not the American people.

■ Each state sends "electors" to the Electoral College based on a formula determined by that state via its legislature (plus the governor, who has to sign the bill).

■ Most states have a winner-take-all system of allocating Electoral College votes. The candidate who "wins the state" wins all Electoral College votes for that state.

■ The number of electors per state = the number of congressional districts (one for each district) plus two (one for each senator).

■ Because of the gerrymandering of congressional districts, it's possible for one party to dominate the state vote generally, but for the other party to win more congressional seats.

See where this is headed?

Did I mention that each state legislature determines how its Electoral College votes are allocated? (I think I did.) Did I mention that many state legislatures and governors' palaces are dominated by radicals devoted to constitutional coup? (Not yet.)

See where this is headed? Your constitutional coup in action.

From the good Nick Baumann at Mother Jones, an article last September (my emphasis and paragraphing):

The GOP's Genius Plan to Beat Obama in 2012

Republican state legislators in Pennsylvania are pushing a scheme that, if GOPers in other states follow their lead, could cause President Barack Obama to lose the 2012 election—not because of the vote count, but because of new rules.

That's not all: There's no legal way for Democrats to stop them.

The problem for Obama, and the opportunity for Republicans, is the electoral college. Every political junkie knows that the presidential election isn't a truly national contest; it's a state-by-state fight, and each state is worth a number of electoral votes equal to the size of the state's congressional delegation. (The District of Columbia also gets three votes.) There are 538 electoral votes up for grabs; win 270, and you're the president. ...

Currently, 48 states and DC use a winner-take-all system in which the candidate who wins the popular vote in the state gets all of its electoral votes.

[But under] the Republican plan—which has been endorsed by top GOPers in both houses of the state Legislature, as well as the governor, Tom Corbett—Pennsylvania would change from this system to one where each congressional district gets its own electoral vote. (Two electoral votes—one for each of the state's two senators—would go to the statewide winner.)

If you — and by "you" I mean Republicans, because you Democrats only play not to lose — have no conscience about how to win, because you have a note from Jesus in your wallet ... well, all you need to do is subvert the popular vote by dominating the Electoral College.

Thus if you — soulless Republicans, of course — own all elements of state government involved in redistricting, you can win that state for Mitt Romney.

Or for any other Movement Conservative retainer you wish to elevate to the throne. For as long as you wish to. (Unless Democrats decide to stop losing and change the rules back, but that's a different problem.)

This is what Baumann calls the "redistricting trifecta" — both houses of the state legislature and the governor's box. That's all it takes to execute this plan.

Can it work? Baumann again:

This could cost Obama dearly. ... Pennsylvania Republicans get to draw the boundaries of the state's congressional districts without any input from Democrats.

Some of the early maps have leaked to the press, and Democrats expect that the Pennsylvania congressional map for the 2012 elections will have 12 safe GOP seats compared to just 6 safe Democratic seats.

So Obama could win the state, and lose 12 of Pennsylvania's 18 electoral votes.

Besides Pennsylvania, three more large states — Michigan, Ohio, and (perhaps) Wisconsin — are in play for this manœuver; the Republican constitutional coup is well under way in those states, and Obama took all three in 2008 (back in those old-school winner-take-all days).

Depending on the closeness of the election, this move could definitely swing it.

What's the remedy? According to the article: "For now, the Democrats'—and Obama's—only real way of fighting back is political."

Not exactly leading with our strength, is it.

Watch for this move — I'd be shocked if they didn't try it everywhere they can.

Side note — As I watch this rolling coup, and also watch heart-rending videos of "ordinary Americans" on the losing end of the battle against the corp-enabled CEO Class, I'm torn by sadness, mixed with other feelings.

On the one hand, the pain is palpable. It hurts to see one's fellows go down hard. I always keep fighting, but this one we could seriously lose. And if we lose, we will all lose.

On the other hand, I can't keep myself from asking — Which of these suffering "ordinary Americans" voted for Reagan, for either Bush, for McCain? For Wisconsin's Scott Walker?

Which of them lived with their girlfriends while hating the hippies?

It is a puzzlement, these emotions. I confess to all of them.

GP

To follow or send links: @Gaius_Publius
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Biden to Latinos about Romney's missing tax docs: "Mitt Romney wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his"

The Democrats have been doing quite a good job in focusing non-stop of Mitt Romney's mysterious finances.

Here is Biden this weekend:



Transcript:

And this is a man who says President Barack Obama is out of touch. Out of touch with the needs of the American people. This coming from a man who until recently had a Swiss bank account and millions of dollars invested in the Grand Cayman Islands beyond security – beyond scrutiny. And President Obama is out of touch?

When his father was a candidate for president in 1968, his father released 12 years of tax returns because he said, and I quote, “One year could be a fluke, perhaps done for show,” end of quote. That was his father. His son has released only one year of his tax returns, making a lie of the old adage, “like father, like son.” He wants you to show your papers, but he won’t show us his. It’s kind of fascinating. So many questions.

Here's more on Romney's mysterious taxes from ABC News' Jonathan Karl:

KARL: We've looked back and found every presidential nominee in both parties over the last three decades has released more tax returns. Romney says he'll release his 2011 return when he finishes it, but that's it. It's not that he doesn't have more returns handy. When he was under consideration to be John McCain's running mate four years ago, he gave McCain 23 years of tax returns, noting at the time quote, “I'm a bit of a packrat so I had them all.” The Romney campaign calls all this attention to his personal finances a distraction—an effort they say by the Obama campaign to divert attention from the President's failed economic record. Diane.

This is the same thing the Republicans did with Sarah Palin. They were mortified as to what a simpleton she quickly turned out to be that they hid her from public scrutiny. Palin was only permitted to parrot scripted lines, and most certainly was not permitted to interview with the real media.

A similar thing is taking place with Mitt Romney's taxes. Something's wrong, the Republicans know it, and they hope to hide it from the public until the election has passed. They're trying filibuster transparency because the truth, the Republicans have found, have a liberal bias. So they either lie, or simply hide the truth all together. Read the rest of this post...

Warlord sentenced to prison for recruiting child soldiers

The recruitment of kids to fight wars is not new, but prosecuting someone who does this is very new. Hopefully this is the beginning of a trend to lock of adults who take advantage of kids to do their dirty work with guns or for sex. The Guardian:

The international criminal court has handed down its first sentence, jailing for 14 years a Congolese warlord who recruited and used child soldiers.

Thomas Lubanga was found guilty in March of abducting boys and girls under the age of 15 and forcing them to fight in the Democratic Republic of the Congo's eastern Ituri region in 2002-2003.

Lubanga, 51, is the first person convicted by the permanent war crimes tribunal.

The prosecution had asked for a "severe sentence" of 30 years. Luis Moreno-Ocampo, then chief prosecutor, said it was seeking the punishment "in the name of each child recruited, in the name of the Ituri region".

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