Video: This is Melbourne...Wow!

A more subtle tourism video than was produced for Cleveland a few years ago. The Melbourne video had to be done by someone from Sydney because Melbourne is actually a nice place. Still, the video is quite funny.


This Is Melbourne...Wow! from Cameron Cairnes on Vimeo. Read the rest of this post...

Video: Romney babbling tonight about his tax returns

Here's a rush transcript:

King>> Let me get out of the way for a second and go back out to our audience and take a question from an audience member. Sir.

John>> John from the great city of charleston. Gentlemen, when will you release your tax returns specifically?

Gingrich>> An hour ago.

King>>speaker posted his online an hour ago. Congressman paul, start with you. We reached out to your campaign. They said you will not release your tax returns. Why?

Paul>> Hadn't thought it through. Don't have an intention of doing it. For a different reason. I'd probably be embarrassed to put my financial statement up against their income. I don't want to be embarrassed because I don't have a greater income. Now, I mean, it may come to that. But right now, I have no intention of doing that. I think with our financial statements, congressional financial statements, I think you know more about me than i know about myself. That's how my wife found out so much about what we were doing, you know, from my financial statements. No, we don't need -- I don't think people need that. Because nobody's challenging me because I have no conflict of interests. And I don't even talk to lobbyists. And I don't take that kind of money. So there's no conflicts.

King>> All right. Governor Romney, when will we see yours?

Romney>> When my taxes are complete for this year. And I know if I'm the nominee, the president's going to want to insist that I show what my income was this last year and so forth. When they're completed this year in april, I'll release my returns in april and probably for other years as well. I know that's what's going to come. Every time the Democrats are out there trying their very best to try and attack people because they've been successful. I have been successful. Let me tell you, the challenge in America is not people who have been successful. The challenge in america, and president obama doesn't want to talk about this, is you've got a president who's played 90 rounds of golf while there are 25 million americans out of work. And while the price of gasoline has doubled, he said no to the keystone pipeline. And while we've got $15 trillion in debt, he said, look, I'm going to put another $1 trillion in debt for Obamacare. That's the problem in America. Not the attacks they make on people who have been successful.

King>> Some of the questions about when do you release your taxes, his campaign has raised them, you're right on that. So has some of your rivals up here. Governor Perry made that point as well before he left the race. Why not should the people of South Carolina before this election see last year's return?

Romney>> Because I want to make sure that I beat President Obama. Every time we release things drip by drip, the Democrats go out with another array of abeing attacks. I'll put these out at one time so we have one discussion of all of this. I obviously pay all full taxes. I'm honest in my dealings with people. People understand that. My taxes are carefully managed. I pay a lot of taxes. I've been very successful. When I have our taxes ready for this year, I'll release them.

King>> Speaker, is that good enough?

Gingrich>> He's got to decide. The people of South Carolina have to decide. If there's anything in there that will help us lose the election, we should know it before the nomination. If there's nothing in there, why not release it? It's a very simple model. But he's got to decide. It's his decision. Everybody's got to run their own campaign based on what they think is the reasonable risk. I released mine this evening. We also released the little small charitable foundation we have. So people can see what we do.

King>> Senator santorum, when will we see yours?

Santorum>> Well, I do my own taxes. They're on my computer and I'm not home. So -- and there's nobody at home right now till I get home. When I get home, you'll get my x thats. Taxes.

King>> You did call on the governor to release his.

Santorum>> Somebody asked. I said question. I don't think it's a big deal. If governor romney's told what his tax rate is. Mine's higher than that I can assure you. All I know it was very painful writing a check last april. That's all I can tell you.

King>> Governor Romney, you mentioned the Democratic attacks. I want to ask you to go back in history a little bit. Back in 1967, your father set a ground-breaking -- what was then a ground-breaking standard in American politics. He released his tax returns. Not for one year but for 12 years. He said this, one year could be a fluke. Perhaps done for show. When you release yours, will you follow your father's example?

Romney>> Maybe. I don't know how many years I'll release. I'll take a look at what our documents are.

[ Boos / Audience shouting ]

Romney>> and I'll release multiple years. I don't know how many years. I'll be happy to do that. Let me tell you, I know there are some who are very anxious to see if they can't make it more difficult for a campaign to be successful. I know the Democrats want to go after the fact I've been successful. I'm not going to apologize for being successful. [ Applause ] I'm not suggesting these people are doing that. But I know the Democrats will go after me on that basis. That's why I want to release these things all at the same time. My dad, as you know, born in Mexico. Poor. Didn't get a college degree. Became head of a car company. I could have stayed in Detroit like him. And gotten pulled up in the car -- I went off on my own. Didn't inherit money from my parents. [Note from JOHN -- this isn't true. Romney inherited money from his family.] What I have, I earned. I worked hard. The american way. [ Applause ] I'm going to be able -- I'm going to be able to talk to President Obama in a way no one else can that's in this race right now about how the free economy works. What it takes to put Americans back to work. Make sure he understands this divisiveness dividing Americans between 99 and 1 is dangerous. We are one nation under God.

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Murdoch’s News International settles in some hacking cases

There should be more settlements to come for the shady operations of Rupert Murdoch. There is a court case set for next month and that could have an additional negative impact on News Corp. Suddenly the outspoken Murdoch is quiet on his new Twitter account. The Guardian:

News International has agreed to pay out more than £600,000 to 18 victims of News of the World phone-hacking, including Jude Law, Lord Prescott and Ashley Cole, in a series of settlements read out at the high court in London. The claimants alleged that senior employees and directors at News Group Newspapers (NGN), the News International subsidiary that published the News of the World, knew their journalists were engaging in illegal practices, and that the group sought to deliberately deceive investigators and destroyed evidence. While not admitting or denying those claims, NGN has agreed that compensation to the claimants can be assessed on that basis. News International declined to comment on Thursday's high court settlements.

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GOP presidential debate open thread

I'm watching it, because I have to. Join me ;-) It's on CNN, now. Online too. I'm on Twitter offering commentary here: @aravosis, or follow me and the AMERICAblog Election: The Right's Field boys and girls below via all of our Twitter feeds:

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What time is the GOP presidential debate tonight? 8 ET on CNN

Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post has what to look out for tonight. Read the rest of this post...

"Anonymous" claims to have taken down DOJ Web site, it's gone (so is RIAA’s)

The group Anonymous says they took down the US Dept of Justice's Web site, and in fact, it's gone. Per The Hill:

Anonymous, the group of activist hackers, claimed to have crashed the Justice Department website on Thursday in retaliation for prosecutors shutting down the popular file-sharing site Megaupload.com.

They say they took down the RIAA's Web site ( the Recording Industry Association of America) as well, and it too is down.

I love the thing at the bottom saying "Waiting for www.justice.gov." Yes, we're all waiting for justice. Read the rest of this post...

Romney's tax plan would cut his taxes in half

As if Romney's taxes aren't already low enough, he's ready to cut them even more. Nice gift to himself. More from Greg Sargent:

The revelation that Mitt Romney pays a tax rate of around 15 percent opens the door to another question: How much would his own taxes fall under the tax plan he would pass if elected president? Here’s the answer, according to a new analysis by Citizens for Tax Justice that was provided to me this morning. Under his plan, Romney in 2013 would see his taxes cut by nearly half of what they would be if you use current law as a baseline. Another way to put this: If Romney, whose wealth is estimated at as much as $250 million, is elected president and gets his way on tax policy, he would pay barely more than half as much in taxes than he would if Obama is reelected and gets his way — and the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy expire and an additional Medicare tax as part of the Affordable Care Act kicks in.

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Romney is so rich, he has no idea how much he’s worth. But the margin of error is $90m.

I was looking into the recent news that Mitt Romney has significant holdings in offshore Cayman Islands investments (potentially permitting him to pay fewer taxes, at the expensive of the American government), and I found this little tidbit, which struck me as strange:  The margin of error on how much Mitt Romney is worth is plus-or-minus $90 million.

That's not how much he's worth, it's the margin of error as to how much he's worth, because apparently Mitt Romney is worth so much money, even he doesn't know how much money it really is.  From the WSJ:

The Wall Street Journal analyzed Mr. Romney's latest federal financial-disclosure report, filed in August, to glean clues about his tax strategy.

The same disclosure form estimated Mr. Romney's full wealth at between $84.8 million and $264.7 million. His campaign has said the actual figure is toward the upper end of that range, or $190 million to $250 million.

Get that? In an effort to downsize the damage, the Romney campaign is now saying that the margin of error is "only" plus-or-minus $30 million.  Think about how much you're worth - add the equity in your home, your retirement savings, your bank accounts, your equity in your car, and whatever things you own in the house.  It takes a little math, but I'm betting your margin of error is maybe a few thousand dollars?  Maybe ten thousand or twenty thousand if we're "really" pushing it.

Romney's "margin of error" is more than most of us will ever make in our entire lives, and the lives of our children, and their children.  That's one heck of an error. It must be nice being worth so much that you have no idea how much.  Kind of like not knowing how many homes you own. Read the rest of this post...

MPAA’s Chris Dodd blasts Internet blackout protest as "irresponsible," "dangerous"

Ironic that the Motion Picture Association of America is against the free speech rights of others?  Not really.  That's kind of the point of the entire Internet blackout campaign, that the MPAA is against reasonable and legal free speech. Dodd is, in essence, trying to censor all of you who spoke out yesterday. Oh the irony, it burns.

There's a reason Senator Dodd is no longer in the Senate. His support for Wall Street became toxic so he left to cash in lobbying for the movie industry. He's now in the pro-censorship camp along with Rupert Murdoch so of course he's making outrageous remarks about normal people voicing their opposition to more heavy-handed policies that come from the 1%. The fight is not yet over but yesterday's blackout did have an impact.

Here's Dodd's bizarre broadside against the protest:

It is an irresponsible response and a disservice to people who rely on them for information and use their services. It is also an abuse of power given the freedoms these companies enjoy in the marketplace today. It’s a dangerous and troubling development when the platforms that serve as gateways to information intentionally skew the facts to incite their users in order to further their corporate interests.

A so-called “blackout” is yet another gimmick, albeit a dangerous one, designed to punish elected and administration officials who are working diligently to protect American jobs from foreign criminals. It is our hope that the White House and the Congress will call on those who intend to stage this “blackout” to stop the hyperbole and PR stunts and engage in meaningful efforts to combat piracy.”

Read the rest of this post...

Video: Zooey Deschanel sings "What are you doing New Years Eve?"

Love her.  Actually didn't know of her until I started watching her new show, "The New Girl."  She's insanely different.  And apparently one hell of a singer too (as is Joseph Gordon-Levitt, another one I didn't know about - omg he's the Third Rock kid).  Watch this and enjoy. (Oh and here's the trailer from her new show, she's a total nut.)

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2nd wife: Gingrich asked me for "open marriage" so he could keep sleeping with mistress, now 3rd wife

Cheryl Casey / Shutterstock

ABC News has the interview with Gingrich's second wife of 18 years, Marianne (he's on his third now). But the Daily Beast does a nice summary of the interview, without having to be submitted to ABC's obnoxious auto-on videos that were very au courant in 1996.

Newt Gingrich’s ex-wife told ABC News that the Republican presidential candidate lacked the proper moral character to be president. In an interview that will Thursday night on Nightline, Marianne Gingrich said her ex-husband had sought an “open marriage” when he admitted that he was having a six-year affair with his current wife, Callista. Marianne said Gingrich conducted his affair from “my bedroom in our apartment in Washington” and during the time he led the impeachment proceedings against President Bill Clinton—a time when Marianne defended his ethics. She said Gingrich proceeded with the divorce only months after she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, when a doctor had advised she not have any stress. At the time of the divorce, Marianne said Gingrich told her that Callista was “going to help him become president.”

Keep in mind that Gingrich met his first wife when he was in high school and she was his teacher, his second wife by cheating on his first, and his third by cheating on his second. Here's the timeline. So any pretensions about Gingrich being a family values kind of guy flew out the window decades ago. Read the rest of this post...

Romney may not have won Iowa after all, Santorum now ahead - and Rick Perry goes down

First we find out that Rick Perry is out (of the race, silly), and now Mittens is losing his cherished win in Iowa.  How can something so wrong feel so right? Read the rest of this post...

Noam Chomsky: Who are the Unpeople?

Who are the Unpeople?

In this talk, Noam Chomsky starts with specifics — the Unpeople of Libya, the Unpeople of Africa — but the heart is the general, the concept itself. Who are the Unpeople of the earth?

Here's a taste. Chomsky starts with the unilateral bombing of Libya "by their traditional imperial aggressors: France and Britain, joined by the United States" — in violation of U.N. Security Council Resolution 1973 which "called for a no-fly zone, a cease-fire and measures to protect civilians."

The "triumvirate" blew right past that with their bombing, and the African Union (A.U.) went to the U.N. to object (my emphasis and some reparagraphing throughout):

The A.U. call to the Security Council also laid out the background for their concerns: “Sovereignty has been a tool of emancipation of the peoples of Africa who are beginning to chart transformational paths for most of the African countries after centuries of predation by the slave trade, colonialism and neocolonialism. Careless assaults on the sovereignty of African countries are, therefore, tantamount to inflicting fresh wounds on the destiny of the African peoples.”

The African appeal can be found in the Indian journal Frontline, but was mostly unheard in the West. That comes as no surprise: Africans are “unpeople,” to adapt George Orwell’s term for those unfit to enter history.

You can see where this is headed.

On March 12, the Arab League gained the status of people by supporting U.N. Resolution 1973. But approval soon faded when the League withheld support for the subsequent Western bombardment of Libya. And [then] on April 10, the Arab League reverted to unpeople by calling on the U.N. also to impose a no-fly zone over Gaza and to lift the Israeli siege, virtually ignored.

That too makes good sense. Palestinians are prototypical unpeople, as we see regularly.

Read the rest; it's very good (and available as a video here.)

Who are the Unpeople? Unpeople are those you can abuse and kill, decimate and dislocate, without conscience or consequence, because they aren't fully human — or human at all — in the minds of their abusers.

American Indians were Unpeople, squatting on land just waiting to be "settled" as whites spread across the "empty" American West. Arabs were Unpeople who "crawled like flies" through Palestine (per Agatha Christie), until white Europeans, the only true humans, infiltrated, moved them out, and took over.

Oddly, those same Europeans — ethnic Jews — were Unpeople in the lands they were fleeing. Suffering doesn't always lead to wisdom.

It goes without saying, or should, that the drone-dead in Pakistan are Unpeople. (Feel a tad guilty? Me too.)

Here at home, Unpeople are all around us — the poor, the brown, the black, the homeless, the hopeless, the drugged-out, the cast-out — the wrecks and the unruly. The old. The "losers" in that hyper-Christian "take back America" formulation. The Occupyers and the foreclosed.

All Unpeople are the modern n-word, broadened to include the Unincluded everywhere you find them.

Are you the Unpeople? If you find yourself scooped up by the National Security state, you will be; even that white skin, if you have it, will not set you free.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Stephen Colbert running ads against himself, urging people to vote for Herman Cain

And his ad is narrated by Samuel L. Jackson. Basically, he's trying to educate people about the evils of the SuperPAC. And he found out that there is no write-in option in South Carolina during this Saturday's primary, so that's why he's urging people to vote for Cain. Very weird or genius, I'm still unclear.  More evidence that Colbert is having some impact, from Chris Cillizza at the Washington Post.  And here's Colbert's latest ad:



PS The LA Times reports that millions of people signed petitions yesterday opposing SOPA and PIPA. Read the rest of this post...

Stiglitz: European austerity like 'medieval medicine'

Remember that austerity is exactly what the US Republicans are also promoting. They're oblivious to the downside of austerity and even pretend as though downsides are non-existent. Meanwhile in Europe, we're seeing the UK drift back into recession and the austerity program is only now kicking in. There will be a lot of economic pain in 2012.

"The answer, even though they see over and over again that austerity leads to collapse of the economy, the answer over and over [from politicians] is more austerity," said Mr Stiglitz to the Asian Financial Forum, a gathering of over 2,000 finance professionals, businessmen and government officials in Hong Kong. "It reminds me of medieval medicine," he said. "It is like blood-letting, where you took blood out of a patient because the theory was that there were bad humours. "And very often, when you took the blood out, the patient got sicker. The response then was more blood-letting until the patient very nearly died. What is happening in Europe is a mutual suicide pact," he said.

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Italian cruise ship captain 'slipped and fell into lifeboat'

Did his dog also eat the charts that explained how dangerous the waters are, which is why they weren't on the planned route?

The cruise-liner captain accused of abandoning ship after it struck rocks off the Tuscan coast last Friday has reportedly claimed he could not lead the evacuation because he slipped and fell into a lifeboat while helping passengers leave the stricken vessel. Captain Francesco Schettino said it was an accident that he left the Costa Concordia, according to Italian press reports. "The passengers were pouring on to the decks, taking the lifeboats by assault," he was quoted as telling a judge during a hearing to determine whether he should be held in custody on charges of manslaughter and abandoning ship. "I was trying to get people to get into the boats in an orderly fashion. Suddenly, since the ship was at a 60-70 degree angle, I tripped and I ended up in one of the boats. That's how I found myself in the lifeboat," Schettino said.

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Feds make more insider trading arrests, but still no Wall Street crash arrests

It's good to be da' king. Thank goodness the Feds are going after something valued at $62 million rather than the billions and trillions associated with the Wall Street crash of 2008. Distractions appear to be the preferred choice rather than the more serious problems. It hasn't gone unnoticed that the small houses are the ones who get hit rather than the household names that the country knows from the bailouts.

A press conference will be held Wednesday to announce charges against seven investment professionals who participated in an insider trading scheme that allegedly netted more than $61.8 million in illegal profits based on trades of a single stock. Some arrests have already taken place. Todd Newman, who once headed technology trading for Diamondback Capital Management was arrested in Boston this morning. Newman was placed on a leave of absence in 2010 and subsequently let go by that firm.

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Court evicts OccupyLSX in London

The High Court in London has ruled that the Occupy Camp at St Pauls Cathedral has to go. The camp is one of three in London and was the first to be established. It is the site of the Tent City University.

It seems that a compromise proposal that would have had tents present during the day but removed at night has also been rejected. The judge, Mr Justice Lindblom, refused permission to appeal which means that the protestors now have to persuade the Court of Appeal to hear their appeal. We have not yet had sight of the judgment but reports from the hearing suggest that the loss was comprehensive.

The protestors were represented by John Cooper QC (@John_Cooper_QC on twitter - well worth following for insight and updates).

The streets have not been filled with angry members of the public mustering in support of the protestors. Active support for the camp seems to have dwindled as the progress of the protest meandered towards simply finding ways to sustain its presence. For some, the camp has achieved its aim: establishing a debate. Others were more ambitious in terms of aims and are more disappointed as a result.

Elsewhere, a permanent protest encampment in Parliament Square has been removed, again with nothing more than a shrug from the British public. Read the rest of this post...