You can discuss it her if you like but I wrote it on my other blog.

Yeah, those in the know were expecting GM and Ford to be downgraded by S & P. George Will wrote about it a week before it happened. And all the talk about corporate pensions being abandoned is almost a guarantee that it will happen...other airlines can't compete if they keep their promises.

I've wondered for a while how the powers-that-be would respond when it became obvious boundary conditions have changed such that maintaining our particular patterns of economic activity costs more than it returns. I knew they'd want a "soft landing" rather than a crash but I didn't really know what that would look like.

I believe we are about to find out.

Groups Lose Recognition as Tribes
By RAYMOND HERNANDEZ

WASHINGTON, May 13 - Two groups of American Indians planning to build casinos in Connecticut were dealt major blows on Friday when a federal panel reversed earlier decisions granting both of them recognition as tribes.

The decision by the panel, the Interior Board of Indian Appeals, affects the Schaghticoke Tribal Nation and the Eastern Pequot Indian tribe. Their cases will go back to the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs for more review, officials said.

The Schaghticoke Tribal Nation was recognized as a tribe by the Bureau of Indian Affairs in 2004, and the Eastern Pequots in 2002.

Ronald Brownstein, L.A. Times:

"This is their style of governing," said Marshall Wittmann, a former aide to Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) who is a fellow at the Democratic Leadership Council, a centrist party group. "You build upon the base and pressure the middle and you ignore the other side. You push across the finish line and you move on. In their mind, a win is a win, regardless of how narrow or polarizing it is."

This approach has allowed Bush to move more of his agenda into law than appeared possible for a president twice elected with narrow majorities in the electoral college. But it has also bitterly divided the country over his presidency, and so alienated congressional Democrats that Bush often needs virtually lock-step Republican support to pass his priorities.

The next few weeks will severely test Bush's ability to maintain that partisan unity, as Congress approaches explosive battles over ending filibusters of judicial nominees and restructuring Social Security —  as well as the Senate floor vote on Bolton.

Do you own a vacuum cleaner? Do you own a window fan? If so, Grasshopper, you are ready for today's lesson in the Art of Political War.

School board approves tougher math standards
By MARY MacDONALD
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/13/05

The state Board of Education approved a rigorous new math curriculum Thursday that will send traditional algebra and geometry classes the way of the abacus and slide rule.

The new math standards for Georgia high schools will require teachers to weave elements of algebra, geometry, statistics and other topics into their classes, instead of teaching them as separate branches of math.

Process Begins for John Paul's Sainthood

By DANIELA PETROFF
Associated Press Writer

ROME   Pope Benedict XVI said Friday he had begun the process for the sainthood of Pope John Paul II, overriding the usual five-year waiting period following the death of a possible candidate.

The pope made the announcement during a meeting with the Roman clergy at the Basilica of St. John Lateran, first telling the assembled priests, "and now I have a very joyous piece of news for you."

Indignation Grows in U.S. Over British Prewar Documents
Critics of Bush call them proof that he and Blair never saw diplomacy as an option with Hussein.
By John Daniszewski
Times Staff Writer
May 12, 2005

LONDON   Reports in the British press this month based on documents indicating that President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair had conditionally agreed by July 2002 to invade Iraq appear to have blown over quickly in Britain.

But in the United States, where the reports at first received scant attention, there has been growing indignation among critics of the Bush White House, who say the documents help prove that the leaders made a secret decision to oust Iraqi President Saddam Hussein nearly a year before launching their attack, shaped intelligence to that aim and never seriously intended to avert the war through diplomacy.

I was kind of surprised when I read the Slashdot item on this. Thought about it some and figured out this is a rational move for Microsoft. You know that XP has to be "activated" within a certain amount of time. Here, even a dial-up Internet hookup makes that easy. But these markets don't have the infrastructure to make the requirement unintrusive enough to be tolerable. Maybe later, maybe soon, but at the moment Microsoft's choice is to leave the markets open to Linux evangelization or remove that requirement.

But the PC makers Microsoft actually sells to do have access to that infrastructure. Not to mention CD burners. How long do you think it would take for a fully XP-compatible operating system with no activation requirement to make it from Bangalore or Beijing to Brooklyn?

Whatever you think of Windows, Microsoft's fortunes are tied to it. They pretty much had to make sure it doesn't run on the computers most likely to be sold in their most profitable markets.

You know what, though? Odds are, it'll still wind up on a lot of computers sold at computer fairs nationwide.

Windows for India, others won't run on faster chips
By Michael Kanellos

When questioned one of the suspects said, "Shit, I thought we were in Nicaragua!"

U.S. Soldiers, Law Officers Snared in Border Drug Sting
By Ralph Vartabedian
Times Staff Writer
May 13, 2005

A brazen conspiracy among U.S. law enforcement officers and soldiers to smuggle cocaine from Mexico was disclosed Thursday by the Justice Department, adding to concerns that public corruption north of the border was growing.

Wearing uniforms and even driving U.S. military vehicles, 16 suspects were caught in a sting run by an FBI-led task force. Eleven entered guilty pleas Thursday in Tucson; the other five have agreed to do so soon.

The sound you just heard was Lou Dobbs' head exploding (I name Dobbs because he's the least toxic spokesman for the National Xenophobe Front and typing his name doesn't make my keyboard quite as tacky as some others).

Joint Bill Would Revamp Immigrant Worker Rules
By Johanna Neuman, Times Staff Writer

WASHINGTON   Describing America's immigration system as broken, a bipartisan group of lawmakers introduced legislation Thursday to set up a temporary worker program that could lead to permanent resident status and would allow undocumented foreigners already here to work legally after paying sizable fines and undergoing background checks.

"This is a comprehensive bill that doesn't try to solve the hemorrhaging immigration problem with a Band-Aid   this bill is major surgery," said Rep. Jim Kolbe (R-Ariz.), one of the measure's sponsors in the House. "We must recognize reality and implement a tightly structured guest worker program to securely, and legally, fill jobs that no American is available [for] or wants to do."

I'm still just pointing things out, not complaining at all...

Podesta Advises Bush on Reform

Yesterday, Bush's Advisory Panel on Federal Tax Reform had a public meeting to hear suggestions about how to improve the system. Reform is badly needed after the last four years; President Bush's tax schemes have made the system more complex, shifted more of the burden to the middle class and exploded the federal deficit. Among the presenters yesterday was American Progress President John Podesta, who presented our comprehensive plan for progressive tax reform. (Hey, Byron York, are you paying attention?) Podesta explained that, including payroll taxes, a cook at a high-school cafeteria making $25,000 a year effectively pays 30 percent of his or her income in federal taxes. A two-earner family making $85,000 a year effectively pays 40 percent in taxes. Meanwhile, a millionaire pays just 15 percent on his or her investment income. The American Progress plan is fiscally responsible reform that simplifies the system, restores fairness and increases economic opportunity.

FAIRNESS   TAX ALL INCOME THE SAME: Under the Bush administration's tax policies, middle-class Americans are shouldering more of the burden. The American Progress plan corrects that by simplifying the rate structure and taxing each source of income at the same rate   whether it is dividends from investments or wages.

Sounds familiar.

I don't even know which category to put this in.

Last night, anti-abortion extremist Neal Horsley was a guest on The Alan Colmes Show, a FOX News radio program. The topic was an interesting one - whether or not an internet service provider should allow Horsley to post the names of abortion doctors on his website. Horsley does that as a way of targeting them and one doctor has been killed. In the course of the interview, however, Colmes asked Horsley about his background, including a statement that he had admitted to engaging in homosexual and bestiality sex.

At first, Horsley laughed and said, "Just because it's printed in the media, people jump to believe it."

"Is it true?" Colmes asked.

"Hey, Alan, if you want to accuse me of having sex when I was a fool, I did everything that crossed my mind that looked like I..."

AC: "You had sex with animals?"

NH: "Absolutely. I was a fool. When you grow up on a farm in Georgia, your first girlfriend is a mule."

African-American philanthropy
Wealth and giving grow among blacks, but lag overall population, study says.

African Americans earned and gave more from 1992 to 2001 but did not keep pace with the overall population, a new study says.

The study, "Wealth Transfer Estimates for African American Households," conducted by the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College, analyzes the state of African-American income, wealth and giving, and projects future wealth transfer between generations.

Quote of note 1:

Previous research has shown that Caucasians show an increased amygdala response to African American photos to the extent that they hold nonconscious negative attitudes towards African Americans, Lieberman said.

and

Why do African Americans have this amygdala response?

"One theory," Lieberman said, "is that people are likely to pick up the stereotypes prevalent in a society regardless of whether their family or community agrees with those stereotypes. Several social psychologists have found evidence for this view. From an early age, cultural views, media portrayals and even the body language of authority figures may train our brains, whether we consciously agree or not."

Quote of note 2 is at the end of the post.

New Panel Will Study Medicaid With Eyes Toward Big Changes
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, May 11 - The Bush administration will create an advisory panel to recommend big changes in Medicaid eligibility and benefits and in the financing of the program, administration officials said Wednesday.

By Sept. 1, the panel is to recommend ways to save $10 billion in Medicaid, the federal-state program that insures more than 50 million low-income people.

A charter establishing the commission says that by Dec. 31, 2006, it will make "longer-term recommendations on the future of the Medicaid program."

The commission will have up to 15 voting members and 18 nonvoting members. The voting members will all be appointed by Michael O. Leavitt, the secretary of health and human services. Mr. Leavitt rejected bipartisan Congressional pleas for an independent commission under the auspices of the National Academy of Sciences.

I'm not even complaining any more. I'm just pointing out the inevitable.

The Young and the Jobless
By BOB HERBERT

There were high fives at the White House last week when the latest monthly employment report showed that 274,000 jobs had been created in April, substantially more than experts had predicted.

The employment bar has been set so low for the Bush administration that even a modest gain is cause for celebration. But we shouldn't be blinded by the flash of last Saturday's headlines. American workers, especially younger workers, remain stuck in a gloomy employment landscape.

For example, a recent report from the Center for Labor Market Studies at Northeastern University in Boston tells us that the employment rate for the nation's teenagers in the first 11 months of 2004 - just 36.3 percent - was the lowest it has ever been since the federal government began tracking teenage employment in 1948.

Maybe I was wrong

Chappelle Reportedly Checks Into Facility
By DAVID BAUDER
AP Television Writer

NEW YORK — Comedy Central star Dave Chappelle has checked himself into a mental health facility in South Africa, the magazine Entertainment Weekly reported on Wednesday.

The comedian's whereabouts and condition have been unknown since Comedy Central abruptly announced last week that the planned May 31 launch of the third season of "Chappelle's Show" had been postponed and production halted.

Chappelle flew from Newark, N.J., to South Africa on April 28 for treatment, said the magazine, quoting a source close to the show it would not identify. Entertainment Weekly said it had corroborating sources for its story.

State workers who smoke will pay more for insurance
By NANCY BADERTSCHER, JAMES SALZER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/05

Teachers and other state employees who smoke will have to pay $40 a month more for health insurance starting July 1.

Employees are fuming over the surcharge, which hits state workers, public school teachers and their families who admit to smoking or using tobacco in the past 12 months.

And the media, embarrassed by being suckered by a non-governmental entity (they're used to being suckered by governmental entities), are going to work this mental defective over.

Wilbanks told lurid tale of abduction, sex acts
By TASGOLA KARLA BRUNER
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/12/05

Before she recanted to the FBI, runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks gave Albuquerque, N.M., police elaborate details about a couple she claimed abducted her and sex acts she alleged they committed against her, according to a report released Wednesday.

U.N. Nominee Asserts His Independence on Intelligence
By DOUGLAS JEHL

WASHINGTON, May 11 - With a vote scheduled Thursday on his contested nomination as ambassador to the United Nations, John R. Bolton has told the Senate Foreign Relations Committee that a policy maker should maintain the right to "state his own reading of the intelligence" even when it differs from that of intelligence agencies.

However, a policy maker has no right to state what the intelligence is...no right to disregard or invent new intelligence and no right to demand it of the intelligence agencies.

Iran won't respect NPT if nuke rights denied-Rohani
May 12, 2005

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iran warned on Thursday it would no longer respect the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) if it was denied the right to pursue what it considers its right to develop a full civilian nuclear energy program.

"If Iran cannot use its legitimate rights in the framework of the NPT, it will no longer have respect for the treaty," the semi-official ISNA students news agency quoted chief nuclear negotiator Hassan Rohani as telling visiting Russian deputy foreign minister Sergei Kislyak.

Iran, a signatory of the NPT, which was designed to limit the spread of nuclear weapons, is engaged in a high-stakes standoff with the West over its nuclear program.

Quote of note:

Assisted living communities are great, for those who can afford them. While some are subsidized, most aren't. At a going rate of $3,000 a month and up, most are beyond the pocketbooks of most seniors.

A new model for elder care
By Robert Kuttner  |  May 11, 2005

BY THE time my mother turned 90, she had outlived the several friends and neighbors who lived in the Brookline apartment building where she'd spent the past 25 years. It was getting lonely and a bit risky. She and I began touring assisted-living complexes, whose apartments for the most part were small and pricey. ''This is for old people," my mother said.

The Flight From Pensions

There is one certainty should the troubled pension plan system go broke. Taxpayers would be pressured to bail out the federal agency that insures traditional corporate retirement programs. Our advice for taxpayers when Congress comes knocking? Just say no.

Federal law doesn't require taxpayers to bail out the Pension Benefit Guarantee Corp. It's troubling that anyone in Washington would think of asking taxpayers, most of whom will never enjoy the security promised by a traditional pension, to surrender hard-earned dollars so airplane pilots and steel workers can enjoy a more comfortable retirement. Who's going to bail out the worker who can't afford the grocery bills and rent?

We could always stick our children with the growing retirement plan shortfall. But that could prove nettlesome given record federal budget deficits that already are part of their inheritance and the growing likelihood that they'll also be forced to bail out Social Security and Medicare. That leaves a national policy that makes it every man and woman for himself or herself in retirement. That's what it all seems to be boiling down to: a sorry string of broken promises.

Experts hold up the familiar three-legged stool to illustrate solid retirement planning. But Washington's seeming inability to shore up the Social Security system's long-term finances is inviting termites to nibble on one leg. United Airlines' plan to dump $6.6 billion of its pension liabilities onto the troubled PBGC underscores how anxious corporations in "legacy" industries (where pensions are most common) are to kick out the second leg.

That leaves   drum roll, please   personal savings to pick up the slack. So it's foolish to think that individuals who are barely able to save for their own retirement would be able to bail out neighbors whose promised monthly pension checks are in jeopardy.

At least this sheriff isn't claiming it's justified...

Quote of note 1:

An unedited videotape of the incident appears to show several key tactical lapses by deputies, Gennaco said. They appear to have fired toward other deputies and deviated from the vehicle shooting policy, which states deputies must consider their surroundings before opening fire, he said.

2

Sheriff's deputies wounded a roofer whom they mistook for a gunman during a chaotic shooting near Carson on March 31, 2004, when 111 shots were fired.

3

Gennaco cited several other cases that involved contagious fire, including one in 2003 in which 10 deputies fired a total of 61 rounds and another in January in which six deputies fired 60 rounds.

Another Case of 'Contagious Fire'
A 120-round fusillade in Compton is one in a series of such incidents involving deputies.
By Nicholas Shields and Andrew Blankstein
Times Staff Writers
May 12, 2005

Quote of note:

"He saw good in everything and everybody. That's what makes this so unbelievable," he said. "You don't have a favorite brother, or a favorite brother-in-law, [but] Dave in many ways was so perfect that you think this has got to be a mistake. He adored his kids. He loved his mother. It's a mystery to us all."

Trask described McGowan, 44, as a hard-working "model employee" whose recent evaluation left him poised to earn a promotion. Trask said his agency has found "no significant financial issues that would indicate there was a problem."

"Something went truly awry in his psychological health," Trask said. "You don't just do that unless you've hit a depression to the point that you've lost all hope. What caused that, though, is something that we may truly never know.

Slaying of 6 Is Pinned on Father
An investigator, found dead with his family in Riverside County, left a despairing note with lyrics. Motive is unclear.
By Lance Pugmire and Seema Mehta
Times Staff Writers
May 12, 2005

Democrats Reject a Compromise on Judicial Nominees
By CARL HULSE

WASHINGTON, May 10 - Senator Bill Frist, the majority leader, said Tuesday that a confrontation over judicial nominations could reach a climax next week, while his Democratic counterpart dismissed a Republican offer of compromise and made clear that his party was ready for the fight.

There was no compromise.

Senator Harry Reid of Nevada, the Democratic leader, formally rejected on Tuesday an offer Dr. Frist made last week to allow 100 hours of debate on court nominees before requiring a vote. Mr. Reid urged Republicans to find a way to avoid the floor fight.

That's the same thing they tried with the Ethics Committee...change the rules so that there's really no need to ever even address the Democratic position. Just pop a Valium and mail in your party line vote.

...depends on the level you want to work on. I have a high school level textbook, The Black Experience in America by Norman Coombs, posted at The Niggerati Network...but suppose you want to go deeper and are too cheap to buy books?

Easy. You check out eBlack Studies.

eBlack Studies is a project in cyberspace.  Its purpose is to provide information for students and scholars in all academic fields that focus primarily on Africa and the African Diaspora.  Our mission is one stop shopping for everyone in the field of Africana Studies, especially graduate students, faculty, librarians, departmental webmasters, and interested search engines.

There are two very interesting ebooks there; at the moment I want to bring Introduction to Afro-American Studies, a college-level introduction to Black Studies. Seriously worth your time.

DeLay's worst: a dirty drama of bondage

...But the question arises: Is the pond hop to historic links the worst thing the Texas Republican has ever done? Hardly. There are many qualified candidates, but one stands out for its squalor. That's DeLay's personal campaign to ensure that garment industry sweatshop workers and sex slaves in the Northern Mariana Islands - a U.S. territory - were exploited in a system that resembled indentured servitude.

Who am I kidding? I'd have preferred they be flayed.

Quote of note:

Sometimes the act of ignoring repulsive behavior will extinguish it. But behavior modification is not an effective tool against the practitioners of unbridled hate. The neo-Nazis left Boston with rejection burning their ears. Hot speech, not the cold shoulder, drove them away.

Free speech at Faneuil Hall
May 10, 2005

GOOD SPEECH overpowered bad Sunday in Boston when hundreds of demonstrators verbally outmaneuvered a group of about 20 white supremacists seeking to mar a Faneuil Hall service marking the 60th anniversary of the liberation of the survivors of the Nazi Holocaust.

Quote of note:

Melvin Reine Sr. has been under a cloud of suspicion since his first wife, Wanda, disappeared in 1971. Shirley Reine moved in with him the next year, and they married in 1999, the Cape Cod Times reported.

At the time of his first wife's disappearance, Melvin Reine told police he drove her to the Falmouth bus station, according to newspaper clippings. She hasn't been seen since. Melvin Reine was never charged.

Now in his mid-70s, Melvin Reine was found mentally incompetent to stand trial for a 2000 incident in which he allegedly threatened to shoot a woman in a convenience store parking lot. The next year, he signed over the trash collection company to his wife.

DA investigates death of woman found slain in her garage

Accused father showed lack of emotion
By Nathaniel Hernandez, Associated Press Writer  |  May 11, 2005

ZION, Ill. --A father being questioned about the deaths of his 8-year-old daughter and her friend showed a lack of emotion and "things didn't add up" in his statements to police, a prosecutor said after the father was charged with murdering both girls.

Prosecutor Michael Waller would not discuss possible motives but said details would come out at a bond hearing Wednesday. Waller said he couldn't comment on whether Jerry Hobbs, 34, had confessed.

Hobbs, just out of a Texas prison a few weeks, led police to the girls' bodies in a ravine Monday. He was charged Tuesday on the second day of questioning by police.

Ridge Defends Color-Coded Alert System
Newsday
Wednesday, May 11, 2005; A08

Former Homeland Security secretary Tom Ridge defended the agency's color-coded alert system yesterday, saying officials carefully decided when to issue the warnings and thought it was important to pass on threat information to the public.

"People focus too much on colors. It could be numbers, it could be animals," Ridge said. "The American public wants us to focus more on the information."

And these guys had training.

Sheriff to Investigate Deputies' Role in Shooting
Associated Press
Wednesday, May 11, 2005; A18

LOS ANGELES, May 10 -- Authorities promised a full investigation Tuesday into why deputies riddled a sport-utility vehicle and a Compton neighborhood with 120 bullets, wounding an unarmed driver and possibly striking a deputy.

"The question is: Did they have to fire as many rounds as they did?" Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca told NBC's "Today."

The driver, identified as Winston Hayes, 44, had four gunshot wounds and was hospitalized in stable condition Tuesday morning, the sheriff's department said.

(I don't think I need to mention that elephant in the corner, do you?)

Halliburton Wins Bonuses

By REUTERS

WASHINGTON, May 10 (Reuters) - The Army said Tuesday that it had awarded $72 million in bonuses to the Halliburton Company for logistics work in Iraq but had not decided whether to give the company bonuses for disputed dining services to troops.

The Army Field Support Command in Rock Island, Ill., said in a statement that it had given a Halliburton unit, Kellogg Brown & Root, ratings from excellent to very good for six task orders for work supporting troops in Iraq.

Quote of note:

Until now, the Bush administration has allowed only 1 percent of all students, those most severely handicapped, to be given special tests to assess whether they are comprehending material at grade level. All other disabled students have been required to take the same tests as the general student body.

Last month, Ms. Spellings said the Department of Education would give some states increased flexibility, allowing them to administer alternative tests to an additional 2 percent of students, those who have extreme difficulties with standard instruction and assessment.

U.S. Provides Rules to States for Testing Special Pupils
By SUSAN SAULNY

Quote of note:

"I don't believe he preached politics," said Rhonda Trantham, one of Mr. Chandler's supporters.

...Mr. Chandler's lawyer, John J. Pavey Jr., said his client had not apologized for anything he said and would continue to speak out against abortion. He said the dispute had nothing to do with politics.

...Mr. Chandler's resignation, at a meeting open only to members of the congregation, came a day after a national group that lobbies for church-state separation urged the Internal Revenue Service to investigate the tax-exempt status of the church.

I.R.S. rules bar clear-cut politicking by tax-exempt groups. In October, days before Mr. Bush won a second term, the agency said it was investigating roughly 60 charities and other tax-exempt groups - about a third of them churches - for potentially breaking rules that bar them from political activity.

Church Split in Dispute Over Bush
By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

As soon as all the muscles in the back of my neck relax, I'll finish what I was working on when that call came in.

I just got a call from the hospital about my father.

Anonymous comments will not be reviewed for a while. Be nice. 

United Air Wins Right to Default on Its Employee Pension Plans

By MICHELINE MAYNARD

United Airlines, which is operating in bankruptcy protection, received court permission yesterday to terminate its four employee pension plans, setting off the largest pension default in the three decades that the government has guaranteed pensions.

The ruling by Judge Eugene R. Wedoff of Federal Bankruptcy Court came after a lengthy hearing in a crowded Chicago courtroom, near where United is based.

Despite pleas by union lawyers, Judge Wedoff sided with United, which had insisted that it could not emerge from bankruptcy protection with its pension plans in place.

Conservatism As Pathology
Are Bush supporters literally insane?
By Timothy Noah
Posted Monday, May 9, 2005, at 8:40 PM PT

The people who were once radical are now reactionary. Though they speak today in the same aggrieved language of victimization, and though they face the same array of economic forces as their hard-bitten ancestors, today's populists make demands that are precisely the opposite. Tear down the federal farm programs, they cry. Privatize the utilities. Repeal the progressive taxes. All that Kansas asks today is a little help nailing itself to that cross of gold.

--Thomas Frank, What's the Matter With Kansas?

The working class's refusal to synchronize its politics with its economic interests is one of the enduring puzzles of the present age. Between 1989 and 1997, middle-income families (defined in this instance as the middle 20 percent) saw their share of the nation's wealth fall from 4.8 percent to 4.4 percent. Yet Al Gore lost the white working class by a margin of 17 percentage points, and John Kerry lost it by a margin of 23 percentage points. As the GOP drifts further to the right, and becomes more starkly the party of the wealthy, it is gaining support among the working class.

I have never seen a wholly satisfactory explanation for this trend, which now spans two generations. It's the decline of unions, says Thomas Frank. It's values, says Tom Edsall. It's testosterone, says Arlie Russell Hochschild. Each of these explanations seems plausible up to a point, but even when taken together, their magnitude doesn't seem big enough. Republicans, of course, will argue that it's simply the working man's understanding that the GOP has the better argument, i.e., that the best way to help the working class is to shower the rich with tax breaks. But the Bush administration has been showering the rich with tax breaks for more than four years, and the working class has nothing to show for it.

Let's consider another possibility, then: The working class, or at least a large segment of same, suffers from a psychological disorder.

Seriously, because we already know this sort of thing is never announced unless it's too big to deny.

Internet Attack Called Broad and Long Lasting by Investigators
By JOHN MARKOFF and LOWELL BERGMAN

SAN FRANCISCO, May 9 - The incident seemed alarming enough: a breach of a Cisco Systems network in which an intruder seized programming instructions for many of the computers that control the flow of the Internet.

Now federal officials and computer security investigators have acknowledged that the Cisco break-in last year was only part of a more extensive operation - involving a single intruder or a small band, apparently based in Europe - in which thousands of computer systems were similarly penetrated.

I have the RSS feed for the front page of The Niggerati Network in a sidebar block, but it only runs like twice a day. I'm jumping the gun though because there's a post by Solomon (a.k.a. Solo of Solotude) there I don't want you to miss. It's a response to this letter.

I have been reading your site.  I gotta send you some props and lots of respect because you have a way with words and a bent towards the truth.  I haven't replied to any of the postings and won't till I have something to say.  I do congratulate you on your well developed style and serious nature (but not to serious so as to lose your humanity).
 
Needless to say but I will say it anyway.......much respect for your hard and admirable self mastery and turn to the Way.
 
By the way, I am a police officer and work undercover in a narcotics unit.  I would be interested in any observations you have about police brutality.  Not whether it is wrong or whether it exists at all but what you think from your perspective of the context in which it is usually placed.  I am a 36 year old white dude who grew up in a predominantly black (80%) neighborhood.  I see racism all the time but wonder if it is more of a permutation of the general tendency of people to have a foul side, than a force of its own.   I think I have an unusual take and experience on racial issues because of my job.....the whiteness and my long term familiarity with black culture.  I say "familiarity with"  because as I have gotten older I realize that having white skin is a permanent....if sometimes permeable barrier.

GONZALES' REVISIONIST HISTORY: In a press conference yesterday, Attorney General Alberto Gonzales expressed his support for Priscilla Owen, adding, "I've never accused her of being an activist judge." Yet, when both Gonzales and Owen sat on the Texas Supreme Court, Gonzales called one of her opinions "an unconscionable act of judicial activism." In another case Gonzales accused Owen of attempting to "judicially amend the statute."

New poll: Floridians not ready for hurricanes
A poll suggests that Floridians and other coastal residents are unprepared for the hurricane season -- despite last year's experience.
BY MARTIN MERZER

Even in the wake of last year's catastrophic swarm of storms, many Floridians and other U.S. coastal residents are woefully apathetic about -- and unprepared for -- hurricanes, according to a poll released Monday.

The Mason-Dixon poll found that nearly half the residents of vulnerable areas from Texas to Maine, including Florida, still do not have a plan to react to an approaching hurricane; two out of three would choose the wrong destination if ordered to evacuate; and two in five erroneously believe that flooding is covered by standard homeowners insurance.

Players can get 'high' in 'Narc' video game
Critic blasts game for glorifying drug use; game banned in Australia
From Alex Walker

ATLANTA, Georgia (CNN) -- In the video game "Narc," published by Midway, you play an undercover police officer busting drug dealers.

Except in this game, your cop character can take the drugs he confiscates -- and the illicit substances can enhance performance.

Narc's publishers at Midway say the game is all about choices, and the consequences of those choices. The following is an excerpt of a statement released to CNN by the company's chief marketing officer, Steve Allison:

"The drugs in Narc affect game play -- addiction, and crime and punishment are predominant themes in the story. Ultimately, the players who choose to take drugs will face consequences; they will experience the highs and lows of this culture, but following this path will ultimately lead to failure."

Illinois town stunned by killings
'They were best friends ... they were always together'

ZION, Illinois (AP) -- The news that two girls out on a Mother's Day bicycle ride were stabbed multiple times and left to die near a bike path has shaken the residents of this small city near the Wisconsin line.

Now the search is on for those responsible, but Police Chief Doug Malcolm said Monday that authorities have had not identified any suspects and there were no solid leads.

"It was a crime not only against those kids but against all of us," Malcolm said Monday.

Now that I've got THAT out of the way...

EPA Puts Mandated Lead-Paint Rules on Hold
The agency is looking at voluntary standards to limit exposure instead. The revelation angers public health advocates and some lawmakers.
By Tom Hamburger
Times Staff Writer
May 10, 2005

WASHINGTON   The Environmental Protection Agency has quietly delayed work on completing required rules to protect children and construction workers from exposure to lead-based paint, exploring instead the possibility of using voluntary standards to govern building renovations and remodeling.

The EPA move, first disclosed in documents provided by an agency whistle-blower, has prompted angry questions from Democrats in Congress, the attorneys general of New York and Illinois, and public health advocates around the country.

Quote of note:

His four brothers and two sisters stopped calling, writing or visiting him in 1990.

Rough landing for exonerated inmate
He's one of 159 who have been freed after DNA testing
- Anna Badkhen, Chronicle Staff Writer
Monday, May 9, 2005

...At the age of 16, a sophomore in Jonesboro High School in northern Louisiana, he was arrested and convicted of raping his female math tutor. He spent 24 years in the Angola state penitentiary. Two months ago, he walked free. A DNA test -- which didn't exist when he was growing up -- proved what Williams had claimed all along: the state had gotten the wrong man.

Nationalism's Psychotic Side

After the war, my late father never visited Germany. He couldn't get over the shock that his "landsmen," whom he had respected as the best-educated and most industrially proficient people in the world, had descended to the lowest level of primitive barbarism yet recorded in human history.

What disgraced the German people indelibly was nationalism gone mad, and against that rapacious force the high standards of civilization offered scant protection.

Quote of note:

The Swedish researchers have now repeated the experiment but with the addition of gay men as a third group. The gay men responded to the two chemicals in the same way as did women, Dr. Savic reports, as if the hypothalamus's response is determined not by biological sex but by the owner's sexual orientation.

Gay Men Are Found to Have Different Scent of Attraction
By NICHOLAS WADE

Using a brain imaging technique, Swedish researchers have shown that homosexual and heterosexual men respond differently to two odors that may be involved in sexual arousal, and that the gay men respond in the same way as women.

Quote of note:

Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform and a leading figure in both the DeLay and Bush political operations, chose more colorful post-election language to describe the future. "Once the minority of House and Senate are comfortable in their minority status, they will have no problem socializing with the Republicans," he told Richard Leiby of The Post. "Any farmer will tell you that certain animals run around and are unpleasant. But when they've been 'fixed,' then they are happy and sedate. They are contented and cheerful."

A GOP Plan to 'Fix' the Democrats
By E. J. Dionne Jr.
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; Page A21

Virtual Secretary Puts New Face on Pakistan
Despite Area's Instability, More U.S. Firms Are Offshoring There
By S. Mitra Kalita
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; A01

In a chic downtown lobby across the street from the Old Executive Office Building, Saadia Musa answers phones, orders sandwiches and lets in the FedEx guy.

And she does it all from Karachi, Pakistan.

As receptionist for the Resource Group, Musa greets employees and visitors via a flat screen hanging on the lobby's wall. Although they are nine hours behind and nearly 7,500 miles away, her U.S.-based bosses rely on her to keep order during the traffic of calls and meetings.

Quote of note:

Without strong and sustained support for the superintendent's new academic standards, his plans to rebuild and repair schools, his determination to put better teachers and principals in the schools, and his desire to enlist more parents and volunteers to become involved in the schools, Mr. Janey will most assuredly join the list of other D.C. school chiefs who -- after being undercut by the board, overruled by the politicians, picked apart by school activists and abandoned by parents -- have thrown up their hands and departed.

Will D.C. Support Mr. Janey?
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; Page A20

CLIFFORD B. JANEY became D.C. school superintendent eight months ago, but the countdown on his stewardship actually began last week. That is when he unveiled his "Declaration of Education" -- his plan to raise student academic achievement "in every classroom in every school." Mr. Janey pledged to convert the school system's broken procurement, human resources, technology and other support activities into high-performing systems that undergird student achievement. And he promised to create a "culture of increased transparency, open communications" that will engage teachers, principals, parents and the community and increase participation in the schools. Achieving those goals, he said, will take three to five years. (In a meeting at The Post last month, he said it could take as long as seven years.) The overarching aim of Mr. Janey's plan is to improve student learning, beginning in the core subjects of English language arts and mathematics, and to boost graduation and attendance rates, while reducing truancy and dropout rates.

DHS Considers Alternatives To Color-Coded Warnings
By John Mintz
Washington Post Staff Writer
Tuesday, May 10, 2005; A06

Responding to widespread criticism, Department of Homeland Security officials are considering changes to the color-coded terrorism warning system and other methods of providing more useful information to the public without causing panic or disclosing closely held intelligence.

Among the possibilities forwarded to Secretary Michael Chertoff are issuing lower-key alerts on the department's Web site -- as the State Department does now with travel advisories -- rather than by holding news conferences, and changing the color categories to numbers or letters, current and former officials said.

George Will on This Week, speaking about Russia:

Yes, into the eyes of his good friend Vladimir he peered famously (chuckles from his peers) and found a soul that he liked. Well, that's the soul of a product of the thug culture of the KGB who is nostalgic for the Soviet Union, the collapse of which he has termed 'the greatest geopolitical disaster of the 20th century.'

Mr. Putin want Russia to be a superpower. The problem is it's not even a developed nation anymore...it's not even a developing nation. It has an economy larger than, but only slightly larger than, Los Angeles County.There's an alcohol problem such that 80% of Russian men drink and the 80% who drink, drink on average five bottles of vodka per week. They have a public health problem worse than sub-Saharan Africa (chuckles from his peers). I mean, it's a collapsing country and we're supposed to be... (cut off by Cokie)

I'm pretty sure the sheriff had other issues and hit on this excuse. I guess he figured if it was good enough for Ashcroft when he went after Greenpeace it's good enough to bully employees.

Quote of note:

"Certainly the government has no business regulating relationships between consenting adults in the privacy of their own homes," said Jennifer Rudinger, state executive director of the ACLU. "This law is 200 years old, and a lot of people are very surprised that we even have it on the books."

The sheriff told the Star-News of Wilmington last year that Hobbs's employment was a moral issue as well as a legal question. He said he tries to avoid hiring people who openly live together but does not send out deputies to enforce the law.

ACLU Challenges N.C. Cohabitation Law
Woman Fired for Living With Boyfriend

This could become semi-regular because

1. I have to take a walk every day
2. I frequently have a thought I'd like to follow up on while I'm nowhere near paper and pen
   

Quote of note:

Reid Calls Bush 'A Loser,' Then Apologizes
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid Calls Bush 'A Loser,' Apologizes to White House Official
By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA
The Associated Press

May. 9, 2005 - Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid called President Bush "a loser" during a civics discussion with a group of teenagers at a high school on Friday.

"The man's father is a wonderful human being," Reid, D-Nev., told students at Del Sol High School when asked about the president's policies. "I think this guy is a loser."

Shortly after the event Reid called the White House to apologize, his spokeswoman Tessa Hafen said. Reid spoke with Bush adviser Karl Rove, asking him to convey the apology to Bush, who was traveling in Europe.

The Nevada Democrat expressed "regret for the comments, that it was inappropriate," Hafen said. Reid was giving a late speech in Salt Lake City and was unavailable for comment, she said.

Reid Offers Olive Branch on Bush Nominee
Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid Gives Support to a Bush Judicial Nominee As Goodwill Gesture
By JESSE J. HOLLAND Associated Press Writer

Bush: Americans Ready to Invest S.S. Funds
Bush Says Americans From All Backgrounds Are Comfortable With Investing Retirement Funds
The Associated Press

May. 4, 2005 - President Bush said Wednesday that private investment accounts created from Social Security payroll taxes is an idea whose time has come as more Americans are comfortable with putting their retirement funds in the market.

Bush told the Latino Small Business Economic Conference that "people from all walks of life" are investing in 401k retirement accounts offered by their employers.

"I went down to the Nissan plant in Canton, Mississippi, (Tuesday) and it was a very diverse audience, a lot of assembly line workers," Bush said. "And I said, `How many of you all have got your own 401k?' I mean, the number of hands that went up was astounding."

Now ask them what's in the 401K.

Quote of note:

...the US efforts have been frustrated by a block of developing countries, led by Egypt, that have insisted the gathering should also address US disarmament pledges.

The United States is under fire for what some nations see as its violations of agreements made under the nonproliferation treaty in 1995 and 2000 to dismantle some of its weapons. In preparatory meetings with other countries before this year's conference, the Bush administration distanced itself from those commitments and refused to sign on to an agenda for the conference that explicitly referenced past pledges, saying those commitments were not binding, according to the UN officials and delegates involved.

That assertion alarmed many arms-control advocates.

Nations say US shirks its arms vows
The spotlight shifts at nuclear conference
By Farah Stockman, Globe Staff  |  May 9, 2005

Orrr....when they embarrass themselves?

Bride prosecuted on '96 shoplifting charge
May 9, 2005

ATLANTA --The attorney for runaway bride Jennifer Wilbanks previously prosecuted her for shoplifting nearly a decade ago and, in another case, Wilbanks served jail time for shoplifting, according to court records.

Lydia Sartain -- Wilbanks' current attorney -- prosecuted her in 1996 for allegedly shoplifting $1,740 in merchandise from a Gainesville mall, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported, citing court records.

Sartain, who was then Hall County district attorney, dropped the felony charge after the then 24-year-old completed a pretrial diversion program, which included 75 hours of community service and restitution, according to court records.

Quote of note:

But significantly, the fact that George Bush's black votes in Ohio doubled since 2000 (8% to 16%), and given the margin of victory at a little over 100,000 votes, these voters probably delivered victory for the president.

Whut?

I thought Bush owed his victory to the Religious Right.

Now, if Bush owes his victory to Black folks, are we going to start getting pork?

GOP Whispers To Black Voters
By Lisa Fabrizio
May 9, 2005

As if America's 'loyal opposition' didn't have enough trouble, another issue is quietly trickling its way into the public eye. An editorial piece in the Philadelphia Enquirer entitled, "Black Voters Warm to GOP," overtly states what, up to now, could only be whispered within Beltway confines: some black voters are leaving the Democratic Party.

This

...is not work safe, but is funny as hell.

This

...is work safe, but perhaps shouldn't be.

Stop being dicks.

Animal Rights Activists Step Up Attacks in N.Y.
Families of Drug Executives Are Harassed
By Michelle Garcia
Special to The Washington Post
Monday, May 9, 2005; Page A03

LAUREL HOLLOW, N.Y. -- Early one recent morning, the wife of a pharmaceutical executive was followed to her workplace, her car was broken into and her credit cards were stolen; later $20,000 in unauthorized charitable donations were billed on the cards.

It was the latest in a series of attacks by the Animal Liberation Front on the Long Island family. The activists, who have asserted responsibility, once scrawled "Puppy Killer" in red paint on the executive's house and have posted the couple's phone, license plate and bank account numbers on the Internet, along with this threat: "If we find a dime of that money granted to those charities was taken back, we will strip you bare."

An Assertive Scientific Advisory Group Challenges Federal Policies

By PHILIP M. BOFFEY

The National Academy of Sciences, once thought of as a timid, somnolent adviser on national affairs, has shown an unusually tough and independent streak in recent weeks. In rapid succession the academy's operating arm, the National Research Council, has criticized some pet projects and policies of powerful federal agencies and even the White House. That is a welcome onslaught of truth-telling at a time when rabid partisans routinely shade the facts for political gain.

The academy, which is based in Washington, operates a vast array of advisory committees that provide advice to the federal government and other sponsors who contract for its services. Typically, Congress or a federal agency might ask the academy to review the evidence and render a verdict on some important technical issue - everything from improving the census to protecting the environment from genetically engineered animals. The academy will then round up experts to produce a report that is supposed to be the definitive word on the subject.

Quote of note:

Teen birthrates fell by 30% between 1991 and 2002. The number of violent crimes in schools was halved between 1992 and 2002. Teen homicide rates dropped to their lowest level since 1966. Teen suicides decreased by 25%, and drug abuse, binge drinking and smoking all fell.

Yet the number of couples living together unmarried increased by more than 70% over the decade; the population at large increased by only 13% during this period. Gay and lesbian parenting became more common. The number of families headed by single mothers rose five times faster than the number of married-couple families.

Obviously, attributing the improvements of the 1990s to the continued increases in families headed by single moms is as absurd as blaming all the social ills of the 1980s on divorce.

Our Kids Are Not Doomed
By Stephanie Coontz
Stephanie Coontz, author of "Marriage, a History" (Viking, 2005), teaches family history at Evergreen State College in Olympia, Wash.
May 9, 2005

Bush and Putin Stand Unified on Terrorism
- By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent
Sunday, May 8, 2005

Changing the tone from tough talk to friendship, President Bush and Vladimir Putin went out of their way to take a unified stand on Middle East peace and terrorism Sunday after sharp words in recent days about democratic backsliding and postwar Soviet domination.

A smiling Putin even put Bush behind the wheel of his prized 1956 Volga, a pristine white sedan, and let him take it for a spin around the grounds of his private compound 25 miles west of Moscow. Putin also kidded the president about Laura Bush's recent comedy routine. The happy picture of the two presidents summed up a theme that aides on both sides described   powerful leaders who have a strong relationship and can discuss their disagreements.

The wedding dance:

Mac users running Safari: First:

Type "remove widget" into Apple Help, and you find out:

You cannot remove widgets from the Widget Bar or change their order.

Most of those reading this are probably aware of the workaround - just remove the offending widget from ~/Library/Widgets/. The Dashboard bar is not very good about updating when a widget is removed, but eventually it figures things out.

Also:

Daniel Naito
When the GreenZap Widget is downloaded, there are two very easy ways to delete it without rebooting:
1. In terminal, type "kill zaptastic_evil\ DashboardClient"
2. Use Activity Monitor to force the offending widget to quit.

The reason I mention it is someone figured out how to make and autoinstall evil widgets...which are much easier to monitor and get rid of than ActiveX controls are, but still...

GOP, Like Companies, Wants Workers to Carry the Safety Net
Ronald Brownstein
Washington Outlook
May 9, 2005

In an era when employers are retreating from the guaranteed benefits that once defined the American social safety net, should government accelerate or resist the trend?

...Bush and other Republicans are looking to limit government's financial exposure and shift more of the risk for ensuring pension and healthcare security to workers and retirees in the name of increasing choice.

That's exactly what employers have done for a generation, replacing plans that guaranteed workers a fixed monthly pension with systems that obligate employers to make only a monthly contribution to investment accounts workers manage themselves. On healthcare as well, employers are replacing programs that provided workers a defined benefit with alternatives that promise only a defined contribution.

Strong competition leads naturally to class structure
09 April 2005

EVERY society has its classes - the rich, the poor, and the middle class in-between. Now it seems that the divisions may be a mathematical consequence of competition between people.

Sidney Redner and Eli Ben-Naim of the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico created a mathematical model of society based on each person's "fitness" - a number that reflects their wealth or social status. When two individuals compete, the fitter wins, growing fitter, while the fitness of individuals who do not compete declines.

Surprisingly, social classes emerge naturally from such a model. When there were few encounters, everyone remained as a single class - the loose equivalent of an underdeveloped society. But stronger competition led to the natural emergence of a "hierarchical phase", with distinct groups resembling lower, middle and upper classes (www.arxiv.org/cond-mat/0503451).

Quote of note:

John Adams Hurson, a member of the Maryland House of Delegates who is president of the National Conference of State Legislatures, said: "I am a Democrat, a liberal Democrat, but we can't sustain the current Medicaid program. It's fiscal madness. It doesn't guarantee good care, and it's a budget buster. We need to instill a greater sense of personal responsibility so people understand that this care is not free."

States Proposing Sweeping Change to Trim Medicaid
By ROBERT PEAR

WASHINGTON, May 8 - Governors and state legislators have devised proposals for sweeping changes in Medicaid to curb its rapid growth and save billions of dollars.

I just took a closer look at what goes on in the user records. On the one hand I'm impressed again; on the other hand, I have a bunch of stupid code now...

Quote of note:

It's especially critical, she says, after a May 3 letter to parents signed by the PTO's executive board stating: "In light of the fact that various individuals and groups are trying to politicize the PTO, we have decided to cancel all further PTO meetings for the duration of the 2004-05 school year."

Charter threatens parents with lawsuit
By DAVE BREITENSTEIN, [email protected]
LISA RAMIREZ-JOHNSON, [email protected]

Charter Schools USA is threatening legal action against parents who use an Internet discussion board to air grievances about Gateway Charter.

I find it funny that certain elements don't mind discriminating but are terribly upset when their behavior is said to exist...no specific person or organization is accused, the behavior is simply reported and certain elements take it as a personal attack.

"What's your point?" of note:

Williams said the curriculum juxtaposes faiths such as Quakers that support full rights for gays and lesbians with groups such as Baptists, who are painted as "intolerant and Biblically misguided."

Paradoxically-named organization of note:

The lawsuit was filed Tuesday by Citizens for a Responsible Curriculum, a group comprising mostly parents, and the Virginia-based Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays and Gays.[P6:ain't that everyone?]

Judge blocks Maryland sex-ed program

Maybe he doesn't...though that's a frightening thought on several levels.

I have a good set of mental models of typical human behavior but obviously I'm missing one or two so I'm working on a new model as we speak (as it were).

Texas House to cheerleaders: Don't shake it

AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) -- Texas lawmakers sent a message to the state's high school cheerleaders Wednesday: no more booty-shaking at the game.

The state's House of Representatives voted 85-55 to approve a bill that would forbid sexy cheers and give the Texas Education Agency authority to punish schools that allow "overtly sexually suggestive" routines at football games and other events.

Dominion Theology is a theological form of Dominionism practiced by a very small set of religious movements within Protestant Christian evangelicalism and fundamentalism. Primarily found in the United States, Dominion Theology has also appeared in Canada, and several European countries.

Dominion Theology is derived from the Biblical text where God grants humankind "dominion" over the Earth. It is influenced by postmillennialism, a view of the End Times which believes that godliness will eventually pervade secular society (some so-called "Golden Age" postmillennialists believe the present age will culminate in a literal one-thousand-year period of virtual heaven on earth, a millennium)before Jesus returns in a Second Coming.

It's Not War, but It Can Be Hellish
By PETER EDIDIN

THE United States Army has increasingly been involved in missions, like peacekeeping, requiring it to police civilian societies. But controlling protesters or quelling a riot in a nation with which America is at peace requires different skills and (usually nonlethal) responses than war fighting.

To teach these skills, the Army recently created a Civil Disturbances Operations manual (www.fas.org/irp/doddir/army/fm3-19-15.pdf), 256 pages long, covering everything from the roots of unrest, to crowd sociology, to the chemicals for dispersing rioters. Excerpts follow.

Quote of note:

Nouriel Roubini, an economics professor at New York University's Stern School of Business, estimates that if China cut its rate of accumulation by half, long-term interest rates in the United States could rise by 200 basis points over a few months and the value of the dollar would fall.

The Perfect Storm That Could Drown the Economy
By DANIEL GROSS

WE seem to be living in apocalyptic times. On NBC's "Revelations," Bill Pullman and Natascha McElhone seek signs of the End of Days. In the Senate, gray-haired eminences speak of the "nuclear option."

The doomsday theme is seeping into the normally circumspect world of economics. In April, Arjun Murti, a veteran analyst at the investment bank Goldman Sachs, warned that oil could "super-spike" to $105 a barrel. And increasingly, economists are prophesying that the American economy as a whole may be sailing into choppy waters.

Quote of note:

"It's completely obvious that World War II was a horrific crime," said one of the young people, Johanna Nimrich, 18. "It's impossible to understand why people who participated in the war are honored, but those who resisted participation are not."

Germans Still Finding New Moral Burdens of War
By RICHARD BERNSTEIN

ULM, Germany, May 4 - This attractive town on the Danube River is endowed with dozens of memorials dedicated to those who suffered in the two world wars, with one memorial in particular, a group of seven inscribed slabs surmounting a knoll in the main cemetery, serving officially as Ulm's all-inclusive and all-encompassing memorial to the victims of Nazism.

Quote of note:

The money the companies are bringing home has come from many years of using legal loopholes in the tax law to aggressively shelter their profits from United States taxes, tax lawyers say.

Quote of note, too:

Those figures show that the drug makers have told the Internal Revenue Service for years that their profits come mainly from international sales, even though the prices of medicines are far higher in the United States and almost 60 percent of their sales take place in America.

Ah. Lies. I know what those are...

Eli Lilly noted that several factors depressed its United States profits.

I understand that, too...Big Pharma spends more on marketing than research. All that cost is applied exclusively against US revenues.