Friday--

I truly hope the Repthuglicans get hosed this election cycle. This alone gives them, in my book, a special circle deep in hell.

Fascinating little article on a phase of the pharmaceutical industry I knew little about beyond the names of the companies. This reminds me of the incestuous relationship between the ratings agencies and the financial organizations which pay for their services. We saw how that worked with the financial crash of 2008. The agencies rated dodgy instruments highly to the benefit of the financial groups offering those instruments while people and organizations buying those "investments" took a bath when they failed--as they were designed to do. That is exactly the kind of relationship between the big pharmacies and the pharmacy benefit managers when they are no longer independent companies able to negotiate with each other. And the customer is the one who will get it in the pocketbook.

Another good article, from Alternet this time, on the obscenity that is our pharmaceutical industry.

This looks like another nail in the pipe dream of "Saudi America." Bill Clinton won election on the slogan "It's the economy, Stupid." We can amend that a bit: it's the economics, Stupid.

Infidel753 has a nice dissection of what is happening in the Repthuglican Party. It is fascinating to watch the meltdown of a Party which hates its own candidates almost as much as I do.

I love Al Franken's comments on the Senate Repthuglican's determination to not even consider any nominee for the Supreme Court Obama puts forward.