Motley Moose – Archive

I post a weekly diary of historical notes, arts & science items, foreign news (often receiving little notice in the US) and whimsical pieces from the outside world that I often feature in “Cheers & Jeers”. For example …..

OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? – two political conservatives: singer Pat Boone and former congressman Todd Akin.

   

OK, you’ve been warned – here is this week’s tomfoolery material that I posted.

ART NOTES – an exhibition entitled African American Art: Harlem Renaissance, Civil Rights Era, and Beyond will be at the Crocker Art Museum in Sacramento, California through September 21st.

BRAIN TEASER – try this Quiz of the Week’s News from the BBC.

MUSIC NOTES – the jazz pianist Billy Childs is set to release a tribute album to Laura Nyro – featuring guest vocalists such as Rickie Lee Jones, Shawn Colvin, Alison Krauss and the opera singer Renée Fleming – early next month.

THURSDAY’s CHILD is Sugar the Cat – an Edmonton, Alberta kitteh found … in a storage locker, but is recuperating well.

CHEERS to seeing that the new commuter rail system in Orlando, Florida named SunRail – derided by numerous critics as a boondoggle – is drawing praise after its initial ninety-day launch, including plaudits from merchants as well.

IN THE EASTERN EUROPEAN nation of Moldova there are old mining tunnels that house 70 miles of wine cellars … with bottles taken from Hermann Göring’s private collections.

FRIDAY’s CHILD is Zeke the Cat – a Florida animal shelter mascot who wound up … reaching 911 on the phone. Even better: the news enabled this kitteh to be adopted as a result.

WITH THE 40th ANNIVERSARY of the resignation of President Nixon – as a seventeen year-old, I didn’t cheer the night he made his address: instead, I felt … well, what Digby said ….

I didn’t experience euphoria. I was stunned, though. Seeing the most powerful man in the world brought low by his own hubris (and psychic wounds) was an early lesson in human nature. A real life Greek tragedy in front of my very eyes.

And the next day, I recall watching the inauguration of Gerald Ford at the public library (where I had a work-study job). A TV set was brought into our break room at lunchtime so that I and my (mostly female) colleagues could see it. And while most people remember the “long national nightmare” line from his inaugural address: for me, the money quote was …..

“I am indebted to no man, and to only one woman – my dear wife – as I begin this very difficult job”.

Instinctively, I looked at the faces of the adult women in the room … and nearly all had a lump in their throats, it seemed to me.

OLDER-YOUNGER BROTHERS? – two political conservatives: singer Pat Boone and former congressman Todd Akin.

   

…… and finally, for a song of the week ……………………. one of those musicians who has a recognized sound, yet can be heard in many other formats is Bruce Hornsby – who achieved success first as a songwriter, session and touring player before hitting the Top 40 in the late 80’s. And then in the early 90’s he walked away from stardom: choosing instead to play what he truly wanted – as a reviewer in the Guardian wryly noted, ‘that’s just the way it is’. You can hear him on pop/rock dates, but also bluegrass, jazz, R&B plus classical music. And along with Dave Matthews, his style has been dubbed the Virginia Sound – blending the wide range of musical styles noted above, coupled with a sense of progressive Southern sensibilities and themes.

Born in (and living much of his life) in the university/historical town of Williamsburg, Virginia: he attended the Berklee College of Music in Boston as well as the University of Miami. As a twenty-six year-old, he moved to Los Angeles with his songwriting brother John in 1980. They found work at 20th Century Fox writing songs for others, with Bruce also playing in studio sessions and local dates. He toured with Sheena Easton before his big break came when Huey Lewis helped him get an RCA record deal (and became his first producer).  

Bruce Hornsby and the Range hit #1 in the charts in April, 1986 with The Way It Is – featuring his syncopated piano along with a look at racial attitudes of his youth – which has been sampled by at least six rap performers (most notably the late Tupac Shakur). The band’s debut album (named after the title track) also spawned two other Top 20 hits Mandolin Rain as well as Every Little Kiss – and helped them win the 1987 Grammy for Best New Artist.

Their 1988 second album had hits in the songs “Look Out any Window” plus The Valley Road – which had another noted piano sound – and Huey Lewis went on to have a #1 hit with Jacob’s Ladder – another song from the album.

In addition, you may have recognized that it was Bruce Hornsby playing the piano on Don Henley’s 1989 song End of the Innocence (which Hornsby co-wrote) and also on Bonnie Raitt’s 1991 song I Can’t Make You Love Me – both of which Hornsby has in his concert repertoire today. When the Nitty Gritty Dirt Band recorded a Vol. II sequel in 1989 to their landmark Will the Circle Be Unbroken? – they had Bruce Hornsby as a guest musician to record a bluegrass version of “The Valley Road” – which won a 1990 Grammy for Best Bluegrass recording.

This exposure had an effect on The Range’s 1990 third album A Night on the Town – with guest appearances from Jerry Garcia, jazz musicians Wayne Shorter and (the recently deceased) Charlie Haden as well as banjo star Bela Fleck. The album had more improvisation and musical styles represented.

It did, however, cause a re-think in Bruce Hornsby’s career path, and he split from The Range in 1991 to lead more fluid line-ups in the future. And a conscious decision to walk away from Top 20 success.

First, though, he spent time as a producer (directing a Leon Russell comeback album) and becoming the father of twin boys. And most notably: he became a touring member of the Grateful Dead in 1990 (after the death of Brent Mydland) and continuing until Vince Welnick took over full-time as the band’s keyboardist. Thus Bruce Hornsby is ½ of a trivia question: with the deaths of Ron ‘Pigpen’ McKernan, Keith Godchaux, Brent Mydland and Vince Welnick: only Hornsby and Tom Constanten (who played briefly for the Dead in the late 60’s-early 70’s) are the surviving keyboard players for that band. He has continued to work with the band’s members over the years – small wonder that when the Grateful Dead were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1994 … it was Hornsby who made the formal introduction.

Bruce Hornsby’s first solo album Harbor Lights was released in 1993, with guest stars such as Jerry Garcia, Phil Collins and Bonnie Raitt, plus jazz guitarist Pat Metheny. Hornsby won his third Grammy for co-composing (with Branford Marsalis) the instrumental Barcelona Mona (for the 2004 Olympics).

1995 saw the release of his album Hot House – seeking to blend jazz and bluegrass (with the cover showing an imaginary jam between Bill Monroe and Charlie Parker). 1998 saw the release of the double album Spirit Trail – once again with many different styles of music and themes about the South (including Sneaking Up on Boo Radley – referencing “To Kill a Mockingbird”.

A live album followed in 2000, followed in 2002 with Big Swing Face – a true departure from the norm, which had synthesizers, drum loops and tape editing, garnering mixed reviews.

2004 saw a more traditional album release, Halcyon Days – with guests such as Sting, Eric Clapton and Elton John. And while he has not yet released a classical album: Bruce Hornsby has played some of J.S. Bach’s Goldberg Variations in concert. He performed in that same year on bassist Charlie Haden’s Rambling Boy – with a Grammy nomination for Is This America? – Pat Metheny’s look at the disastrous response to Hurricane Katrina.

He recorded two albums in 2007: a bluegrass album with Ricky Skaggs that had a cover of the Rick James funk song Super Freak – yes, in a bluegrass style. He also recorded his first jazz album with Jack DeJohnette along with Christian McBride – one of one of my favorite bassists (and also a 3-time Grammy winner). Hornsby has in recent years released several live recordings, one with his new band The Noisemakers as well as another bluegrass outing with Ricky Skaggs just last year. And perhaps as a result of his Grateful Dead touring days: his set-lists are rather loose, never the same and often taking requests.

Other projects of his are: contributing tunes to a play (including a Donald Trump spoof), performing in 2007 at a fundraising party for Nancy Pelosi and – as a basketball fan – composing the score for a Spike Lee documentary about NBA star Kobe Bryant (among other projects with the filmmaker). Hornsby spends time attending college games throughout Virginia and named his twin sons Russell and Keith after two of his piano idols: Leon Russell and jazz star Keith Jarrett.

Bruce Hornsby will turn age 60 this November, has three Grammy Awards (as well as other nominations), has appeared on albums (not already mentioned) with Bob Dylan, Stevie Nicks plus Crosby, Stills & Nash, and was honored by the Steinway company with a signature piano model. His current tour features him on (a) solo concerts, as well as (b) dates with guitarist Pat Metheny, and (c) still others with Ricky Skaggs. Though he chose to leave the limelight: his wide of range of material ensures that he will be relevant for some time to come … and no less than Elton John declares he “is one of the best pianists – if not the best – out there”.

   

Of all his work: it’s the 1990 song Across the River – the last of his six Top 40 songs – which is my favorite. In the liner notes for his 2004 greatest hits album, Bruce Hornsby said of the guest guitarist on this tune, “It may have been only the second time Jerry Garcia ever hit the Top 40 chart (the first being the Grateful Dead’s 1987 hit “Touch of Grey”. And below you can hear it.

Found on the Internets …

State Abortion Laws Face a New Round of Legal Challenges

States led by anti-abortion governors and legislatures have been passing a broad array of measures over the past few years aimed at making the procedure more difficult for women to obtain.[…]

[A] federal district court judge in Alabama this week struck down as unconstitutional a portion of state law requiring physicians who perform abortions to have admitting privileges. Last week, a federal appeals court panel struck down a similar law in Mississippi. And a third law of the same type is awaiting a ruling in Wisconsin.[…]

Admitting-privileges legislation would impose stricter requirements on facilities where abortions are performed than on facilities that perform much riskier procedures,” says Jeanne Conry, former president of the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists.

“As an example, the mortality rate associated with a colonoscopy is more than 40 times greater than that of abortion,” she says, yet gastroenterologists who perform such procedures outside of the hospital setting do not face similar requirements “in the context of safety.”

Federal Court in Alabama Strikes Down Alabama TRAP Law

Judge Myron Thompson explains in his opinion striking down the law, it “would have the striking result of closing three of Alabama’s five abortion clinics.” As Thompson interprets the Supreme Court’s precedents, his court “must determine whether, examining the regulation in its real-world context,” it imposes an obstacle to women’s right to choose an abortion that “is more significant than is warranted by the State’s justifications for the regulation.”

Thanks To Obamacare, More Young People Are Getting Mental Health Treatment

A provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that allows young people to remain on their parents’ insurance may have increased the use of mental health services among that demographic, a new study suggests. The findings make a case for an expansion of mental health services for the Millennial generation.

Researchers collected data from the National Survey of Drug Use and Health and surveyed more than 20,000 people from 2008 – two years before the ACA provision went into effect – to 2012. They found that young adults between the ages of 18 and 25 who screened positive for mental disorders or substance abuse sought mental health services at a rate five percentage points greater than that of adults in the 26- to 35-year-old age bracket. Out-of-pocket payments for mental health visits among young people also decreased by more than 12 percentage points, according to the study.

More …

Obama Is on a Pro-Labor Roll: The president just signed the most important workers’ rights reform of the past 20 years.

So it’s a little odd that the latest executive order in this bunch has gone virtually ignored (following a few dutiful daily news stories) even though it packs the biggest punch. “This is one of the most important positive steps for civil rights in the last 20 years,” Paul Bland, executive director of Public Justice, a public-interest law group, says of the July 31 order. The employer-side law firm Littler Mendelson calls it “the most sweeping order to date” that the Obama administration has aimed at federal contractors. The trade group Associated Builders and Contractors is “strongly opposed” and says the order could create a federal contractor “blacklist.”

The order, called Fair Pay and Safe Workplaces, does two things. It requires companies bidding for federal contracts worth more than $500,000 to make previous violations of labor law public, if they have any to report. That’s a shaming device that the administration hopes will push companies to settle back wage claims and nudge them toward better behavior in the future.

The second part of the order is what Bland is so excited about. This provision says that companies with federal contracts worth more than $1 million can no longer force their employees out of court, and into arbitration, to settle accusations of workplace discrimination. “Here’s why this is so important,” Bland said when I asked him to explain. “For the last 20 years, the Supreme Court has been encouraging employers to force their workers into a system of arbitration that has been badly rigged against the workers. And so this order will result in millions of employees having their rights restored to them.”

Student-athletes win right to profit from their likenesses

A federal judge on Friday handed down her decision in the case of Ed O’Bannon v. NCAA, ruling that collegiate athletics’ governing body cannot prohibit college athletes from profiting off of the use of their name, image or likeness.

U.S. District Judge Claudia Wilken determined that using a college athlete’s celebrity to sell millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise and ink lucrative television contracts without giving them a cut violates federal antitrust laws.[…]

In her decision, Wilken ruled that FBS football players and Division I Men’s Basketball players are legally entitled to some of the billions in profits generated by universities’ use of their names and identities to sell tickets, merchandise and broadcast rights.

University of Minnesota Wants Washington DC NFL Team to Wear Throwback Jerseys

The University of Minnesota wants the Washington [NFL team] to wear throwback jerseys without the team name or logo for the Nov. 2 game against the Minnesota Vikings being held at the college’s stadium.

The college, which is leasing its TCF Bank Stadium to the Vikings as the team’s new stadium gets built for a scheduled 2016 opening, has also asked that the game not have any Washington apparel or paraphernalia sold on the premise; that the word “Redskins” not be uttered by the game’s public address announcer; and that the team’s moniker not appear on the scoreboard or in the program guide or other game-related print or digital material.[…]

The university’s stadium features a Tribal Nations Plaza dedicated in honor of the 11 Native American tribes in Minnesota. It was built with a $10 million donation from the Shakopee Mdewakanton Sioux Community – the largest private gift ever to Gophers athletics.

On Thursday, the tribe released a statement saying that it and other Minnesota tribes oppose the [Washington DC NFL team’s] name “and other sports-related logos, mascots and names which degrade a race of people.” The community is working with the university to prepare “appropriate responses” to the NFL game and “minimize the damage that could be done by invoking the name in a place that respects and honors the Minnesota Native American community.”[…]

University officials said the use of the [Washington DC NFL team’s] name at their stadium violates the institution’s affirmative action, diversity and equal opportunity policy. More than 1,100  students identify themselves as Native American throughout the University of Minnesota system.

A little birdie told me …

In response to Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI)’s announcement of his new book:

Hey, @PRyan. Your book cover was off.  I fixed it. pic.twitter.com/mUaAA5DQZO

— Steve Marmel (@Marmel) August 7, 2014

Editor’s Note: Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

Welcome to The Moose Pond! The Welcomings diary series give the Moose, old and new, a place to visit and share words about the weather, life, the world at large and the small parts of Moosylvania that we each inhabit.

In lieu of daily check-ins, which have gone on hiatus, Welcomings diaries will be posted at the start of each week (every Sunday morning) and then, if necessary due to a large number of comments, again on Wednesday or Thursday to close out the week. To find the diaries, just bookmark this link and Voila! (which is Moose for “I found everyone!!”).

The format is simple: each day, the first moose to arrive on-line will post a comment welcoming the new day and complaining (or bragging!) about their weather. Or mentioning an interesting or thought provoking news item. Or simply checking in.

So … what’s going on in your part of Moosylvania?

…

President Obama made a statement Thursday evening about the humanitarian crisis in Iraq:

Selected quotes:

Today I authorized two operations in Iraq — targeted airstrikes to protect our American personnel, and a humanitarian effort to help save thousands of Iraqi civilians who are trapped on a mountain without food and water and facing almost certain death.  […]

To stop the advance on Erbil, I’ve directed our military to take targeted strikes against ISIL terrorist convoys should they move toward the city.  We intend to stay vigilant, and take action if these terrorist forces threaten our personnel or facilities anywhere in Iraq, including our consulate in Erbil and our embassy in Baghdad.  We’re also providing urgent assistance to Iraqi government and Kurdish forces so they can more effectively wage the fight against ISIL.

Second, at the request of the Iraqi government — we’ve begun operations to help save Iraqi civilians stranded on the mountain.  As ISIL has marched across Iraq, it has waged a ruthless campaign against innocent Iraqis.  And these terrorists have been especially barbaric towards religious minorities, including Christian and Yezidis, a small and ancient religious sect.  Countless Iraqis have been displaced.  And chilling reports describe ISIL militants rounding up families, conducting mass executions, and enslaving Yezidi women.

ISIL forces below have called for the systematic destruction of the entire Yezidi people, which would constitute genocide.  

I’ve said before, the United States cannot and should not intervene every time there’s a crisis in the world.  So let me be clear about why we must act, and act now.  When we face a situation like we do on that mountain — with innocent people facing the prospect of violence on a horrific scale, when we have a mandate to help — in this case, a request from the Iraqi government — and when we have the unique capabilities to help avert a massacre, then I believe the United States of America cannot turn a blind eye.  We can act, carefully and responsibly, to prevent a potential act of genocide.  That’s what we’re doing on that mountain.

I’ve, therefore, authorized targeted airstrikes, if necessary, to help forces in Iraq as they fight to break the siege of Mount Sinjar and protect the civilians trapped there.  Already, American aircraft have begun conducting humanitarian airdrops of food and water to help these desperate men, women and children survive.  Earlier this week, one Iraqi in the area cried to the world, “There is no one coming to help.”  Well today, America is coming to help.  We’re also consulting with other countries — and the United Nations — who have called for action to address this humanitarian crisis.

[…]

I know that many of you are rightly concerned about any American military action in Iraq, even limited strikes like these.  I understand that.  I ran for this office in part to end our war in Iraq and welcome our troops home, and that’s what we’ve done.  As Commander-in-Chief, I will not allow the United States to be dragged into fighting another war in Iraq.  And so even as we support Iraqis as they take the fight to these terrorists, American combat troops will not be returning to fight in Iraq, because there’s no American military solution to the larger crisis in Iraq.  The only lasting solution is reconciliation among Iraqi communities and stronger Iraqi security forces.

More on the humanitarian crisis and the president’s statement …

The president on the use of military action

My fellow Americans, the world is confronted by many challenges.  And while America has never been able to right every wrong, America has made the world a more secure and prosperous place.  And our leadership is necessary to underwrite the global security and prosperity that our children and our grandchildren will depend upon.  We do so by adhering to a set of core principles.  We do whatever is necessary to protect our people.  We support our allies when they’re in danger.  We lead coalitions of countries to uphold international norms.  And we strive to stay true to the fundamental values — the desire to live with basic freedom and dignity — that is common to human beings wherever they are.  That’s why people all over the world look to the United States of America to lead.  And that’s why we do it.

So let me close by assuring you that there is no decision that I take more seriously than the use of military force.  Over the last several years, we have brought the vast majority of our troops home from Iraq and Afghanistan.  And I’ve been careful to resist calls to turn time and again to our military, because America has other tools in our arsenal than our military.  We can also lead with the power of our diplomacy, our economy, and our ideals.

But when the lives of American citizens are at risk, we will take action.  That’s my responsibility as Commander-in-Chief.  And when many thousands of innocent civilians are faced with the danger of being wiped out, and we have the capacity to do something about it, we will take action. That is our responsibility as Americans.  That’s a hallmark of American leadership.  That’s who we are.

~

This Ancient Religion Is Being Threatened With Extermination In Iraq

They represent the vast majority of a religion that rose alongside the world’s most popular faiths. Now, members of the Yazidi are cut off from the rest of the world, forced to choose between death at the hands of the militants threatening their families and the elements that have already ended the lives of dozens of children.

“There are children dying on the mountain, on the roads,” Marzio Babille, the Iraq representative for UNICEF, told the Washington Post. The situation that drove the Yazidi to the protection of Mount Sinjar is one that most analysts had hoped would not come to pass. Over the weekend, members of the Islamic State in Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) managed to take the town of Sinjar from the Kurdish forces who held it. “There is no water, there is no vegetation, they are completely cut off and surrounded by Islamic State,” Babille continued. “It’s a disaster, a total disaster.” […]

According to the New Yorker’s George Packer, the Obama administration may be “contemplating an airlift, coördinated with the United Nations, of humanitarian supplies by C-130 transport planes” to aid the Yazidis. While horrifying, the plight of the Yazidis makes up just part of the massive refugee crisis playing out in both Iraq and Syria as a result of the conflicts on both sides of the ever evaporating border. According to the United Nations, at least 1.2 million Iraqis are internally displaced as a result of the current fighting.

~

Why ISIS Blew Up Jonah’s Tomb, And Why It Might Backfire

Last week, members of the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), the ruthless militant group currently marauding through Iraq, reportedly blew up the tomb of the Prophet Yunus. The burial site of Yunus, commonly known to many Christians as the biblical figure Jonah, was located in the modern-day city of Mosul (once the biblical city of Nineveh), and was seen by many archeologists and religious scholars as an ancient – and precious – religious artifact. Now, reports indicate, it is little more than rubble. […]

But the destruction of Jonah’s shrine is actually a bit more complicated than singling out one religious tradition. For starters, the Jonah story isn’t exclusive to Christianity. Jews also revere the prophet, as do Muslims: there is an entire book of the Qur’an, aptly titled “Jonah,” dedicated to the prophet, and the Muslim prophet Muhammad is said to have declared, “One should not say that I am better than Jonah.” […]

ISIS’s attack on multiple religions might have more wide-ranging impact than they expect – especially among their fellow Muslims. When ISIS destroyed the tomb, they reportedly forgot to remove copies of the Qur’an and other holy books from the building. Locals found the damaged books while walking through the rubble, a move so offensive to Muslims that it has allegedly sparked what could be the early stages of localized resistance against ISIS within Mosul.

~

Now available:

Everything about the phone hacking trial that couldn’t be reported

Beyond Contempt by award-winning reporter Peter Jukes – available for pre-order now – tells the full inside story of the trial of the century, and reveals for the first time

• all the backstage manoeuvres

• the unprecedented costs of the trial – mainly paid by the defence

• bitter legal fights and media strategies

• personal dramas and constant threat of contempt

And the thrills, scoops and insights from one of the most complicated and expensive trials in British legal history.

So 'Beyond Contempt' now available for immediate download http://t.co/ZoAq09yXnt #MyProWebsite #ItsOKtoStare #hackingtrial

— Peter Jukes (@peterjukes) August 6, 2014

#ItsOKtoStare? I hope #ItsOKtoShare also …

In the author’s own words:

Test drive the book here (PDF):

PREFACE: THE UNTOLD STORY

“There has never been any trial like this,” a defence barrister told me during a smoking break outside the main doors – a place where a surprising number of journalists, lawyers and detectives congregated. He added: “There will never be another trial like this.

Congratulations, Peter!  

Found on the Internets …

The president held a news conference yesterday as part of the U.S. Africa Leaders Summit. One of the topics was executive actions on inversions.

Q: Along the lines of executive authority, Treasury Secretary Jack Lew has previously said that the executive branch of government doesn’t have the authority to slow or stop corporate inversions, the practice that you have called distasteful, unpatriotic, et cetera.  But now he is reviewing options to do so.  And this is an issue that a lot of business, probably including some of the ones who were paying a lot of attention to this summit, are interested in.  So what I wanted to ask you was, what prompted this apparent reversal?  What actions are now under consideration?  Will you consider an executive order that would limit or ban such companies from getting federal contracts?  And how soon would you like to see Treasury act, given Congress’s schedule?

PRESIDENT OBAMA:  Just to review why we’re concerned here. You have accountants going to some big corporations — multinational corporations but that are clearly U.S.-based and have the bulk of their operations in the United States — and these accountants are saying, you know what, we found a great loophole — if you just flip your citizenship to another country, even though it’s just a paper transaction, we think we can get you out of paying a whole bunch of taxes.

Well, it’s not fair.  It’s not right.  The lost revenue to Treasury means it’s got to be made up somewhere, and that typically is going to be a bunch of hardworking Americans who either pay through higher taxes themselves or through reduced services. And in the meantime, the company is still using all the services and all the benefits of effectively being a U.S. corporation; they just decided that they’d go through this paper exercise.

Walgreens Drops Plan To Move Headquarters – And Profits – Overseas

Walgreens Co. will complete its merger with Alliance Boots, a British pharmacy, but it will not move its headquarters overseas to reduce its U.S. tax bill.Walgreens had flirted with the idea of moving its headquarters from Chicago to the United Kingdom to avoid paying corporate taxes in the U.S.

That drew the attention of those who are concerned about profits made in America being taxed overseas, if at all.

“The company concluded it was not in the best, long-term interest of our shareholders to attempt to re-domicile outside the U.S.,” Walgreens CEO Greg Wasson said in a statement.

Yeah. The shareholders who saw images like this, perhaps?



Maybe a pharmaceutical company like Abbott Laboratories can get away with this but companies that deal directly with consumers and which has competition probably should at least pretend to be a good corporate citizen.

More …

Another Billion-Dollar US Company Moves Across The Pond

The AbbVie-Shire deal is the latest in a series of moves by companies in the pharmaceutical industry to shift their corporate domiciles to enjoy more favorable tax treatments.

Earlier this week, Mylan announced a deal to acquire Abbott Laboratories’ non-U.S. developed generic drugs business in a $5.3 billion all-stock deal. The deal involves the creation of a new public company that will be domiciled in the Netherlands, and Mylan said it expects the new company’s tax rate to fall into the high-teens within its first couple years.

Last month, Minnesota-based medical-device maker Medtronic acquired Covidien in a $42.9 billion cash and stock deal that will allow the company to move its tax base to Ireland.

Editor’s Note: Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.