ThinkFast: April 14, 2008
ThinkFast: April 14, 2008
“The I.R.S.’s scrutiny of the nation’s biggest companies is at a 20-year low,” according to a study conducted by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a “historic collapse in audits.” The study “found that major corporations — defined as those with assets of at least $250 million — have about a one in four chance of being audited, down from about three in four in 1990.”
“More than two-thirds of Americans aged 27 to 42 don’t think they will ever be able to stop working,” according to a survey released today by Scottrade and BetterInvesting. “In contrast, 64 percent of respondents aged 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry, even though this group is much closer to retirement age.”
The Defense Department released its latest American military causality numbers for Iraq and Afghanistan, “and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far.” As of April 5, 4,492 soldiers have died while serving in the two wars while 31,590 have been wounded and 38,631 have been removed from the battlefields for “non-hostile-related medical air transports.”
A new AP poll says that 60 percent of the public say “they definitely won’t buy a home in the next two years, up from 53 percent who said so in an AP-AOL poll in September 2006,” “the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation’s housing crisis.” Just 11 percent are certain or very likely to buy soon, down from 15 percent two years ago.
“The Iraqi government has dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month’s Shiite-on-Shiite battles in Basra, it said Sunday. … Maj. Gen. Abdul-Karim Khalaf, an Interior Ministry spokesman, said 500 soldiers and 421 policemen were fired in Basra, including 37 senior police officers up to the rank of brigadier general. Police officials said the remainder were fired in Kut.”
A White House task force that was supposed to “research the issue of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has missed its deadline and failed to produce mandated reports and recommendations for coordination among federal agencies.” The report was due in December.
The Washington Times reports that “President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.” The administration “feels pressure to act now because they fear a coming regulatory nightmare.”
“Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.” The new system “means that the burden of expensive health care can now affect insured people.”
Noting that crude oil prices have doubled over the past year, Sen. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has called on federal regulators to “stop delaying and start investigating whether petroleum markets are being manipulated.”
And finally: Sixteen teams of Washingtonians received the chance to “run drills” with Andre Agassi over the weekend, “as part of the Washington Tennis & Education Foundation’s Round Robin.” “He hits the ball hard, doesn’t he?” observed Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA) of Agassi. “It’s a lot faster game than we usually play.” Rep. Fred Upton (R-MI) insisted, “We did all right — we got the ball back.”
What did we miss? Let us know in the comments section.
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** An Absolute Must Read from RFK Jr. **
This is the our Energy Future. It will change the world. And contrary to the much told lie, it can have a POSTIVE effect on our economy almost immediately.
The Next President’s First Task [A Manifesto]
by ROBERT F. KENNEDY JR.
The practice of borrowing a billion dollars each day to buy foreign oil has caused the American dollar to implode. More than a trillion dollars in annual subsidies to coal and oil producers have beggared a nation that four decades ago owned half the globe’s wealth. Carbon dependence has eroded our economic power, destroyed our moral authority, diminished our international influence, endangered our national security, and damaged our health. It is subverting everything we value.
Please read the full unedited piece:
http://www.vanityfair.com/ politics/ features/ 2008/ 05/ rfk_manifesto200805
** Energy expert and former C.I.A. director R. James Woolsey predicts: “With rational market incentives and a smart backbone, you’ll see capital and entrepreneurs flooding this field with lightning speed.”
April 14th, 2008 at 9:03 am“The Washington Times reports that “President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming”
This is a stalling tactic. The Supreme Court has already said that the EPA should be regulating carbon dioxide. They are asking for legislation because they know that their allies in the Senate can stall and thus prevent any action.
It is time for the progressives to forge a super-majority and show what effective legislation looks like. We need to do more than just take the White House and preserve our leads in the congress. We need to run a nation-wide campaign and elect progressives (LIBERALS!) so that there will be real change and real action on the PEOPLE’S BUSINESS, and not just more sops to business people.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:14 amNoting that crude oil prices have doubled over the past year, Rep. Maria Cantwell (D-WA) has called on federal regulators to “stop delaying and start investigating whether petroleum markets are being manipulated.”
__________________________
Uh…TP? Maria Cantwell is a Senator, not a Representative.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:14 amYou can bet that the report on pharmaceuticals in the drinking water isn’t going to be pretty. It is not just incompetence that is stalling this report; I bet their findings are going to be BAD!
April 14th, 2008 at 9:17 amPeter C Says:
April 14th, 2008 at 9:21 amYou can bet that the report on pharmaceuticals in the drinking water isn’t going to be pretty. It is not just incompetence that is stalling this report; I bet their findings are going to be BAD!
———————
In anticipation of the report’s depressing findings I just turned on my faucet and drank a cup of Zoloft.
Ghost,
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 prevents the U.S.Government from prosecuting War Crimes. Bush & Co. can walk.
Thank you, Congress.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:22 am“The I.R.S.’s scrutiny of the nation’s biggest companies is at a 20-year low,” according to a study conducted by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a “historic collapse in audits.”
___________________________________________
This isn’t surprising. The IRS is too busy auditing White House enemies. We seem to have gone back to the early 70’s.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:23 am“historic collapse in audits.”
It is time we learn the lesson that when you put people in charge of a task who don’t believe the task should exist, the task gets done really badly. Corporations make use of publically-owned infrastructure; they should help pay for it. Income taxes happen on PROFITS, they do not make businesses less COMPETITIVE, merely less PROFITABLE. Please note: making businesses less profitable is EXACTLY what the market is supposed to do.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:23 amThe study “found that major corporations — defined as those with assets of at least $250 million — have about a one in four chance of being audited, down from about three in four in 1990.”
Welcome my friends to the United Corporations of America. RIP the United States of America.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:23 am“In contrast, 64 percent of respondents aged 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry, even though this group is much closer to retirement age.”
That number is going to be reduced dramatically as this recession drags on and their investment income disappears with their investments.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:26 am“The Iraqi government has dismissed 1,300 soldiers and policemen who deserted or refused to fight during last month’s Shiite-on-Shiite battles in Basra, it said Sunday.
And, it’s going to take another 5 years to train 1,300 soldiers to replace them so America has to stay at least another 5 years because we can’t stand down until they stand up. Unfortunately there is no incentive for them to stand up and defend their own country. Why should they, they have us to do it for them.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:31 amA White House task force that was supposed to “research the issue of pharmaceuticals in drinking water has missed its deadline and failed to produce mandated reports and recommendations for coordination among federal agencies.” The report was due in December.
That’s because the Bush Crime Family doesn’t give a $hit about us and what we need to be safe. Now, if it was a corporation, they would be there in a hot minute with anything they needed.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:32 amThe Washington Times reports that “President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.
Sure he does. And what he will ask for is a bill that will made sure that polluting industries voluntarily stop polluting. I suspect this is all lipstick on a pig for the Republicans. They know that the people in this country are becoming very worried about global warming and that it’s a winning policy for the Democrats. So they will put a little lipstick on their pig and trot it out saying “look, us Republicans are giving you this pretty pig, so vote for us”.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:35 amBriseadh na Faire Says:
Ghost,
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 prevents the U.S.Government from prosecuting War Crimes. Bush & Co. can walk.
—————————–
I’ll try to find something I read last week about this issue. I believe it said that the other countries who signed Geneva have a DUTY to carry out investigations/prosecutions against countries that refuse to hold their own accountable.
And one of the treaties we signed may also prohibit the passing of laws to outlaw these crimes. Meaning the MCA would be worthless. I’ll have to find the piece.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am#3, Peter,
No, it’s not a stalling tactic. If Bush&Co. can get their laws in place now, they can then filibuster any efforts to over turn them.
Now, do you think Bush&Co. want to pass a law to protect the environment, or to protect Big Businesses?
This is Bush’s way of reaching into the future to ensure that polluting businesses may continue in their current practices.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:42 ama reminder, via C&L:
HAPPY BIRTHDAY, THOMAS JEFFERSON
listen to The Declaration of Independence here.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:45 amFrom the linked article:
“Defense Department spokesperson Cynthia Smith, however, told CBS News the numbers must be carefully interpreted. Smith said the 38,631 “non-hostile-related medical air transports” are not causalities of war even though they are listed in the DoD’s “casualty” documents because, she says, they were for “injuries not related to service, they were unrelated to combat.”‘
What a bunch of republican crap! They wouldn’t have been hurt if they weren’t in Iraq. period.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:46 amJDC has been flagged.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:47 am“Health insurance companies are rapidly adopting a new pricing system for very expensive drugs, asking patients to pay hundreds and even thousands of dollars for prescriptions for medications that may save their lives or slow the progress of serious diseases.” The new system “means that the burden of expensive health care can now affect insured people.”
_______________________________________________
There are a lot of people out there (some who post here, in fact) who have health insurance plans and don’t see the need to reform our health care delivery system because “I got mine!”
What they don’t always realize is that under our current system, their health care insurance can weaken and erode right from under them. A couple of major factors:
1) As this TP item highlights, the prices of prescription drugs are skyrocketing. Nothing must get in the way of ever-increasing profits, and their bloated advertising budgets must be paid for somehow. Insurance companies (who must also make a profit) don’t want to pay these insane prices, so they will be passing these costs on to their insureds more and more.
2) Employers (from whom most people still get their health insurance) are faced each year with large cost increases in health insurance. They can either A) bite the bullet and continue to provide the same insurance to their employees with no changes, B) provide plans with reduced benefits, C) ask for more of the premium share to come out of the employees’ pockets, or D) eliminate health insurance benefits altogether. The cost of prescription drugs is a major reason for skyrocketing rates.
For those of you who are thinking “I got mine!” — think again. You’re as vulnerable as the rest of us. We need a single-payer system and we need it now.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:05 amhe wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.” The administration “feels pressure to act now because they fear a coming regulatory nightmare.”
maybe… but more likely, he wants to distract them and keep them from
devoting any attention to his plans to attack IRAN…
just a guess…
April 14th, 2008 at 10:08 amBNF at #7. Here’s some of the information I was trying to find in my post #16.
—————————
Yoo’s on First?
by Ray McGovern
…Ironically, the fact that those violating Geneva have been granted immunity (through the <Military Commissions Act) within the U.S. makes it easier for foreign courts to prosecute for torture.
Remember how former Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld had to sneak out of Paris last October? He was not about to wait until a Paris prosecutor decided how to handle a fresh criminal complaint against him.
That complaint cited the failure of U.S. authorities to investigate the role of Rumsfeld and other top officials in torture, despite a documented paper trail of official memos implicating them in direct as well as command responsibility.
The complaint argued that countries like France have a legal obligation to prosecute under the 1984 Convention Against Torture, approved by 145 nations, including the United States.
http://www.afterdowningstreet.org/node/32656
April 14th, 2008 at 10:08 amhaving some tech problems this morning, TP???
yes…
April 14th, 2008 at 10:09 amIs the picture accompanying this article that of Bush showing off the family portrait of his mother…? That’s NOT Barbara Bush on the One Dollar Bill?
April 14th, 2008 at 10:19 am“President Bush is poised to change course and announce as early as this week that he wants Congress to pass a bill to combat global warming, and will lay out principles for what that should include.”
Said principles will include anything and everything that has a zero impact on any industry owned or operated by any corporation in the US.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:21 amit would probably help conserve your powere (?) if you turned off the option that highlights the text whenever the mouse touches it…
April 14th, 2008 at 10:21 ameh?
http://ccoaler.blogspot.com/ 2008/ 04/ vitter-spared-trip-to-witness-stand-in.html
April 14th, 2008 at 10:23 amjoke for 14-4-8:
vitter wont testify
Caption contest:
Now this here is the first dollar my daddy ever gived me!
April 14th, 2008 at 10:26 amBNF and 2 mil - I also remember reading that Paraguay has an extradition policy that pretty well protects anyone down there. This all came out as both Bush and Rev. Moon bought land down there. Can’t seem to find specifics. Can someone help me out?
April 14th, 2008 at 10:26 am“The I.R.S.’s scrutiny of the nation’s biggest companies is at a 20-year low,” according to a study conducted by Transactional Records Access Clearinghouse, a “historic collapse in audits.” The study “found that major corporations — defined as those with assets of at least $250 million — have about a one in four chance of being audited, down from about three in four in 1990.”
“More than two-thirds of Americans aged 27 to 42 don’t think they will ever be able to stop working,” according to a survey released today by Scottrade and BetterInvesting. “In contrast, 64 percent of respondents aged 55 to 64 said they could retire and not worry, even though this group is much closer to retirement age.”
The Defense Department released its latest American military causality numbers for Iraq and Afghanistan, “and the figures reveal non-fatal casualties that go well beyond the more than 4,000 U.S. troops who have died so far.” As of April 5, 4,492 soldiers have died while serving in the two wars while 31,590 have been wounded and 38,631 have been removed from the battlefields for “non-hostile-related medical air transports.”
A new AP poll says that 60 percent of the public say “they definitely won’t buy a home in the next two years, up from 53 percent who said so in an AP-AOL poll in September 2006,” “the latest sign of increasing pessimism about the nation’s housing crisis.” Just 11 percent are certain or very likely to buy soon, down from 15 percent two years ago.”
Cheney’s response: “So?”
April 14th, 2008 at 10:27 ami made a note of 2 things heard on MTP yesterday morning, watching only
during a commercial break on CBS sunday morning…
1. referring to hillary’s messed up campaign, not sure who said it:
“look, bush ran a very good campaign in 2000… look where that got us”
2. mary matalin says that the super delagates are not there to follow the
will of the people… they’re there to save us from ourselves, i guess…
.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:29 amfrom the “damned if you do” department:
Drinking May Raise Breast Cancer Risk
April 14th, 2008 at 10:32 amABC News - 1 hour ago
By Amanda Gardner SUNDAY, April 13 (HealthDay News) — Alcohol, consumed even in small amounts, increases the risk of breast cancer and particularly estrogen-receptor and progesterone-receptor positive breast cancer, a new study shows.
Alcohol Boosts Breast Cancer Risk eFluxMedia
Drinkers More Likely To Get Breast Cancer NBC 11.com
Found this an interesting read:
snip
Fallon’s Greatest Secret Accomplishment
The “Bent Spear” B-52 incident of August 30 was no accident. Live nuclear warheads stored in impenetrable underground bunkers, at heavily guarded sites do not “accidentally” attach themselves to cruise missiles, drive themselves out on a fork truck, and jump into place on a bomber that has for several years been prohibited from carrying nukes because the B-52 has been deemed too unsafe for that purpose.
The timeline tells the tale here. One week after the “accident”, on Sept. 5, the story was leaked to the Military Times. The next day, Sept. 6, Israel bombed a compound in Syria that was rumored to be a “suspected nuclear facility” where the Syrians were cooperating with North Korea on a secret project that was partially funded by Iran.
How convenient that those three nations turned out to be the exact ones in Bush’s “Axis of Evil.”
Asked about the incident, Bush refused to speak one word on the subject. To this day, nobody in the administration has offered any substantive information on the bombing of Syria.
Just before Fallon stopped the nuclear-armed bomber from delivering its cargo, Robert Gates had matter-of-factly announced that the new National Intelligence Estimate on Iran would not be released publicly. After Fallon realized exactly how maniacal the Bush regime was, he and other military and intel officers forced the release of the NIE, which said Iran had not had a nuclear weapons program since 2003, and was unlikely to resume it. It contradicted everything the White House had been selling.
How did they force Bush’s compliance? They threatened to tell the whole story to every reporter in Washington – that Bush was trying to sneak nukes to the Middle East with the intent of bombing Iran’s nuclear energy plants at the same time Israel bombed Syria.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:32 amhttp://www.politicalaffairs.net/ index.php/ article/ articleview/ 6585/ 1/ 322
but there is hope!
New Breast Cancer Vaccine Shows Promise in Clinical Trial
April 14th, 2008 at 10:33 ameFluxMedia - 3 hours ago
By Anna Boyd A small clinical trial (conducted by the US military) of an experimental vaccine designed to trigger the immune system to fight breast cancer suggests that it may reduce the risk of death for most patients.
Breast Cancer Vaccine Works Against Deadlier Form of Disease Washington Post
Vaccine Found To Lower Death Risk For Breast Cancer Patients dBTechno
Passing global warming legislation allows Bush to insert such an absurd piece of legislation that it will be tied up in the courts for years. It reminds me how the initiative process is being used in Washington as a disruptive tool.
In Washington we have our this clown Tim Eyman who makes six figures a year passing initiative after initiative which don’t stand up to court muster, but clog up the courts and the legislature by making it difficult for anyone to know what the rules are at any given moment. It’s a brilliant strategy, for Eyman, since he can design the bills which are clearly unconstitutional and then complain about the “activist” judges who keep knocking them down. His supporters’ collective lack of intelligence allows him to keep milking them for more money.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:35 amMcLaughlin group has wounded at over 90,0000 soldiers .
April 14th, 2008 at 10:36 amThats almost 100,000 with injuries we can see and who knows how many more with Stress disorders we cant see. So a whole new generation of messed up soldiers without a lifetime saftey net.
Mr Bush this is your legacy!!!!!!
they count gas as “retail sales” ?!?!?!?
Retail Sales in US Rose in March on Jump in Gasoline Receipts
Bloomberg - 45 minutes ago
By Bob Willis April 14 (Bloomberg) — Retail sales in the US rose in March, reflecting increases in receipts at service stations as gasoline prices jumped.
Retail Sales Edged Higher in March Wall Street Journal
Sales up 0.2%, a bit better than expected MarketWatch
“better” for WHO?
April 14th, 2008 at 10:36 amAnd the beat goes on Says:
BNF and 2 mil - I also remember reading that Paraguay has an extradition policy that pretty well protects anyone down there. This all came out as both Bush and Rev. Moon bought land down there. Can’t seem to find specifics. Can someone help me out?
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I found this short article at Democratic Underground:
Full article:
April 14th, 2008 at 10:38 amhttp://www.democraticunderground.com/ discuss/ duboard.php?az=view_all&address=103×349074
Thanks 2mil. All the pieces and parts seem to be in place for the Bush crime family to follow the footsteps of the fleeing Nazis to prevent ANY prosecution for crimes committed. I was holding out hope that war crime charges, at the very least, would be filed against these creeps. Yes, Cheney has said “SO” but I also feel the House and Senate have said the same thing to all of us by not bringing articles of impeachment againt the current administration.
April 14th, 2008 at 10:48 amAnd the beat goes on Says:
Thanks 2mil. All the pieces and parts seem to be in place for the Bush crime family to follow the footsteps of the fleeing Nazis to prevent ANY prosecution for crimes committed
——————————
I’ve been predicting for at least two years that if an Impeachment investigation were initiated (or perhaps merely hinted at) Cheney and Bush would immediately flee the country.
I could successfully prosecute then and I’m not an attorney. That’s how much evidence there is of their crimes.
Now we know where their private planes would be taking them: Paraguay.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:00 amBTW 2mil, the Robert Kennedy article was one of my posts…an inspiring message for the future.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:06 am2MillionLightYearsToAndromeda Says:
April 14th, 2008 at 11:00 am
_____________________________________________
And the beat goes on Says:
Thanks 2mil. All the pieces and parts seem to be in place for the Bush crime family to follow the footsteps of the fleeing Nazis to prevent ANY prosecution for crimes committed
_____________________________________________
I’ve been predicting for at least two years that if an Impeachment investigation were initiated (or perhaps merely hinted at) Cheney and Bush would immediately flee the country.
I could successfully prosecute then and I’m not an attorney. That’s how much evidence there is of their crimes.
_____________________________________________
In a fair system, my grandmother could successfully prosecute them — and she’s 96 years old and hard of hearing. However, in the world we have, the Republican party marches in lockstep with them, the Democrats have no spine to stand up to them, the entire Justice Department is in their pocket, and the media are their lapdogs.
Cheney and Bush would only flee if they were in the scope sights of somebody they could neither buy off, intimidate, nor discredit. And people like that are all too rare these days.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:08 amAlso, 2mil, thanks for the heads up on this one. Very good read.
http://www.opednews.com/ articles/ opedne_marti_oa_080410_water_resoration_act.htm
April 14th, 2008 at 11:11 amAnd the beat goes on Says:
BTW 2mil, the Robert Kennedy article was one of my posts…an inspiring message for the future.
———————
The important thing is getting the information out to the people. Even ardent readers of Progressive sites will miss this information unless it’s publicized and reprinted over and over again.
The lie that changing from carbon based energy to clean renewable energy will hurt the economy must be challenged. Especially when the opposite is true. Carbon based energy is ruining the planet and killing the economy. Clean renewable energy is the ONLY HOPE for the future.
There’s only one thing holding back this world-changing revolution…the political power of multinational oil companies.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:31 am2mil I completely agree with you on this one. Current politics aside, there are serious issues facing us right now and many of the solutions are so logical and simple. I remember that my mother, in the seventies, said one of the reasons we were not looking at renewable energy was because corporations had not figured out how they could get “depletion allowances” on the sun and wind.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:38 amBriseadh na Faire Says:
Ghost,
The Military Commissions Act of 2006 prevents the U.S.Government from prosecuting War Crimes. Bush & Co. can walk.
The MCA limited, but did not prevent the prosecution of war crimes by the U.S. However, considering the present Attorney General who has refused to even follow his duties for subpoenas, it won’t happen while the Bush administration is still in office and he’s replaced with someone who actually believes in the Rule of Law. In addition, large segments (if not all) of the MCA can and should be repealed when we have larger majorities in the Senate and House in 2009.
“The adoption of the Military Commissions Act of 2006, defined in Section 6 of the act grave abuses of Common Article 3 to only include torture, cruel or inhumane treatment, murder, mutilation or maiming, intentional causing serious bodily harm, rape, sexual assault or abuse, and the taking of hostages, thereby limiting the scope of the original law.”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_Crimes_Act_of_1996
April 14th, 2008 at 11:46 amI am so angry that we are investigating other ways to prosecute. If the House did their job (without saying “SO” and giving us all the Bronx cheer) this would not be necessary.
April 14th, 2008 at 11:54 amBig businesses get a pass, individuals and small and medium sized businesses are being audited more. Easy pickings. The big businesses have teams of lawyers to fight the IRS. The little guy just pays up. How cool is that?
April 14th, 2008 at 12:10 pmMore of the legacy of the Bushies.
“The I.R.S.’s scrutiny of the nation’s biggest companies is at a 20-year low,”
Remember, one of the Shrub mantras is that business is doing a fine job and govt needs to get off its back. Result is lower inspections (worked for packaged Spinach and American Airlines……)
April 14th, 2008 at 12:18 pm“The I.R.S.’s scrutiny of the nation’s biggest companies is at a 20-year low,”
Remember, one of the Shrub mantras is that business is doing a fine job and govt needs to get off its back. Result is lower inspections (worked for packaged Spinach and American Airlines. Oh, and that meatbacking plant that was caught bo the animal rights folks - *NOT* THE GOVT - butchering downed cattle…….)
April 14th, 2008 at 12:18 pmParaguay and the U.S. do have an extradition treaty (latest version 1998). But in 2005, the Senate of Paraguay gave U.S. armed forces immunity from prosecution by both the national and international criminal courts (ICC). Shortly after, U.S. troops began arriving at Mariscal Estigarribia air base, which is very close to Bush’s land. I’m sure these troops could easily be replaced by Blackwater mercenaries in the future. Might be tough to extradite when a private army could be used to protect that person(s) from extradition.
http://209.85.165.104/ search?q=cache:SgpKn7MCoSUJ:www.oas.org/
juridico/MLA/en/traites/en_traites-ext-usa-pry.pdf+paraguay+an
d+extradition+to+U.S.&hl=en&ct=clnk&cd=3&gl=us
Shortly after, U.S. troops began arriving at Mariscal Estigarribia air base, which is very close to Bush’s land. I’m sure these troops could easily be replaced by Blackwater mercenaries in the future. Might be tough to extradite when a private army could be used to protect that person(s) from extradition.
http://wonkette.com/ politics/ george-w.-bush/ we-hate-to-bring-up-the-nazis-but-they-fled-to-south-america-too-208549.php
April 14th, 2008 at 12:29 pmHow many of the “non-hostile related medical transports” were suicides, suicide attempts, or purposeful injuries to get off the battlefield?
April 14th, 2008 at 12:54 pmBush family buys land in Paraguay? I thought he was going to found some fantastic freedom institute.
April 14th, 2008 at 2:43 pmOh, I just got it. The freedom institute will be in Paraguay, dedicated to the Bush family’s freedom.
>Maria Cantwell is a Senator, not a Representative.
apparently, since shes got some sort of spine, shes more likely to be mistaken for someone other than a senator..
April 14th, 2008 at 3:52 pm