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boomer q
Comrade General



Registered: 05/03/07
Posts: 1,091
Loc: Dirty Jersey
Last seen: 10 years, 8 months
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: zorbman]
#7531792 - 10/18/07 03:38 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
zorbman said:
I remember reading how Rome in its last days used mercenaries extensively. (Back then Rome was fighting barbarians at the gate, today we call them "terrorists").
true, in fact as the boarders of their empire rolled back thorough eurpoe, they employed several "barbarian" tribes as their mercenaries to fight other, invading barbarians... later these were the tribes which sacked Rome repeatedly because they were never paid or compensated for their military service
i sure dont want any blackwater folks in my neighborhood
-------------------- I got bags of funk and i sell em by the tons
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nakors_junk_bag
Lobster Bisque



Registered: 11/23/04
Posts: 2,415
Loc: ethereality
Last seen: 15 years, 9 months
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: jesusvsbuddha]
#7532591 - 10/18/07 06:46 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Quote:
jesusvsbuddha said: Mercenaries acting like soldiers/soldiers acting like mercenaries. Who cares what you call these people? I'm talking about their actions. Call a piece of dog crap a rose, but it still smells like shit
roses really smell like boo-b00-poo
-------------------- Asshole
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jesusvsbuddha
Fellow Pioneerof the Mind

Registered: 06/20/07
Posts: 61
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 14 years, 11 months
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it's not just blackwater, even though that is the post title...it's the entire fucking mess. iraq isn't the exception of American foreign policy gone awry just because it's all over the news day in and day out. bombs will be dropped and foreign blood shed for the sake of the fat American dollar (i too am guilty as we ALL are until we stop fooling ourselves into believing we need these disgusting green wads to sustain life) no matter who's in office. this won't change just because somebody else creeps into the puppet suit. Hillary, Obama...they're all the same. Democrats are just as guilty (though blow job scandals sure do take our minds off the fact). why do people keep signing on to go fight these wars? if somebody could give me a good reason for patriotism in any of its asnine forms, i'd sure like to hear it.
-------------------- "I'm glad mushrooms are illegal. You know what happened when I took them? I laid in a field of green grass for four hours going, 'My God...I love...EVERYthing!' Now if that isn't a hazard to this country..." -Bill Hicks
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: jesusvsbuddha]
#7534276 - 10/19/07 06:27 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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Am I reading this stuff correctly?
We pay billions of dollars to Blackwater (et al) to operate in Iraq. Blackwater, using the billions in tax money, hire top-end highly trained soldiers out of the US Military by offering them huge salaries. Blackwater goes into Iraq treating it like the wild west, shooting for "sport" anything that moves. Innocent civilians in Iraq die due to Blackwater, causing a huge resentment towards the US, leading to renewed attacks on US soldiers. US soldiers not provided with appropriate armor, because the US can't afford it, because the US has been paying Blackwater billions of dollars to operate in Iraq. And to add salt to the wound, the US military has to increase the length of tours in Iraq to replace the soldiers that are migrating to Blackwater.
... am I missing something?
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Clean
the lense


Registered: 05/11/03
Posts: 2,374
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: Seuss]
#7534862 - 10/19/07 10:49 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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yeah you left out this part...
General Joseph Edward Schmitz is Blackwater's Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel. He is a member of Opus Dei and the Knights of Malta, also called the Sovereign Military Order of Malta....
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gettinjiggywithit
jiggy


Registered: 07/20/04
Posts: 7,469
Loc: Heart of Laughter
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: Seuss]
#7535126 - 10/19/07 12:01 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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You have it right Seuss. Another way we are paying more then twice for the same job is this sort of thing happening, according to a radio repair man with the army. He said, they sent in a Blackwater employee, who knew nothing at all about radio repair, for him to train how to do his job. Once finished, they put him on patrol duty, and we now pay the Blackwater employee more then double to do his job.
Here's another example of Military industrial Complex abuse. When one of their $500,000 trucks blows a tire or needs a new air filter, they don't replace the parts. They blow the truck up for fun and order a new truck on our dime.
That's all small potatoes abuse. There is much more and it's all documented in here. Save this link to your favorites and watch this documentary when you have the time.
It's called Iraq For Sale the War Profiteer. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2032359233625413099&q
-------------------- Ahuwale ka nane huna.
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Seuss
Error: divide byzero



Registered: 04/27/01
Posts: 23,480
Loc: Caribbean
Last seen: 2 months, 20 days
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Because I enjoy beating a dead horse...
From al CNN:
Quote:
The U.S. State Department is unable to account for most of $1.2 billion in funding that it gave to DynCorp International to train Iraqi police, a government report said Tuesday.
"The bottom line is that State can't account for where it went," said Glenn D. Furbish, who was involved in putting together the 20-page report for the special inspector general for Iraq reconstruction (SIGIR).
... and it gets better ...
Quote:
The Bush administratin on Monday asked Congress for nearly $46 billion in additional war spending for 2008, calling on U.S. lawmakers to approve the money before adjourning for the holidays.
"Parts of this war are complicated, but one part is not -- and that is that America should do what it takes to support our troops and protect our people," Bush said in an appearance with members of veterans groups at the White House.
... hmm, another $46 billion.... drop in the bucket:
Quote:
Most of the $45.9 billion request is for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, bringing the expected cost of those conflicts to more than $192 billion for the budget year that began this month.
... $192,000,000,000 divided by 52 weeks = $3,692,307,692 per week. ... $3,692,307,692 divided by 300,000,000 US Citizens = $12.31 ... $12.31 per person times 52 weeks = $640 per year per person
That's right... each American citizen (not family, but individual) paid $640 over the last twelve months for war operations in the middle east. Actually, we didn't pay it... we borrowed it, so really we each owe $640 plus interest.
-------------------- Just another spore in the wind.
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Visionary Tools



Registered: 06/23/07
Posts: 7,953
Last seen: 1 year, 7 months
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: Seuss]
#7550301 - 10/23/07 08:54 AM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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http://oversight.house.gov/story.asp?ID=1562
Evidence of Tax Evasion by Blackwater
New documents suggest that Blackwater may have engaged in significant tax evasion, failing to withhold and pay millions of dollars in Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, and related taxes, and sought to conceal its conduct from Congress and law enforcement officials.
In a letter to Eric Prince, the Chairman of the Prince Group, which owns Blackwater, Chairman Waxman writes:
I have received documents which suggest that Blackwater may have engaged in significant tax evasion. According to an IRS ruling in March 2007, Blackwater violated federal tax laws by treating an armed guard as an “independent contractor.” The implication of this ruling is that Blackwater may have avoided paying millions of dollars in Social Security, Medicare, unemployment, and related taxes for which it is legally responsible.
Unlike DynCorp and Triple Canopy, the two other major private military contractors providing security services to the State Department in Iraq, Blackwater classifies its armed guards as independent contractors rather than as employees. Under federal tax laws, this classification has important ramifications. Businesses must pay Social Security, Medicare, and unemployment taxes for their employees. They must also withhold federal income taxes on their salaries. By classifying its armed guards and other personnel as independent contractors instead of employees, Blackwater has apparently evaded withholding and paying these taxes.
When you testified before our Committee on October 2, 2007, Congresswoman Norton asked you why Blackwater treats its security personnel as independent contractors, while your competitors treat their guards as employees. You responded that Blackwater treats its guards as contractors because you found “it is a model that works” and because your guards prefer the “flexibility” of an independent contractor relationship.
Since the hearing, I have learned that the IRS determined in March — six months prior to your testimony — that your classification of a security guard working in Afghanistan as an independent contractor was “without merit.” The IRS advised that “[y]ou are responsible for satisfying the employment tax reporting, filing, and payment obligations that result from this determination.” By its terms, the IRS ruling applied only to the individual security guard who protested his classification, but the IRS warned that its ruling “may be applicable to any other individuals engaged by the firm.” The logic of the ruling would appear to apply to your entire workforce in Iraq and Afghanistan.
There is also evidence that Blackwater has tried to conceal the IRS ruling and the evasion of taxes from Congress and law enforcement officials. The IRS determination was issued in response to an inquiry by an individual security guard who questioned his classification as an independent contractor. In June, Blackwater required this employee to sign a nondisclosure agreement before it agreed to pay the back pay and other compensation that he was owed. The terms of this agreement explicitly prohibited the guard from disclosing any information about Blackwater to “any politician” or “public official.” The agreement further provided: “THE UTMOST PROTECTION AND NONDISCLOSURE OF CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION IS OF CRITICAL IMPORTANCE AND IS THE ESSENCE OF THIS AGREEMENT.”
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afoaf
CEO DBK?



Registered: 11/08/02
Posts: 32,665
Loc: Ripple's Heart
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the news gets worse and worse
-------------------- All I know is The Growery is a place where losers who get banned here go.
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fireworks_god
Sexy.Butt.McDanger



Registered: 03/12/02
Posts: 24,855
Loc: Pandurn
Last seen: 1 year, 12 days
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: afoaf]
#7551637 - 10/23/07 04:29 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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No; the news gets better and better.
The more the corruption and bullshit that has allowed to flourish due to lack of oversight and common sense in our politicians is exposed, the more those who stand for the ideals this country was founded upon are empowered to change the situation. The politicians and media have turned a blind eye to all of this shit for so long, and I think they are finally beginning to realize that it isn't special interests that are most beneficial to each, but rather catering to the interests of the American people themselves. Seems to be a trend that is presenting itself, anyways.
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If I should die this very moment I wouldn't fear For I've never known completeness Like being here Wrapped in the warmth of you Loving every breath of you
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jesusvsbuddha
Fellow Pioneerof the Mind

Registered: 06/20/07
Posts: 61
Loc: Oregon
Last seen: 14 years, 11 months
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: fireworks_god]
#7552830 - 10/23/07 09:16 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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AMEN^
-------------------- "I'm glad mushrooms are illegal. You know what happened when I took them? I laid in a field of green grass for four hours going, 'My God...I love...EVERYthing!' Now if that isn't a hazard to this country..." -Bill Hicks
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kake
The answer to1984 is 1776.




Registered: 05/06/99
Posts: 2,782
Loc: The 66th harmonic
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Re: rah-rah-rah! go blackwater!!! [Re: jesusvsbuddha]
#7553100 - 10/23/07 10:20 PM (16 years, 3 months ago) |
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-------------------- The answer to 1984 is 1776.
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