posted
I was listening to NPR when they were talking about the upcoming trials of Blackwater employees for Manslaughter, etc.
Erik Prince, the founder and original head of Blackwater is an interesting figure. An arch Christian Conservative, with a strong Christian Education has been a bit reclusive. Now two ex-employees have formally proclaimed that:
1) He believes his life's goal is to destroy Islam.
2) He paid bonuses to his Blackwater private soldiers in Iraq to disrupt and destroy Iraqi life.
3) He illegally shipped arms to the Khurds rebelling against Turkey--the PKK--a listed Terrorist Organization.
4) He has killed or has had killed any employee who helps the federal government investigate his dealings.
Remember that in 2007 a Blackwater patrol, tired of getting shot at from snipers, drove into a town square and just started shooting people. They killed 17 Iraqi civilians. These were not Taliban or Al-Queda or Insurgents. These were just Iraqi folks at home.
And those who did the shooting may never be convicted because--Blackwater while working under the state department was out of everyone's jurisdiction.
All the State Department could do was fire them.
So what we have here is a heavily armed and greatly trained band of soldiers under no legal jurisdiction, but under the control of a man who wants to see the major religion in the region destroyed.
I find it amazing that the damage done by other Blackwater operatives was so limited.
Posts: 1941 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:So what we allegedly have here is a heavily armed and greatly trained band of soldiers under no legal jurisdiction, but under the control of a man who wants to see the major religion in the region destroyed.
Fixed that for you. If these allegations are true, the man should presumably be locked up (maybe in Gitmo?), but he has a right to be presumed innocent, eh? We don't know the backstory of why these two employees are coming forward now.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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posted
Yes. The Blackwater/Xe and Custer Battles debacles were surface highlights of how the Bush administration's Iraqi contracting system could hardly possibly have been worse.
There's a blood boiler I've posted from RS that, while full of frothing, demonstrates how deep it went.
Because this all really happened.
quote:To travel to Iraq, would-be contractors needed permission from the Bush administration, which was far from blind in its appraisal of applicants. In a much-ballyhooed example of favoritism, the White House originally installed a clown named Jim O'Beirne at the relevant evaluation desk in the Department of Defense. O'Beirne proved to be a classic Bush villain, a moron's moron who judged applicants not on their Arabic skills or their relevant expertise but on their Republican bona fides; he sent a twenty-four-year-old who had never worked in finance to manage the reopening of the Iraqi stock exchange, and appointed a recent graduate of an evangelical university for home-schooled kids who had no accounting experience to manage Iraq's $13 billion budget. James K. Haveman, who had served as Michigan's community-health director under a GOP governor, was put in charge of rehabilitating Iraq's health-care system and decided that what this war-ravaged, malnourished, sanitation-deficient country most urgently needed was . . . an anti-smoking campaign.
Town-selectmen types like Haveman weren't the only people who got passes to enter Iraq in the first few years. The administration also greenlighted brash, modern-day forty-niners like Scott Custer and Mike Battles, a pair of ex-Army officers and bottom-rank Republican pols (Battles had run for Congress in Rhode Island and had been a Fox News commentator) who had decided to form a security company called Custer Battles and make it big in Iraq. "Battles knew some people from his congressional run, and that's how they got there," says Alan Grayson, an attorney who led a whistle-blower lawsuit against the pair for defrauding the government.
Before coming to Iraq, Custer Battles hadn't done even a million dollars in business. The company's own Web site brags that Battles had to borrow cab fare from Jordan to Iraq and arrived in Baghdad with less than $500 in his pocket. But he had good timing, arriving just as a security contract for Baghdad International Airport was being "put up" for bid. The company site raves that Custer spent "three sleepless nights" penning an offer that impressed the CPA enough to hand the partners $2 million in cash, which Battles promptly stuffed into a duffel bag and drove to deposit in a Lebanese bank.
Custer Battles had lucked into a sort of Willy Wonka's paradise for contractors, where a small pool of Republican-friendly businessmen would basically hang around the Green Zone waiting for a contracting agency to come up with a work order. In the early days of the war, the idea of "competition" was a farce, with deals handed out so quickly that there was no possibility of making rational or fairly priced estimates. According to those familiar with the process, contracting agencies would request phony "bids" from several contractors, even though the winner had been picked in advance. "The losers would play ball because they knew that eventually it would be their turn to be the winner," says Grayson.
To make such deals legal, someone in the military would simply sign a piece of paper invoking an exception. "I know one guy whose business was buying weapons on the black market for contractors," says Pratap Chatterjee, a writer who has spent months in the Mideast researching a forthcoming book on Iraq contracts. "It's illegal — but he got military people to sign papers allowing him to do it."
The system not only had the advantage of eliminating red tape in a war zone, it also encouraged the "entrepreneurship" of patriots like Custer and Battles, who went from bumming cab fare to doing $100 million in government contracts practically overnight. And what business they did! The bid that Custer claimed to have spent "three sleepless nights" putting together was later described by Col. Richard Ballard, then the inspector general of the Army, as looking "like something that you and I would write over a bottle of vodka, complete with all the spelling and syntax errors and annexes to be filled in later." The two simply "presented it the next day and then got awarded about a $15 million contract."
The deal charged Custer Battles with the responsibility to perform airport security for civilian flights. But there were never any civilian flights into Baghdad's airport during the life of their contract, so the CPA gave them a job managing an airport checkpoint, which they failed miserably. They were also given scads of money to buy expensive X-ray equipment and set up an advanced canine bomb-sniffing system, but they never bought the equipment. As for the dog, Ballard reported, "I eventually saw one dog. The dog did not appear to be a certified, trained dog." When the dog was brought to the checkpoint, he added, it would lie down and "refuse to sniff the vehicles" — as outstanding a metaphor for U.S. contractor performance in Iraq as has yet been produced.
Like most contractors, Custer Battles was on a cost-plus arrangement, which means its profits were guaranteed to rise with its spending. But according to testimony by officials and former employees, the partners also charged the government millions by making out phony invoices to shell companies they controlled. In another stroke of genius, they found a bunch of abandoned Iraqi Airways forklifts on airport property, repainted them to disguise the company markings and billed them to U.S. taxpayers as new equipment. Every time they scratched their asses, they earned; there was so much money around for contractors, officials literally used $100,000 wads of cash as toys. "Yes — $100 bills in plastic wrap," Frank Willis, a former CPA official, acknowledged in Senate testimony about Custer Battles. "We played football with the plastic-wrapped bricks for a little while."
The Custer Battles show only ended when the pair left a spreadsheet behind after a meeting with CPA officials — a spreadsheet that scrupulously detailed the pair's phony invoicing. "It was the worst case of fraud I've ever seen, hands down," says Grayson. "But it's also got to be the first instance in history of a defendant leaving behind a spreadsheet full of evidence of the crime."
But even being the clumsiest war profiteers of all time was not enough to bring swift justice upon the heads of Mr. Custer and Mr. Battles — and this is where the story of America's reconstruction effort gets really interesting. The Bush administration not only refused to prosecute the pair — it actually tried to stop a lawsuit filed against the contractors by whistle-blowers hoping to recover the stolen money. The administration argued that Custer Battles could not be found guilty of defrauding the U.S. government because the CPA was not part of the U.S. government.
quote:A few months later, in March 2004, your company magically wins a contract from the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq to design and build the Baghdad Police College, a facility that's supposed to house and train at least 4,000 police recruits. But two years and $72 million later, you deliver not a functioning police academy but one of the great engineering cluster****s of all time, a practically useless pile of rubble so badly constructed that its walls and ceilings are literally caked in shit and piss, a result of subpar plumbing in the upper floors.
You've done such a terrible job, in fact, that when auditors from the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction visit the college in the summer of 2006, their report sounds like something out of one of the Saw movies: "We witnessed a light fixture so full of diluted urine and feces that it would not operate," they write, adding that "the urine was so pervasive that it had permanently stained the ceiling tiles" and that "during our visit, a substance dripped from the ceiling onto an assessment team member's shirt." The final report helpfully includes a photo of a sloppy brown splotch on the outstretched arm of the unlucky auditor.
When Congress gets wind of the fiasco, a few members on the House Oversight Committee demand a hearing. To placate them, your company decides to send you to the Hill — after all, you're a former Air Force major general who used to oversee this kind of contracting operation for the government. So you take your twenty-minute ride in from the suburbs, sit down before the learned gentlemen of the committee and promptly get asked by an irritatingly eager Maryland congressman named Chris Van Hollen how you managed to spend $72 million on a pile of shit.
You blink. **** if you know. "I have some conjecture, but that's all it would be" is your deadpan answer.
The room twitters in amazement. It's hard not to applaud the balls of a man who walks into Congress short $72 million in taxpayer money and offers to guess where it all might have gone.
Next thing you know, the congressman is asking you about your company's compensation. Touchy subject — you've got a "cost-plus" contract, which means you're guaranteed a base-line profit of three percent of your total costs on the deal. The more you spend, the more you make — and you certainly spent a hell of a lot. But before this milk-faced congressman can even think about suggesting that you give these millions back, you've got to cut him off. "So you won't voluntarily look at this," Van Hollen is mumbling, "and say, given what has happened in this project . . . "
"No, sir, I will not," you snap.
". . . 'We will return the profits.' . . ."
"No, sir, I will not," you repeat.
quote:Bechtel was given $50 million to build the hospital — but a year later, with the price tag soaring to $169 million, the company was pulled off the project without a single bed being ready for use. The government was unfazed: Bechtel, explained USAID spokesman David Snider, was "under a 'term contract,' which means their job is over when their money ends."
Their job is over when their money ends. When I call Snider to clarify this amazing statement, he declines to discuss the matter further. But if you look over the history of the Iraqi reconstruction effort, you will find versions of this excuse everywhere. When Custer Battles was caught delivering broken trucks to the Army, a military official says the company told him, "We were only told we had to deliver the trucks. The contract doesn't say they had to work."
Such excuses speak to a monstrous vacuum of patriotism; it would be hard to imagine contractors being so blithely disinterested in results during World War II, where every wasted dollar might mean another American boy dead from gangrene in the Ardennes. But the rampant waste of money and resources also suggests a widespread contempt for the ostensible "purpose" of our presence in Iraq. Asked to cast a vote for the war effort, contractors responded by swiping everything they could get their hands on — and the administration's acquiescence in their thievery suggests that it, too, saw making a buck as the true mission of the war. Two witnesses scheduled to testify before Congress against Custer Battles ultimately declined not only because they had received death threats but because they, too, were contractors and feared that they would be shut out of future government deals. To repeat: Witnesses were afraid to testify in an effort to recover government funds because they feared reprisal from the government.
quote:The White House has failed to litigate a single case against a contractor under the False Claims Act and has not sued anybody for breach of contract.
quote:So what we allegedly have here is a heavily armed and greatly trained band of soldiers under no legal jurisdiction, but under the control of a man who wants to see the major religion in the region destroyed.
Fixed that for you. If these allegations are true, the man should presumably be locked up (maybe in Gitmo?), but he has a right to be presumed innocent, eh? We don't know the backstory of why these two employees are coming forward now.
They're pretty much true. The government just refused to prosecute nearly in any of the instances of even clear-cut fraud.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:So what we allegedly have here is a heavily armed and greatly trained band of soldiers under no legal jurisdiction, but under the control of a man who wants to see the major religion in the region destroyed.
Fixed that for you. If these allegations are true, the man should presumably be locked up (maybe in Gitmo?), but he has a right to be presumed innocent, eh? We don't know the backstory of why these two employees are coming forward now.
I'm with KOM on this one. While ex employees can be useful sources of information, they can also be rabblerousers simply trying to flip the bird to somebody in the organization or the organization itself once their opportunities for self benefit have run out.
Not that I have any affection for Black Water/Xe, I've sounded off several times how evil I think they are. It was the right thing to do letting the Iraqi government decide not to renew Black Water's contract they were essentially an entity accountable to nobody. I'm sure there were well meaning individuals in the organization attempting to do a good job, but there were also a bunch of cowboys who acted as if they instinctively knew who the terrorists were, and that they could kill them and not face consequences for making a mistake. Even our own troops were treated like garbage by Black Water.
posted
One does kind of get the feeling that Blackwater describing their job as "security" is a bit like the neighborhood tough guys describing their protection racket as "insurance". It's rather amazing they're still in business.
Posts: 3826 | Registered: May 2005
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quote:Originally posted by King of Men: So how do you know they're true, then? Allegations on lib'ral blogs are not evidence.
I don't use allegations on blogs as evidence. We have congressional oversight reports based on internal documents from the company that collaborate a fair number of complaints about Xe. What you said is that if the allegations are true, he should presumably be locked up. I'm pointing out that the lawless morass and administrative cover in the early Iraq war presents a situation where non-prosecution is not at all a fair indication that Blackwater has not acted criminally.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Perhaps you misread me; I did not mean "If it were true, he would be be locked up already"; I meant "If it is shown true, he should be locked up."
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: We have congressional oversight reports based on internal documents from the company that collaborate a fair number of complaints about Xe.
posted
The personal beliefs of the founder of Blackwater have little to do with company contracts. There are thousands of contracting companies involved in Iraq. I slept well at night knowing I had ex special force contractors guarding my compound. They weren't there as offensive weapons, rather defensive. They are paid to do a job, so long as they stay within the bounds of their contract, the personal beliefs of the founder and/or members are mute. The sanctioned US military is comprised of people representing every belief system with a common mission. Judging Blackwater due to it being lead by a conservative is no different than judging another company for being owned by a Jew, Black, Woman, whatever. They have a job to do.
I tend to agree with the founder of Blackwater....other religions can coexist. Doesn't it make sense to eliminate the one that can't peacefully coexist? We are containing a virus in the middle east. In 50 years, France will be just like Israel. The Swiss made the right move banning Minarettes. We should reject those who can't get along or tolerance will lead to a tyranny of the intolerant.
The Koran teaches that any land owned by a Muslim is forever the property of Islam.
Here, from Al Arabia.....the future of those who tolerate Islam.
quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: We have congressional oversight reports based on internal documents from the company that collaborate a fair number of complaints about Xe.
Corroborate
Cool, finals started digesting my brain finally
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
When 51% of your democratically elected city counsel is Muslim:
- all bars will be closed...dry town - Saturday, legally, all businesses closed - Women not allowed in public without man - City bells for call to prayer - Nonbelievers attached an additional tax\ - Pork against city ordinance. - Women must be covered
Democracy in action....majority wins. Thank you for your tolerance...now live under true intolerance.
Posts: 1495 | Registered: Mar 2009
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posted
Cool, you don't even understand how our own democracy works. Yes, the city council will subjugate women under veils and tax nonbelievers and for some strange reason it'll fly constitutionally and under federal nondiscrimination and establishment clause laws. Probably because scary, scary muslims did it.
Well, you heard the man. We better start deporting muslims in order to protect ourselves.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:for some strange reason it'll fly constitutionally
In fairness to mal, this is not inconsistent with many of his earlier statements, which indicate that he has little to no respect for the actual Constitution.
Posts: 37449 | Registered: May 1999
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quote:When 51% of your democratically elected city counsel is Muslim:
Well, I mean obviously, because after all, everybody knows that all Muslims, everywhere, particularly in the United States, believe Sharia law must be enacted immediately. Those tricky Muslims! Some religions have varying shades of degree, much like political parties, but not Islam. Nope. All of `em, every one, are as radical as can be.
Dumbass.
And of course, as Samprimary noted, we have checks in place to ensure that sort of thing doesn't happen. Our Founding Fathers and many generations of Americans before us wanted to make it really tough for religious radicals (for the record, they weren't thinking about Muslims, either) to have their way in this country, after all.
Posts: 17164 | Registered: Jun 2001
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posted
When 51% of your democratically elected city counsel is Christian:
- all bars will be closed...dry town - Sunday, legally, all businesses closed - Women not allowed in public without man - City bells for call to church - Nonbelievers attached an additional tax or refused to be allowed in office. - Meat on Friday against city ordinance. - Women must be covered - Homosexual Acts will be felonies.
All of these have been seen in the US.
Don't forget Mal that Western Culture and US Culture is a two way street. Even if 51% of the US is Muslim, many of that 51% will like watching girls in scanty outfits, or drinking, or the taste of a bacon sandwich.
Democracy in action....majority wins. Thank you for your tolerance...now live under true intolerance.
Posts: 1941 | Registered: Feb 2003
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posted
malanthrop: Who would oppose a private contract firm just because a conservative is at the helm?
Who would oppose a private contract firm because they defraud tax payers out of the money the government gives them, traffic in weapons our enemies purchase, lie, steal, murder, endanger our troops, all without a sense of remorse?
There are plenty of Muslim nations that coexist with other religions. Malaysia is a fantastic example of coexistence. Are they blind to race and religion? No, but they do a great job overall figuring out a way to make it work.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by King of Men: [QUOTE]So what we allegedly have here is a heavily armed and greatly trained band of soldiers under no legal jurisdiction, but under the control of a man who wants to see the major religion in the region destroyed.
Fixed that for you. If these allegations are true, the man should presumably be locked up (maybe in Illinois?), but he has a right to be presumed innocent, eh? We don't know the backstory of why these two employees are coming forward now. QUOTE]
Fixed that for you. Gitmo is closing and moving to Illinois right? Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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posted
My wife is from Albania, and they are technically a Muslim country. Almost no one practices any religion, but they are very tolerant of other religions. The Mosques have the prayers at the times during the day, however very few people stop. Women do not dress in the traditional Islamic garb either.
In fact, my wife wrote "muslim" down when she applied for a student visa to the US. She does not know any muslim teachings and has never been to a mosque in her life, but that is how they identify themselves. The land that is today Albania was controlled by the Ottoman Empire from 1481 until 1912.
When my wife and I went there two years ago to visit her family, I found a country very respectful and tolerant of all religions. I saw Jehova's Witness, LDS missionaries, Muslims, and other religions all living together without any problems. For a country that has became a democracy only about 20 years ago, that is pretty good!
Posts: 1937 | Registered: Nov 2006
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quote:for some strange reason it'll fly constitutionally
In fairness to mal, this is not inconsistent with many of his earlier statements, which indicate that he has little to no respect for the actual Constitution.
Oh, I know! That's pretty obvious given his proposed 'solutions' to the scourge of free muslims. It's not about inconsistency with his own respect for the constitution, it's that he just obviously has no clue why his proposed scare scenario can't exist. He doesn't just have no respect for the constitution, he has no real idea what the constitution is.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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quote:Originally posted by Samprimary: Cool, you don't even understand how our own democracy works. Yes, the city council will subjugate women under veils and tax nonbelievers and for some strange reason it'll fly constitutionally and under federal nondiscrimination and establishment clause laws. Probably because scary, scary muslims did it.
Well, you heard the man. We better start deporting muslims in order to protect ourselves.
Do you honestly believe the constitution limits government?
"The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively"
If we followed the Constitution, we wouldn't have a national healthcare debate. States, like Mass and OR can pass healthcare (which is failing in those states). There are dry towns and dry counties,....guarantee Muslim towns will be dry. There are city ordinances against chewing gum, you doubt there can be an ordinance against the exposure of female flesh?
The United States was formed as a coalition of sovereign states, like the European Union. How long will it be until the individual nations of the EU lose their sovereign status to big government? Will the EU over-rule the Swiss constitutional ban on minarets?
quote:Do you honestly believe the constitution limits government?
Yes, because it does. There's entire sections expressly, primarily devoted to restricting the powers of the federal government. This is why your 'powers not delegated' part fails as a counterargument: that the constitution reserves powers to the state governments doesn't mean that the constitution restricts state governments?
Imagine if that were true: Brown v. Board of Education would have been meaningless.
Ugh what am I even trying to do? It's evident that actual civics is so far over your head that I have a near-zero probability of penetrating your inability to understand the government. You'll just continue rambling semi-related crap and thinking you're making a point.
Posts: 15421 | Registered: Aug 2005
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posted
Since we are talking about the constitution, McNaughton's "One Nation Under God" which I saw at the mall yesterday, complete with explanation sent me on a hour plus tirade about how stupid it is. There's so much wrong with it, I'll just content myself with the paradox that John Adams is going to heaven and yet Marbury V Madison is on the floor as evidence that the Supreme Court Justice is going to hell for upholding it. And the stars in the sky represent the 50 states, and yes, some are burning more brightly than others on purpose.
OK One more thing, the artist accurately paints Skousen's The Five Thousand Year Leap, and yet he calls Darwin's book The Origin of Species? Really?
I'd probably be intolerable as a guest if I saw this painting up on display at somebody's house.
Posts: 14316 | Registered: Jul 2005
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quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: The United States was formed as a coalition of sovereign states, like the European Union. How long will it be until the individual nations of the EU lose their sovereign status to big government? Will the EU over-rule the Swiss constitutional ban on minarets?
Considering Switzerland is not an EU member state, nor is planning on becoming one, I find that about as likely as I find the US claiming legal jurisdiction over local affairs in Canada.
Your arguments would not at least splatter when they hit the ground, if you managed to get even the basic facts right.
Posts: 9912 | Registered: Nov 2005
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posted
Parkour, the US was formed as a federation of sovereign states. Most of the power of the central government dates from your civil war.
Posts: 10645 | Registered: Jul 2004
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quote:Originally posted by malanthrop: When 51% of your democratically elected city counsel is Muslim:
- all bars will be closed...dry town - Saturday, legally, all businesses closed - Women not allowed in public without man - City bells for call to prayer - Nonbelievers attached an additional tax\ - Pork against city ordinance. - Women must be covered
Democracy in action....majority wins. Thank you for your tolerance...now live under true intolerance.
So is there no concept of individual liberty in this "democracy?" Are we not making the distinction between liberal democracies and illiberal ones?
posted
The last election did prove one thing...fear, while a good motivator, is not as good as hope.
Mal's dreaded fear filled prediction of the end of freedom when 51% of any town is Muslim is fear mongering.
Face it, in the US there are very very few towns where Muslims are close to 51%, and with immigration the way it is, not very likely to happen in the next 50 years. Yet we are supposed to react to this dreadful warning like this will occur tomorrow.
I have most often seen the fanatic, racist, or other egoist demand violent, unsympathetic, and fanatical action is self-defense because if we don't do it to them first, they will surely do it to us.
This is Sauron's error. He saw only the tactics he would use as those usable by his enemies, and assumed they would use just the ones he would use himself with most glee.
So, in order to stop the following:
- all bars will be closed...dry town - Saturday, legally, all businesses closed - Women not allowed in public without man - City bells for call to prayer - Nonbelievers attached an additional tax\ - Pork against city ordinance. - Women must be covered
Mal would instill a requirement that:
- Women must go uncovered. - Pork officially approved by city ordinance. - Believers in Islam should pay an additional tax. - No bells shall ever be allowed to call to prayer - Islamic Men are not allowed to accompany women. - Saturday is a mandatory work day--only Sunday shall be the Sabbath. - etc, etc.
Yep, its a straw man. Mal hasn't suggested any of the above. He's suggested to protect his culture from some feared threat in the futre, we destroy another culture with all the fierce heartless cruelty he fears they harbor for us.
Posts: 1941 | Registered: Feb 2003
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quote:Originally posted by rivka: I still want to know what Saturday has to do with Islam.
If he figures it out, he might want to tell various countries that they are taking the wrong days off work.
Posts: 11187 | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
I apologize for my lack of Muslim day of rest.
I said, "democracy in action" because we are not a democracy. We are a constitutional republic.
I agree the constitution should limit the power of government but the oath to support and defend it is ignored. If it were followed, before voting for legislation, the Congress would verify the constitionality of their legislation prior to voting. Our current senate just voted on legislation that wasn't even read. They made side deals to buy votes but only a minority even saw the bill in its entirety.
Someone will refuse to purchase healthcare, be fined, thrown in jail and bring suit. It will be thrown out on constitutional grounds. There has never been a legally imposed private expense just to exist in this nation.
Posts: 1495 | Registered: Mar 2009
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posted
It could happen because constitutionally the power resides in the state and local government. I lived in College Place WA...a 7th day Adventist Town...home of Walla Walla College. It was against city ordinance to sell or purchase not only alcohol and tobacco, but meat as well. Are you saying I don't have a constitutional guarantee to eat meat? This right isn't spelled out in the constitution (like healthcare) It's "left to the state" and even more powerful, local.
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Considering Switzerland is not an EU member state, nor is planning on becoming one, I find that about as likely as I find the US claiming legal jurisdiction over local affairs in Canada.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
