What made it go poof? $US250 million.
The next time someone decries a rapper getting off with only probation on a weapons charge, you tell them where the real gangstas can be found.
Nigeria's anti-corruption police are human, after all. They have needs as do any of us; needs for brilliant things, electronic devices, plasma screens, the Almighty HD; things that go zoom in the night, like on all the commercials: Lexus, Mercedes, Cadillac. Needs of wearing the latest from Armani to Bvlgari. And we can't forget the need to take elaborate vacations; yes, trips to Swiss banks with shiny, metal, cases.
Why do the same names keep popping up in the negative column as we read about Cheney, Halliburton, KBR, and BP?
The usual suspects.
In the records of the Old Bailey, there can be seen court notations for those characters who frequently found themselves before the magistrates. One asterix meant you had appeared in court before. Two indicated you were previously convicted. And a cross beside your name, indicated you were a frequent guess of His Majesty. Double cross pegged you as a known associate of on-going criminal enterprises, a villain.
Analogs in the current circumstance? You get the drill.
Meanwhile, our television media concentrates on the surprising fact that there is a thing called winter, that it definitely exists, and it has brought us this curious substance called snow this week. And it is AMAZING!
CNN is skywriting in the mundane today. Weatherman Rob Marciano - and he must have had an argument with a higher-up - is somewhere in Arkansas; again and again describing what is snow, how it works, how it can gum up traffic and so on; how a snow-plow operates, how road salt helps to lower the freezing point of water to about to 28 degrees, so that the ice on the street melts.
Groan.
While our news media continues on toward its eventual death rattle, let us walk away from the television and sit here at our computer and reflect on a few facts.
One, WikiLeaks has released a new document today about BP's narrow escape from another blow-out in Azerbaijan. This comes hours after Obama administration's Eric (place)Holder, released the US Department of Justice's meekly delayed, mincingly announced decision to sue the oil giant for damages from the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill.
No criminal charges have been filed.
Is it fair to picture the scene?
Somewhere high over the Atlantic, a man sips Brut in his first class cabin. He's quite pleased with himself. All is well.
The camera pans up from his reclining form to the overhead bin, wherein can be found a shiny, metal, case.
No comments:
Post a Comment