Friday News Blastoff! OxyContin,Iraqi Parliament, and Mexican Trucks Everywhere?

ABINGDON, Va., May 10 — The company that makes the painkiller OxyContin and three of its current and former executives pleaded guilty Thursday in federal court here to criminal charges that it had misled doctors and patients when it claimed the drug was less likely to be abused than traditional narcotics.

The company, Purdue Pharma, agreed to pay $600 million in fines and other payments to resolve the criminal charge of “misbranding” the product, one of the largest amounts ever paid by a drug company in such a case.

The three executives, including its president and its top lawyer, also pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of misbranding the drug. Together, they agreed to pay $34.5 million in fines                    NYTIMES

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BAGHDAD, May 10 -- A majority of members of Iraq's parliament have signed a draft bill that would require a timetable for the withdrawal of U.S. soldiers from Iraq and freeze current troop levels. The development was a sign of a growing division between Iraq's legislators and prime minister that mirrors the widening gulf between the Bush administration and its critics in Congress.

The draft bill proposes a timeline for a gradual departure, much like what some U.S. Democratic lawmakers have demanded, and would require the Iraqi government to secure parliament's approval before any further extensions of the U.N. mandate for foreign troops in Iraq, which expires at the end of 2007.

"We haven't asked for the immediate withdrawal of multinational forces; we asked that we should build our security forces and make them qualified, and at that point there would be a withdrawal," said Bahaa al-Araji, a member of parliament allied with the anti-American Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr, whose supporters drafted the bill. "But no one can accept the occupation of his country."    WaPo

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The day may be nearing when Mexican trucks will carry freight deep into Arizona and other states for the first time in a generation.

The prospect has rekindled controversy over the safety of Mexican trucks, the fairness of international trade agreements and the effectiveness of border security efforts.

The latest round of debates comes as the U.S. government prepares to open up the southern border to 100 Mexican trucking companies as part of a one-year experiment. Tucson Citizen

 

Tags: Iraq Mexico Bush Congress OxyContin Arizona

Iraqis Visit U.S. Congress Members To Push GOP Talking Points

        The fine government of Iraq sent some of their senior people to Washington to lobby the Congress against pulling U.S. troops out of their country, saying the usual Bush chant that pulling out would have disastrous consequences.        Source

On Thursday, hours before the House voted to limit funds for the war, Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Barham Saleh met with more than 30 House Republicans and more than a half-dozen senators, including Sens. Harry Reid, D-Nev., John Warner, R-Va., and Hillary Clinton.

With the clock ticking, Saleh — a Kurdish politician highly regarded by U.S. officials and who speaks impeccable English — said he came to Capitol Hill to convey the "imperative of success" in Iraq.

"Iraq is a central battleground in this historic conflict" against terrorism, he said in a brief interview after meeting with Reid, the Senate majority leader.

   I guess that it would be safe to say that Cheney didn't do to much arm twisting in regards to getting the Iraqi government to get with the program or else lose support. More like he went to make sure that Saleh had his rehearsed script and was ready to deliver the White House line of bullshit.

"Our armed forces are up to 150,000 troops; we're over $600 billion appropriated for this, lost 3,300 lives, 25,000 wounded fellow citizens. ... And the Iraqi answer? We're taking a summer off. Goin' fishing," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.

Saleh said he expects the vacation to be shortened by at least a month, although nothing had been decided. He added that Iraqis value being independent and do "not take kindly of (U.S. officials) telling us when to recess."

    A statement such as that one would have me pulling the plug on Iraq no matter how much oil the country has.

   If Bush were a real man and President, he would have told this Iraqi Republican wannabe to shut the fuck up and get ready for the policing of your country by your own military because ours are leaving.

    On the other hand, if Bush were a real man we would never have gone into Iraq in the first place.

Tags: Barham Saleh Rahm Emanuel Iraq Congress George Bush