1.4 Billion is probably small potatoes, loose change, couch-cushion-found-money -- compared to what's getting funnelled to The Powers That Be under the current setup.

I saw poll results from Mexico, today, in a news report that said only 28% of Mexicans polled believe that the Federales are "winning" the very violent and bloody cartel drug wars, down there, right now. It's only a thin slice of irony -- finely carved, like a good prosciutto -- but those numbers perfectly mirror Dubya's last approval ratings, and the current segment of the U.S. population who self-identify themselves as "Republicans," to pollsters...

The recently discovered bodies of 14 drug cops -- all kidnapped while they were off-duty, then tortured, before they were killed -- no doubt skewed those Mexican poll results a little, but it's hardly news to anyone that's been following the all but invisible conflict south of the border.

Harper's magazine had an outstanding article a few months ago (May) that anyone interestd in the subject should familiarize themselves with:

http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/05/008...

http://borderviolenceanalysis.typepad.com/...

http://ac360.blogs.cnn.com/2009/04/17/the-... /