sex is bad, dont use condoms

btw - as i've mentioned i've been delving into some foreign lobbying - trying to get a grip on why/how livingston lobbied for turkey. i stumbled across the fact that some lobbying firm was bilking the ethiopian embassy. when you read the following - remember that you can buy a US congresscritter for the price of a mcdonalds milkshake and a hamburger.

Piper Rudnick #3712
Government of Ethiopia (Embassy)
Nature of Services: Promotion of Trade/Lobbying
The registrant contacted memberso f Congress, and U.S. Governmenot fficials on behalf of the foreign principal with respect to various issues. The registrant also advised the foreign principal with respect to the implementation of a peace agreement with Eritrea which involves the commonb oundary, its claims collection and presentation process regarding injuries suffered by Ethiopian and Eritrean nationals, and commerciaol pportunities for Ethiopian businesses in the United States.
$5,604,169.87 for the six month period ending February 5,2002

Piper Rudnick
Government of Ethiopia (Embassy)
Nature of Services: Promotion of TradeILobbying
The registrant contacted members of Congress, congressional staffers, and U.S. Government officials on behalf of the foreign principal with respect to various issues. The registrant also advised the foreign principal with respect to the implementation of a peace agreement with Eritrea which involves the common boundary, its claims collection and presentation process regarding injuries suffered by Ethiopian and Eritrean nationals, and commercial opportunities for Ethiopian businesses in the United States.
$6,402,792.00 for the six month period ending August 5,2002


Piper Rudnick #3712
Government of Ethiopia (Embassy)
Nature of Services: Promotion of Trade/Lobbying
The registrant advised the foreign principal regarding the implementation of a peace agreement with Eritrea whichi nvolved the commobno undary, its claims collection and presentation process regarding injuries suffered by Ethiopian and Eritrean nationals, and commerciaol pportunities for Ethiopian businesses in the United States. The registrant also contacted memberos f Congress, congressional staffers, and U.S. Governmenotf ficials on behalf of the foreign principal with respect to various issues.
$6,212,285.06 for the six month period ending February 5,2003

Piper Rudnick #3712
Government of Ethiopia (Embassy)
Nature of Services: Promotion of Trade/Lobbying
The registrant contacted congressional staffers and U.S. Governmenotf ficials on behalf of the foreign principal with respect to its bilateral relationship with the United States. The registrant also advised the foreign principal with respect to the implementationo f a peace agreementw ith Eritrea whichi nvolves the commobno undarya nd its claims collection and presentation process regarding injuries suffered by Ethiopian and Eritrean nationals. In addition, the registrant provided advice regarding commercial opportunities for Ethiopian businesses in the United States.
$1,457,358.92 for the six month period ending August 5,2003

(sorry for the sometimes weird presentation - pdfs dont copy/paste very well)

thats $20m in 2 years - compare that to the $1.8m p.a. that 'turkey' paid livingston. or compare it to the $2m price for which the Duke sold out his country. afaik there's nothing nefarious going on here - but this is probably bigger than most of the current corruption stories going round - certainly in terms of sticker price.

imagine how many 'sex is bad, dont use condoms' billboards they could have bought for $20m...