Fresh off their rebranding, the sociopaths previously known a Blackwater are finding out that people have long memories :
Critics are calling for Southwestern College to rescind a deal that sends students in its police academy to a facility run by the company formerly known as Blackwater.
Southwestern’s governing board unanimously approved an agreement in January to offer Blackwater Lodge and Training Center the use of rooms on campus in exchange for use of Blackwater’s shooting range.
Since the agreement was approved in January, Blackwater Worldwide has renamed itself Xe and changed the name of its Otay Mesa facility to U.S. Training Center Southwest. The center is blocks from the police academy Southwestern College runs on its Otay Mesa satellite campus.
“I don’t think you associate with people involved in criminal activities,” said Liz Sisco, chairwoman of the college’s art department. “I don’t want to be sending that example to our students that this is OK.”
In Washington in January, five Blackwater employees pleaded not guilty to manslaughter charges in connection with the shooting deaths of 17 Iraqis in Baghdad in 2007. A sixth employee pleaded guilty.
Rep. Bob Filner, D-San Diego, said Friday that he intends to send a letter to the college board asking it to rescind the deal.
[...]
Brian Bonfiglio, an Xe vice president, said his company is trying to be a good neighbor. Bonfiglio said that he did not ask for use of college facilities but that college representatives offered it as a goodwill gesture.
“What is wrong with us providing a state-of-the-art facility to men and women who will potentially answer the call when we dial 911 and we need help?” Bonfiglio said.
Oddly enough, when some old lady calls 911 because her cat is stuck in a tree she doesn’t expect a group of grim-faced armed men to show up, gun the cat down, set the tree on fire, and then speed away in a heavily armored Hummer.




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While we are cleaning up 8 years of incompetence and theft and another 21 years or so of the idolators of Reagan and their stupid, stupid ideas, why not just offer Erik Prince and his band of unconsciously homoerotic toy soldiers maybe 5 cents on the dollar and just dissolve Xe or Blackwater or whatever it is.
Xe is Unamerican, Erik Prince is not only Unamerican, but a fascist and there is no reason for either one to stain our country any longer.
The second amendment guarantees that I can light up the ass of anybody who startles me out of my stupor.
I think the most chilling image since ‘Nam was Blackwater mercenaries on the streets of New Orleans armed with pump shotguns and flak jackets. No one can get me to back off the belief this was and still is a GOP militia.
Now looky here, young man.
Just because you and the PROFESSIONALS at The Big Black Z™ have a technical disagreement on the best approach to, er, Traffic Management, that doesn’t mean you have to go all smartypants and all.
After all, you may find “The Blackwater Method” to be loud and messy, but there’s no questioning it’s ultimate efficacy…
mikey
Erik Prince should be in jail
oh, please, oh, please let that happen. Along with a number of other Unamerican pieces of shit.
I love the logo, Tbogg, but there may be some marketing confusion for Xe. You know, someone may go to the website to order a flea collar, and instead they find a band of psychotic stormtroopers bent on world domination.
Just thinking out loud, but maybe one of the puppies can be holding a rocket launcher to avoid confusion?
Otay Mesa…Otay Mesa…why does that name ring a bell?
Oh yeah:
“Border Patrol discovers underground tunnel in Otay Mesa”
http://www3.signonsandiego.com…..iscovered/
In the early 60’s the CIA organized anti-Castro Cubans into paramilitary outfits, and many of them moonlighted as drug runners.
Is Xe’s presence on the US/Mexican drug smuggling pipeline an indication that yet another paramilitary outfit smuggles drugs on the side?
After all, they also have the contract to move personnel and material around Afghanistan and surrounding countries.
http://thinkprogress.org/2007/…..-contract/
Fortunately, this contract is under review.
http://www.washingtontimes.com…..ghanistan/
I guess it’s just a coinkee-dinkee that Xe has a large presence at both ends of an enormous potential heroin pipeline.
Xe…or Zzzzz…as in a junkie nodding off…
Otay Mesa…Otay Mesa…why does that name ring a bell?
Because you’ve heard Jar Jar Binks speak?
For these guys, the words “community service” means that after they visit your community, you have to hold services.
TBogg, the graphic in your post brings back fond memories of the contest for a new logo for Blackwater, started over at Noah Schactman’s Danger Room blog. Here it is (note the internal scroll-down window within the main browser window, otherwise you’ll miss some of the entries).
For some reason, Blackwater thought it had a PR problem, and being the good, helpful folks they are over at DR, Sharon Weinberger put this fine contest together. My impression at the time was that, during the latter portion of the voting, some friends and associates of Blackwater didn’t take the contest in the helpful spirit in which is was intended, and proceeded to freep the voting. Oh, well, that’s life on these here internets…
I slept thru those parts.
Can’t we at least hire Xe to fix the economy? Threaten it to get a grip, bomb it into submission? Oh, Mr. Geithner already thought of that, huh? And they turned him down? Okay, I guess that means we’ll just have to keep giving the banks and big mortgage more of our hard-earned money.
Echoing thingwarbler, couldn’t we set Blackwater against AIG?
TBogg,
the memories must be eating away at Zee profits, the CEO formerly known as Prince, is well, formerly:
Erik Prince on Blackwater: ‘I’m a little worn out by the whole thing’
http://www.mlive.com/news/gran….._im_a.html
“…she doesn’t expect a group of grim-faced armed men to show up, gun the cat down, set the tree on fire, and then speed away in a heavily armored Hummer.”
Great line. And although those puppies _look_ cute and harmless, they undoubtedly have been trained to attack old ladies who call 911 and rip them apart. Cuz that’s how they roll.
Wasn’t that one of “Buh-Wheet’s” songs from the same album that had “Unce, Tice, Fee Tines a Mady?”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHiZ15×6Vt4
Maybe I’m the only person who sees “Xe” and thinks of Costa-Gavras.
Brazilian Portuguese pronounces ‘x’ as ‘ch.’ So, their new name is pronounced ‘Che.’
Bonfiglio sounds like a Mafia name, doesn’t it? He’s a jackass extraordinaire, for starters. Also, the Southwestern College board is composed of small-time politithugs who have been called out by the San Diego County Grand Jury for a number of suspicious dealings, including this one. In addition, the current president/superintendent (as the position is called) is their favorite little errand boy, a former school administrator from Phoenix who is only too willing to do their bidding. Naturally, they’ve extended his contract.
It’s just sickening…