Word: switzerland
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Besides the techno music thumping throughout the Olympic snowboard-cross venue and the mindless banter of the public-address announcers ("Why do the Swiss fans have bigger cowbells?" "Because there are bigger cows in Switzerland"), the other sound one kept hearing on Tuesday afternoon was a collective, anguished "Ooooohhhhh...
...Athletes failed to finish in three of the four quarterfinals. Sandra Frei of Switzerland flew into a fence. "There were a lot of crashes today," said American snowboard star Lindsey Jacobellis. Although she ultimately finished a disappointing fifth, failing to make amends for her infamous gaffe at the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy - where she stumbled at the end of a race she was on the verge of winning because she hotdogged it on the last jump, taking silver instead of gold - at least she had no broken bones. "We were lucky that nobody was carted off in a sled...
...impasse could have been avoided if U.S. investigators had taken up an offer by the UBS whistleblower, Bradley Birkenfeld, to help roll up the entire secretive UBS operation, by providing the cell phone numbers of fellow bankers and even offering to wear a wire to gather incriminating evidence in Switzerland...
...Former U.S. prosecutors say there could be many reasons for prosecutors to have passed on Birkenfeld's offer. Wearing a wire in Switzerland, for instance, would legally have required the U.S. to get permission of the Swiss authorities - an unlikely prospect - although one experienced former U.S. attorney who asked to remain anonymous noted that he and others he knew had done that in other countries without seeking permission...
...that would be economic war. The U.S. market represents 40% of UBS' business, and UBS accounts for about 20% of the economy of Switzerland, which is a de facto ally of the U.S., helpful in numerous places around the globe...