| Author |
Message |
    
Ken Anderson
Senior Member
Username: Ken75
Post Number: 1398
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 09:42 pm: | 
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Sure, we can bitch about it. But can anyone come up with a positive take?
George's handlers have him saying that it shows we Americans are fair. Anything else?
I'm thinking maybe it will help keep us on good terms with the UAE. Just the same, my knee-jerk reaction is to say no.
Ken |
Doug Pescatore
Senior Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 1820
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 09:59 pm: |
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Too much data a low level person could get a hold of and sell to the unfriendlies for a song and a dance.
Think about it. They can develop odds on which containers will be search and when. They can analyze our patterns of security with simple data like how many and when were containers sent to a staging area for search and which countries they came from. What about the outgoing passengers from ports like Miami? Now they can get thier hands on data that will lead them to know exactly when cruise ships see peak entry along with port staffing of those entries.
I am sure am American company can do this work.
-Doug |
Ken Anderson
Senior Member
Username: Ken75
Post Number: 1399
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Tuesday, February 21, 2006 - 10:48 pm: |
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Bush's handlers claim to have all the bases covered. Surely they have thought out all the scenarios. What, you don't trust that Chertoff guy?
Edit: I feel sorry for George. I think there's a bunch of rats scurrying around in his administration, just below radar, selling out this country for their own financial gains and the gains of others. And these days, it's not about the well-being of the nation. It's about money. MONEY!
Poor George. I don't think he has a clue.
(Message edited by Ken75 on February 21, 2006) |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 2462
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 02:37 am: |
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I am sure that their intelligence on UAE is at least as good as it was about Iraq, probably better or something like that.
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Bill Pierce
Moderator
Username: Billpierce
Post Number: 4712
Registered: 01-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 05:03 pm: |
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Even if an American company is in charge of the ports, what's to prevent the terrorists from infiltrating them as employees and obtaining the same information? Furthermore, in today's international business climate of shell companies and multiple layers of ownership, the notion of national loyalty is largely an illusion. Who do you think are some the major investors in the multinational oil companies? |
Doug Pescatore
Senior Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 1827
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 05:16 pm: |
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I am sure it would be infinitely harder for a terrorist to infiltrate an American company and gather the basic types of data needed to put us at great risk. Since the proposed company is owned by the UAE all it would take is one person in the UAE's government who is sympathetic to Bin Laden's cause to get someone in on the inside of that company. From there the information stream could be devastating to the US.
-Doug |
Ken Anderson
Senior Member
Username: Ken75
Post Number: 1404
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 06:08 pm: |
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Doug, indirectly, you are calling Bush's handlers stupid. They've got George spouting that everything is kosher. |
Doug Pescatore
Senior Member
Username: Doug_p
Post Number: 1829
Registered: 10-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 06:21 pm: |
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Ken, I have said that very same thing for a long long time. Just one man's opinion.
-Doug |
Ken Anderson
Senior Member
Username: Ken75
Post Number: 1409
Registered: 11-2002
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 08:45 pm: |
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Why do I think George is in the dark and refer often to his "handlers"?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/11494815/ |
Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 2479
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Wednesday, February 22, 2006 - 10:37 pm: |
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I can understand how George was not told about it, why bother? But really causes me to question the competence of the whole gang - still, again - is why wasn't Carl Rove informed of the sale?
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Pat Babcock
Moderator
Username: Pbabcock
Post Number: 150
Registered: 02-2002
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 07:48 pm: |
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I'm unclear about something - mostly because of the way the press is covering it. Is this a case of a company taking over the ports from another under some contract, or does the British company OWN the ports and are selling them to the Dubai company? That said, why on God's green earth does a foreign power, no matter who, OWN our ports?! How did that come about? It boggles the mind, it do...
Pat Babcock
HBD Chief of Janitorial Services
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Dan Listermann
Senior Member
Username: Listermann
Post Number: 2497
Registered: 03-2004
| | Posted on Saturday, February 25, 2006 - 08:08 pm: |
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I think they just manage the ports, I don't believe that they own them, but I could be wrong.
Hey, we need to get used to a lot more foreign presence here soon. Foreign countries are full of US dollars, so much so that they are running out of Treasury notes to buy despite huge deficits so they are starting to eyeball capital investments. This sort of thing happened during the Reagan years for the same reason, large deficits, both trade and budget, but probably not on this scale. What do I know anyway.
Dan
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Joe Rovito
Member
Username: Joez8
Post Number: 179
Registered: 03-2003
| | Posted on Sunday, February 26, 2006 - 05:25 am: |
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Hey, I hate the U.A.E as much as the next guy. Two of the 9/11 hijackers were citizens. Their princes hosted a 'hunting' party in 1999 with Bin Laden. I heard the ex-CIA Bin Laden hunter trash the UAE on live radio Friday AM - he made an extremely compelling case.
More details here:
http://www.mastalk.com/mastalk/readOfTheDay.jspx
(link may only be good thru the weekend)
But Dan is actually onto something here. Andy Cassell in yesterday's Philadelphia Inquirer wrote an interesting article from an economist's standpoint.
http://www.philly.com/mld/philly/business/13947113.htm
We are shipping (via our trade deficit) 2 billion $$ per day overseas. This money has to be balanced by foreign ownership of American assets dollar for dollar. Not necessarily a problem if our economy is growing. But if foreign investors get spooked or harrassed over our Xenophobia - or we erect barriers to their investment, the dollar drops against foreign currency, the stock market crashes - we're all screwed.
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The real story is often more complicated than it seems. Or is portrayed via 15 second sound bites. Or bickering guests on nightline. The more I learn about the controversy, the less certain I am there is a "right" answer.
The only thing I can say with certainty is that my president made himself look stupid for presenting an opinion without articulating the reasons or making a compelling case. Then he responded to the uproar by back-pedalling.
Well, at least it drove Cheney's hunting accident out of the spotlight.
This is my first (and hopefully last) post to W.E. I think I need a Golden Monkey to settle down. |
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