U.S. terms for approving an Arab company's takeover of operations at six major American ports are insufficient to guard against terrorist infiltration, the chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee said Sunday.Say what? The takeover of our ports by who?
by a state-owned business in the United Arab Emirates.Gosh. That sounds kinda crazy, ya know, with all the terra going on in Arabville and stuff. I'm sure our tough-minded and security-focused President will stop this from happening.
The sale, already approved by the Bush administration, has drawn escalating criticism by lawmakers in Washington who maintain the United Arab Emirates is not consistent in its support of U.S. terrorism-fighting efforts. [DUH! - ed.]Nevermind.
So a company owned by the UAE is going to control six of our ports- this is the same as saying that the UAE controls those ports, since the UAE is really just conglomeration of overlapping corporate interests poorly disguised as a 'nation'. Check this:
Labor force:2.8 millionThree-quarters of UAE workers are foreign nationals and three quarters of them are employed in service-sector jobs. Since the UAE is not exactly a POOR country, it seems logical to conclude that the average UAE citizen is wealthy, does little or no actual work and has a large number of servants imported from nearby poorer nations.
note: 73.9% of the population in the 15-64 age group is non-national (2005 est.)
Labor force - by occupation:
agriculture 7%, industry 15%, services 78% (2000 est.)
[note that per capita household income is not available]
Small wonder that the Bush administration would feel a close kinship with them-
- as documented in this passionate love letter from 2004.
Our President loves to tell us how great America is.
I agree with him on this. This is a great country, and I damn sure believe that an American company could do at least as good of a job running our nation's largest seaports as a bunch of lazy millionaires who live in a desert could .
Common sense dictates this.
This deal wouldn't be going through if shadowy pockets weren't being filled- most deals are like that. It's called 'business'.
But when those deals come at the expense of our best national interests- as so many have in the past five years- it's time for Average Joe to transform into Outrage Joe. Long odds on that happening...
What's more newsworthy?
Dozens of tiny holes in a Texas lawyer put there by a VP who everyone already knew was an asshole...
-OR-
Half a dozen American ports under control -legally and financially- of hostile foreign interests?
And they are hostile. Sure, they'll deal with us - one thing all ambitiously amoral bastards have in common is a willingness to deal with the Devil- but be certain that they don't like us and, should a need arise, they would not hesitate to use any leverage at their disposal to their advantage. Giving the UAE the ability to cripple our international commerce makes about as much sense as putting China in a position where it can collapse our economy.
If we hadn't already done that.
3 comments:
"Three-quarters of UAE workers are foreign nationals and three quarters of them are employed in service-sector jobs. Since the UAE is not exactly a POOR country, it seems logical to conclude that the average UAE citizen is wealthy, does little or no actual work and has a large number of servants imported from nearby poorer nations.
Small wonder that the Bush administration would feel a close kinship with them-"
About a year ago, I watched or listened to something on this very topic in regards to Saudi Arabia. All citizens are granted huge stipends that they live off of, and most citizens do not work, except for a few professional positions. All service and labor is people from neighboring countries. Anyway, it was discussing the fact that there wasn't as much money to go around anymore and how that would impact their society, as most people asked said they absolutely refused to do service or labor positions. It was fascinating. I'm sure they can take a lesson from our elites - go to "work", take meetings, declare vision statements, etc while the real workers do the work, but then you can say you're working and deserve that phat money that takes money and bennies from everyone else.
Golly. I wonder where that got all that money? Where is it going now?
----
BushCo would love to rebuild New Orleans in the image of Dubai or Saudi Arabia- except with Mexicans instead of Pakistanis.
It was money made from oil. The report made it sound like less of it was going to go to the people because primarily of the population growth and of course the Saudi family needs its funds so if someone is going to get short-changed, it's not them - just like us here in the US hehe.
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