US Move To Prevent Takeover Of Ports - Bias?
 

A state-owned business from the United Arab Emirates is negotiating the takeover of Britain's P&O, which is running various US ports. The deal is OK-ed by the President, but there is now a movement to prevent this citing national security. Legislation is being introduced by Senators Clinton and Menendez aiming at "preventing FOREIGN governments from acquring US port operations". What I do not understand is why Britain is not considered a foreign government since P&O has being running various US port operations, but the United Arab Emirates is! Are we biased? What if P&O is taken over by a German or French company? Is that accepted, but not by an Arab, Chinese or Indian company? Do anybody knows where the line is drawn? So little of the cargo coming in through US ports are examined, so does it really matter?
http://business.guardian.co.uk/story/0,,1713400,00.html.

I think London is a part of the United Arab Emirates, isn't it? I mean ownership of course.

P-o-l-i-t-i-c-s

The arab country is Dubai. Geeese wonder if this has anything to do with our Presidents' family returning favors to them for $$$$$.

Just another example of Bushes "whoring out" the US for their own greed.

Engage

Every now and again, it's useful to see the world as it is, rather than through a Bush-hating prism. P&O is a British company, listed on the London Stock Exchange. It runs container terminals in ports all over the world in 19 countries, including a few in the U.S. Neither the buyer nor the seller are American - the Bushes don't have a say in who bids for P&O or who wins, any more than they do in Porsche's investment in Volkswagen - even though both of those companies also do a minority of their business in the U.S.

Was it not Dubai that took Michael Jackson, don't we have to return the favor?

All the same port security should be a major issue. I spend a lot of time in LA Harbor sitting on a boat. The Harbor Patrol has long been concerned about security – long before 9/11. I always thought it was about drugs because the harbor is the wholesale district for the LA area, but no, they've always been concerned about the potential for nukes to come in on a container. Most of the Asians arrive in containers and lots get in so it's only reasonable to think other stuff has too for a long time.
Security at the border sucks. For all this effort in manpower and equipment they just don't check at the ports of entry. So many “illegals” ride in inside of the produce trucks, but you never hear about it – they don't even look. For three years now “Customs” has had an X-Ray truck sitting off to the side in Naco. I've crossed hundreds of times in the time it's been sitting there. The Mexicans have checked my trunk 20/30 times, but US Customs has yet never looked in my trunk and only used the X-Ray truck twice. This is a multi-million dollar piece of equipment, but because the “fix” is so solid and well established there's nobody you can safely ***** too.

Whatever. BUSH has 10 days to prohibit arabs from controling our ports by his presidential power. So you're incorrect in your reply here. And I don't appreciate the personal insult from someone who just thinks he knows what he talks about.

The pressure for W to do the right thing will increase exponentially everyday until then. This could turn into the BIGGEST blunder in the history of this country, possibly the world. That's how the world is. So open your own eyes and shut your mouth .

Austin – it's you that needs to check your facts. He may have authority to break the contract with the British company, but he can't do squat with it's ownership. Dubai's more western than Beverly Hills.

No question, but I doubt it's significantly impaired because a union longshoreman in Long Beach - San Pedro is drawing his paycheck from a U.A.E. entity vs. a British corporation. I had a small container shipped via Long Beach when I moved home from Europe a few years ago, and my father had a hard time finding someone at the port who spoke English to help him get it loaded into his trailer - they weren't speaking Arabic...

Allowing weapons, etc to sneak into the country would be disasterous on the UAE's part, if they were to take control of the ports. I don't understand what all the fuss is about. As someone already mentioned, Dubai is very westernized, and having lax security would be detrimental to both parties' interests.

Arguements of legality, private property etc. aside... it's just a bit strange that American companies are not operating American ports. Sorta reminds me of Indian casinos that have to be run by casino pros from Vegas.

Not a good trend nor omen.

Yes the Mexicans firmly control LA Harbor. At least the trucking. I don't think they're at the very top of the longshoremen, but maybe there too. This is where big rigs go to die. These guys get a truck on it's last legs and haul containers until they drop. You can't even talk to a dispatcher that speaks (or will if they can) English. If I were a sociologist, studying that area would be what I'd like to do.
All of the vice squads in CA use Wilmington as a training ground. They use the area for about half the action movies you'll see, have a short stretch of freeway built for chase scenes (look for a refinery on the side) and when the LB Grand Prix is on the whole area becomes one big hooker convention.
Side note. The reason for the 3rd/4th generations in the huge hooker community down there seems to come from the attack on Pearl Harbor. The Pacific Fleet was based on Terminal Island and so many were widowed, and without the death benefits of today, there became a bunch of new hookers that influenced the whole area right to today. It seems every girl in LB works the stroll once in a while. One family of sisters even has a certain look about them – Cameron Diaz (from Long Beach) has a little of that unmistakable look.

Dr. Benjamin Franklin's 300th Birthday is being celebrated this year.
Ben Franklin was one of the founding Fathers of OUR Country.
One of the the things he has been quoted in saying;

You have a Republic, can you KEEP it?

Well, can WE?