Pat Thielen wrote:
I think it's a bad idea to have a foreign country own parts of our infrastructure. Just sayin'...

Just a point of clarification: the ports are coming under the control of an United Arab Emirate company, not the UAE government, so, technically, a foreign country will not be owning part of our infrastructure.

That being said, it amazes me how much of our industrial and commerical base is owned partly or wholly by foreign companies or investors.

jac3950 wrote:

Just a point of clarification: the ports are coming under the control of an United Arab Emirate company, not the UAE government, so, technically, a foreign country will not be owning part of our infrastructure.

That being said, it amazes me how much of our industrial and commerical base is owned partly or wholly by foreign companies or investors.

Oops... that's true, and I knew that. Do'h! However, I don't think it's a good idea for foreign companies or corporations to own parts of our infrastructure either. I got a bad feeling about this...

Brian Diaz wrote:
Whatever happened to judging compaines by the content of their character?

I think that went out the window when the government started constantly scaring the sh*t out of everyone in order to advance their policies.

Not that I care...I'm so completely jaded that all I can do is laugh anymore.

Pat Thielen wrote:

Oops... that's true, and I knew that. Do'h! However, I don't think it's a good idea for foreign companies or corporations to own parts of our infrastructure either. I got a bad feeling about this...

hmm.... and how many ports are controlled by the US and US based companies?

craig wrote:
oh, thank god.  i thought our portfolios were at risk.

Financial yes, photos no....

Keith aka Wolfie wrote:

Financial yes, photos no....

best reply i have seen

McKenzie Bros Photo wrote:
Maybe it will be the same as the gas prices now...but this time it will be port fees...Thats good business, come on does it matter who owns it? Nobody is going to blow up there own money makeing business, except someone else that has a point to make...Think about it...Money!!!!Money!!!!Money and a global economy its all about money...

Let's see, we're going to have a country that's known for smuggling and money laundering guard our ports.  Seems about par for this administration.

Brian Diaz wrote:
Did you know that the United Arab Emirates was British until 1971?

Whatever happened to judging compaines by the content of their character?

Did you mean countries? Even if not, it should apply here also. I understand they 'UAE' were one of the few countries to recognize the Taliban as the rightful government of Afghanistan. Either way, it deserves all the focus and debate that's going to happen.

Merle wrote:
Did you mean countries? Even if not, it should apply here also. I understand they 'UAE' were one of the few countries to recognize the Taliban as the rightful government of Afghanistan. Either way, it deserves all the focus and debate that's going to happen.

No, I meant "companies".  It's not the UAE that has been hired.  It's a company based in the UAE.

That's like saying that since there are McDonalds locations in Saudi Arabia, America is evil.  I wonder who has that sort of mentality....

Brian Diaz wrote:
No, I meant "companies".  It's not the UAE that has been hired.  It's a company based in the UAE.

That's like saying that since there are McDonalds locations in Saudi Arabia, America is evil.  I wonder who has that sort of mentality....

It's a state-owned & operated company.
Private corporate ownership doesn't really exist in the UAE.

WestWoodStudios wrote:
suprised??? are you kidding our president bush is the man! i mean he let the entire binladin family fly out of texas when every flyt in the usa was grounded. The bush family is very tight with the arabs. in fact if you want to know the truth, the bush family's 5 last companies have been sponsored or money supplied by arabs. bush is the Anti-christ every stupid thing he does he says it is done for the greater good and for god. It totally amazes me that people in this world are so stupid. just like when he does a speech, hello it is not him talking, it is some kid who wrote his speech for him. And in a final note, if there is no fear (keeping everyone afraid) how elese do you think the powers to be could keep 8 billion people in line???? imagine if no one feared anything? the world would be turned upside down.

Robert

Ps When is the last time someone knocked on your door to do a census of how many people live in your house??????? so many little things no one notices and we wonder why the end is so near.

*gasps*

Did you know Bush claimed that he didn't know about this until Congress rejected the bill? haha

Joe Kozlowski wrote:
I guess Haliburton couldn't handle the job .... being busy running Iraq and all.

lmao

honestly, though, is this admisitration now just handing out the crack freely in the halls of the white house? and the dept of homeland security--they're clearly crack whores too since they were part of the oversight team who approved this. michael chertoff seems to be stupified that american citizens are uneasy about a state owned corporation in the UAE is going to be involved in safegurading american ports. the same ports that are about as safe and secure as a crate of m-80s in a butane lighter factory.

brian, i'm all for not judging a book by it's cover and making assumptions about people and motives, but considering a huge amount of funding for the groups who have been involved in terrorist acts against the US--including 911--came through UAE banks--AND the UAE was less than cooperative in assisting investigators following the money trail, this is not a smart move. not even close.

since i live two blocks from the hudson river, i'll just give a yell to y'all if i see anything fishy coming upstream...

Brian Diaz wrote:

No, I meant "companies".  It's not the UAE that has been hired.  It's a company based in the UAE.

That's like saying that since there are McDonalds locations in Saudi Arabia, America is evil.  I wonder who has that sort of mentality....

There's a difference between a state owned company and the government of the state.  The company that is state owned does the will of the state.  A company that is not state owned answers to its shareholders.

craig wrote:
oh, thank god.  i thought our portfolios were at risk.

Dude, that's too damn funny...when I saw the tag line I thought the same thing ..lol

Brian Diaz wrote:
No, I meant "companies".  It's not the UAE that has been hired.  It's a company based in the UAE.

That's like saying that since there are McDonalds locations in Saudi Arabia, America is evil.  I wonder who has that sort of mentality....

Well. aren't we evil for introducing McDonalds to the world???? I understand the country wasn't hired, but many companies are certainly influenced, if not out right controlled by the country which is their home.  Many here claim that even in this country government (or visa versa) owns the oil companies. I just guess I woudn't want an Arab owned company owning our port security any more than I'd want a North Korean, Russain, or French owned and or located company gaurding our nuclear arsenal.  It just seems worth a good investigation.

Brian Diaz wrote:

No, I meant "companies".  It's not the UAE that has been hired.  It's a company based in the UAE.

That's like saying that since there are McDonalds locations in Saudi Arabia, America is evil.  I wonder who has that sort of mentality....

Sorry for this double post, but it IS a state owned company, so in essence UAE will own NY port security. If they screw up, I say we take their oil. Below is a quote from the NY Times...

WASHINGTON, Feb. 21 — President Bush said this afternoon that he would veto any legislation seeking to block the administration's decision to allow a state-owned company from Dubai to assume control of port terminals in New York and other cities.

Merle wrote:
I just guess I woudn't want an Arab owned company owning our port security any more than I'd want a North Korean, Russain, or French owned and or located company gaurding our nuclear arsenal.  It just seems worth a good investigation.

Is a French company substantially different from a British company?  The UAE company in question is acquiring a British company that is currently doing the job.

qphotonyc wrote:
"I don't think anybody could have predicted that these people would take an airplane and slam it into the World Trade Center, take another one and slam it into the Pentagon; that they would try to use an airplane as a missile, a hijacked airplane as a missile."

So, you're all for racial profiling then?