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	BlackChampagne -- no longer new; improvement also in question.: Business vs. Terrorism Fears. Wednesday, February 22, 2006 Business vs. Terrorism Fears. The current news brouhaha about a company from the United Arab Emirates successfully bidding to run the ports in several major US cities is interesting. It's funny how the Bush Administration is manic about the appearance of "fighting terrorism" when it's a political tool to bash their political enemies, and how it's just fine to let Arabs run our ports when they're paying top dollar for the privilege. It's also amusing to see how far Bush's political star has fallen, as lots of Republicans are rediscovering their spines (for political grandstanding, at least) and joining Democrats in opposing this seemingly-dubious deal. Two or three years ago, Dubya saying he wanted something was a blank check from his congressional supporters, so it's nice to see a bit of reality returning to the checks and balances concept of American government. (Now that it's too late for the Supreme Court, anyway.) That aside, I was moved to blog about it when I read this bit in one of today's news items, and laughed loudly enough to wake the cats. [White House Spokesman] McClellan dismissed any connection between the deal and David Sanborn of Virginia, a former senior Dubai Ports World executive whom the White House appointed last month to be the new administrator of the Maritime Administration of the Transportation Department. Sanborn worked as Dubai Ports World's director of operations for Europe and Latin America. "My understanding is that he has assured us that he was not involved in the negotiations to purchase this British company," McClellan added. So yes, the newly-appointed businessman in charge of looking out for our best interests in government dealings with private industry was formerly a high-ranking guy in the company he approved for the contract. And he will undoubtedly return to that industry in two or three years, when Bush is out of office (assuming he's not impeached before then). But hey, Mouth of Bush says he assured them he was not involved in the negotiations, and why would he lie? It's not like $6.8 billion dollars is at stake or anything. The sad part is that Sanborn probably wasn't involved; it's not like it really matters if he personally got up on this one, when the incestuous relations between big business and every aspect of the Bush Administration make every deal a done deal. Now class, your vocabulary words for the day: kleptocracy, cronyism, plutocracy. Update: Even better: ...Treasury Secretary John Snow, whose agency heads the federal panel that signed off on the $6.8 billion sale of an English company to government-owned Dubai Ports World -- giving it control of Manhattan's cruise ship terminal and Newark's container port. Snow was chairman of the CSX rail firm that sold its own international port operations to DP World for $1.15 billion in 2004, the year after Snow left for President Bush's cabinet. Labels: business, terrorism Posted by: Flux # 12:03 PM Comments: While it is awful that when a bussnessman gets promoted to a high political office they then go and back their former companies for government contracts, there are perhaps some good points because of this: 1. That person was in charge of their previous company because they were successful, so they know how to make good decisions. 2. That person already knows the company they left quite well, and can be sure that they can do the job. 3. It saves a lot of time & money in research considering other companies for jobs if you already know which company you're going to go with. This 3 points are assuming a lot, however - that the person is capable, that the company is capable and that there aren't other companies out there that could do a better job. #: 3:46 PM posted by Anonymous I think the bigger is issue is that these ports are in the US, not somewhere elese in the world, and that this was previously spoken on by Alex Jones. He also mentions that the value of the dollar has dropped in comparison to the UAE money which has allowed the purchase to come at a very low expense to them. Fits well into the scheme of the rich get richer, and we become easier pray to losing our freedoms. #: 8:40 PM posted by Anonymous The value of the US dollar has not had a major increase since around 2002 Back then, the Australian dollar was worth around 50c American, since "The War on Terrorism" etc the australian dollar is worth about 80c, thats quite a large hike. While I would like to think that our economy is just great, the truth is nothing special has been happening, and in fact several large economy boosting deals (wheat, sugar, wool etc) have been lost to major bids by the US. The Australian dollar hasn't changed with respect to other countries, such as the British pound, and only slightly changed with respect the the Yen. One has to wonder what other consequences G.W.Bush and his political incompatancies and judgements has had on the US. #: 9:13 PM posted by Anonymous I want to thank you stupid infidels for giving the Muslim country that furnished 2 of the 9/11 highjackers the assignment of handling your major maritime ports. Allah is most all-knowing, most all-powerful. The Islamic Jihad is looking forward to the opportunities you have afforded us. Your corrupt leadership and mindless masses will lead you to your rightful downfall. May your dictator, Gorge Bush, continue on the path shone him by the true prophet upon whom Allah's blessings have led to this path. Allah is all-merciful! #: 6:53 PM posted by Anonymous Post a Comment << Home Archives May 2005 June 2005 July 2005 August 2005 September 2005 October 2005 November 2005 December 2005 January 2006 February 2006 March 2006 April 2006 May 2006 June 2006 July 2006 August 2006 September 2006 October 2006 November 2006 December 2006 January 2007 February 2007 March 2007 April 2007 May 2007 June 2007 July 2007 August 2007 September 2007 October 2007 November 2007 December 2007 January 2008 February 2008 March 2008 April 2008 May 2008 June 2008 July 2008 August 2008 September 2008 October 2008 November 2008 December 2008 January 2009 February 2009 March 2009 April 2009 May 2009 June 2009 July 2009 August 2009 September 2009 October 2009 November 2012

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