What's next? Arabs guarding our nuclear weapons ??

[kentuck]

When will the people wake up and say enough is enough? Enough of this hero worship of this dangerously incompetent leader and Administration and Congress? First of all, it was news to me that the British were in control of the Port of New York. Now we learn that the Dubai government has taken control over from the British? What's next? The Arabs will be guarding our nuclear facilities? How much more do they have to do before these assholes see the light?
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http://www.nytimes.com/2006/02/16/opinion/16thu2.html

<snip>
But the British company that operates the Port of New York, and other ports, has been acquired by Dubai Ports World, based in the United Arab Emirates. Although that nation is considered an ally, there have been troubling connections between it and anti-American terrorism. Many of the Sept. 11 hijackers and planners traveled through that country, and its banking system was used in preparing for the attacks.

But the Bush administration appears to have brushed these concerns aside. The Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, a panel that includes representatives from Homeland Security, Treasury and other departments, has given its approval to the transfer of control. Senator Charles Schumer, Democrat of New York, who has long raised questions about port security, is asking the Homeland Security Department to take a closer look at the impact of the takeover.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

1. what's Dubai Ports World

I keep seeing this Dubai word at DU but don't know what it means.

[JaneGat]

6. Dubai is an amazingly wealthy city in the UAE

http://www.cartoonbank.com/newyorker/slideshows/051017onco_parker.html#

They've even built an island complex in the ocean in the shape of a palm tree (picture is in the slideshow)for condos. It's like nothing I've ever seen.

[kentuck]

7. King Midas...

and we sell him the rope to hang ourselves, like the good capitalists we are...

[JaneGat]

9. This new damaging move is so demoralizing.

It was bad enough when it looked like their game plan was Grover Norquist's agenda, but on top of that, selling off the forests and parks, outsourcing, -- now this-- all of it. It's too much.

[kentuck]

10. It's a nightmare...

Please shake me...

[Astrad]

2. Saying "the Arabs" is like saying "the blacks".

Arabs are an ethnicity. There's a word for when you characterize all people of the same ethnicity a certain way.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

4. while it doesn't necessarily derail your point astrad

Arabs AREN'T an ethnicity Saudi ARABIA is a country where Arabs live, making the term "Arab" the same as saying "Americans"... They are mostly Muslims, which is more ethnic. It's not at all like saying "blacks."

okay, Anthropology 101 is now over... any more comments?

[ieoeja]

8. Muslim is an ethnicity?

Muslim is the equivalent of Christian. There is nothing remotely ethnic about Muslim. Muslims can be Indian, Caucasian, Asian, Arabic, etc.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

11. i didn't say it was ethnicity...

ieoeja... I said it's "more ethnic"

relating to large groups of people classed according to common racial, national, tribal, religious, linguistic, or cultural origin or background <ethnic minorities> <ethnic enclaves> b : being a member of an ethnic group c : of, relating to, or characteristic of ethnics <ethnic neighborhoods> <ethnic foods>

[kentuck]

5. Here's a quote from the NYTimes article above :

"Although that nation is considered an ally, there have been troubling connections between it and anti-American terrorism. Many of the Sept. 11 hijackers and planners traveled through that country, and its banking system was used in preparing for the attacks."
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Just ignore it? Yes, Arabs.

[Jeffersons Ghost]

12. kentuck???

What does "Dubai" mean?

[kentuck]

13. Correct me if I am wrong...

It's an invented little island with a lot of rich Arabs that have sucked up a lot of US dollars over the years and are dear friends with the likes of the Bushes, James Baker, and the Carlyle Group, that have spread their wealth all around the world and who are suspected to having funded some terrorists groups with their banking? What am I missing?

[JaneGat]

16. Every gas-paying American should be aware of Dubai /eom

[JaneGat]

3. Maybe they'll "privatize" the states next. Here on the "conditions"

of the sale:

UAE Co. Poised to Oversee Six U.S. Ports By TED BRIDIS, Associated Press Writer
Sat Feb 11, 9:41 AM ET
...
"Peninsular and Oriental and DP World set approval by the U.S. security committee as a condition for the sale. In regulatory papers, the companies said either the committee must agree not to formally investigate the purchase or Bush must not move to block the sale for national security purposes."

:wtf:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/ports_security&printer=1;_ylt=AiZTPIfZkeY0vSHNvQO7AT1v24cA;_ylu=X3oDMTA3MXN1bHE0BHNlYwN0bWE-

[Jeffersons Ghost]

14. here's a new term

Americans suffer from Ethnocentricity which is the tendency to look at the world primarily from the perspective of one's own ethnic culture. Many claim that ethnocentrism occurs in every society; ironically, ethnocentrism may be something that all cultures have in common. People often feel this occurring during what some call "culture shock".

Various researchers study ethnocentricism as it pertains to their specialized fields like anthropology, political science and especially sociology.

[CJCRANE]

15. Well

there's good arabs and bad arabs.

The good ones are like the bin Ladens who've had business dealings with the B*sh family for decades.

And the bad ones are like Saddam who doesn't like the B*sh family.

I'm sure the people who run the Dubai Ports are the "good guys".

[kentuck]

17. I'm sure you're right....

And we should be careful not to lump all Arabs into one terrorist group...but I'm not positive enough with Dubai to let them control the Port of New York. That's a gamble I would not take...just personally speaking.

[CJCRANE]

18. Actually

I was being slightly sarcastic about who's good and bad (it's kinda hard to tell these days)..

But a bit more seriously - Dubai is possibly the premier free-trade port in the world, so I'm sure these guys are very professional.

(I'm a LIHOP/MIHOPer anyway, so a big attack will only happen if the PTB want it to IMO.

On edit: however given Bushco's track record with dubious financial/business connections in that part of the world, this does make it somewhat worrying).

[kentuck]

19. It makes it very worrisome..

in my humble opinion.