Vitrovian Man

[achellios]

Props to shotfrog for giving my morning political kick-in-the-pants.The "Portgate" dilemma, which seems to be the latest fad in a game of follow-the-shiny-scandal, has me confused to say the least. At first glance, it resembles the usual script followed by our partisan government: the administration makes a move, the opposition cries foul and commences

Comments

[punkramen]

Could someone please please please try and explain to me why our economically crippled, nationalistic, flag-waving, terrorist fearing government wants to turn over our PORTS (you know, place in our country where goods enter and exit) to a FOREIGN POWER (which is friends with other foreign powers who hate us) that he said just last week that our dependance on oil was holding us hostage to?

I can't understand why this seemed like a good idea to anyone.

[achellios]

Are you asking why the administration is contradicting itself?

[caitie711]

"I am mindful of the difference between the executive branch and the legislative branch. I assured all four of these leaders that I know the difference, and that difference is they pass the laws and I execute them."
-George W. Bush, Dec. 20, 2000

[achellios]

In light of all that, scenario b seems the likeliest. If a large number of ships are registered in Saudi Arabia, having the UAE run the ports doesn't seem like such a stretch at all. I hadn't even considered the matter of the crew, and I certainly didn't know the lost-at-sea loophole.

But I do now...heh, heh...

In all seriousness, that changes the face of the debate significantly. While I would applaud Bush for such subtlety as trying for the nationalization feint, (if only because it's proof of higher-level thought; hell, next week, he may be walking upright), I'm beginning to see that such moves are best left on the chess board.

[caitie711]

10% of cargo is screened these days, according to the associative press article i read.

I have more to say too, but I think I'll wait til I'm at work tomorrow n give a full on update.

[quixote82]

Sorry for disappearing last night. Our ISP shot itself in the teeth. Our cable (tv) and cable (internet) were down all night. Oi.

[achellios]

No worries, mate. I published an away message specifically for you, in case you got back on after I passed out at 2am:

"Definitely interested in going in on SimEarth. VB refresher, here I come."

[quixote82]

All righty then. kleptocracy -at- gmail dot com send me an email addy to send the source to.

[death2sanity]

You know, I'm glad one of us has managed to keep a stomach for all things political. With how much we enjoyed debating back in the day, as they say, there's a part of me that wishes I still found politics intriguing. But somewhere along the line, as cliche' as it is, I think I've become a bit jaded to it all.

Still, keep up with the updates...maybe this'll reignite my interest after all.

[achellios]

Will do, old buddy.

For the rest of you--everyone, this is my best friend from elementary school, Josh. (Yep, that's right, another one.) His birthday is coming up soon, but in all likelyhood he'll be in Japan teaching English as a second language by then, so...

Happy UnBirthday, Josh!