Saturday, February 25, 2006

Talking Sense

I repeat again what I have said before: The only reason that this is an issue is that Democrats see it as a way of getting to the right of the Administration on the national security front, and Republicans don't want to let Democrats get to their right. So both are ending up denouncing the Administration for a perfectly sensible policy, and angering an ally in the process. And since it needs to be said, I will say it: I thought we were against this kind of gratuitous racial profiling. Pray tell, why are we engaging in it? — Pejman Yousefzadeh


But Pejman points to this story ...

Feb 24th, 2006: 19:28:21
The Port of Los Angeles has eight major container terminals and four dockside intermodal rail yards with direct access to the Alameda Corridor, a 20-mile express railway connecting the Port to the rail hubs in downtown Los Angeles. [These ports are controlled by Evergreen Marine.] — Nick Danger Third Eye


... which, when I looked at it, struck me odd. Wasn't sure why; something looked wrong. Then I realized it was written in traditional chinese, not modern — which is to say this is a company from the Republic of China, not the "People's" Republic of China.

However, other than the little detail of not having the right company, the right country, or the right ports, Nick's got a point.

Senator Clinton has her own position on this:
...Clinton has said she would introduce legislation that would block Dubai Ports World or any other company owned by a foreign government from operating U.S. ports.

"These choices reveal a disheartening pattern of ideology, influence and incompetence that we have seen, and they violate our values and our interests," Clinton said. "I don't claim that Democrats are always right, but we are far more likely to make choices that reflect the values and advance the well-being of the American people."


For an example of Nick's real point, the Long Beach Naval Shipyard is now operated as a container cargo port by Cosco, Inc. which is a company owned by the People's Republic of China.

You may recall some fuss about the leasing of the Long Beach NSY by China. After a few minutes, here's something from 28 FEB 1997:
The FBI is investigating whether representatives of the People's Republic of China attempted to buy influence among members of Congress through illegal campaign contributions and payments from Chinese-controlled businesses, government officials said this week.

A third former Clinton administration official refused Thursday to give Congress documents subpoenaed for investigations of Democratic fund-raising -- claiming a Fifth Amendment privilege against self-incrimination. The refusal by former White House aide Mark Middleton to turn over documents came as the head of the Senate probe warned that a stalemate over his budget must be resolved quickly or there will be no money for the investigation. ....

Red Chinese Opening Giant Base In Former U.S. Naval Harbor

Many Californians have long been asking why the Clinton administration decided to close the bustling Long Beach Naval Station in 1994... The turning over of the naval station to the Red Chinese raises the question whether it was part of what appears to be on-going relations between the Clinton White House and the Red Chinese, which have been linked to campaign contributions given by those with Peking connections to the reelection campaign of President Clinton. - SPOTLIGHT


Emphasis, of course, mine.

14 comments:

Rick Ballard said...

I think that James Riady, Johnny Huang and the Lippo Group fit somewhere in there next to the China Ocean Shipping COmpany. Or maybe it was "no governing legal authority" and some Buddhist monks?

I always get confused. Miz Clinton doesn't, though.

Anonymous said...

People have short memories don't they?

So say they introduce this legislation. What about the companies already doing business and what about the fact that no American company even put in a bid for this present port business.

I read that 24 or the top 25 port operators are not American. Who gets the work?

Maybe they can give the Gambinos a grant.

loner said...

Many Californians have long been asking why the Clinton administration decided to close the bustling Long Beach Naval Station in 1994...

FYI

When I returned to California in 2000 the area formerly occupied by the Long Beach Naval Station was, for the most part, a huge paved lot with nothing on it. Today what can be seen while traversing Terminal Island on West Ocean Blvd. looks like this.

Google Local (Zoom in 2 or 3 times and note the area south of Ocean. It's all containers all the time.)

I don't know who manages the facility.

loner said...

Sorry. How about this.

FYI

loner said...

Enough.

FYI

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/facility/long_beach.html

Rick Ballard said...

Here you go

I think it was just on one of the base closure lists.

Sometimes links are a bit quirky.

Rick Ballard said...

Peter,

You thought we were kidding about about the Congressional Clown Corps? If you told them that the instructions for emptying the boot were written on the heel, they would hold it up carefully over their heads in order to read it. Not spilling a drop, mind you.

It ain't exactly awe inspiring.

loner said...

Rick,

Thank you, sir. I hope to be able to contribute from time to time as my mental health, so-called, and the forebearance of others allows.

Best,

Pat

.../long_beach.htm was what I was trying to link to. From that non-link...

The Chinese state-run China Ocean Shipping Company (COSCO) shipping firm, a tenant at the Port of Long Beach since 1981, had been negotiating with the Port for additional terminal space for the past few years. The expansion of Pacific Rim trade and the deep-water and rail infrastructure in the Long Beach-Los Angeles area has resulted in a substantial increase in volume. The Port of Long Beach planned to build and to lease to COSCO a $200 million container terminal on 145 acres of former Navy property, using a 10-year lease with additional five-year options. Annual lease payments, estimated at between $13-15 million, or about $100,000 per acre would be consistent with rates paid by other Port tenants. However, on April 21, 1997, the Long Beach Harbor Commission voted to cancel the lease with COSCO.

A brother who is a civilian employee of the Navy was in Long Beach. He's now in San Diego and in a few years he'll be in Columbus, OH.

...and so it goes.

Anonymous said...

Well I checked out a thread on polipundit and the paranoia is rampant. One guy over there did not just say some terrorist might infiltrate Dubai, he pretty much said it was a front organization for AlQaida and we had to stop Bush before he destroyed himself.

Reminds me of a lynch mob. A witch hunt. I used to wonder how people in Europe could demonize the entire Jewish race and see nothing good or decent in any of them. This is the same kind of mindless unreasoning hatred. It scares me.

Rick Ballard said...

Pat,

Remember that we maintain a round the clock team of mental health professionals plus the same wrt legal advisors. Not to mention a crew of math whizzes capable of explaining certain concepts in a manner that even I can understand (sometimes).

The base closing commission is a pretty odd setup. All the CA bases that were closed (Mare Island, Alameda NAS, Long Beach etc.) share similiar political demographics while the ones that remain (Lemoore NAS, SD) share apposite characteristics. The fact that CA had two true blue Senators during the '90's (and today) had more, I believe, than a neglible impact.

Politics is funny that way.

Rick Ballard said...

StY,

Btw - the RedState piece also listed APL (Singapore) and Yang Ming (merged with 'K' Line, i believe - Taiwan). There are probably more such but I hit my boredom limit. They do much better with purist theory. Shouldn't let nasty facts get in the way.

Peter,

I spend some time considering what a waste of oxygen occurs in my nation's capital. There are trees working their hearts out for nothing - and something should be done about it.

chuck said...

The fact that CA had two true blue Senators during the '90's (and today) had more, I believe, than a neglible impact.

I believe there was also a campaign contributer who ran a shipyard and wanted the Navy to outsource the ship business. There was a book written about it but I can't find it at the moment. I don't know how much weight all the different factors had.

Anonymous said...

What I can not understand is the xenophobic paranoia. I hate to say it but some of this is just part of who we are, remember the America Firsters. It makes reasonable people go off the deep end.

But if they are willing to overlook the whole Longshoreman/Gambino angle how concerned can they be about port safety? Dubai is a legitimate company with established bona fides over a long period of time. The Gamibinos are a crime syndicate with established links to various criminal activities over a long period of time.

And they take money from the latter and stiff arm the former. Makes no sense.

Charlie Martin said...

Skook, why don't you elevate that to an actual post?