LA Times says we're having a "hissy fit" over the UAE deal

[tgnyc]

http://www.latimes.com/news/printedition/opinion/la-ed-ports22feb22,0,290173,print.story?coll=la-news-comment

WHEN MEMBERS OF CONGRESS TAKE homeland security seriously, it's a welcome development. Unfortunately, Tuesday's bipartisan hissy fit over the Bush administration's approval of a Dubai company's $6.8-billion deal to manage six important U.S. ports is neither serious nor welcome.

"Not serious?" "Hissy fit?"

The editorial's point is that UAE wouldn't be in control of security at the ports, only the logistics.

Weel, since security at our ports is already practically non-existent, it seems that controlling the logistics is THE key element necessary for an entitiy to ship some dangerous object into the US.

But to suggest critics of the plan aren't serious: how fucking DARE they?

[blm]

1. And Halliburton/KBR were in charge of Yemen port's"logistics" for USS Cole

.

[leftstreet]

2. It's the timing that's bullshit

The story has been out there since November, when Dubai DP World made its first bid to P&O, yet it didn't hit the teevee radar until this week. On Friday the press was still gunning for the truth behind Cheney's drunken shoot-out at the ranch. But not now.

:eyes:

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/news/article337819.ece

Singaporeans spark P&O bid battle

£3.5bn takeover approach from state-owned ports operator trumps agreed offer from Dubai

By Michael Harrison, Business Editor

Published: 11 January 2006

Britain's oldest and most famous shipping company, P&O, was at centre of an overseas bid battle last night after the port authority of Singapore made a £3.5bn takeover approach for the company.

The 470p-a-share offer from PSA International, part of Singapore's state-owned investment company Temasek, trumps a 443p-a-share bid in November from the rival Dubai port operator DP World, which has already been accepted by the board of the UK ports and ferries operator. DP World indicated it was likely to come back with a higher bid, saying it was "committed to the successful completion" of its deal with P&O.


http://quote.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000006&sid=am4I_txvJ3rU&refer=home
P&O Agrees to Singapore Acquisition, Dropping Dubai (Update5)
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co., Britain's largest port operator, agreed to be acquired by Singapore's biggest port company for 3.55 billion pounds ($6.3 billion), rejecting a lower offer from Dubai.

PSA International Pte, owned by Singapore's state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte, bid 470 pence for each share, London- based P&O said in a statement. DP World, the port operator owned by Dubai, the United Arab Emirates, offered 443 pence on Nov. 29.

http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/bal-bz.polondon28jan28,1,7770185.story?coll=bal-business-headlines&ctrack=1&cset=true

City port operator prefers new suitor
Associated Press
Originally published January 28, 2006
LONDON // British port operator Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., which runs Baltimore's public terminals, switched prospective suitors for the second time after Dubai Ports World raised its offer for the company to almost $7 billion, trumping an offer from Singapore's PSA International Ltd.

News of the bidding war sent P&O's shares up almost 5 percent yesterday.

[Katherine Brengle]

3. Um, especially considering the widespread public disapproval of

the deal.

This is the first time in a long time that Congress has in any way reflected the views of the vast majority of the American public.

Screw the LA Times--it's part of the machine, just like every other big-time fishwrapper out there.

[wtmusic]

4. exactly

the implication that merely handling the "logistics" doesn't create a serious security breach is 100% out to lunch.

But the administration in charge on Sept. 11, 2001 always has been soft on security.

[coalition_unwilling]

5. I cancelled my sub to the LA Times over a year ago

for continuing to run the mad scribblings of Max Boot (neo-con on the Council on Foreign Relations).

Actually, I let them keep delivering it to me for about three months after my sub had run out and deliberately blew off their bills, just so I could stick the knife into the Tribune Corp (which owns the LA Times) just a little more.

About six months after I took that step, they fired Robert Scheer which provoked a mass wave of subscription cancellations among the progressive community out here. (I think of myself as a canary in the LA Times coal mine.) Paid subscribers now fewer than 900,000, at last audit, and continuing to plummet.

[Armstead]

6. Security and management are interrelated

You can;t have one without the other.

This supposed seperation is an illusion.

And "hissy fit" is an obnoxious way to describe valid criticism.