I think it's time to start outfitting cargo ships with

• Captain Phillips is freed!!!! - Easter miracle
  • I think it's time to start outfitting cargo ships with - guns so they can protect themselves. N/M
    • I agree... - Trigger Happy
  • Thank you, President Obama! - samonella
    • The only thing Obama did was - Trigger Happy
    • Excuse me but he didn't do diddly - hmmm
    • Thanks to NAVY SEALS! All Obama did - was authorize--give thanks to REAL heroes.nm
      • So you'd expect the President to put on a wetsuit - and jump into the water himself?
        • No, but we'd expect a thank you to the Navy Seals - hmmm
    • I beg your pardon, but as far as what - MTfromLA
      • You need to educate yourself. - samonella
      • You should check your facts before... - samonella
        • MT was right, though. Obama had very little - to do with freeing the man, the military did!!!!.n
          • Once again, class, WHO is in charge of the military? - YOUR President - President OBAMA
            • He may be yours, but a lot of us don't feel this way - hmmm
              • Then you prolly should move! - President Obama is US President
            • And who never served in the military - Scamp
              • MOST people who serve in the military are - FOLLOWERS, not leaders.
                • Pretty good analogy. - Scamp
                  • You got that 100% right! - C. Mudgeon
                    • Definitely - Scamp
                      • At least a prez who has been in uniform - C.Mudgeon
              • Matters not one whit....he is now in charge of - Said Military
          • Oh Please... - samonella
            • Bravo Indeed! - Obama is the MAN!
              • Yes, giving the NAVY SEALS the order is a good thing - hmmm
            • No, sorry, no bravos to someone who does not rescue someone - hmmm
            • "Oh, please".. yourself. O said, "yeah, go ahead". - Thank the military. THEY deserve it. nm
        • Since it went well, - Scamp
      • Clueless - Mandy
      • Then you're apparently listening in the wrong places. nm - Q-tip, anyone?
  • HA! - Scamp
    • I have been praying about this all week- - MTfromLA
      • Right on! Obama would rather apologize for his - country than stand up for it..nm
        • Another twisted notion... - Based on nothing...
  • Isn't that great?! Our Navy Seal snipers took out - the pirates. Awesome!! nm
    • You said it - they are the true hero's of the country - hmmm

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Looks like the foxes are now in charge of the henhouses.

http://www.nysun.com/article/29714

March 23, 2006 Edition > Section: National > Printer-Friendly Version

America Hires Chinese Firm To Inspect Cargo For Nuclear Material

BY TED BRIDIS - Associated Press
March 23, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/29714

WASHINGTON (AP) - In the aftermath of the Dubai ports dispute, the Bush administration is hiring a Hong Kong conglomerate to help detect nuclear materials inside cargo passing through the Bahamas to the United States and elsewhere.

The administration acknowledges the no-bid contract with Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. represents the first time a foreign company will be involved in running a sophisticated U.S. radiation detector at an overseas port without American customs agents present.

Freeport in the Bahamas is 65 miles from the U.S. coast, where cargo would be likely to be inspected again. The contract is currently being finalized.

The administration is negotiating a second no-bid contract for a Philippine company to install radiation detectors in its home country, according to documents obtained by The Associated Press. At dozens of other overseas ports, foreign governments are primarily responsible for scanning cargo.

While President Bush recently reassured Congress that foreigners would not manage security at U.S. ports, the Hutchison deal in the Bahamas illustrates how the administration is relying on foreign companies at overseas ports to safeguard cargo headed to the United States.

Hutchison Whampoa is the world's largest ports operator and among the industry's most-respected companies. It was an early adopter of U.S. anti-terror measures. But its billionaire chairman, Li Ka-Shing, also has substantial business ties to China's government that have raised U.S. concerns over the years.

Li Ka-Shing is pretty close to a lot of senior leaders of the Chinese government and the Chinese Communist Party, said Larry M. Wortzel, head of a U.S. government commission that studies China security and economic issues. But Wortzel said Hutchison operates independently from Beijing, and he described Li as a very legitimate international businessman.

One can conceive legitimate security concerns and would hope either the Homeland Security Department or the intelligence services of the United States work very hard to satisfy those concerns, Wortzel said.

Three years ago, the Bush administration effectively blocked a Hutchison subsidiary from buying part of a bankrupt U.S. telecommunications company, Global Crossing Ltd., on national security grounds.

And a U.S. military intelligence report, once marked secret, cited Hutchison in 1999 as a potential risk for smuggling arms and other prohibited materials into the United States from the Bahamas.

Hutchison's port operations in the Bahamas and Panama could provide a conduit for illegal shipments of technology or prohibited items from the West to the PRC (People's Republic of China), or facilitate the movement of arms and other prohibited items into the Americas, the now-declassified assessment said.

The CIA currently has no security concerns about Hutchison's port operations, and the administration believes the pending deal with the foreign company would be safe, officials said.

Supervised by Bahamian customs officials, Hutchison employees will drive the towering, truck-like radiation scanner that moves slowly over large cargo containers and scans them for radiation that might be emitted by plutonium or a radiological weapon.

Any positive reading would set off alarms monitored simultaneously by Bahamian customs inspectors at Freeport and by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials working at an anti-terrorism center 800 miles away in northern Virginia. Any alarm would prompt a closer inspection of the cargo, and there are multiple layers of security to prevent tampering, officials said.

The equipment operates itself, said Bryan Wilkes, a spokesman for the U.S. National Nuclear Security Administration, the agency negotiating the contract. It's not going to be someone standing at the controls pressing buttons and flipping switches.

A lawmaker who helped lead the opposition to the Dubai ports deal isn't so confident. Neither are some security experts. They question whether the U.S. should pay a foreign company with ties to China to keep radioactive material out of the United States.

Giving a no-bid contract to a foreign company to carry out the most sensitive security screening for radioactive materials at ports abroad raises many questions, said Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y.

A low-paid employee with access to the screening equipment could frustrate international security by studying how the equipment works and which materials set off its alarms, warned a retired U.S. Customs investigator who specialized in smuggling cases.

Money buys a lot of things, Robert Sheridan said. The fact that foreign workers would have access to how the United States screens various containers for nuclear material and how this technology scrutinizes the containers _ all those things allow someone with a nefarious intention to thwart the screening.

Other experts discounted concerns. They cited Hutchison's reputation as a leading ports company and said the United States inevitably must rely for some security on large commercial operators in the global maritime industry.

We must not allow an unwarranted fear of foreign ownership or involvement in offshore operations to impair our ability to protect against nuclear weapons being smuggled into this country, said Sen. Norm Coleman, R-Minn., a member of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs. We must work with these foreign companies.

A former Coast Guard commander, Stephen Flynn, said foreign companies sometimes prove more trustworthy _ and susceptible to U.S. influence _ than governments.

It's a very fragile system, Flynn said. Foreign companies recognize the U.S. has the capacity and willingness to exercise a kill switch if something goes wrong.

A spokesman for Hutchison's ports subsidiary, Anthony Tam, said the company is a strong supporter in port security initiatives.

In the case of the Bahamas, our local personnel are working alongside with U.S. customs officials to identify and inspect U.S.-bound containers that could be carrying radioactive materials, Tam said.

However, there are no U.S. customs agents checking any cargo containers at the Hutchison port in Freeport. Under the contract, no U.S. officials would be stationed permanently in the Bahamas with the radiation scanner.

The administration is finalizing the contract amid a national debate over maritime security sparked by the furor over now-abandoned plans by Dubai-owned DP World to take over significant operations at major U.S. ports.

Hutchison operates the sprawling Freeport Container Port on Grand Bahama Island. Its subsidiary, Hutchison Port Holdings, has operations in more than 20 countries but none in the United States.

Contract documents, obtained by The Associated Press, indicate Hutchison will be paid roughly $6 million. The contract is for one year with options for three years.

The Energy Department's National Nuclear Security Administration is negotiating the Bahamas contract under a $121 million security program it calls the second line of defense. Wilkes, the NNSA spokesman, said the Bahamian government dictated that the U.S. give the contract to Hutchison.

It's their country, their port. The driver of the mobile carrier is the contractor selected by their government. We had no say or no choice, he said. We are fortunate to have allies who are signing these agreements with us.

Some security experts said that is a weak explanation in the Bahamas, with its close reliance on the United States. The administration could insist that the Bahamas permit U.S. Customs agents to operate at the port, said Albert Santoli, an expert on national security issues in Asia and the Pacific.

Why would they not accept that? said Santoli, a former national security aide to Rep. Dana Rohrabacher, R-Calif. There is an interest in the Bahamas and every other country in the region to make sure the U.S. stays safe and strong. That's how this should be negotiated.

Flynn, the former Coast Guard commander, agreed the Bahamas would readily accept such a proposal but said the U.S. is short of trained customs agents to send overseas.

Contract documents obtained by the AP show at least one other foreign company is involved in the U.S. radiation-detection program.

A separate, no-bid $4 million contract the Bush administration is negotiating would pay a Manila-based company, International Container Terminal Services Inc., to install radiation detectors at the Philippines' largest port.

The U.S. says the Manila company is not being paid to operate the radiation monitors once they are installed. But two International Container executives and a senior official at the government's Philippine Nuclear Research Institute said the company will run the detectors on behalf of the institute and the country's customs bureau. U.S. officials said they will investigate further how the Filipinos plan to use the equipment.

March 23, 2006 Edition > Section: National > Printer-Friendly Version

You are definitely the chosen people:  Chosen to be banned from heaven.  This is what the people who pretend to support you really believe.  And it must be true, because according to them, you and I will be spending eternity together, and no doubt that will be hell for us both.

Jerry Falwell: Jews and Muslims Can't Go to Heaven

I would mess with you about the foot channel, but since you took the time to agree with me, I'll let it go this time. 

MEOW

to speak to an American when we get phone calls or call a place and get an ESL on the line.  Maybe if we refuse to speak to them....they might realize they need to hire some Americans.

feel a scintilla of sympathy for them, they lunge at ya with the retracted lips and missing, yellowed teeth.

People can raise this question over and over again but what I would like to know is this:  Has anyone ever raised the same questions regarding white candidates in this and/or past elections and why people voted for them? Of course not...I wouldn't care if Obama were multicolored - people are going to vote for whomever they choose and I for one am weary of the constant references to race...

Even mr. So? cheney admitted they were going to do it whatever the results of inspections were, let people drown in Katrina, let the terrorists kill 2000 people -- but dodge that shoe, and my, my what a great leader you are.  Groan.  I am so glad the majority of citizens woke up.

Even mr. So? cheney admitted they were going to do it whatever the results of inspections were, let people drown in Katrina, let the terrorists kill 2000 people -- but dodge that shoe, and my, my what a great leader you are.  Groan.  I am so glad the majority of citizens woke up.

He was quoting what others had nicknamed the man already.  You just can't let crazy people be crazy people, can you?  Instead you have to pick some conservative leaning person to blame everything on.  The man who shot Tiller is to blame for this...no one else.

Or how about this....if Tiller had never aborted so many fetuses late term for questionable reasons, other than the mother's health, he never would have been under investigation and he would never have been publically exposed.  So whose fault is this really?  I personally feel that if Tiller had stayed within the guidelines on this, he never would have made nation wide news in the first place.

However, regardless of his actions and whether or not I find them to be disgusting, he still should not have been gunned down.  The man who killed him is a crazy wacko.  No one told him to do it.  He took it upon himself to do it.  He is to blame for his actions....not Bill O'Reilly.  So how about you stop the spin, stop the blame game, and actually make people take responsibility for their own actions.

That is a big problem with our country today.  Too many people pointing the finger at others and not enough people admitting their own faults and taking blame for what they have done.  Much easier to point the finger and blame someone else.