Feb. 26 - Munu changes servers (insert mumbled techno-stuff) and I too had difficulty logging on but everything seems to be back to normal.

As weeks go, last week was a sorry example of our ability to differentiate between the war on terror and fear of all things Arab. I am referring, of course, to the sensationalist fear-mongering over the sale of a British company to a company run out of the UAE and both Democrats and Republicans should be ashamed of themselves. I'm just a private citizen and even I know that security at ports is run by federal agencies not private ones, so why don't U.S. Senators? As someone quipped, "We're all racial profilers now."

Crucial to al Qaeda's successful attacks has been the recruitment of and deployment of home-based terrorists. The attacks in New York, Madrid and London were performed by people residing in those countries and, although security in ports remains a gaping question, so does security in chemical factories, electrical plants, subways, and just about everywhere. Fighting the war on terror while also retaining our society as an open one remains the paradox and the challenge.

Has everyone already picked up on the fact that the same company that has raised such alarms in the U.S. already leases a container facility in Vancouver?

Duncan Wilson, spokesman for the Vancouver Port Authority - basically P&O Canada's landlord - said security at the port is the responsibility of the RCMP, the local police and the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency, whose agents inspect containers.

[...]

"It's a business arrangement. Our other terminals are also operated by offshore companies."

Isn't it curious that the American news media which, with only a few exceptions, declined to publish the Danish cartoons (although I did see two of them broadcast by Fox News during a clip about the support demonstration in front of the Danish Embassy in D.C.) yet was so willing to misinform the public about the sale of the British company to a Dubai based concern? I guess they figure it's safer to target our allies than to annoy our enemies ...

Posted by: Debbye at 06:09 PM | Comments (1) | Add Comment
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