And The Plot Thickens!

[HARDCORE]

Now it?s the Philippines that is beginning to unravel! Of course, this is nothing new in that neck of the woods, or any other neck of the woods these days fir that matter!

Mexico thinks that our southern border and laws are a laugh, Canada is a sometimes conduit for mounting problems, the Middle East is a powder keg, Russia, Germany and France are about as wishy-washy as a tub full of eels, a third of the world is trying to destroy us militarily or through terrorism, another third is attempting to take us over financially, and the last third is attempting to chisel us to death!

Now add to this the fact that some of our friends are half-time, we have turned from an industrial powerhouse to a service oriented society, we fight brush wars and holding actions but not to win!

Our military is as gallant and courageous as it ever was, but others take the political credit for their successes and pass the buck on all failures! Much of the world now looks down upon us in a fashion that is similar to the way that Great Britain viewed us back in the early 1770s!

?We don?t really have to ask why all of this taking place, now do we? I believe that we all know the reason why, even if many still refuse to face it!!?

?So what are we going to do the rectify the situation - nothing as usual??

?Again, these are but my own opinions!!?

VERITAS

[blues clues]

Rick we are doing something about it we are letting the rag heads take our PORTS, the Jap's make our cars and letting china make everything else what more can we do?

razz

Don't import foreign cars, keep our own ports, and the hell with the rest of the world thinks about us. Lets stay out of their problems, and when they get in to thick and ask us for help tell them fogetaboutit, ya know what I'm saying. Take care of your own problems cause we ain't interested.

[Seascamp]

I don?t know if this is business as usual, Rick. The four decade old Philippine communist NPA (New People?s Army) appears to be going for the gusto in an apparent attempted military coup. President Gloria Arroyo; a classmate of Bill Clinton, has locked the place down and as of last Thursday, deployed armored vehicles in Manila. Two senior Military commanders seem to be the king pins have been arrested and apparently they had formed some kind of temporary coalition with the NPA for the purposes of a power grab. The play is busted up for the moment and it seems the communist guerrillas didn?t deploy out of their nest up around Lucban, yet. A NPA hoped for ?popular uprising? hasn?t occurred and without that occurrence, they are far too small to do more than do some local killing of innocents around Lucban, Tayabas and Lucena, as usual. But if Arroyo gets in over her head, I have a gut feeling the 7th fleet and 7th fleet Marines will get tapped. Not likely, but a possibility. As of last Tuesday, the people I know in the PNP (Philippine National Police) were called to Manila from distant places like Mindoro Island, but as they told me, d?j? vu all over again, and didn?t seem overly concerned. We?ll see.

A thought about cars, ports, ships, name it. Soon enough we will be farming out commercial aircraft manufacturing and there will be significant industrial space available in the Seattle area. Same roots, same problem, same irresolvable issues. Simply, when ya can?t solve the problem, change the problem, that is the decades old way of things in the USA. If we were to try to build some major capacity power plants in the US, we would of necessity have to import the critical machinery; all American designed, from other places.

As I see and have experienced things, ya can build crummy stuff or build expensive stuff, but no longer can ya build crummy, expensive, stuff and therein is our industrial rub and our cup of hemlock. There is no global lack of demand out there for expensive industrial equipment that is very high quality; it?s just that we are very, very late to the party figuring out that reality.

A bit of a prophecy, we will soon rue the day we didn?t take our southern border situation seriously and if we really don?t think southern California can?t turn into another ?Manila?, then not only are we arrogant, but really stupid to boot. Been both to Manila and LA in the last while and I see no difference in the restless attitudes, pot stirring and trouble making going on, none.

Scamp

[HARDCORE]

Amen Robert - Well said and I hope that the Powers That Be heard what you had to say!

It is damned well time that we begin to look after our own fields!

VERITAS - RICK

[HARDCORE]

A bit of a prophecy, we will soon rue the day we didn?t take our southern border situation seriously and if we really don?t think southern California can?t turn into another ?Manila?, then not only are we arrogant, but really stupid to boot. Been both to Manila and LA in the last while and I see no difference in the restless attitudes, pot stirring and trouble making going on, none.

All really poignant Scamp (as usual), and your analogy about the Southern Border is right on target. Some in government are blind by design and ambition!

VERITAS