snow storm ...

Those who "broke the story" of U.S. ports being sold to UAE likely do not yet know the significance any more than most of the American people, while both groups continue arguing today whether the American economy is good or bad, improving or getting worse ...

Those very same people who went to the game and afterward compared scores and statistics over beers until someone could drive them home again.

John W. Snow finalized the deal to transfer ownership of port operations from British P&O to DPWorld. Mr. Snow was " Chief Executive Officer of CSX Corporation, where he successfully guided the transportation company though [sic] a period of tremendous change. During Snow's twenty years at CSX, he led the Corporation to refocus on its core railroad business, dramatically reduce injuries and train accidents, and improve its financial performance. "
http://www.whitehouse.gov/government/snow-bio.html

How any of this relates to the Council on Foreign Investments is not clear to me, but John Snow's deal brokering is said to be as a part of that council, at a time when more than 60% of United States debt is foreign (non-U.S.) owned, which means that in a real sense, America is already sold. Logic dictates that at some point it is no longer "ours" to buy back.

Dubai controls ports in 30 countries and is now effectively the gateway for Asian goods transported to the slave countries of Europe, and at least for a while, to the United States. UAE has the money to buy what it wants, when it wants:
http://www.natives.co.uk/action/list.py/view_item?listid=9&listcatid=39&listitemid=1070

"With the ski area, perhaps the third largest in the world, the Mall of the Emirates seeks to differentiate itself from the dozen or so other newly completed malls in Dubai and the surrounding emirates. The mall officially opened in late November, 2005 with the inauguration of the ski area, although it had already been in operation for several weeks. It is located in the Al Barsha area of Dubai."
- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mall_of_the_Emirates
http://www.ameinfo.com/72039.html

UAE flag colors: http://fotw.fivestarflags.com/ae.html
... are the very same as those found here:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Horsemen_of_the_Apocalypse

Be sure to visit the Häagen-Dazs café at Mall of Emirates:
http://www.tradearabia.com/tanews/newsdetails_snFOOD_article100919.html
... and play some tennis during your stay at Mall of the Emirates:
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2006-02-21/d.php - "Seeds Myskina, Hantuchova Tested at WTA Dubai"
http://www.dubaitennischampionships.com/
http://www.tennis-x.com/story/2004-02-27/d.php

Dubai, where the sea is being "reclaimed": http://www.dubaicityguide.com/specials/index.asp?id=1034
- http://realestate.theemiratesnetwork.com/developments/dubai/world_islands.php

Is there violence in Dubai ? Against women, yes:
http://www.crescentlife.com/psychissues/innocent_victims_of_violence-uae.htm

... but what of the violence common in Karachi or Jerusalem ? One might ask, with the glut of such "Western decadence" in UAE, why are there no reports of bombings, kidnappings, beheadings ... all the sort of violence designed to fit a television screen ? Is it simply that UAE, which helps fund AlQaeda and other activities aimed as the West, has the money to buy off such disruptions ?

Islam is at war with itself. Sunnis in Pakistan have had the bomb since 1998, and field three nuclear armed Agosta submarines, designed by DCN of France, capable of delivering up to 32 nuclear missiles - all at the same time if such decision were to be made.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/2677371.stm

Find 32 cities to target between NYC and Houston.

Shiites in Iran are very close to having their own bomb, if they do not already.

"33. Brownie, you're doin' a heck of a job. (Sep. 2, 2005)"
http://www.dubyaspeak.com/repeatoffender.phtml?offense=heckofa

Could it be that George W. Bush himself is not aware of the larger game being played in the world right now ?
" Feb. 23 (Bloomberg) -- President George W. Bush and Treasury Secretary John Snow are struggling to explain why they didn't know until several days ago about a state-owned Dubai company's takeover of seaport facilities in New York and five other U.S. cities."
- http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=10000103&sid=anR_O.fSDQX4&refer=us

Seems to me a reasonable conclusion that control of U.S. government lies somewhere beyond the knowledge of the President and Secretary of the Treasury. Does it to you ?

Such "a leading champion of improved corporate governance practices" as Mr. Snow was not allowed to sit in the chair at Treasury without acceptance other than the President's, but I find it inconceivable neither man is aware of events on the world stage, where clearly there is a game afoot much grander than any of us can consider as more than some leftover script from a Three Stooges movie. Seriously ?

I wonder which "continent" each man (Bush and Snow) will choose off the coast of Dubai on which to purchase his retirement home ...

Do you find it at all odd we are having this little talk on George Washington's birthday ... ?

Vet's Ills Mounting Fast

VET'S ILLS MOUNTING FAST

Published on Tuesday, February 7, 2006 by the New York Daily News

By Juan Gonzalez

NEARLY 120,000 veterans - more than one of every four who served in Iraq and Afghanistan - have already sought treatment at Veterans Health Administration hospitals for a wide range of illnesses, according to an internal study the VHA completed late last year.

More than 30% of those sick veterans are afflicted with some type of mental disorder, mostly posttraumatic stress and depression.

An additional 35,000 - more than 29% of the total - were diagnosed with "ill-defined conditions," according to the study, which was prepared in October by VHA epidemiologist Dr. Han Kang but has yet to be publicly released.

"Those numbers are way higher than during the Persian Gulf War for 'ill-defined' symptoms," said one Department of Veterans Affairs official who asked not to be identified.

Nearly two years ago, I reported about a group of nine New York National Guardsmen from the 442nd Military Police Co. who returned from Iraq with medical problems the Army listed as "ill-defined." Nearly half of those soldiers - four out of nine - later showed signs, in independent tests arranged by the Daily News, of exposure to depleted uranium dust from exploded U.S. shells.

Mental disorders, however, rank as the biggest problem among ailing veterans.

Two previous military studies of combat troops in Iraq found that 17% to 25% of U.S. soldiers suffer from major depression or combat stress.

All the studies show a far higher rate of mental problems among our troops than during the Persian Gulf War, and levels comparable to what was found among U.S. troops during the Vietnam War.

Kang's report, because it includes only soldiers who voluntarily checked themselves in for treatment, could be understating the level of mental disorders, say veterans advocates who have seen summaries of his findings.

"With numbers this high, the problem is going to grow fast," said Paul Rieckhoff, a former lieutenant with the 1st Infantry Division in Iraq and founder and executive director of Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America.

"We're seeing systemwide there are major problems," Rieckhoff said. "Most local VAs just aren't prepared for the influx of sick veterans."

Rieckhoff's view is buttressed by a U.S. General Accounting Office study released last February.

The Department of Veterans Affairs "does not have sufficient capacity to meet the needs of new combat veterans while still providing for veterans of past wars," the GAO concluded.

Department of Veterans Affairs spokesman Jim Benson cautioned yesterday that it is difficult to compare the number of veterans from the current conflicts seeking help with those from previous wars.

Before 1998, Benson said, VA hospitals provided free health care only to veterans who had first been certified as suffering from some form of service-connected illness.

But in 1998, Congress mandated that all veterans be eligible for free health care for the first two years after being demobilized. After that, the free care can continue only if the veteran can prove a service-connected illness.

Well, at least President Bush has finally begun to recognize that the veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan can't be forgotten once they return home.

Top veterans officials announced yesterday that Bush is seeking $80.6 billion for the Department of Veterans Affairs for next year's budget - a record increase of more than 12% above the current budget.

His request includes an additional $3.5 billion for veterans' health care.

But in a chilling sign of the terrible toll our nation has yet to pay for this dreadful war in Iraq, Bush earmarked an additional $78 million to build six new national cemeteries and expand three existing ones.

http://www.democracynow.org/static/Vets.shtml