Tuesday, February 21, 2006

Go George - The UAE Ports Deal

Lawmakers, he said, must 'step up and explain why a Middle Eastern company is held to a different standard.'

Exactly. We have both enemies and allies in the Middle East, and I'm glad someone is keeping track of them by criteria beyond skin color and religion.

Besides the racial idiocy on this one, our ports system should not rely on the trustworthiness or security of a private business to safeguard our country. It shouldn't matter who is managing the ports, the policies are ours to set, not theirs.

Friday, February 17, 2006

My Hat's Off to Microsoft, Yahoo, and Google

Everyone's outraged at our Internet companies doing business in China without somehow single-handedly overturning their Communist government. As though it is business's role to actually affect change in the form of government in their marketplace.

Microsoft was never a fan favorite, and Yahoo has been getting it pretty good lately. For my part, I don't really like Google. "Don't be evil" is a little self-righteous for my taste.

But let's be honest. Before these American companies were doing business in China, nobody knew or cared to know the extent of the censorship that goes on in China. We have learned more about the Chines government's repression in the last few months than we ever wanted to before.

When a company does business in a foreign country, they are generally required to follow local law, not write it. The people complaining should instead be applauding, because there is now a spotlight on the Chinese government's abuses.

So keep it up, American tech giants, you're doing the right thing-- business.

Friday, February 03, 2006

I Haven't Seen Outrage Like This Since...

I haven't seen outrage in the Muslim community like that over this image--









--since the outrage in the Muslim community over this image:









Oh yeah, I forgot.