England Awake at last while America slumbers
A very good article from the Times on a story under-reported so far on Oregon Steel, which supplies armor to our military. If you use Google news to search for the Oregon Steel story, you will see most of the reportage is overseas or in Business Geek Today magazines.
Hugging Russian bear may lead to a mauling for EU - Sunday Times - Times Online
ADAM SMITH never met Vladimir Putin, but, as with so many other things, he anticipated his appearance. Nobody can accuse the great Scot of protectionist proclivities, but he did warn that there are times when free trade takes second place to national defence. He proposed laying “some burden” on foreign commerce “when some particular sort of industry is necessary for the defence of the country … (since) defence is of much more importance than opulence”.
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In America, approval by the government of the acquisition of port facilities by an Arab country prompted a review of procedures so secretive and arcane that the president found out about the deal only when it leaked to the newspapers.
Naturally, the deal-making community fought to prevent any tightening of the rules, because City folk agree with Adam Smith only when he argues for limiting government powers, and not when he wisely suggests that defence takes precedence over opulence — which today means homeland security over bonuses for investment bankers.
Now the western democracies have to decide what to do about acquisition-minded Russian companies, flush with cash, and ordered by Putin to extend their global reach. America’s committee on foreign investment last week agreed to let the Russian steel company Evraz acquire Oregon Steel Mills for $2.3 billion (£1.2 billion). Its members found nothing troubling in the deal, even though Oregon Steel is an important supplier of armour plate to the American military, and Evraz’s main investor is Roman Abramovich. Alone among the oligarchs, Abramovich retains the favour of Putin. He is the man the Russian president appointed governor of Chukotka, in remotest Siberia, so that Abramovich could prove his loyalty by bankrolling its economic development — which he has faithfully done.
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One might say that while relations between Putin and other expatriate Russians have been poisoned, those between the Evraz owner and Putin have not. Which suggests that when Russia decides to have Oregon Steel fall behind in deliveries of armour plate to the American military, Oregon’s management might decide, perhaps over dishes of sushi, that profit maximisation is not the only consideration
The article goes on to question Europes dependence on an obviously power-hungry Putin for oil and gas when he has already proved by his actions he is an overt dictator to other nations when he can:
Putin regards his nation’s oil and gas reserves as a political weapon. When challenged, he has cut off gas supplies to Ukraine and Georgia, and stopped the flow of oil through the pipeline crossing Belarus, forcing refineries in Poland, Germany, Slovakia, Hungary and the Czech Republic to dip into reserves to keep operating.
Only after Belarus’s president agreed to eliminate all transit charges and, more important, cede control of Belarus’s pipeline, would Putin allow the president of Russia’s monopoly pipeline, Transneft, to open negotiations over future prices and fees. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, called the supply cut-off “unacceptable”, which will not worry Putin unless Europe unites to solve its dependence problem — not a likely prospect.
This follows on the heels of Putin’s sudden discovery that Shell’s operations in the Sakhalin gasfield were breaking environmental regulations. Given the choice of abandoning their investment entirely, or selling to state-owned Gazprom, Shell and its Japanese partners chose the lesser of the evils.
The Bush administration, Council on Foreign Relations, American Enterprise Insitute and all their FreeMason and Shriner buddies, as well as both the Republican and Democratic Parties are of course all for “foriegn investment” in American infrastructure, while that investment has invited spy nests, jihad and outsourcing of American jobs elsewhere. They prefer opulence and bonuses to CEOs over national security any day/every day.
The on-going treason against the whole of western civilization is simply mind-boggling if not for understanding the difference between the Word of God, Jesus Christ and anti-Christ/non-creating speech with all the consequences therein.
Daniel 8:25 And through his cunning shall he cause craft to prosper in his hand; and he will magnify himself in his heart, and by prosperity will corrupt many; and he will stand up against the Prince of princes: but he shall be broken without hand.
In the Name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Am I now come up without Jehovah against this place to destroy it? Jehovah said to me, Go up against this land and destroy it. 2 Kings 18:25
Anti-Christ tried the lie that God had sent him to conqueor Jerusalem through the Assyrians. But God says to the worshipers of demons who hate Jesus Christ and Israel: "But I know thine abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, And thy raging against me." 2 Kings 19:27