The Bush administration can proceed with a plan to open the U.S. border to long haul Mexican trucks as early as this week after an appeals court rejected a bid by labor, consumer and environmental interests to block the initiative.
The administration plans to start the program on September 6. Transportation Department officials hope to receive final clearance early next week from the department’s inspector general’s office, which is reviewing its safety aspects, and finalize details with Mexican authorities.
Reviewing safety aspects essentially is a joke. Anyone regularly traveling the border states with Mexico has already witnessed how the Bush Administration reviews safety. Currently, US inspectors check 1% of Mexican trucks entering the country. About 35% fail!
Trucks from Canada have no operating restrictions in the United States.
And there’s no need. Canadian standards are as high – or higher – than US requirements.
Folks on the highway with Mexican long haul trucking companies should get ready to discover one more example of what our government is willing to give away to make corporate lobbyists happy.
#32
So, Europe to you constitutes France… yeah, right… 😉 😀
#33 duh!
What continent is France on? 3 guesses.
So many corporations have moved their plants to Mexico and points further south that now they must ship all those products, formerly made by Americans, back to the same Americans, who now buy those products with money made from jobs that don’t pay near as well as when they made the products that they are now buying from the Mexicans.
Thing is, American truckers won’t run south because chances are good that most of their vehicle would be either stolen piece by piece and the pieces sold back at highway robbery prices, or the the roads would tear up their trucks, thereby forcing them to buy truck parts, at highway robbery prices.
The hope is that one day the jobs in Mexico would pay better than the ones in the States, thereby reversing the flood.
Bottom line: It’s a global market place, and we (Americans) are not competitive. Our leaders are stumbling, and the ones manuevering to replace them are no better. So relax, and enjoy the crash.
#12 Jägermeister: Americans can’t process complex information – blame it on the government, church, and advertising / marketing (in that order).
My take to an open border to long haul Mexican trucks is perhaps many US companies disillusioned with China find Mexico becoming more attractive.
Facts:
1/ Many companies rushed to China in a “Me Too” move. Same as walking down the street and see a long line of people waiting to get into something…
2/ Doing business in China is not easy for the following:
a/ Chinese logic: Task more important than result drives westerners crazy.
b/ Competent English speaking staff are expensive and not easy to find in China.
c/ China’s currency is appreciating raising the cost Chinese imports.
3/ Negative press questioning the quality of Chinese imports.
France, by the way is European…
Cheers
#36, pedro,
Don’t waste your time. Is like trying to talk to a 2 year old monkey.
I don’t think jag was trying to talk to you. Banana?
Further to the discussion of whether or France is or is not European (Which I find funny as hell) tell me this…
Then say Texas, Minnesota, California, Kentucky, and New York are not “American” for the same reasons that France is not European… 😀
Cheers
40,
how about THIS.
the USA was made under 13 states…NOT 50.
what of the other states..ARE they REALLy part of the union?
They didnt sign up for it…
ANd even if they DID, cant they just UN-join?
I see Canadian trucks up here all the time. You can tell they’re from Canada because they’re always speeding.
#41 You are kidding right?
All 50 states are part of the union. When each territory applied for statehood into the union this must be ratified and accepted.
Yes any state can un-join from the union. The state government structure even varies from state to state E.G. California / Republic, Virginia / Commonwealth.
As politely as possible…where did you attend school or maybe more to correct to ask – When? When I was in high school many years ago both US History and US Government were both mandatory subjects – NO EXCEPTIONS.
Cheers
43,
But,
think about it…
Yes the OTHER starts had to be admitted to the Union…
THINk about what I just said..
the FIRST 13 states ARE the union…the rest had to be admitted.
Like a giant CLUB. those 13 states are STILL the head of this country.
The rest are just Joiners to the club…
If this was a real union, I would rather MOVE the gov. facilities to a better and MORE secure location.
A location that could REALLY be protected. You cant fire 50mm guns off the top of the white house and NOT hit some one, if you are trying to defend the capital.
The above topic we beat to death, in the forums.
As in do you KNOW who is installing and backing the international freeway?? SPAIN.
Do you know its going to be 200 feet wide, and that it follows the SAME internationla freeway that is a 2 lane highway insted of following the mountain range, TO the WEST, its following the Mississippi/mossuori Flood plain…Where its been flooded out for the last 10 years…
ASK those in Kansas City whats happening there…
ASK texas whats going on…
A family here in San Diego was killed when they plowed into a Mexican 18-wheeler that was broken down in the middle of the freeway. It had no warning lights or anything else on.
And you thought the Democrats and Republicans weren’t traitors? Like I’ve said before, never in the history of the two party system have the two parties been so similar. Someone please please care enough about American families and American people to form an “American Party” and give us somebody to vote for.
I refuse to vote and lend credibility to an incredible election. They are traitors plain and simple and should be tried in a court of law and prosecuted. And you thought Saddam was the enemy?
The only ones to benefit from NAFTA is the Mexicans the Big American trucking companies who invested in the Mexican trucking companies in order to find cheaper driver’s.
I also agree that safety issues are going to be a big problem. Just drive down to any of the boarder towns like Laredo and you will find Mexican driver’s disobeying traffic laws all over the place. Plus, they are driving old fleet trucks from the 80s or older. Even the DOT will have to admit that they do not have the resources to inspect even a third of the trucks that will cross.
#44 I understand how you can come to that conclusion however it is not quite correct.
The original 13 colonies were separate entities and as such it was very difficult task to get all of them to agree to break from England as they did not want to replace one tyrant with another. Provisions were made so that the states would remain sovereign while under a federal unifying ‘agent’ serving the states for the common good. This is why the US is called the United States of America.
Any state in the US has the right to succeed from the union if it so desires.
Thomas Jefferson said in his Inaugural address “If there be any among us who would wish to dissolve this Union, or to change its republican form, let them stand undisturbed as monuments of the safety with which error of opinion may be tolerated where reason is left to combat it.”
In fact the New England Federalists attempted to secede after 15 years in the Union. To this Jefferson said, “If any state in the Union will declare that it prefers separation … to a continuance in the union …. I have no hesitation in saying, ‘Let us separate.'”
When Virginia was deciding on whether of not to join the Union at a ratifying convention, the delegates said, “The powers granted under the Constitution being derived from the People of the United States may be resumed by them whensoever the same shall be perverted to their injury or oppression.”
James Madison who was the father of the Constitution wrote in Federalist Paper 39 to detail what “the people” meant, saying the proposed Constitution would be subject to ratification by the people, “not as individuals composing one entire nation, but as composing the distinct and independent States to which they respectively belong.” Therefore it is clear that states were indeed sovereign and the federal government which was to be a created is an unifying agent or servant of the states.
Somewhere along the road this became trampled on…
The US Civil War was very controversial as even Union politicians agreed that secession was a right held by the states.
Maryland Rep. Jacob Kunkel: “Any attempt to preserve the Union between the States of this Confederacy by force would be impractical, and destructive of republican liberty.” Northern Democratic and Republican parties all favoured the South in its rights to secede in peace.
When you look at Abraham Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address from another view point keeping in mind what Thomas Jefferson and James Madison said about rights of the states you will see it is hypocritical.
Lincoln said that soldiers sacrificed their lives “to the cause of self-determination — government of the people, by the people, for the people should not perish from the earth.”
It was was said afterwards “It is difficult to imagine anything more untrue (Gettysburg address). The Union soldiers in the battle actually fought against self-determination; it was the Confederates who fought for the right of people to govern themselves.”
Yes, once you scape away the layers of bullshit this is correct observation. The civil war trampled the right of of the people to govern themselves irregardless of the reasons for the secession.
I think you (and many Americans) need to crack open some history books and learn a little bit about how the US came to being. Then, as politely as I can say this, you offer your opinion about what the US should and should not be doing from an educated perspective verses from the bullshit you have been fed from movies and television.
You can’t learn from history if you never learned history in the first place. 😉
Cheers
Another interesting bit of history that seemed to be swept so far under the carpet it is all but forgotten.
Texas was quite literately stolen from Mexico in as much the same way as Hitler had acquired Hungry. Before all of you mouth off, crack open your history books and educate yourself first.
Mexico invited Americans to settle in Texas under the provision that these new settlers adopt Mexican citizenship. All was fine until these new ‘Mexicans’ decided that they would rather be part of the United States than part of Mexico. This was all part of the plan. Mexico could not enforce its sovereignty over its own land fought and lost and was forced to relinquish much of its own northern land to the United States.
Weather it was the Indians or Mexicans the US through its superior weapons of war, and untrustworthy dealing acquired territory which could not be defended by its weaker owners.
So how are Mexicans now supposed to feel when Americans treat them as low life peasants?
I do believe Americans need to do some inward reflections and educate themselves a little bit next time they want to open their mouth and boast being a “Proud American”. 😉
Cheers
#35 – nightstar – What continent is France on? 3 guesses.
Let’s guess… Europe. But saying that Quebec is European is just as stupid as calling something European sausage… What the fuck is a European sausage?? Europe is fairly large and they make sausages of all kinds. Same goes with culture… French culture is hardly dominant in Europe, so please… Quebec is NOT more European than any other place in Canada.
#38 – TIHZ_HO – Americans can’t process complex information – blame it on the government, church, and advertising / marketing (in that order).
I guess someone should put it down as a cartoon.
Regarding doing business in China… What you write is very true. Business in China is more for corporations. Many companies jumped aboard without knowing the culture of building relationships etc with the supplier/buyer. It’s not just a business meeting and striking a deal (You’re more aware than anyone here about this).
France, by the way is European
I’m very well aware it’s located in Europe, but calling Quebec European is just as stupid as selling Cantonese cuisine as Asian cuisine… Asia spans all the way to the Mid East…
#52 – pedro – Cantonese food was referred as Chinese food.
Well, it’s better than bundling it with Kebabs and Samosas… 😉
#51 What I said was “Quebec is far more European than the rest of Canada”
My claim is that Quebec has a culture that is more akin to that in most European nations than the other provinces of Canada.
Why do you have such a hard time with this?
Have you ever even been to Quebec or France?
#54 – nightstar
French culture is not European culture. And yes, I’ve been to Quebec a couple of times. Triumph has been to Quebec too…
Pedro, you’ve piqued my curiosity. What is this new fascination you have with simians?
“#39 If I were a monkey, I would be able to understand him and I don’t. You, on the other hand, seem to. Which will explain why you’re able to offer bananas to ohters in the first place.”
“#33 Don’t waste your time. Is like trying to talk to a 2 year old monkey.”
“Poor nightstar. A 2 year old chimp makes more sense than him”
Did your mommy take you to the zoo?
Someone has a monkey fetish ^_^
#56 – nightstar – Someone has a monkey fetish
We always knew something was wrong with you, nightstar….
#56 – nightstar
You’re doing really well. This will teach you to never get into an argument with giant intellectuals – or intellectual giants – or whatever!
Bon chance!
Thanks Cinaedh I’ll need all the luck I can get dealing with the monkey and his trainer.
#58 “We always knew something was wrong with you, nightstar….”
By we I’ll assume you mean yourself and your boyfriend Pedro.
In comment #55 you say “French culture is not European culture”
I agree. Here’s a challenge for you then. Find a quote where I said or inferred that it was.
Alternatively drown your sorrows in your namesake.
#60 – nightstar
I rest my case.
Back on topic for a moment
#48, #49 TIHZ_HO
Well said. You just schooled the American contingent on their own history!
>>So how are Mexicans now supposed to feel when Americans treat
>> them as low life peasants?
Why like lowlife peasants of course, just so long as they pick our vegetables and slaughter our livestock.
>>I do believe Americans need to do some inward reflections and
>> educate themselves a little bit next time they want to open their
>>mouth and boast being a “Proud American”
American patriotism and education seem to be mutually exclusive.
# 60 the proper terminology is retract. Unless that is you can find the evidence I’ve requested.
Do be a good boy and see if you can, then you and Pedro can get back to whatever you do with those monkeys.
#51 That cartoon just about sums it up! LOL
I have never been to Quebec so I have no opinion either way about it being ‘European’ or not.
I suppose this discussion comes down to definitions as you brought up Jag…what is meant by Asian, European? How would this differ from say American or even British?
I did attempt to point out that the US is defined as ‘American’ by the sum of all the parts – the states. The New England states differ from the Southern States and the Midwest and so on. So one needs to find the common thread which binds them all into what can be called American.
Problem is that’s difficult or even impossible to do – the US is too diverse same as Europe and Asia. All that one can hope to do is compare what the US does not have represented and call that European or Asian whatever.
So Jag you are correct one cannot use a blanket term of European, Western, Asian and so on as it cannot be defined that way but can be used to highlight differences from what it is compared to.
New York while definitely not Asian is it European? Well NY has more qualities found commonly in the US then what is found in Europe so it is more American. France has more qualities found in Europe than what is found in the US so France is more European, same as Spain, Italy, Belgium and so on.
Is Quebec more European? What are the qualities (other than French) that distinguishes Quebec as being distinct from Canada as a whole? See where I went with this?
Cantonese both in food and language became representative of China because of Hong Kong as there was almost no contact to Mainland China. People still confuse Japanese accents to Chinese…as it is all the same to them. So what is meant by Asian? 😉
Cheers
>>Is Quebec more European? What are the qualities (other than
French)
>>that distinguishes Quebec as being distinct from Canada as a whole?
>>See where I went with this?
A good question and one I’m glad you asked.
IMHO Europeans tend to be less prudish and have a different measure of quality of life. To distill that further I’d say Québécois have a certain joie de vivre that is lacking in English Canada and the USA but is prevalent in various European countries; for instance Italy, Switzerland, Spain and yes… France.
The joie de vivre of which I speak is exhibited in Quebec and the aforementioned nations in the habits, fashion, lifestyle architecture, arts and culture.
The passion the Québécois project manifests in subtle but significant ways. A beautiful woman in Montreal seems more sexy than one in Toronto. It’s the passion and joie de vivre that she is emanating non?
Note: above conjecture is based solely on my anecdotal experiences as a tourist a scholar and a Canadian.
#66
Where have I backpedaled Pedro. You have the worst reading comprehension I’ve witnessed in this forum to date.
Oh…. I’m supposed to type in monkey speak!
My bad great monkey trainer I don’t understand monkey.