Friday, June 13, 2014

Placing My Bet On Radical Jihadists! The Savannah Port

Foreign and Canadian  cartoons and how they view us!



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I was chatting with my son yesterday morning and he commented that when he was at The University of Rochester, majoring in  "Contemporary Middle Eastern Politics," his class discussed the long term plan radical Islamists had, so it should not come as a surprise as to what they are about.

Of course, Obama does not find out about  anything until he hears it on CNN or reads it in The New YorkTimes, but control of Africa and  The Middle East is their goal and they have the patience and commitment.

Obama has a pen and cell phone.

I place my money on the  radical Islamists, Taliban and assorted  Jihadists!
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Yesterday, the SIRC, on which I serve as a board member, hosted a "True Perspective" meeting about the Savannah Port.

This is a thumb nail sketch written by one of my fellow board members


Savannah’s Port – A Powerful Economic Force Poised for Major Expansion

On June 12, at our third True Perspectives Seminar of the year, Leo Beckmann of the Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) brought SIRC members and guests up to date on the status of our world-class facility.  We have the largest and fastest growing port facility in North America – the Garden City container terminal (1200 acres.) Earlier in the year Leo briefed and hosted the SIRC Board on an extensive tour of the Savannah Port.

GPA actually has four ports – two on a river in Western Georgia and two with ocean access – Brunswick and Savannah. Brunswick is noted for its export capability of paper and wood products and import and export of automobiles (e.g we export Mercedes autos built in the U.S. but sold overseas including in Great Britain.)

The Savannah Port is fourth in the U.S. in overall traffic (behind Los Angeles, Long beach and metro New York) and second in container export volume.  We have also grown much faster than the above three and could overtake some of them in U.S. importance, especially when our harbor is deepened to handle draft depths up to 55 feet at high tide. That would enable us to dock all ships capable of traversing the new expanded Panama Canal which can hold ships almost three times as large as the existing Canal. The larger ships translates shipping cost savings of between 20% to 40%.

The state of Georgia has already committed nearly all of its share of funding for the port deepening, to complete the project – hopefully in time for the now expected opening of the new Panama Canal set of deeper and wider locks projected to occur in 2016.

Virtually all the environmental hurdles have been met, and federal budget commitments have just been approved by Obama , even though Ga, is a red state – because, even he understands the national significance of Savannah's export capability and the benefits to commerce for some 60% of the U.S. population located in the Southeast and Midwest in economic reach by our Port.

Savannah Area Port’s Special Distinguishing Features:

·   Only one with double rail yards attached to a port and within five or so miles to heavily trafficked I 16 and I 95;
·    Nine individual berths can handle the largest ships already at high tide, and with deepening, all the largest ships traversing the upgraded Panama Canal.
·   Georgia Ports Authority is both owner and operator and self funds  so the State receives income, 9% of its current revenue, yet does not pay a dime for the port's operation.
·   Largest client relationship facility to handle customer needs and implement innovative suggestions
·   Westernmost port on the East Coast, with a huge weather and traffic advantage over competitors like Charleston, 
Norfolk, Baltimore, Philadelphia and New York.
·    Handles 38% of all U. S. poultry exports.
·    First to use gigantic straddle cranes to expedite container transfers.
·    Generates over $1.5 billion in added revenue throughout Georgia, with only 1,000 employees.
·     Over 350,000 jobs have been created so far, and the port facilitates $67 billion in sales statewide.
·     As a State Authority in Georgia, it functions as nimbly as a private enterprise.

·    Can do regional planning with potential competitor/collaborator for a possible South Carolina, Jasper County port facility on the other side of the Savannah River. Its creation will help both states meet future East Coast demand and create hundreds of thousands of jobs in the Southeast region.

Historic Savannah and the surrounding are cities' economies rests on a diversified and sound footing. Savannah benefits from a strong military base presence - Hunter Army Air Force Field -, The Savannah College of Art and Design - the largest in the nation with other campuses in Atlanta, France and Hong Kong - 12 months of tourism and the biggest employer - Gulfstream - over 5500 engineers,technical and administrative personnel, and of course our magnificent port.
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There are many who hold strong doubts and negative feelings about Glenn Beck. I find him far more balanced and less ideological than he is portrayed by his  'castigators.' 

I mention this because last night Beck discussed "Common Core" (CC) and made these observations:

a) It is supported by those who get paid for the tests because it generates tremendous income - $35 per pupil per exam and many get tested and retested etc.

b) It is not teacher friendly because it takes authority away from teachers who know their students etc,

c) CC tends to peg a student based on testing results. In other words, a kid may demonstrate aptitude in some particular field and it restricts that child to that area of learning and does not expose them to any form of a classical education

d)  Common Core is another way for government to intrude into education and all this testing has resulted in many school children simply receiving a narrow test based education.

The next " True Perspective" meeting will be July 22, and will feature the headmaster and Board Chairman of The Savannah Classical Academy - SCA- a new Chatham County Charter School, I am tangentially connected with, and whose mission and course curricula is designed to instill a sense of what it is to be a good citizen, to learn to reason and to be subjected to a rigorous education including all the subjects no longer taught such as English,history, mathematics etc.

SCA's headmaster said his kids first lesson would be to get every student to look you in the eye, shake your hand and state their name.

SCA is partly funded by Hillsdale College and The Walton Foundation.

I intend to host several meetings at our home in the future so my friends can learn more about this unique opportunity for Chatham County's inner city kids to obtain the kind of education which can provide them a way out of the education trap do gooder progressives and the PC crowd forced upon them and which has ruined what once worked fairly well.
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Dick



 


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