"During the Cold War, the United States was the international center of scientific knowledge and technology."

haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha haha

That is all.

Shurley you mean 'arms sales'...?

In a previous job, I needed to obtain a batch of solid-state barometric pressure sensors, made in Germany, and advertised by the manufacturer as so sensitive that they could be used as an altimeter. I phoned a certain well known USA supplier, and all they wanted to do was ask me many idiotic questions to ascertain whether I was a terrorist..

"Are you going to use them to build a missle?"

"err... no" etc etc and once I had answered all of their questions they never followed up or delivered the order.

In the end I just ordered them from a German supplier, job done.

Yes, these regulations ARE costing the US economy.

...to the fact that if people don't get their AA missiles from the U.S., they'll simply buy them in Russia at half the price.

Mine's the one with the MIG 35 print on it...

Oh goody! I'll get to sell Iran my twenty-year-old HP test equipment!

I don't THINK so!

The issue of jobs going elsewhere is not really related to ITAR, but it is inextricably tied to trade policies and corporate law that together result in favoring consumption over innovation. The bitter bottom line is that no nation can afford this combination *unless it has enough people making things other countries need to pay for what it buys abroad*.

...that the US wants is a situation played out like the plot of MGS4. Having US companies selling arms to it's enemies and/or people or groups who wish to harm US interests would not be good for them.

Boeing becomes a PMC along with Ratheon and a few others and then the issue becomes who can rid the opposing firm with the latest and greatest in military tech.

Pity theres no GECKO icon.

Totally valid advice which I hope the US Guvmint will ignore. They still need to be taken down a few pegs (until they learn they are part of the world, not above it).

Yes the Soviets are no longer the threat.

Its just the Chinese hackers that have targeted Nasa and other government agencies.

Does it bother anyone that China imposes security restrictions on hardware manufactured overseas? Maybe there's a reason for their paranoia?

This is yet another transparent play by corporations to be allowed to import foreigners to do jobs for half the pay of Americans. Quite a number have already lost their jobs and are being replaced by people brought on-shore.

... we're FINALLY going to be able to get to use those Mark 3 Chinooks which have been sitting in a hanger for a couple of years because the US wouldn't give use the software keys to be able to run the damn things...??

Yea, please sort the H-1B situation out, America. I'm a professional in a narrow IT-related field with a degree, and in America there's considerable demand for my specality.

Or at least was before the recession hit (although I think I could still do it), for the past three years when I wanted to move I've basically been locked out...

I suppose the wealthy screw everyone else lobby would look callous if they just said screw unemployment and give us the ability to bring in any slave wager we please.

You seem to want to tie this jerk to Bush. The facts are he is a turncoat and now wants to damage America and serve Bammie in his socialist administration.

>> This is yet another transparent play by corporations to be allowed to import foreigners to do jobs for half the pay of Americans.

If Americans can't be arsed to do the job that apparently can be done for the correct market price (apparently half the going rate) by "foreigners" ... so be it!

Because of course, America is a burnt cookie in that case anyway.

This is going to ramble because I'm trying to do work at the same time...

The problem with paying half (if you can call it that, since there are no taxes paid on illegals and they aren't being paid minimum wage) is that it drives down wages that would otherwise have to increase (along with the costs of those purchasing said services). In a closed capitalist system, that would eventually balance out, but not if the company can unfairly leverage outside work. Imagine if companies in the UK did what US companies did. Hire a bunch of arab illegals (which I doubt would happen because your arab population is pretty marginalized and can't enter your country as easily as our illegals can (unless they come from France)) for less than the legal minimum with no insurance or taxes paid out. Your general population would freak out and scream bloody murder. The regular population can't compete on that level and it just screws over the illegals even though they'd be better off than they would be back home. It also screws over my friend's (and others who enter legally) wife, who is Mexican and trying to enter this country legally. Why spend thousands of dollars if you can just come over illegally and be granted citizenship without any effort. Most of the illegals I've seen (and my company sub-contracts out to firms that hire illegals) bust their butts and I'd rather see them working for us than some of the people we have working here that are citizens. The problem is that they need to be here legally and would labor rights the same as the rest of us. As it is now, illegals don't have a legal leg to stand on because they'll lose their job and be deported if they complain.

That's also why films such as "A day without a Mexican" are so damn stupid. California wouldn't come to a halt. It's citizens would either have to get off their lazy butts or pay more to have said lowly jobs performed. I'd bet that lawns would be a bit taller than normal due to the laziness though.

"By Anonymous Coward"

Figures.