> > Is the Dubai in the news the same as Dubayy that appears on the map?
>
> Yes, they're two spellings of the same place. Some maps spell UAE places like Dubai, Sharjah and Abu Dhabi as "Dubayy," "Al Sharique," and "Aboo Zhabi" or something, in accordance with an archaic method of anglicizing foreign names.
>
> > But I have to ask; are there no American companies that are capable of managing a seaport?
>
> It's not that no American company is capable. The fact is, sometime or another, port management was privatized. Maybe it always was. Either way, with private firms running ports it's been possible for companies to compete with each other, take each other over, or buy each other out. The fact that some of these companies have been based outside the country has never been an issue. You might call this situation an effect of the whole American "freedom, capitalism and independence" thing that I hear's been criticized by other countries.
>
> That said, why should Dubai be running our ports? Cause they're damn near the most efficient people in the world! They wouldn't want terrorists messing with them, because that would interfere with their goal of making money. As harmful as generalizations are, I'd feel more comfortable with a Dubai company handling our ports rather than an American one any day. Not that the deal ever had anything to do with who handled port security, but you get the point...

I think I'll avoid political discussion, but I will concede that last point. And I admit that I shuddered a bit when I asked if there were no American companies that could do the job. As soon as I hit the send button, "Halliburton" started reverberating around the hollow recesses of my skull.
Howard