Somebody needs to investigate these traitors and expose how much money they
get from the Peoples Republic. They clearly want the USA to be
subservient to the Chinese when it comes to obtaining rare earth minerals
for future tech. The fascist Trump loving rightists clearly want China to
prevail.

60 Minutes Overtime
National security leaders worry about U.S. failure to ratify Law of the Sea
treaty
60-minutes-overtime

By Bill Whitaker, Aliza Chasan, Heather Abbott, LaCrai Scott

March 24, 2024 / 7:30 PM EDT / CBS News

Hundreds of former national security, military and political leaders are
calling on the Senate to ratify the United Nations' Law of the Sea, warning
last week in a letter to lawmakers that China is taking advantage of
America's absence from the treaty.

Countries that ratified the Law of the Sea treaty are now rushing to stake
claims on the international seabed for deep sea mining. At stake are
trillions of dollars worth of strategic minerals strewn on the ocean floor,
essential for the next generation of electronics. China has five
exploration sites, 90,000 square miles �the most of any country. The U.S.
has none. It is blocked from the race because of the Senate's refusal to
ratify the Law of the Sea.

"We are not only not at the table, but we're off the field," lawyer John
Bellinger, who was a legal adviser to former President George W. Bush,
said. "The United States probably has got the most to gain of any country
in the world if it were party to the Law of the Sea Convention, and
conversely, we actually probably have the most to lose by not being part of
it."
What can be gained from the Law of the Sea Treaty and deep sea mining

Vast quantities of minerals are scattered across the ocean floor.
Researchers have found potato-sized lumps of rock, known as nodules, filled
with cobalt, nickel, manganese and copper � some of the most valuable
metals on earth. They're vital for everything from electric cars to defense
systems.

To avoid a free-for-all, 168 countries, including China, have signed onto
the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty, which divides the international
seabed.

The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in
1982. Often called the constitution for the ocean, the treaty codifies
existing international law on freedom of navigation. It also created the
International Seabed Authority, which regulates the new deep sea mining
industry.

President Bill Clinton signed the treaty, but it was dead on arrival in the
Senate who refused to ratify the treaty, saying it undercut American
sovereignty.
Why the U.S. won't ratify the treaty

Despite broad bipartisan support � including efforts by five presidents �
the treaty has hit a wall in the Senate year after year.

Bellinger, who was a legal adviser to former President George W. Bush,
testified in favor of the treaty at Senate hearings in 2012. While Bush was
not a fan of U.N. treaties, Bellinger said Bush supported the Law of the
Sea Treaty, not only for codifying access to the ocean floor, but also
because the treaty guarantees the freedom of navigation around the world
that's so important to the Navy.
John Bellinger
John Bellinger 60 Minutes

In 2012 � the last time the Senate held hearings on the treaty � the Law of
the Sea had the support of the president through the intelligence
community, big oil, major business groups and the U.S. military, Bellinger
said. He thought it was a slam dunk.

It failed.

The conservative Heritage Foundation convinced 34 Republican senators to
vote against the treaty, saying it would subjugate the U.S. to the U.N.

"The opposition was not on national security reasons or on business
reasons," Bellinger said. "It to me seemed just a reflexive ideological
opposition to joining the treaty."

Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst Steven Groves also testified in
2012. He said the U.S. didn't need anyone's permission to mine the seabed.
His views haven't changed.

"What businessman in their right mind said, 'I'm going to invest tens of
billions of dollars into a company that I will then have to go�and ask
permission from an international organization to engage in deep seabed
mining,'" Groves said.

He insists American companies are staying away not because the U.S. hasn't
ratified the treaty, but because deep sea mining isn't viable.

"If China wants to go and think that it's economically feasible to drag
those nodules up to the surface and process them, let them do it" Groves
said. "The United States has decided to stay out of the game. The one U.S.
company that had rights to the deep seabed got out of the game, that's
Lockheed Martin."
Steven Groves
Steven Groves 60 Minutes

But Lockheed Martin has not entirely quit. The defense giant had rights to
four Pacific seabed sites; it sold two and is holding onto two in case the
treaty passes.

But Lockheed told "60 Minutes" that if the U.S. doesn't ratify the treaty,
it can't dive in.

Ambassador John Negroponte, a former director of National Intelligence in
the Bush administration, said the Heritage Foundation is still standing in
the way.

"What Heritage is saying is 'we don't even want to give 'em a chance. We
have�we know the answer already. And I, you know, I think that's sort of
hypothetical thinking," Negroponte said. "The pragmatic approach would be
to say, 'OK, let us have access and see what happens.'"
How the U.S.'s failure to ratify the treaty could hurt American business,
empower China's economy

With seabed mining starting as early as next year, China is in place to
dominate it. China already controls a near monopoly of critical minerals on
land. Now it wants to extend that control to the ocean floor. If it
succeeds, there are national security fears the U.S. could end up even more
dependent on China for these critical minerals.

"If they end up being the largest producer and we're not producing at all
from the ocean�I think then that might place us in a difficult economic
position," Negroponte said.

In the years since 2012, China has become more assertive on the
international scene, especially in the South China Sea, Negroponte said.

"And then with respect to deep seabed mining, they're eating our lunch," he
said.
John Negroponte
John Negroponte 60 Minutes

Unless America ratifies the treaty, it won't have a say in drafting
environmental rules for seabed mining that are underway now. With the U.S.
absent, China is the heavyweight in the room at the International Seabed
Authority.

"We are conceding," Negroponte said. "If we're not at the table and we're
not members of the Seabed Authority, we're not going to have a voice in
writing the environmental guidelines for deep seabed mining. Well, who
would you prefer to see writing those guidelines? The People's Republic of
China or the United States of America?"
Military concerns over the U.S. failure to ratify the treaty

Concerns over China's expansive powers in the deep sea are about more than
mining. Many national security, military and political leaders are warning
that China is taking advantage of America's absence from the treaty to
pursue overall naval supremacy.

Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer and a senior
fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said being outside the
treaty undercuts American credibility while China is laser-focused on
building its maritime power. Shugart said China's deep sea miners have a
second mission: collecting information for the Chinese military.

"If you're going to find submarines in the ocean, you need to know what the
bottom looks like. You need to know what the temperature is. You need to
know what the salinity is," Shugart said. "If China is using civilian
vessels to sort of on the sly do those surveys, then that could improve
their ability to find U.S. and allied submarines over time as they better
understand that undersea environment."

Shugart also said China is flexing its maritime muscle by claiming the
South China Sea as its private ocean.

The country has challenged the treaty's navigation laws that ensure safe
passage by harassing passing ships, including the U.S. Navy. China has
fired water cannons at its neighbors, caused collisions and even flashed a
military-grade laser at ships.

In Washington, Negroponte's group continues to lobby the Republican
holdouts in the Senate as China forges ahead. When "60 Minutes" reached out
to those senators who torpedoed the treaty in 2012, their opposition today
was as strong as ever.

On Mon, 24 Jun 2024 17:05:52 -0000 (UTC), Breen <X@Y.com> wrote:

Why are you so lazy? You were right there on the page and could have captured the URL for
everybody to use. Nobody of a serious turn of mind would accept text from a page with no
URL for verification. For all we know, you could have altered the text. You could be a
Russian or Chinese agent dumping disinformation in the US.

It took a while to dig out the exact piece and URL but here it is:

<https://www.cbsnews.com/news/national-security-economic-concerns-us-law-of-the-sea-treaty-60-minutes/>

Yes, this is a concern. It reeks of classic conservatism: Because something hasn't been
done before (mining the seabed) it can't (or won't) be done in the future.

We need this treaty for the same reason we needed an Antarctic treaty and the high seas
treaty. It is a matter of international importance and to avoid future wars, we must have
agreements already in place. Yet here we have the Heritage foundation putting the cart
before the horse.

""What businessman in their right mind said, 'I'm going to invest tens of billions of
dollars into a company that I will then have to go…and ask permission from an
international organization to engage in deep seabed mining,'""

What an idiot! That's NOT how it works.

Finding minerals on the seabed is cheaper and easier than finding oil in the ocean. You
scan with sonar and optics, among other available technologies, and when you find a
promising area, you stake a claim.

Meanwhile dozens of other nations, including China, are out there now investigating and
staking claims. Why aren't we?

More conservative think: War is great! War is better than peace!

>Somebody needs to investigate these traitors and expose how much money they
>get from the Peoples Republic. They clearly want the USA to be
>subservient to the Chinese when it comes to obtaining rare earth minerals
>for future tech. The fascist Trump loving rightists clearly want China to
>prevail.

This is a rather passionate appeal if harshly put. I wouldn't necessarily use words like
"traitor" or "subservient to the Chinese" but the sentiment is on target. Heritage is
being very short sighted here. This is a small planet and while we're a major player, we
aren't the only big player on the block. It takes cooperation and agreement to keep the
peoples of the planet prospering and the swords in their scabbards.

Swill

>60 Minutes Overtime
>National security leaders worry about U.S. failure to ratify Law of the Sea
>treaty
>60-minutes-overtime
>
>By Bill Whitaker, Aliza Chasan, Heather Abbott, LaCrai Scott
>
>March 24, 2024 / 7:30 PM EDT / CBS News
>
>Hundreds of former national security, military and political leaders are
>calling on the Senate to ratify the United Nations' Law of the Sea, warning
>last week in a letter to lawmakers that China is taking advantage of
>America's absence from the treaty.
>
>Countries that ratified the Law of the Sea treaty are now rushing to stake
>claims on the international seabed for deep sea mining. At stake are
>trillions of dollars worth of strategic minerals strewn on the ocean floor,
>essential for the next generation of electronics. China has five
>exploration sites, 90,000 square miles –the most of any country. The U.S.
>has none. It is blocked from the race because of the Senate's refusal to
>ratify the Law of the Sea.
>
>"We are not only not at the table, but we're off the field," lawyer John
>Bellinger, who was a legal adviser to former President George W. Bush,
>said. "The United States probably has got the most to gain of any country
>in the world if it were party to the Law of the Sea Convention, and
>conversely, we actually probably have the most to lose by not being part of
>it."
>What can be gained from the Law of the Sea Treaty and deep sea mining
>
>Vast quantities of minerals are scattered across the ocean floor.
>Researchers have found potato-sized lumps of rock, known as nodules, filled
>with cobalt, nickel, manganese and copper — some of the most valuable
>metals on earth. They're vital for everything from electric cars to defense
>systems.
>
>To avoid a free-for-all, 168 countries, including China, have signed onto
>the United Nations Law of the Sea treaty, which divides the international
>seabed.
>
>The United Nations adopted the Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) in
>1982. Often called the constitution for the ocean, the treaty codifies
>existing international law on freedom of navigation. It also created the
>International Seabed Authority, which regulates the new deep sea mining
>industry.
>
>President Bill Clinton signed the treaty, but it was dead on arrival in the
>Senate who refused to ratify the treaty, saying it undercut American
>sovereignty.
>Why the U.S. won't ratify the treaty
>
>Despite broad bipartisan support — including efforts by five presidents —
>the treaty has hit a wall in the Senate year after year.
>
>Bellinger, who was a legal adviser to former President George W. Bush,
>testified in favor of the treaty at Senate hearings in 2012. While Bush was
>not a fan of U.N. treaties, Bellinger said Bush supported the Law of the
>Sea Treaty, not only for codifying access to the ocean floor, but also
>because the treaty guarantees the freedom of navigation around the world
>that's so important to the Navy.
>John Bellinger
>John Bellinger 60 Minutes
>
>In 2012 – the last time the Senate held hearings on the treaty – the Law of
>the Sea had the support of the president through the intelligence
>community, big oil, major business groups and the U.S. military, Bellinger
>said. He thought it was a slam dunk.
>
>It failed.
>
>The conservative Heritage Foundation convinced 34 Republican senators to
>vote against the treaty, saying it would subjugate the U.S. to the U.N.
>
>"The opposition was not on national security reasons or on business
>reasons," Bellinger said. "It to me seemed just a reflexive ideological
>opposition to joining the treaty."
>
>Heritage Foundation senior policy analyst Steven Groves also testified in
>2012. He said the U.S. didn't need anyone's permission to mine the seabed.
>His views haven't changed.
>
>"What businessman in their right mind said, 'I'm going to invest tens of
>billions of dollars into a company that I will then have to go…and ask
>permission from an international organization to engage in deep seabed
>mining,'" Groves said.
>
>He insists American companies are staying away not because the U.S. hasn't
>ratified the treaty, but because deep sea mining isn't viable.
>
>"If China wants to go and think that it's economically feasible to drag
>those nodules up to the surface and process them, let them do it" Groves
>said. "The United States has decided to stay out of the game. The one U.S.
>company that had rights to the deep seabed got out of the game, that's
>Lockheed Martin."
>Steven Groves
>Steven Groves 60 Minutes
>
>But Lockheed Martin has not entirely quit. The defense giant had rights to
>four Pacific seabed sites; it sold two and is holding onto two in case the
>treaty passes.
>
>But Lockheed told "60 Minutes" that if the U.S. doesn't ratify the treaty,
>it can't dive in.
>
>Ambassador John Negroponte, a former director of National Intelligence in
>the Bush administration, said the Heritage Foundation is still standing in
>the way.
>
>"What Heritage is saying is 'we don't even want to give 'em a chance. We
>have—we know the answer already. And I, you know, I think that's sort of
>hypothetical thinking," Negroponte said. "The pragmatic approach would be
>to say, 'OK, let us have access and see what happens.'"
>How the U.S.'s failure to ratify the treaty could hurt American business,
>empower China's economy
>
>With seabed mining starting as early as next year, China is in place to
>dominate it. China already controls a near monopoly of critical minerals on
>land. Now it wants to extend that control to the ocean floor. If it
>succeeds, there are national security fears the U.S. could end up even more
>dependent on China for these critical minerals.
>
>"If they end up being the largest producer and we're not producing at all
>from the ocean…I think then that might place us in a difficult economic
>position," Negroponte said.
>
>In the years since 2012, China has become more assertive on the
>international scene, especially in the South China Sea, Negroponte said.
>
>"And then with respect to deep seabed mining, they're eating our lunch," he
>said.
>John Negroponte
>John Negroponte 60 Minutes
>
>Unless America ratifies the treaty, it won't have a say in drafting
>environmental rules for seabed mining that are underway now. With the U.S.
>absent, China is the heavyweight in the room at the International Seabed
>Authority.
>
> "We are conceding," Negroponte said. "If we're not at the table and we're
>not members of the Seabed Authority, we're not going to have a voice in
>writing the environmental guidelines for deep seabed mining. Well, who
>would you prefer to see writing those guidelines? The People's Republic of
>China or the United States of America?"
>Military concerns over the U.S. failure to ratify the treaty
>
>Concerns over China's expansive powers in the deep sea are about more than
>mining. Many national security, military and political leaders are warning
>that China is taking advantage of America's absence from the treaty to
>pursue overall naval supremacy.
>
>Thomas Shugart, a former U.S. Navy submarine warfare officer and a senior
>fellow at the Center for a New American Security, said being outside the
>treaty undercuts American credibility while China is laser-focused on
>building its maritime power. Shugart said China's deep sea miners have a
>second mission: collecting information for the Chinese military.
>
>"If you're going to find submarines in the ocean, you need to know what the
>bottom looks like. You need to know what the temperature is. You need to
>know what the salinity is," Shugart said. "If China is using civilian
>vessels to sort of on the sly do those surveys, then that could improve
>their ability to find U.S. and allied submarines over time as they better
>understand that undersea environment."
>
>Shugart also said China is flexing its maritime muscle by claiming the
>South China Sea as its private ocean.
>
>The country has challenged the treaty's navigation laws that ensure safe
>passage by harassing passing ships, including the U.S. Navy. China has
>fired water cannons at its neighbors, caused collisions and even flashed a
>military-grade laser at ships.
>
>
>
>In Washington, Negroponte's group continues to lobby the Republican
>holdouts in the Senate as China forges ahead. When "60 Minutes" reached out
>to those senators who torpedoed the treaty in 2012, their opposition today
>was as strong as ever.
>
>
>

On 6/25/2024 8:04 AM, Governor Swill wrote:
> Yes, this is a concern. It reeks

How'd you lose that Sleazynews account Rudey?

Are they charging you their $500 SPAM cleanup fee, little man Ball?

And where did your Giganews account run off to?