Thursday, January 12, 2012

BP Commercials and Lawsuits and the Petroleum Pigs

"Are you fuckin' kiddin' me? You don't ever admit the existence of this thing. Ever!" ~ Frank Vincent, The Sopranos
BP wants you to know they destroyed the Gulf for Generations but, it's fine now. I'm actually surprised that BP ran a commercial during the BCS title game. I'm not surprised they choose to peddle their pablum to the mouth-breathers who breathe vicariously through student-athletes. Just that they would reference it at all.

The standard model for the rapacious evil Petroluem Companies has been to blame 'Mother Nature' let a spill fade into memory and then proclaim 'See it's all better now!'

BP's commercials portray a sublime Gulf, with sparkling beaches, reenergized businesses, smiling happy fishermen and pristine waters bursting with seafood. As the propaganda tells Us, 'BP is still here and isn't going anywhere.' So get used to your gulf shrimp and oil cocktail.

These commercials, only 20 months after the biggest criminal Oil disaster (that Americans have seen), should serve as a stark reminder of BP's absolute evil. But, Surprise America! The undying negligent Corporate Monster BP has been screwing the US and the World for decades in the pursuit of Oil profits.

Every now and again, a Petroleum Corporation has to step forward and receive the lash of public criticism, but the key for the Oilmen has always been to keep the game going. And they have honed their skills and refined their modus operandi for a century.

The Petroleum Pigs have some how convinced the American People, Natural Resources which belong to Us as a Nation, are theirs. So, they steal Our Oil and sell it for Their Profits and ensure whatever the damage to the land and people that occurs isn't their problem and they receive taxpayer funding to do it all. Profits Privatized, Losses and Costs Socialized. American Capitalism at it's finest.

Even when the victims of the Oil Monsters victims were nominal Americans, i.e. Native Alaskans and the land and seas destroyed were "U.S." territory, Americans could be relieved to know no lawsuits against Exxon would be heard as a result of the heinous unforgivable Exxon Valdez spill.
Although Alaska Natives may have suffered to a greater degree than members of the general public, "differences in the intensity with which a public harm is felt does not justify a private claim for public nuisance." . . . All Alaskans have the right to lead subsistence lifestyles, not just Alaska Natives.
Judge Russell Holland 03/23/94.

Fortunately, as long as the BP or Chevron or ExxonMobil or Royal Dutch Shell Group were destroying ecosystems and screwing people Overseas no problem! The Free Market knows best. Drill, Baby! Drill! I bet you didn't hear about the massive Oil spills from Royal Dutch Shell Group, the equivalent of an Exxon Valdez every year for 50 years or the fact it will take 30 years for the damage to subside and cost $1 Billion Dollars.

In South America, at least, the people are fighting back. President Rafael Correa, a U.S. and Belgian educated economist declared the debts forced on Ecuador by Vulture Capitalists and Corporate Oil Monsters to be illegitimate and that the oil and gas reserves in the country belong 100% to the People of Ecuador. This greatly angers the Neo-Feudalists and the Petroleum Pigs. Happily, the Ecuadorian Courts have ruled the overwhelming evidence of criminal negligence and evil tactics used by Chevron from 1964-1992 constituted a ruling of $18 Billion Dollars in damages.
The evidence against Chevron comes not only from plaintiffs, but also from Chevron's own experts and environmental auditors as well as independent third-party sources. The damages included a punitive component designed to punish Chevron for trying to sabotage the trial and threaten judges with jail time if they did not rule in the company's favor.
On Sunday 01/08/12, Hugo Chavez declared, "I will say it once. We will not recognize any decisions of the ICSID. We will not recognize them." Chavez seized back control of Venezuela's resources from the Vultures at ExxonMobil. Exxon called upon the power of the IMF and the World Bank to exert economic pressure on Venezuela regain control. Chavez along with allies Bolivia and Nicaragua, has said in the past that it would withdraw from the convention that created the ICSID, arguing that the international body gives transnational companies a gateway to violate national sovereignty.

So, BP agreed to pay $20 Billion Dollars for damages to the Gulf. This only happened after Republicons nearly shit themselves unconscious apologizing to BP for the hassle. And only after BP agreed to a "fair mediator" Kenneth Feinberg to administer the fund. "I want the lawsuits to stop" Kenneth Feinberg said. Of course, what Ken Feinberg actually wanted was the lawsuits against BP to stop. BP has been free to sue whomever they wanted and they did so in April 2011 when they filed lawsuits against Transocean Ltd., Halliburton Co. and Cameron International, for over $40 Billion Dollars.

See how "fair" that is? BP causes a Disaster and stands to gain $20 Billion Dollars in profit. It's all part of the Game. Oil Companies steal your Oil and sell it back to you. And they get you to finance the con they are pulling, foist the cost of the damages their rape of the land causes, while getting the rubes to clap and cheer wildly "Drill Here Drill Now!"

2 comments:

Squatlo said...

Whenever I watch those BP commercials with the happy Cajun music and the smiling shopkeepers I'm reminded of the smoking ads of the 70's. Then you could pick up a paper and read results of a "study" conducted by "independent" medical professionals which proved smoking was harmless to the human body. So fire 'em up!
Now we have global warming deniers who are paid by the Petroleum Institute to produce "studies" showing man-made climate change is a myth. Professional propaganda is big bidness, and no one's better at it than the Koch Brothers and Big Oil (unless it's Big Pharma).
The average American is intelligent enough to tie his own shoes, but beyond that you're really asking for trouble. More than anything else, this country's gene pool needs chlorine.

Grung_e_Gene said...

Come on Squatlo are you gonna listen to some friggin' hippies.

Beyond the whole climate change deniers, I am aghast at Americans ability to engage in willing ignorance and active disbelief when shown the clearly visible destruction of various ecosystems, in Nigeria, Ecuador, Alaska, not to mention the earthquakes caused by fraking in the US or the hushed up ExxonMobil devastating 42,000 gallon oil spill in the Yellowstone River lin July.