Sunday, May 23, 2010

Whistling tunes they hide in the dunes by the seaside

I'm greatly concerned that this oil spill is becoming a global chess match:

EPA Officials Weigh Sanctions Against BP’s U.S. Operations

The most serious, sweeping kind of suspension is called "discretionary debarment" and it is applied to an entire company. If this were imposed on BP, it would cancel not only the company's contracts to sell fuel to the military but prohibit BP from leasing or renewing drilling leases on federal land. In the worst cast, it could also lead to the cancellation of BP's existing federal leases, worth billions of dollars.

That can't happen...I wish it would happen but it won't. A blow to BP is a direct blow to the British pound and hence the euro and the very fragile integrity of the European Union. The resulting blow could destabilize global security. This is just posturing....we're beating our chest. Obama and crew will sacrifice the entire state of Louisiana before they hit Great Britain that hard.

What really concerns me is while the dick shaking is amplifying, Yemoja's ruptured aorta may be severing completely.

Such fools.

Games without frontiers, war without fears.

6 comments:

Colby said...

Did BP deliberately underestimate spillage for tax an liability issues? They have to pat barrel taxes even on "spilled" oil and it wouldn't hurt civil suits if all those dispersants sank the shit out of site....

Anonymous said...

Sanctions?

Who's paying?

Who gives a sh*+ right now.

Obama needs to get off his a**, get involved and order the ACOE to put every pit of dredging equipment at the parishes' disposal. And every navy ship that has and that can carry a boom as well.

Anything and everything the state and parishes are crying for the feds should be providing and we're not getting that, quite the opposite.

Anonymous said...

Child please.

We have seen this movie already, except we called it "the financial crisis."

Scene 1: greedy bastards who are already immeasurably wealthy ignore obvious risks in the pursuit of getting even MORE money.

Scene 2: Disaster ensues.

Scene 3: Various parties are hauled before Congress and scolded so that politicians can at least make it LOOK like they weren't complicit in setting up the rules that created both the immeasurable wealth and the subsequent disaster.

Scene 4: Obama talks tough.

Scene 5: Nothing actually happens, executives almost immediately start getting seven-figure bonuses again.

Scene 6: Once out of the public eye, the actual "reform" legistation is GUTTED and no meaningful change happens. Obama doesn't follow through on any of his tough talk.

Scene 7: inevitably, another disaster ensues.

Jason Brad Berry said...

Well you left out the plot twist. It's called state's rights and what Jindal is willing to do ensure his state's safety.

We have tremendous leverage in Port Fourchon. How Jindal decides to use that leverage may change the outcome of your novel.

Anonymous said...

People seem wedded to political identities like "left wing" and "right wing" that have to do with where some French dudes felt most comfortable sitting during some meetings at a disused tennis court around the time of the French Revolution.

I've always found that dumb.

"States rights" as a cover for "conserving" a slave economy sucks ass.

"States rights" as a way to protect the State's ecological capital and real material, cultural, and spiritual wealth...do it. Push it. Take it as far as you need to.

Those Genesis obligations to care for the land and the animals didn't disappear just because we were tempted by the shiny apple.

We are still on the hook for the work we were supposed to have been doing.

If the Judeo-Christian myths don't do it for you, I bet your own stories tell you the same thing.

I'm not a politician, and I would not want to be.

I can't even compell my own family members who supposedly love me to obey laws and treat people (including themselves, me, my kid, and other loved ones) with respect.

I'd be terrible at trying to figure out how to get folks as deeply entrenched in their denial and addictions as these oil pigs to do right.

You are right on about destabilizing the Euro and the other potential fallout from this, but that is way over my head. I'm glad it isn't my job to make those calls.

But I can tell you that you CAN survive in a car culture without a car if you'll be a bit tough about it.

Ride a bike in all seasons, and humble yourself to use the shitty public transit. Allocate extra time for your trips, bring water and if need be, extra clothes.

Just do it. Don't wait for the geo-politics to get fixed.

A slave is a man who waits for another man to free him.

You want an end to the oil wasting culture? Just end it in your own life as best you can.

Fight the small fights. Fight the "how do we get to work", "how do we get the groceries" fights.

It will give you real insight into the way to fix the urban and regional planning to make things easier for people to be green.

If you love the Gulf, do you love it enough to get used to a life without AC, or without AC as often? What would the pattern of your life be? Sleep in the day and work at night? Do it.

Make the small changes. You can lead the politicians, you can come from a place of real personal power, if you are already living the change.

People are going to think you are nuts, (or poor), and it might be tiring, but it can be done, and it is worth doing.

Thanks for reporting on all of this, thanks for staying strong and informed and for helping all of us to do the same.

Anonymous said...

AZ,

When Jindal actually DOES anything (as opposed to just TALKING tough), I'll be more optimistic. Until then I will evaluate him based on his actions - all of which indicate that his main desire in life is to graduate to being one of the d-bags in DC that we saw in Scene 3.

Ny point is not just to be a bummer. My point is to understand where we are, how we got there, and what we can do about it.

Where we are is: screwed. The oil spill is OVER in terms of the public's ability to do anything about it. BP is only going to do what will make them the most money - it's just fortunate for us that they want to close that well so they can sell the oil instead of pouring it all into the gulf. They will never face any meaningful penalties for any of this. The suggestion that there might be criminal investigations is just a sideshow...a scapegoat may be selected, but it won't be an actual BP decision maker and it won't meaningfully impact BP's non-payment of restitution.

How we got here is: by allowing corruption to permeate our government from top to bottom. The bank disaster and the oil spill are just part of what will be a long line of these kinds of debacles, because decisions are now made exclusively on the basis of GETTING PAID. If you make decisions on the basis of anything other than getting paid, then someone who is willing to make decisions that way is going to wash you out of office on a wave of million-dollar media buys.

So if you really care about this oil spill, or our economy, or whatever the next disaster is the only thing you can really DO about it is: demand meaningful campaign finance reform. Unless and until that happens, it will always be about the dollars. Always.