The British backlash over President Obama and the BP crisis

[B_crackoff]

Crackoff, I am melanin deficient myself, and now that UV levels are rising vitamin D from sunlight is less convenient. Also I am a Finn and we are very good at sweating! If anyone is Neanderthal it's not the gingers. They at least are capable of developing freckles. Nope, it's us Baltoids. :240:

European Neanderthals had ginger hair and freckles - Telegraph

Lol! Baltoids! Double Lol! That's a new one thank you!!

The links shows how up for debate the science is -"plausible" rather than factual, & how they're now running round trying to find ways to link it to the "out of Africa" hypothesis - which it clearly doesn't.

This is always the problem with evolutionary science. It's necessary to create its own mythos - any hypothesis that plugs enough holes becomes a scientific dogma, rather than a verifiable truth.

Like any belief system, science should be accepted for its plausible aspects, whilst retaining a healthy cynicism & openness to other points of view.

God I'm well read:biggrin1:
Human-Neanderthal Hybrid?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/science/07neanderthal.html

 

[gymfresh]

It's hard to imagine 1,000 posts (the one just before this) and 10,000 views in this thread, over a basically nonexistent issue. British backlash? There's been plenty of time for one to turn up, if there were one. It seems fair to say there's been no British-bashing to speak of, thus no basis for a "backlash".

The fucking hole still hasn't been effectively plugged, though. This is turning surreal.

 

[Drifterwood]

BBC News - Congress committee agrees 7 year offshore ban for BP

Protectionism, punitive, shutting the stable when the horse has bolted, a hostage to fortune, why not applicable to other business sectors?

 

[vince]

When we unite, one will hold you down and the other will........... :tongue:

I was thinking about your points about manipulation by big media, Vince. Do you think that that is now working on both sides of the pond?

I could use a good holding down and ......... this summer. When I moved to a sub tropical "paradise", I never planned to work so much as this. :frown1:

I was also thinking about the reporting in the States and actually mostly they seem to blame BP for the F.U. Not any other British entity. I saw a poll earlier this week that 72% of Americans think Obama has been too easy on BP. So given that, I'd guess that if the average American who never reads any foreign press, were to be made aware of what has been written in the British press about Obama, US regulations, Bhopal, the IRA, etc., there would be quite a bad backlash in the other direction. One of Jason's linked articles would be enough to get most Americans frothing at the mouth.

Is the US media not reporting what the media and the pundits in th UK are saying? I don't know, as I haven't had time this summer to see any American TV. The NYTimes and Google news is about all I have read for the past month.

Has Beck or Hannity or Limbat made any comment on these sentiments coming out of the UK? Normally they would be happy to report any bad press on Obama. Is there a conspiracy of silence to protect the "special" relationship?

 

[vince]

BBC News - Congress committee agrees 7 year offshore ban for BP

Protectionism, punitive, shutting the stable when the horse has bolted, a hostage to fortune, why not applicable to other business sectors?

It least it's not a permanent ban. They could appeal to the Mods.

 

[B_crackoff]

BBC News - Congress committee agrees 7 year offshore ban for BP

Protectionism, punitive, shutting the stable when the horse has bolted, a hostage to fortune, why not applicable to other business sectors?

They didn't ban any of the banksters now did they? Exactly how many proper banking, or derivative employees were jailed or even sacked.

Exactly how much compensation did the US get for the trillions it has shelled out putting more dollars into bankers back pockets?

Didn't sack any regulators. Gave more positions to Goldman Sachs, & made it even more difficult for new market entrants.

Of course, as the US is directly controlled by these entities, top to bottom, & yes to a great extent the UK too,they do nothing & expect Joe Blow to swallow it.

Of course there is an election in November, so Senators/Congressmen have to huff & puff, & point the finger as far away from the people who finance their hideously expensive election campaigns.

At the same time, it enables those greedy little banking bastards to muscle in on oil, as I can tell you, it's far more secure depositing large sums of cash with oil companies than banks. And of course, when banks recieve a deposit, they can lend 20 times more than the amount on the back of it, making lots of interest profits equal to he amount deposited(!) because of the absurdity of the closed club of fractional reserve banking.

 

[helgaleena]

Quote: Is the US media not reporting what the media and the pundits in th UK are saying?

Yup, they aren't. As usual. World news is 'not of interest' to Joe Blow.

 

[helgaleena]

European Neanderthals had ginger hair and freckles - Telegraph

Lol! Baltoids! Double Lol! That's a new one thank you!!

The links shows how up for debate the science is -"plausible" rather than factual, & how they're now running round trying to find ways to link it to the "out of Africa" hypothesis - which it clearly doesn't.

This is always the problem with evolutionary science. It's necessary to create its own mythos - any hypothesis that plugs enough holes becomes a scientific dogma, rather than a verifiable truth.

Like any belief system, science should be accepted for its plausible aspects, whilst retaining a healthy cynicism & openness to other points of view.

God I'm well read:biggrin1:
Human-Neanderthal Hybrid?

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/07/science/07neanderthal.html

Damn, well then the gingers are the most Neanderthal and the Baltoids can sweat better than they can but have the brow ridge? :tongue: I have a bit of a thing for gingers. Especially Groovy Dancing Chick.

 

[TomCat84]

Quote: Is the US media not reporting what the media and the pundits in th UK are saying?

Yup, they aren't. As usual. World news is 'not of interest' to Joe Blow.

Then again, judging by some of the British comments, the British media wasn't airing any images of the oil spill on beaches or wildlife....

 

[FRE]

Then again, judging by some of the British comments, the British media wasn't airing any images of the oil spill on beaches or wildlife....

I often watch a BBC news program broadcast on the BPS channel. They have broadcast images of the spill and reported on it. However, I have no way to know how many people in the UK have seen it.

 

[mitchymo]

I often watch a BBC news program broadcast on the BPS channel. They have broadcast images of the spill and reported on it. However, I have no way to know how many people in the UK have seen it.

I for one did see. However, this being a catastrophe that is not a new experience in world history, it can pretty much be expected that wildlife will start turning horribly black and sticky and frantic efforts and, upsetting to some, scenes of trying to save a bird or a seal or whatever else.

 

[gymfresh]

I'm still going by this as a primer of what led up to this horrific mess.

It is absurd for anyone to say that Obama should have "fixed" the entire Bush-Cheney energy policy, MMS, NOHSPC and a host of other things in the less than 15 months he'd had in office when the explosion/spill occurred. Since there could have been a disaster in any other sector of the economy that's regulated, such a statement presupposes that he had time and the responsibility to reform every corner of government and the economy in 450 days.

He's pretty cool, but he's not superman.

Hooray on financial sector reform, by the way. Cool dude has actually reformed multiple, huge broken sectors of the economy in a short time. These are down payments, and I hope big reform is still on the horizon.

 

[b.c.]

Then again, judging by some of the British comments, the British media wasn't airing any images of the oil spill on beaches or wildlife....

Well maybe they'll be airing some of this:

BP to drill for Libyan oil despite Lockerbie furor - World news - Africa - msnbc.com

 

[Industrialsize]

and more:
"The oil giant BP faced a new furor on Thursday as it confirmed that it had lobbied the British government to conclude a prisoner-transfer agreement that the Libyan government wanted to secure the release of the only person ever convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing over Scotland, which killed 270 people, 190 of them Americans.'

"BP’s statement on Thursday repeated earlier acknowledgments that it had promoted the transfer agreement to protect a $900 million offshore oil-and-gas exploration deal off Libya’s Mediterranean coast. The British justice minister at the time, Jack Straw, admitted shortly after Mr. Megrahi was repatriated and freed that the BP deal was a consideration in the government’s review of his case."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/europe/16britain.html?hp

 

[FRE]

I'm still going by this as a primer of what led up to this horrific mess.

It is absurd for anyone to say that Obama should have "fixed" the entire Bush-Cheney energy policy, MMS, NOHSPC and a host of other things in the less than 15 months he'd had in office when the explosion/spill occurred. Since there could have been a disaster in any other sector of the economy that's regulated, such a statement presupposes that he had time and the responsibility to reform every corner of government and the economy in 450 days.

He's pretty cool, but he's not superman.

Hooray on financial sector reform, by the way. Cool dude has actually reformed multiple, huge broken sectors of the economy in a short time. These are down payments, and I hope big reform is still on the horizon.

I agree. However, the financial reform should also have limited the size of banks and other financial institutions so that none would be "too big to fail." Actually, we already have adequate anti-trust laws to do that, so no new legislation would have been required.

 

[ColoradoGuy]

and more:
"The oil giant BP faced a new furor on Thursday as it confirmed that it had lobbied the British government to conclude a prisoner-transfer agreement that the Libyan government wanted to secure the release of the only person ever convicted for the 1988 Lockerbie airliner bombing over Scotland, which killed 270 people, 190 of them Americans.'

"BP’s statement on Thursday repeated earlier acknowledgments that it had promoted the transfer agreement to protect a $900 million offshore oil-and-gas exploration deal off Libya’s Mediterranean coast. The British justice minister at the time, Jack Straw, admitted shortly after Mr. Megrahi was repatriated and freed that the BP deal was a consideration in the government’s review of his case."

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/16/world/europe/16britain.html?hp

I know I said I was done with this thread, but... Industrialsize and b.c. have promoted news stories here that are topical and relevant.

This story has been on the backburner for a few weeks now -- I first saw a blog post regarding the pressure from BP influencing the Lockerbie bomber release in early June. It was along the lines of "BP has never cared about people..." Fitting. This week's letters to Hillary Clinton and John Kerry have really brought it to the front pages.

I'd ask starinvestor whether he thought BP was still a "buy", but I suspect he's out combing the internet trying desperately to find evidence that MLK was actually an anti-Semite. [Spoiler alert: he wasn't.]

 

[TomCat84]

Well maybe they'll be airing some of this:

BP to drill for Libyan oil despite Lockerbie furor - World news - Africa - msnbc.com

Oh, but I thought only the US is capable of being imperialist, oil hungry greedy bastards........

 

[TomCat84]

I'd ask starinvestor whether he thought BP was still a "buy", but I suspect he's out combing the internet trying desperately to find evidence that MLK was actually an anti-Semite. [Spoiler alert: he wasn't.]

Starinvestor and faceking have been temp-banned from the Politics forum

 

[ColoradoGuy]

Starinvestor and faceking have been temp-banned from the Politics forum

I would say "what a pity", but we all know that wouldn't be authentic.

 

[Drifterwood]

BP is up 35% since June 29th. Exxon won't get it that cheap after all. :tongue:

And I presume that Goldman Sachs will be losing it's operators license for seven years now. BBC News - Goldman Sachs agrees record $550m fine