BP and the Idiot Fringe Protest Groups

[Foxfyre]

Sometimes I just sit back, shake my head, and wonder what people are thinking.

The oil gusher in the Gulf--tragic almost beyond comprehension. Unconscionable. I think no sane person can watch it happen and not feel anger, even rage, that it is happening.

Who is culpable? BP? Yes, but does anybody with a brain think that they WANTED this to happen? That they wanted to incur expenses that could bring them to financial ruin? Were they irreponsible or careless in the name of profit? The hearings should sort that out eventually.

The Obama Administration? It was his inspector who waived some of the usual checks and balances? Irresponsible or careless in the name of expediency? Maybe. The hearings may or may not ever sort that out.

The Bush Administration? They allowed the lease to be issued. Irrresponsible or careless in the name of energy production? Maybe. If there is any way to hang it on them, the current Administration/Congress surely will.

So now enters the protestors. Outraged. Indignant. Environmentally infuriated. Make them pay. Boycott their products. Bring them to their financial knees.

Really? Who with a brain would seek to bankrupt the company who is going to have to pay for the plugging of the blown well as well as the cleanup? And if they bring BP to its financial knees, which apparently won't be difficult at that point, then who do they look to shoulder that expense.

Sometimes you just have to see the idiot fringe for what it is.

BP Protests: Do They Hit the Right Target?
June 14, 2010
Mary C. Curtis
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Do protests against the company involved in America's worst oil-spill disaster hurt BP's excess or independent businesses? It's a question being asked as conditions on the Gulf of Mexico worsen and worldwide frustration with BP and its chief executive, Tony Hayward, grows.

On Saturday, protesters targeted BP stations across the country, a scene that also played out on a Charlotte street corner. Separated by a few feet -- with occasional harsh words passing back and forth -- stood members of the Action Center for Justice and a vocal supporter of the station owner.

David Dixon is co-coordinator of the center, part of the International Action Center. As he held a sign that read "BP Has Bad Record" and "Unsafe," he said the protesters want station owners to stop buying BP gas and to get out of their contracts. Until then, they are "complicit in BP's crimes," which are "not just destroying nature ... People are being killed." Dixon said.

A friend of station owner/operator Ron Rybacki said he was not there as a member of any group and had never protested anything before. "Independent businesses have nothing to do with the oil spill," said Sam, who didn't want to give his last name. "Yes, it's a disaster of Biblical proportions, but I don't think anybody understands it has nothing to do with this gentleman here."

Sam brought a sign that said of the protest: "Endorsed by ACORN, manned by useful idiots (a reference to Soviet sympathizers in the West). He said later they were "fomenting unrest" Other supporters held signs that said: "I love my local BP!"

Placing blame isn't easy. In 2008, the London-based BP announced it was leaving the retail gasoline business because margins were lousy, according to CNN. Today, the 11,500 U.S. gas stations that carry its logo are owned by independent franchisees. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, purchasing gasoline from a company does not even mean the gasoline was produced by that company's refineries.
More here:
BP Protests: Do They Hit the Right Target?

 

[ABikerSailor]

BP did cause the oil spill.

They cut corners, as well as the BP executive who told the rig drillers to use a procedure they knew could cause problems, i.e. filling it up with water rather than mud, because they wanted to save time.

The drillers protested, the BP exec said do it anyway, and they did.

Little while later? The rig exploded and sank 3 days later, leaving a toxic spew ruining the Gulf.

Oh yeah.......don't forget Halliburton who provided the BOP valves which were not tested fully like they should have been.

Accident? Yes. Piss poor planning and lack of proper procedures.

 

[manu1959]

yep.....one massive cluster fuck.....and when BP goes belly....the american tax payer will get to pay to clean it up.....

 

[Foxfyre]

yep.....one massive cluster fuck.....and when BP goes belly....the american tax payer will get to pay to clean it up.....

Well that was pretty much my perspective on this. It doesn't really matter at this point whose fault it is. We have a crisis and we need to focus on that. There will be plenty of time later to find somebody to hang.

BP has accepted responsibility to plug the well and clean up the beaches. What sense does it make for a bunch of looney activists to be out trying to turn BP belly up BEFORE the well is plugged and the beaches cleaned up? Do THEY want to pay for it instead of BP?

Don't these people think at all? Or are they too drugged out for any kind of rational thought?

 

[Foxfyre]

Some selected photos from CNBC:

 

[Zona]

Sometimes I just sit back, shake my head, and wonder what people are thinking.

The oil gusher in the Gulf--tragic almost beyond comprehension. Unconscionable. I think no sane person can watch it happen and not feel anger, even rage, that it is happening.

Who is culpable? BP? Yes, but does anybody with a brain think that they WANTED this to happen? That they wanted to incur expenses that could bring them to financial ruin? Were they irreponsible or careless in the name of profit? The hearings should sort that out eventually.

The Obama Administration? It was his inspector who waived some of the usual checks and balances? Irresponsible or careless in the name of expediency? Maybe. The hearings may or may not ever sort that out.

The Bush Administration? They allowed the lease to be issued. Irrresponsible or careless in the name of energy production? Maybe. If there is any way to hang it on them, the current Administration/Congress surely will.

So now enters the protestors. Outraged. Indignant. Environmentally infuriated. Make them pay. Boycott their products. Bring them to their financial knees.

Really? Who with a brain would seek to bankrupt the company who is going to have to pay for the plugging of the blown well as well as the cleanup? And if they bring BP to its financial knees, which apparently won't be difficult at that point, then who do they look to shoulder that expense.

Sometimes you just have to see the idiot fringe for what it is.

BP Protests: Do They Hit the Right Target?
June 14, 2010
Mary C. Curtis
CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Do protests against the company involved in America's worst oil-spill disaster hurt BP's excess or independent businesses? It's a question being asked as conditions on the Gulf of Mexico worsen and worldwide frustration with BP and its chief executive, Tony Hayward, grows.

On Saturday, protesters targeted BP stations across the country, a scene that also played out on a Charlotte street corner. Separated by a few feet -- with occasional harsh words passing back and forth -- stood members of the Action Center for Justice and a vocal supporter of the station owner.

David Dixon is co-coordinator of the center, part of the International Action Center. As he held a sign that read "BP Has Bad Record" and "Unsafe," he said the protesters want station owners to stop buying BP gas and to get out of their contracts. Until then, they are "complicit in BP's crimes," which are "not just destroying nature ... People are being killed." Dixon said.

A friend of station owner/operator Ron Rybacki said he was not there as a member of any group and had never protested anything before. "Independent businesses have nothing to do with the oil spill," said Sam, who didn't want to give his last name. "Yes, it's a disaster of Biblical proportions, but I don't think anybody understands it has nothing to do with this gentleman here."

Sam brought a sign that said of the protest: "Endorsed by ACORN, manned by useful idiots (a reference to Soviet sympathizers in the West). He said later they were "fomenting unrest" Other supporters held signs that said: "I love my local BP!"

Placing blame isn't easy. In 2008, the London-based BP announced it was leaving the retail gasoline business because margins were lousy, according to CNN. Today, the 11,500 U.S. gas stations that carry its logo are owned by independent franchisees. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, purchasing gasoline from a company does not even mean the gasoline was produced by that company's refineries.
More here:
BP Protests: Do They Hit the Right Target?

Do you honestly think BP's number one priority was safety? When you honestly answer this, you will just shut up and not say another word even remotely defending them.

Its all about $$$. They were fined a lot, a lot of money for cutting corners. It turned out they pretty much wrote their own damn rules and still cut corners. THAT IS WHY THIS IS HAPPENING.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Interestingly enough, all those signs were spelled correctly. No "morans" in that group.

And, exactly WHAT is wrong with the protests? Not one of those signs said anything that wasn't true.

By the way.........God WOULD be weeping. Wanna know why? BP tried to kill his bride Mother Earth. What would any of you do if someone left a big gaping hole in your wife, and she was bleeding? By the way, for you conservatives, grab yer bibles, it states quite clearly in there that Earth is God's bride.

Wanna hear something really scary? In Revelation it states the following.......

The Second Angel sounded, and as it were a

mountain burning with fire was cast into the Sea.

The Third Angel sounded and there fell a Great Star

from Heaven, burning as a lighted fiery lamp,

and it fell upon the waters of the earth.



The Holy Bible; Revelation 8:8,10

BP may have brought about Armageddon by destroying the oceans. I'm betting the angel whose job it was to do that is gonna be less than amused with them.

 

[Foxfyre]

First to Zona, where anywhere in my post have I defended BP in any way? Where on any thread in the entire universe have I defended BP in any way?

And Biker, do you really have that much problem understanding what I wrote? Was I that vague?

Okay guys, now please try to focus:

We have a bare minimum of 30,000 barrels of oil and probably a great deal more being spewed into the Gulf waters every single day for well over 50 days now.

Beaches are being fouled, fisheries destroyed, waterfowl and othe creatures killed, and people's livelihoods devastated.

And you want the focus to be on destroying the company that has accepted the responsibility for paying to plug the well and pay for the clean up? BEFORE the well is plugged and the clean up accomplished?

So, if you guys are drowning, which of you will shoot the guy who is about to throw you a rope just because he needs shooting? Wouldn't it make more sense to be pulled to shore and THEN shoot him?

Sheesh.

 

[ABikerSailor]

Listen, they did shoddy work, bent a lot of the rules, had the inspectors write the inspection forms out in PENCIL and they would later trace over them in pen, to make it look like it was inspected right.

What would you do if a company was putting out cars that killed people because of shitty workmanship? You'd probably want them out of business before they did any more damage.

Nope, sorry, BP deserves to fail and go out of business, they are a shoddy, dangerous company with slipshod work ethics.

 

[Foxfyre]

Okay let the record show that ABikerSailor is so hellbent on revenge that he would rather shoot the guy and drown rather than put the solution first. That pretty much seems to be the way those protesters think too, so you probably do approve of what they are doing.

 

[jeffrockit]

Okay let the record show that ABikerSailor is so hellbent on revenge that he would rather shoot the guy and drown rather than put the solution first. That pretty much seems to be the way those protesters think too, so you probably do approve of what they are doing.

What the protesters and their supporters do not understand, is that gas stations are owned by individuals, not BP. Many of which owned by minorities. If you boycott these stations you do a couple of things, none of which hurt BP. You hurt the small business which employs locals. When the business is hurt bad enough, they lay off workers, again having no affect on BP. If you were to actually have an affect on BP's bottom line, you must remember that they are paying restitution to the fishermen, hotels, restaurants and workers involved in the clean up. If BP goes belly up, who pays this restitution?
Liberals work off of emotion and not logic. They get worked up but fail to think the situation through and then proceed to do stupid things like boycott BP. That will show them
Another interesting fact:
The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig did not belong to BP. It belonged to a group named Transocean. Boycott Transocean if it makes you feel better.

 

[ConHog]

First to Zona, where anywhere in my post have I defended BP in any way? Where on any thread in the entire universe have I defended BP in any way?

And Biker, do you really have that much problem understanding what I wrote? Was I that vague?

Okay guys, now please try to focus:

We have a bare minimum of 30,000 barrels of oil and probably a great deal more being spewed into the Gulf waters every single day for well over 50 days now.

Beaches are being fouled, fisheries destroyed, waterfowl and othe creatures killed, and people's livelihoods devastated.

And you want the focus to be on destroying the company that has accepted the responsibility for paying to plug the well and pay for the clean up? BEFORE the well is plugged and the clean up accomplished?

So, if you guys are drowning, which of you will shoot the guy who is about to throw you a rope just because he needs shooting? Wouldn't it make more sense to be pulled to shore and THEN shoot him?

Sheesh.

Feel free to ignore anything and everything either zona or biker type . They are both confirmed morons.

 

[random3434]

Foxfire,, you do have good points, we do want to keep BP to pay for this, and bankrupting them would just make the government have to pay instead.

Now for the protesters, they are doing this because they are mad, frustrated, and feel this is the only way they can show that frustration.

Kind of like the Tea Party people at a rally.

And jeffrockit is right, a lot of the BP stations are owned by Joe Smoe, it's not his fault what happened in the Gulf.

I feel helpless every day I see the destruction on the news. I couldn't even imagine living down there, those poor people who are effected by this.............so sad.

 

[Foxfyre]

Okay let the record show that ABikerSailor is so hellbent on revenge that he would rather shoot the guy and drown rather than put the solution first. That pretty much seems to be the way those protesters think too, so you probably do approve of what they are doing.

What the protesters and their supporters do not understand, is that gas stations are owned by individuals, not BP. Many of which owned by minorities. If you boycott these stations you do a couple of things, none of which hurt BP. You hurt the small business which employs locals. When the business is hurt bad enough, they lay off workers, again having no affect on BP. If you were to actually have an affect on BP's bottom line, you must remember that they are paying restitution to the fishermen, hotels, restaurants and workers involved in the clean up. If BP goes belly up, who pays this restitution?
Liberals work off of emotion and not logic. They get worked up but fail to think the situation through and then proceed to do stupid things like boycott BP. That will show them
Another interesting fact:
The Deepwater Horizon oil drilling rig did not belong to BP. It belonged to a group named Transocean. Boycott Transocean if it makes you feel better.

Thank you Jeff. You not only apparently read the linked article, but you seem to grasp what I thought I have been saying.

But even if they were hurting BP directly, until the leak is plugged, the beaches cleaned, and appropriate restritutions are made, why in the world would anybody with a clue want to financially hurt BP who we want to pay for all that? No matter how bad tempered the goose, you get all the golden eggs you can before you kill it, yes?

 

[ConHog]

Foxfire,, you do have good points, we do want to keep BP to pay for this, and bankrupting them would just make the government have to pay instead.

Now for the protesters, they are doing this because they are mad, frustrated, and feel this is the only way they can show that frustration.

Kind of like the Tea Party people at a rally.

And jeffrockit is right, a lot of the BP stations are owned by Joe Smoe, it's not his fault what happened in the Gulf.

I feel helpless every day I see the destruction on the news. I couldn't even imagine living down there, those poor people who are effected by this.............so sad.

What people need to realize about picketers and protesters is that they are absolutely within THEIR rights to do so. Although that Sangha dude, who strangely has disappeared, did try to tell me once that picketing was terrorism.

 

[Foxfyre]

First to Zona, where anywhere in my post have I defended BP in any way? Where on any thread in the entire universe have I defended BP in any way?

And Biker, do you really have that much problem understanding what I wrote? Was I that vague?

Okay guys, now please try to focus:

We have a bare minimum of 30,000 barrels of oil and probably a great deal more being spewed into the Gulf waters every single day for well over 50 days now.

Beaches are being fouled, fisheries destroyed, waterfowl and othe creatures killed, and people's livelihoods devastated.

And you want the focus to be on destroying the company that has accepted the responsibility for paying to plug the well and pay for the clean up? BEFORE the well is plugged and the clean up accomplished?

So, if you guys are drowning, which of you will shoot the guy who is about to throw you a rope just because he needs shooting? Wouldn't it make more sense to be pulled to shore and THEN shoot him?

Sheesh.

Feel free to ignore anything and everything either zona or biker type . They are both confirmed morons.

Well I think they mean well though they aren't quite grasping the point I'm trying to make.

 

[ConHog]

First to Zona, where anywhere in my post have I defended BP in any way? Where on any thread in the entire universe have I defended BP in any way?

And Biker, do you really have that much problem understanding what I wrote? Was I that vague?

Okay guys, now please try to focus:

We have a bare minimum of 30,000 barrels of oil and probably a great deal more being spewed into the Gulf waters every single day for well over 50 days now.

Beaches are being fouled, fisheries destroyed, waterfowl and othe creatures killed, and people's livelihoods devastated.

And you want the focus to be on destroying the company that has accepted the responsibility for paying to plug the well and pay for the clean up? BEFORE the well is plugged and the clean up accomplished?

So, if you guys are drowning, which of you will shoot the guy who is about to throw you a rope just because he needs shooting? Wouldn't it make more sense to be pulled to shore and THEN shoot him?

Sheesh.

Feel free to ignore anything and everything either zona or biker type . They are both confirmed morons.

Well I think they mean well though they aren't quite grasping the point I'm trying to make.

No they don't mean well, they are flaming fucking retards. They've never had a real thought between them.

 

[Foxfyre]

Foxfire,, you do have good points, we do want to keep BP to pay for this, and bankrupting them would just make the government have to pay instead.

Now for the protesters, they are doing this because they are mad, frustrated, and feel this is the only way they can show that frustration.

Kind of like the Tea Party people at a rally.

And jeffrockit is right, a lot of the BP stations are owned by Joe Smoe, it's not his fault what happened in the Gulf.

I feel helpless every day I see the destruction on the news. I couldn't even imagine living down there, those poor people who are effected by this.............so sad.

No, this is way different than a Tea Party. Tea Partiers are protesting against what they believe to be irresponsible government and petitioning for responsible government. They aren't out to boycott or hurt anybody though they do want the irresponsible tossed and the responsible to take the place of those tossed.

And I understand why the people protesting BP are angry. But can't you be angry and smart at the same time?

As you pointed out, if BP is bankrupted, then somebody else will have to pay the billions it will cost to fix the problem and clean up the mess.

You mentioned the government will have to pay it. But as we Tea Partiers )) know, the government has no money that we don't give them or that isn't borrowed using our sweat and blood as collateral.

 

[ConHog]

Foxfire,, you do have good points, we do want to keep BP to pay for this, and bankrupting them would just make the government have to pay instead.

Now for the protesters, they are doing this because they are mad, frustrated, and feel this is the only way they can show that frustration.

Kind of like the Tea Party people at a rally.

And jeffrockit is right, a lot of the BP stations are owned by Joe Smoe, it's not his fault what happened in the Gulf.

I feel helpless every day I see the destruction on the news. I couldn't even imagine living down there, those poor people who are effected by this.............so sad.

No, this is way different than a Tea Party. Tea Partiers are protesting against what they believe to be irresponsible government and petitioning for responsible government. They aren't out to boycott or hurt anybody though they do want the irresponsible tossed and the responsible to take the place of those tossed.

And I understand why the people protesting BP are angry. But can't you be angry and smart at the same time?

As you pointed out, if BP is bankrupted, then somebody else will have to pay the billions it will cost to fix the problem and clean up the mess.

You mentioned the government will have to pay it. But as we Tea Partiers )) know, the government has no money that we don't give them or that isn't borrowed using our sweat and blood as collateral.

Do you really think anyone will be influenced by these protesters? Or at least that enough people will for it to matter? I don't..

 

[random3434]

Foxfire,, you do have good points, we do want to keep BP to pay for this, and bankrupting them would just make the government have to pay instead.

Now for the protesters, they are doing this because they are mad, frustrated, and feel this is the only way they can show that frustration.

Kind of like the Tea Party people at a rally.

And jeffrockit is right, a lot of the BP stations are owned by Joe Smoe, it's not his fault what happened in the Gulf.

I feel helpless every day I see the destruction on the news. I couldn't even imagine living down there, those poor people who are effected by this.............so sad.

No, this is way different than a Tea Party. Tea Partiers are protesting against what they believe to be irresponsible government and petitioning for responsible government. They aren't out to boycott or hurt anybody though they do want the irresponsible tossed and the responsible to take the place of those tossed.

And I understand why the people protesting BP are angry. But can't you be angry and smart at the same time?

As you pointed out, if BP is bankrupted, then somebody else will have to pay the billions it will cost to fix the problem and clean up the mess.

You mentioned the government will have to pay it. But as we Tea Partiers )) know, the government has no money that we don't give them or that isn't borrowed using our sweat and blood as collateral.

If BP goes bankrupt, and the government has to pay for it, will you Tea Partiers protest that lol?