Expat Community > Ecuador

bentparrot
Joined 2010
Posts: 286

The world gone haywire!

14 years ago

What is wrong with this picture? A trillion gallons of crude oil - give or take a few billion - have spread across the Gulf of Mexico, and soon will be carried by the ocean currents across the Keys, Cuba, the Bahamas, the eastern United States coastline, and eventually into European waters. However, a few weeks ago, Transocean, a potential perpetrator of the disaster, headquartered in
Houston but based in Switzerland for tax purposes, paid billions of dollars in dividend checks to their shareholders. Not to be outdone, BP, arguably the biggest polluter and violator of every safety rule ever written, did likewise. BP, who opts to use the name, "Beyond Petroleum" to obscure their identity, is also headquartered in Houston. It is the largest developer of oil and gas products in the US. Finally, there is Halliburton, our old friend from the Iraq war. They fled to Dubai to protect Dick Cheney from their dealings with Iran, in violation of US law. But their operation there is more like a Cayman Islands post office box. Everything that can be done, is run from Houston!

Mr. Obama: Why are not these companies in receivership, with their assets frozen, and all expenditures controlled by trustees, until such time as their responsibility and liability for the worst man-made disaster can be determined and atoned for?

WOULD YOU BELIEVE THAT NEGOTIATIONS ARE NOW UNDERWAY TO BRING LIABILITY PROCEEDINGS BEFORE REPUBLICAN APPOINTED JUDGES IN THE FEDERAL COURTS IN HOUSTON AND ELSEWHERE IN SOUTH TEXAS!!!

Now why do I bring this crap up? Simple. This month, the BW (Beautiful Wife) and I were supposed to attend a military reunion in France. The flights are so screwed up that my BW's friend, after departing CDG for a routine 10+30 hours flight to IAH, flew so far north (over Arctic Russia) they were forced to land in Cleveland 15 hours later, for gas. Twenty plus hours after the flight began, they landed in Houston. Thus, we canceled our plans.

Now, my brother and sister in law, after talking with them today, fear for the loss of their jobs at RCA Thomson, a French-American company where they have each worked for more than 20 years. It's not just the PIIGS who are in trouble, according to Marc. France is going down too.

Marc, Christine, and the BW (Maryse) know we cannot control volcanic activity in Iceland or Ecuador. But we are all PISSED that we are powerless to keep these corporations from ruining our lives and destroying this planet. Christine asked Maryse today if we were still thinking about moving to France now that the Euro has fallen. Maryse said, "No. We are planning to move to Ecuador." Christine said, "Great, we hope to follow you."

Ecuador, you may have just gained, besides us, two more residents.

Ray

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