http://www.propublica.org/article/bp-texas-refinery-had-huge-toxic-release-just-before-gulf-blowout

http://motherjones.com/rights-stuff/2010/06/BP-louisiana-police-stop-activist

http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/glenn_greenwald/2010/07/05/bp/index.html

Oh you...

Er, right, I don't know. I have a hard time believing those stories. Not to mention I never heard of those websites before now. I'd like to know more about them.

I'm sorry, but BP doesn't strike me as the thuggery type. Well, when you're not buying from the gas pump directly.

oo:

Mother Jones has been around for many years, and is a very well respected news and all around information source. The other one, Salon or whatever, I dunno about it, but Mother Jones is very respected.

I don't have a hard time believing the Mother Jones story at all, because there have been other cases of Corporations like BP that are so big like them, that journalists often report on them and are in turn watched by Corporate Goons. There was one report I read years ago, that a journalist writing on some corporation down in Mexico, was actually run off the road and either killed or just put into critical condition in the ensuing crash. But yeah, if you watch a lot of documentaries on corporations, you'll see that once in awhile, they'll be filming and some corporate cops will come out, tell them to leave, they do, and then they realize they're being followed. They even tape it sometimes to show proof that they're not lying about it.

So I wouldn't doubt the Mother Jones story or the Salon story.

the feds have ordered restrictions on press going on beaches so that might extend to these situations as well. BP cant order local police officials to do something on their behaf but the feds could. i think your blaming the wrong people here. even if BP requested a media blackout the feds ultimately have the say on it.

So they have assassins now, cool, so in future fallout games I want to see a British version of the enclave. Well atleast there will be a higher demand for British people to play villans in any films silver lining.

lol I probably wouldn't say assassins.... possible though. I think they're just like flexing muscle. To scare you away, they won't actually hit you or anything (they could and might,) but the Corporations just use them for flexing muscle. I bet if the journalist in Mother Jones had just ignored them completely, and kept on filming, he'd have gotten away unharmed and they would have given up. Or he could have just gotten more reporters there and flooded the place? (If I was a journalist, that's what I'd do. )

I already knew this from different sources. Friends in the security community.

Its clever when you think of it, they have the best lawyers, now all they need is some muscle, and they can use the lawyers to prevent further issues... Assuming they have anything left after the clean up.

In Nigeria Royal Dutch Shell (the Shell Petroleum Development Company) needed to lay down a pipeline through some rough area of the interior. On paper everything looked kosher, but locals (the ogoni) got antsy because they laid claim to some of the land the pipeline was to go through. Shell sent in sec forces to negotiate with the locals, who then played it heavy handed until the locals fired back. Then the sec forces sat back and cried 'terrorist insurgency'. Within two weeks the Nigerian Armed Forces came in speaking sofly and wielding a very large stick.

Locals were burned out of the area, pipeline was laid down, Stock holders were happy.

Now ask me how I know this.

There be videos of some guys taking video on Liveleak stating that BP dumped sand on the beach..

Well I heard on the News or Internet, that since BPs stock was going down, down, down, the heads of BP and the CEO were afraid of a possible buyout by some other company. But yeah, it's not unheard of, corporations using hired muscle to push people away and cover things up. Enron did some muscle flexing for a bit, before they wall went to prison anyway.

EDIT: @Andy: Yeah, I watched a documentary about that actually. One of the security force guys working for the oil company came out and spoke. He was in some prison, because he was accused of this and that, but he spilled it all out in this doc. Wish I could remember the name of it.

Shell could have easily just paid them off, not much of a dent in their profit then.
To the last part...You were there ? I think I remember reading somewhe you worked for private security, that seems like this catagory, or the more likely one you had a friend there.

@Dr strangelove I love how the cheep, cutting corners, mentality may cost them everything.

"The Drilling Fields"


I was pulling security detail on the oil barges that ran up and down the river, what we called milk runs, so yeah, I was fairly close at hand when this was going down.
Not one of my proudest moments, but I'm not going to sit here and blow smoke up your back sides, kids. The cheap B-movies you watch are a pale comparison to reality.

And the reality is I could get into trouble -real trouble, for what I'm typing.
Look up what another jarhead, Smedley Butler said after he served.

I'm aware of him, and what Shell has done in Nigeria.

I think that's what it's called. Does sound familiar, that's for sure. And anyone who's served, us Jarheads or whoever are always getting in trouble for talking about stuff after serving. Someone shut down one Jarheads Blog actually, after he came back from Afghanistan and spoke out against it, and some other things. That's why I'm careful on what I say on the net about such things, and usually in public don't give a damn.

Semper Fi

At the very least the third article is fairly slanted at making BP out to be "The Bad Guy"

Lance Rosenfield was basically taking pictures of BP's refineries without letting BP know (obviously a security issue if you have random people taking pictures outside of your refineries). This triggered their security team who called the police and the police tailed him and eventually stopped him and took down his information and asked to see the nature of the photos.

Rosenfied admits in this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Gw8E5oulos that he really wasn't supposed to be there. It's kinda funny that he then says "he doesn't know why he was detained"

BP also released a statement saying "Normally if a photographer identifies himself, there's no problem but he was an unknown photographer and our security alerted the authorities"

It does seem strange that the police was seemingly working with BP and that they handed over his personal information but at the same time his behavior prompted that response. As far as what BP's policy on handling suspicious behavior perhaps they are required to get the information of a possible suspect doing suspicious activity around their facilities I don't know.

At this point I don't know who to believe. The media is definitely slanting this and makes no mention in the article posted by the OP that Rosenfield was basically acting suspiciously in what is supposed to be a secure area.

BP is being scrutinized for the openness but does that mean they should let photographers unannounced and without letting BP know that they are going to be photographing their facilities? These are oil refineries and there does need to be security at the refineries. Openness does not mean allowing suspicious behavior of unannounced photographers to continue on their site.

BP, while holding some fault, is not the major culprit. It is our government, which has made this disaster what it is.

/thread

You get the same thing here in the Uk. Take pictures of a nuclear power plant (from outside it) and the police turn up really fast. And you better have a good explanation as to why you were taking those pictures.

we have evil(ok maybe not evil for the sympathetic folks) british voice actors in Killzone 2, Radec is the greatest example, and Fallout could/should take note of his awesomeness.

on topic though...some things happened...some issues were solved...some information was changed...and some may have been fabricated...it doesnt affect me yet, and it may not be the whole story...so i'm stayin' clear.

I've been saying that for awhile, but I just get called crazy. BP is just their lapdog/scapegoat/enforcement thug.

The thing that bothers me the most, though, is that there wasn't more coverage on the thing in Texas City. You think that that would have been WAY out in the open as more ammunition against BP.

Yeah, well apparently anyone who questions anything their government says is a crazy person who is about to commit mass murder. :rolleyes:

I'd really, really, really like to go into more detail. Alas, political discussion is not allowed so I will refrain.

I blame the feds for being too busy getting some to enforce our laws, and BP for its plain [censored] business practices.

That's just preposterous!
That sort of thing only happened before the 1800's. We've evolved since, and no longer embrace violence. Especially in Africa.