News Is Hatred Towards the British Justified for the Gulf Oil Spill?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Ivan Seeking
  • Start date Start date
AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the perception in Britain regarding blame for the Gulf oil spill, with many arguing that BP, not the British people, is the primary target of American anger. Participants note that BP is a multinational company with significant American ownership and operations, complicating the narrative of British culpability. There is a critique of the British media's defense of BP and a belief that it may stem from anti-American sentiments, while others argue that the U.S. media's framing of BP as "British Petroleum" contributes to nationalistic tensions. The conversation highlights concerns about how political rhetoric, particularly from President Obama, may exacerbate anti-British feelings in the U.S. Overall, the sentiment remains that the focus should be on corporate responsibility rather than national identity.
  • #51
lisab said:
:smile:...a perfect example of what we love in Brits, ahahahah...

Hey, I really like some Americanisms (like "go figure" or "do the math", especially because I can really wind my brother up by speaking those words in an American accent :smile:) but I've also got to take issue with that expression.

The whole point of language is to convey meaning and "I could care less" epically fails at this!
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #52
Ivan Seeking said:
Nonsense, and nonsense. In fact the latter statement qualifies as crackpottery. Obama has only been in office for 17 months. In the mean time, we had the financial crisis, two wars, and the health care debate.

Consider: http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/17390/111965?RS_show_page=0
 
  • #53
madness said:
It's "couldn't care less", that's what I hate about Americans.

it's a perfectly good idiom, and I've decided to keep it
 
  • #54
Last edited:
  • #55
LONDON – President Barack Obama reassured Prime Minister David Cameron on Saturday that his frustration over the mammoth oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is not an attack on Britain as the two leaders tried to soothe trans-Atlantic tensions over the disaster.

Cameron's Downing St. office said the two leaders held a "warm and constructive" telephone conversation for more than 30 minutes...
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100612/ap_on_bi_ge/us_oil_spill_us_britain
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #56
jreelawg said:
Do you have a source?

All I found was this.

"Transocean employs over 25,000 people worldwide, and has a fleet of 139 offshore drilling units and three ultra-deepwater units under construction as of April 2010. The company is based in Vernier, Switzerland, near Geneva, and it has offices in 20 countries, including major offices in Switzerland, United States, Norway, Scotland, Brazil, Indonesia and Malaysia."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transocean

From the source you provided…

The company started out as Southern Natural Gas Company which acquired DeLong Engineering and formed The Offshore Company from that acquisition. That company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Southern Natural Gas Company and changed its name to Sonat Offshore Drilling. Sonat acquired a Norwegian company named Transocean ASA. The new acquisition was renamed Transocean Offshore. This company later merged with Schlumberger’s Sedco Forex and the new company was named Transocean Sedco Forex. This new company was headquartered in Houston, TX. (circa 2000) During this time frame, the company changed its ‘headquarters’ to the Cayman Islands to avoid taxes. This new company acquired R&B Falcon in 2000 and Deepwater Horizon along with it. In 2003 the name was simplified to Transocean. Merged with GlobalSantaFe Corporation in 2003 (also a Houston-based company). For tax purposes the new company moved its ‘headquarters’ to Switzerland and lowered its tax rate from the mid thirties to the mid teens! 12 people work for the company in Switzerland.

Hardly a REAL headquarters don’t you think?
 
  • #57
Ivan Seeking said:
[...]
The name of the company is British Petroleum.
The company name is BP, period. The company name is not 'British Petroleum', as was referenced earlier in this thread.
 
Last edited:
  • #58
mheslep said:
The company name is BP, period. The company is name is not 'British Petroleum', as was referenced earlier in this thread.

And I acknowledged this as well. I knew that the name was not generally being used for advertising purposes, so at first I didn't get the point. I thought it was still technically British Petroleum.

Note also that in today's email from Obama, he uses the BP name.

The BP oil spill in the Gulf Coast is the worst environmental disaster of its kind in our nation's history. I am returning to the region today to review our efforts and meet with families and business owners affected by the catastrophe.

We are working to hold BP accountable for the damage to the lands and the livelihoods of the Gulf Coast, and we are taking strong precautions to make certain a spill like this never happens again...
 
  • #59
vertices said:
So "Obama tells Cameron [the UK prime minister] that frustrations with BP have nothing to do with national identity".
[...]
You're the one who allowed BP to lobby your government to recklessly erode safety standards...
There is a fairly good argument to be made for that last statement based on the actions of the US Interior Department (MMS) under Obama:

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050404118.html"
WaPo said:
The Interior Department exempted BP's calamitous Gulf of Mexico drilling operation from a detailed environmental impact analysis last year [April 2009], according to government documents, after three reviews of the area concluded that a massive oil spill was unlikely. [...]
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/04/AR2010050404118.html
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #60
Yep, Obama has already admitted that he screwed up. BP claimed to have the means to handle an accident like this, and he didn't demand proof. He didn't believe the environmental impact study was needed.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/28/us/28obama.html

But this doesn't speak to deregulating for issues of safety. Who waived the requirement for the accoustically actuated valve intended to prevent a disaster like this?

And now, those whose entire platform is based on the premise that less government is better, are asking, where's the government?? Why didn't THEY prevent this? Why don't THEY do something? Where is our consoler and chief?

Where are the tea drinkers now?
 
  • #61
In a speech last week on the disaster unfolding in the Gulf, President Obama told the nation that for decades, there existed a “scandalously close relationship between oil companies and the agency that regulates them,” and that he took responsibility for a culture that had “not fully changed” [1] under his administration...

As we’ve noted, the ethical lapses within MMS run the gamut: accepting gifts from “good friends” in the industry [6], applying for industry jobs [7] while at MMS posts, keeping data on offshore drilling away from environmental assessors [8], failing to collect royalties from industry [9], using agency equipment for storing and sharing pornography [6], sleeping with oil and gas representatives [8], and even working while under the influence of illegal drugs [10]...

The Obama administration has also pledged to investigate MMS’ liberal use of so-called categorical exclusions [13] to federal environmental law, a practice that has gone on for decades...
http://www.propublica.org/ion/blog/item/under-cheneys-influence-wyomings-oil-ties-flooded-mms
http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/remarks-president-gulf-oil-spill
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #62
Having spent a decade or so in the Americana-Militaria industry, brokering, buying and selling weapons, uniform parts, etc related to the French and Indian Wars, and the Revolutionary War, etc, I don't hate the Brits (got some personal heritage through a Hessian officer) but I certainly appreciate the differences in the way that the British and the French treated the colonists and the native Americans.
 
  • #63
Ivan Seeking said:
Why didn't THEY prevent this?
If more of the numerous shallow water oil reserves had been opened as pushed for years ago they might well have.
 
  • #65
  • #66
Phrak said:
How is this wrong? He's a CEO, which means a BS artist. He can't stop oil leaks. It's not one of the required job skills for his occupation of choice.

There isn't anything wrong with taking a day off (as you say he's pretty much useless in stopping this), it is however a PR mistake to do it so publicly.
 
  • #67
xxChrisxx said:
There isn't anything wrong with taking a day off (as you say he's pretty much useless in stopping this), it is however a PR mistake to do it so publicly.

Indeed. It fits, though, with the tone-deaf way BP has handled this disaster.
 
  • #68
  • #69
Byllie said:
I think the Americans are trying to stoke up some brotherly rivalry between the USA and the UK.

Look here for a rather a comical yet horribily innacurate headline that makes reference to the battle for 'bunker hill'

http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/world_cup/31556/new-york-post-hails-usa-1-1-win.html

It's akin to us Brits mentioning D-Day after thrashing the Germans in the round ball game!

To be honest, anything more than an a defeat was a victory for the USA in that game. When you go into a game expecting to come away with 0 points, and you come away with 1 you are a winner. England were expected to utterly thrash the group, it's a shame they are playing like a sunday league team.
 
  • #70
How can you hate a society that has lost a world-spanning empire, and has been reduced to a lapdog for a former colony? I feel pity, in a general sense, but that's a historical notion and not personalized to this generation or any other. The British people, are just people like any other.
 
  • #71
xxChrisxx said:
There isn't anything wrong with taking a day off (as you say he's pretty much useless in stopping this), it is however a PR mistake to do it so publicly.

How private differs from public?

I guess people always keep on looking for opportunities to blame someone when things go wrong.

BP did best it could do to deal with the crisis, US government did best to blame everything on BP, and public did best to blame things on both government and BP
 
  • #72
Becuase when the heats on you, many people affected by the spill will see it as insulting that he went swanning off on a boat somewhere.

PR is all about image.
 
  • #73
rootX said:
How private differs from public?

I guess people always keep on looking for opportunities to blame someone when things go wrong.

BP did best it could do to deal with the crisis, US government did best to blame everything on BP, and public did best to blame things on both government and BP

To that in italics, agreed, to that in bold, really?
 
  • #74
nismaratwork said:
To that in italics, agreed, to that in bold, really?

Best it could do, what you wanted more from them? I am not talking about how this crisis occurred and what happened earlier but actions they took to deal with the crisis.
 
  • #75
rootX said:
Best it could do, what you wanted more from them? I am not talking about how this crisis occurred and what happened earlier but actions they took to deal with the crisis.

Ah, then I agree with you.
 
  • #76
Come on guys, this is easy. The media loves controversy, so they're trying to play up an angle to the story. There has been similar suggestions that Americans blame the British in the British media.

I'm pretty sure BP is chartered in the Marshall Islands anyway.
 
  • #77
Hate is such a strong word.
 
  • #78
Jimmy Snyder said:
Hate is such a strong word.

Not when compared to "loathing" or "murderous rage/envy/" or "spite". The common usage of hate has diluted its impact, and I suspect fewer people really understand what it is to genuinely experience prolonged hatred.
 

Similar threads

News Gulf Oil Spill Disappearance: Microbes Eat Up the Oil
Replies
49
Views
8K
News Oil spill area coming back to life
Replies
35
Views
6K
News Gulf Oil Production Moving to Africa
Replies
34
Views
6K
News Is The Global Economic Crisis Worse Than Expected?
Replies
29
Views
4K
News The Long Emergency: Oil Crisis & US Economy Impact
Replies
14
Views
3K
News Gusher of Lies: The Dangerous Delusions of Energy Independence
3
Replies
133
Views
27K
News A Scary Look at Past Work Experience of a US President
Replies
43
Views
6K
News The Roots of Terrorism and US Foreign Policy
Replies
31
Views
5K
News Renaissance and reaction to Islam.
Replies
49
Views
7K

Hot Threads

Recent Insights

Back
Top