theveganarchist:

odinsblog:

Rachel Maddow breaks it down so simply that an 8th grader could understand it:

1. ExxonMobil is more profitable than Walmart, Google, McDonald’s, American Express and Goldman Sachs combined
2. Exxon’s fine for the oil Pegasus Pipeline spill in Arkansas is only a tiny fraction of its daily profit
   
3. Again, Exxon paid just a tiny fraction of its daily profit for the entire Yellowstone oil spill

This begs (at least) three questions: Why does the U.S. Government even subsidize oil companies in the first place? Why doesn’t our government have more serious fines for oil spills? AND ARE WE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING THE KEYSTONE PIPELINE?!? REALLY? NO, REALLY? 

The Keystone Pipeline will absolutely, positively spring a leak already has sprung several leaks

The oil industry has no clue how to clean up or prevent the leaks and they aren’t even exploring new technologies for oil spill clean ups

The KXL Pipeline will go through a MAJOR clean water drinking aquifer. Is America so stupid to “drill baby drill” that we’re willing to endanger our most valuable non-renewable resource —water— for a finite fossil fuel that wind and solar tech will ultimately replace?

This needs WAY more notes

OK so in case anyone’s surprised about how the oil cartel gets away with this sort of thing:

• ExxonMobil is the biggest company in the US.
• Chevron is the 2nd biggest oil company (and 3rd biggest overall)

Back in the 70s there were 7 oil companies (‘The Seven Sisters’) which entirely dominated the world market.

These were:

1. Standard Oil of California (SoCal) which became Chevron
2. Standard Oil of New York (Socony) which became Mobil
3. Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso) which became Exxon and then merged with Mobil to form ExxonMobil
4. Texaco which was then acquired by Chevron
5. Gulf Oil which was then acquired by Standard Oil of California and incorporated into Chevron
6. Anglo-Iranian oil company which became British Petroleum
7. Royal Dutch Shell

5 out of 7 are now either ExxonMobil or Chevron.  3 of them were borne from John D. Rockefeller’s original Standard Oil, which itself once had a 90% market share (there was also Standard Oil of Indiana, or Amoco, but that merged with BP…)

It is an obscene concentration of wealth.

John D.’s heir/only surviving grandson, David Rockefeller, happened to chair one of the most influential policy think tanks in the US. He was also the single largest shareholder in Chase bank.

Then there was the other Rockefeller grandson, Nelson - he helped launch the modern war on drugs and later became vice-president.

I wonder if it all means anything.

Yeeeaah, oil companies getting $78bn in US government subsidies 2012-2017! Record profits even as workers are sacked! Let’s go bomb Iran! etc

(via randomactsofchaos)

Who wants to bet G4S win the contract?

If you don’t know who G4S are, ask yourself why because they’re the largest employer in the world bar Walmart. But what do they do?

• Airport security. Three G4S security guards at Heathrow were responsible for the death of Angolan refugee Jimmy Mubenga in Oct 2010 when they kept him heavily restrained, despite his repeated complaints of not being able to breathe.
• Immigrant detention camps. In Australia, G4S were ‘faulted for lethal neglect and abuse of solitary confinement’ (NYTimes). Again in Australia, up to 50 asylum seekers went on hunger strike and sewed their own lips together in protest over conditions. G4S also ran these lovely detention boats in the Netherlands that were deemed ‘inhumane’ by the European Parliament.
• Guarding the entire length of the southwest US/Mexico border and deporting undocumented immigrants. Anyone starting to feel like G4S don’t like immigrants for some reason?
• Private UK police (already). G4S is already contracted to employ half of Lincolnshire police, and are building a police station there.
• Private prisons in the UK and US. Because why stop with immigrants?
• Juvenile detention centres. Because why stop with adults?
• Profiteering off the UK ‘Welfare to Work’ scheme. Which is essentially an ingenious device for taking tax-payer money away from those who need it, and giving it to G4S (who have the nerve to fob much of their workload off onto charities and other non-profit organisations). At the same time the scheme allows companies like Tesco to profit from slave labour as people are made to work full-time for their unemployment benefits.
• Military security in Afghanistan. Popular pastimes for the G4S employees guarding the US embassy in Kabul included: lighting fires, getting naked, pissing on each other and conducting humiliating hazings/initiations. NSFW photos here!
• Much more. Too much to list but it includes security for banks, ATM/cashpoint ‘management’, stewarding Live8 and Download and reading your gas meter. Also landmine clearance, which strangely enough is the only one of these things I’d happily trust them with.