Wednesday, October 3, 2007

Strange Juxtaposition

Quick update: Gotta love the leadership the U.S. of F-ing A has provided!
Sweet BS La-da-da-da!
Awesome leadership. Where's the applause for this upstanding country of entropic, fat, consumers of perpetual crap?
Yeah, I plan to boycott as much as necessary.

Courtesy of Chevron
Since Chevron owns Unocal* I found the juxtaposition of their advertising in this Dashing hopes in Myanmar article rather unsettling.

*CCR filed suit against the Unocal oil corporation alleging that it was aware of and supported slave labor, murder, rape and forced relocation of villagers by the Burmese military during the construction of an oil pipeline from Burmese oil fields to Thailand. The parties to several lawsuits related to Unocal's energy investment in the Yadana gas pipeline project in Myanmar/Burma have reached a settlement. Although the terms are confidential, the settlement in principle will compensate plaintiffs and provide funds enabling plaintiffs and their representatives to develop programs to improve living conditions, health care and education and protect the rights of people from the pipeline region.

8 comments:

Ogg the Caveman said...

Murst!

Usually that kind of unintentional irony comes from software that tries to match the ad to words in the article, but this one just seems random.

Ogg the Caveman said...

BTW, one thing I find worrisome about the "war on terror" is the media's increasing tendency to use "detained" where "arrested" or "imprisoned" would be more correct, as in that article. Whoever controls the terms of discussion will almost always win, and the Republicans have done a brilliant job of that.

Akubi said...

Well, I'm now seeing an ad for Pfizer in the specific article I mentioned. However, the front page "Courtesy of Chevron" juxtaposition above remains unchanged.

Anonymous said...

hOPEFULLY cHEVRON WILL RUN OUT OF GAS.

Ogg the Caveman said...

This claims to be a complete list of countries doing business in Burma, for all your boycotting needs.

wagga said...

Ogg, thanks for the Dirty List.

I think it would be extremely useful if someone would break it down to individual lists of just the email address; ie dirtyteak.lst, dirtytravel.lst, dirtyoil.lst & so forth.

Then an email engine can take a list & a specific letter ("I was planning to install teak floors in my house...") or ("I am planning to visit Burma... but...") & hammer them.

Oh, Marketa says hi.

Akubi said...

Yeah, Chevron sucks nearly as much as ExxonMobil but they do a better job pulling off the PC BS ads on The Economist and blaming it on their predecessors.
Regarding Doe v. Unocal lest we forget:
On August 25, 2004, Bush Administration lawyers filed a legal brief in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit arguing that California oil giant Unocal should not be liable for aiding and abetting human rights abuses committed by the notoriously brutal Burmese military on behalf of Unocal’s Yadana pipeline project in southern Burma.

"The Administration has previously argued in court that those who aid and abet terrorists can be sued. But to protect narrow business interests, they now say those who aid and abet crimes against humanity should be immune" said Richard Herz of EarthRights International, co-counsel for the plaintiffs.

The plaintiffs in John Doe I v. Unocal Corp. are villagers who lived near the pipeline. Some were forced to work on pipeline infrastructure by the military, Unocal’s project partner. The remainder suffered other egregious abuses including rape, murder and torture at the hands of soldiers providing "security" for the project.

The Administration wants the case dismissed, arguing that aiding and abetting liability "could deter" companies from "economic engagement" with oppressive regimes. Plaintiffs’ counsel Jennie Green of the Center for Constitutional Rights (CCR) stated, "This Administration would allow U.S. corporations to get away with murder, rape and other torture. Unocal knew these abuses would occur when it partnered with one of the world’s most repressive dictatorships, and Unocal’s actions furthered the abuses. Decisions by U.S. courts are clear that when corporations participate in human rights abuses, U.S. courts can hold them accountable."

The suit was filed under the Alien Tort Claims Act, which allows victims of human rights abuses to sue those responsible. Recently, the Bush Administration argued to the U.S. Supreme Court in Sosa v. Alvarez-Machain that no human rights claims should be actionable under the statute. In July, the Supreme Court rejected the Administration’s position and upheld the law.

After eight years of litigation, a major victory was won on September 15, 2004 when a California judge denied Unocal's motion to dismiss.

Akubi said...

Yeah let's hammer them with porn!!!