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On the British media outrage over BP blame-sharing
There's been a lot of controversy in the British press lately over the alleged anti-British rhetoric from the Obama administration in the wake of the BP oil spill.
I'm torn on this one. I'm really disappointed and, well, a little angry that he made a point of emphasising 'British Petroleum' when the company has not used that moniker in over ten years and when 39% of the company is American-owned, compared to... 40% British. The majority of its employees are also American. I don't understand why the average American can grasp this and the powers that be can't. It seems like a sly attempt to offload the blame on a nation and its hapless people, rather than the greedy multinational company it truly is. No wonder David Cameron reacted sharply to these rants, though to be fair, Obama stopped referring to it in this manner after they 'discussed' things.
I also feel like slapping Helen Mirren for her stupid comments on an American talk show this week where she declared she was ashamed to be British and that she was glad we didn't beat America in the World Cup after our terrible oil spill.
Our? I assure you, Mirren, I don't make a penny from BP. Clown.
At the same time, the hurt feelings of the British have to play second fiddle to the coastline being destroyed and the poor wildlife being decimated by this spill whilst we dither other diplomatic incidents, and rightly so. It feels like there is too much emphasis upon politics and stupid statements than, you know, working out a solution or protecting the livelihoods of the ordinary people affected by the oil spill.
So I just want to applaud New Orleans for its tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign of late: "This isn't the first time New Orleans has survived the British."
I think it's amazing that amidst all this tragedy and finger-pointing and anger, New Orleans proves its gutsy spirit once again:
"You can't just say we're open, come," the bureau's president, Steve Perry, told the organisation as he launched the campaign, according to blogofneworleans.com. "You have to acknowledge it. It's sorta like the poster with the family in front of the shark tank at the aquarium after Katrina, saying we're pleased to report that this is the only part of New Orleans that's still under water."
Thankfully, the small print on the adverts states that 'right now everyone is welcome, especially our friends from England'.
Thank you, New Orleans.
IIn a similar vein, Charlie Brooker explains our sense of national culpability and the general goodwill of the American people much better than our politicians or fricken' Helen Mirren can:
But now, as a company with the word "British" in its name pisses apocalyptic quantities of oil into the ocean, and CEO Tony Hayward pops up on the news to make tactless statements in a British accent, anglophilia is shrivelling. Things must be bad when gimpy Cameron has to reassure us that BP wiping its arse on the Gulf of Mexico won't disturb the "special relationship" between the US and the UK. Of course it will.
Never mind that BP is an international company. Never mind that 39% of its shares are held in the US, that half its directors are American. It's got the word British in the title, and that'll do. It genuinely feels like our fault. Like you, I've never supervised the offshore drilling policy of a major oil company, but I can't help feeling responsible. It's like watching a news report in which someone with your surname has been caught having sex with a hollowed-out yam. The disgrace is shared, however irrationally.
And to be honest, the Americans are thus far admirably restrained about the whole thing. If a company called Texan Gloop belched a carpet of black gunk over Norfolk, we'd be surrounding the US embassy and burning sarcastic effigies of Boss Hogg within minutes... Having vandalised Louisiana and laminated thousands of pelicans, the BP spill now threatens to disfigure the Miami coastline, corrupting its relentlessly cheery blue-and-yellow colour scheme with a sea of rainbow black. Congratulations, people of Britain. Even though, strictly speaking, it isn't your fault.
Yes, that's exactly it.
I'm torn on this one. I'm really disappointed and, well, a little angry that he made a point of emphasising 'British Petroleum' when the company has not used that moniker in over ten years and when 39% of the company is American-owned, compared to... 40% British. The majority of its employees are also American. I don't understand why the average American can grasp this and the powers that be can't. It seems like a sly attempt to offload the blame on a nation and its hapless people, rather than the greedy multinational company it truly is. No wonder David Cameron reacted sharply to these rants, though to be fair, Obama stopped referring to it in this manner after they 'discussed' things.
I also feel like slapping Helen Mirren for her stupid comments on an American talk show this week where she declared she was ashamed to be British and that she was glad we didn't beat America in the World Cup after our terrible oil spill.
Our? I assure you, Mirren, I don't make a penny from BP. Clown.
At the same time, the hurt feelings of the British have to play second fiddle to the coastline being destroyed and the poor wildlife being decimated by this spill whilst we dither other diplomatic incidents, and rightly so. It feels like there is too much emphasis upon politics and stupid statements than, you know, working out a solution or protecting the livelihoods of the ordinary people affected by the oil spill.
So I just want to applaud New Orleans for its tongue-in-cheek advertising campaign of late: "This isn't the first time New Orleans has survived the British."
I think it's amazing that amidst all this tragedy and finger-pointing and anger, New Orleans proves its gutsy spirit once again:
"You can't just say we're open, come," the bureau's president, Steve Perry, told the organisation as he launched the campaign, according to blogofneworleans.com. "You have to acknowledge it. It's sorta like the poster with the family in front of the shark tank at the aquarium after Katrina, saying we're pleased to report that this is the only part of New Orleans that's still under water."
Thankfully, the small print on the adverts states that 'right now everyone is welcome, especially our friends from England'.
Thank you, New Orleans.
IIn a similar vein, Charlie Brooker explains our sense of national culpability and the general goodwill of the American people much better than our politicians or fricken' Helen Mirren can:
But now, as a company with the word "British" in its name pisses apocalyptic quantities of oil into the ocean, and CEO Tony Hayward pops up on the news to make tactless statements in a British accent, anglophilia is shrivelling. Things must be bad when gimpy Cameron has to reassure us that BP wiping its arse on the Gulf of Mexico won't disturb the "special relationship" between the US and the UK. Of course it will.
Never mind that BP is an international company. Never mind that 39% of its shares are held in the US, that half its directors are American. It's got the word British in the title, and that'll do. It genuinely feels like our fault. Like you, I've never supervised the offshore drilling policy of a major oil company, but I can't help feeling responsible. It's like watching a news report in which someone with your surname has been caught having sex with a hollowed-out yam. The disgrace is shared, however irrationally.
And to be honest, the Americans are thus far admirably restrained about the whole thing. If a company called Texan Gloop belched a carpet of black gunk over Norfolk, we'd be surrounding the US embassy and burning sarcastic effigies of Boss Hogg within minutes... Having vandalised Louisiana and laminated thousands of pelicans, the BP spill now threatens to disfigure the Miami coastline, corrupting its relentlessly cheery blue-and-yellow colour scheme with a sea of rainbow black. Congratulations, people of Britain. Even though, strictly speaking, it isn't your fault.
Yes, that's exactly it.