Entries Tagged 'Politics' ↓

For the August 2008 issue of Vanity Fair, writer Chris Hitchens bravely subjected himself to a waterboarding session. His article on the waterboarding experience is available here, as well as a video of the torture session. It hopefully won’t surprise anyone (except Bush and friends) that Hitchens decisively concluded that waterboarding is indeed torture, no matter what they tell us.

A week or so ago, just for fun I sent ExxonMobil an email about what assholes they are, and essentially asking how they live with themselves. Here’s a copy of the reply:

—===—===—

Dear Customer,

Thank you for your recent communication expressing concern about higher
prices for gasoline and energy products.

We recognize that energy price increases have put a strain on many
household budgets. We also know that some hold the oil and gas industry
directly responsible for these price increases and quite frankly, this
conclusion is not correct. There are several factors that are helpful to
consider as we look at what is causing higher gasoline and energy prices.

Crude Oil

Crude oil, the world’s foremost energy source - is a true global commodity,
traded freely in markets worldwide. Prices for crude oil, which now
account for well over 60 percent of the price Americans pay at the pump,
are set on competitive global markets. No single company sets the price
for crude oil or even influences how these prices are set. Even as the
largest private energy company in the world, ExxonMobil only represents 3
percent of global oil production. We also buy nearly two times more crude
oil than we produce, as we do not produce nearly enough crude oil to keep
our ExxonMobil refineries and plants supplied. Also, our crude oil supply
costs are higher partly due to the weaker value of the U.S. dollar.

Global Supply and Demand

The market forces of supply and demand are the fundamental factors that
influence crude oil prices. Growing demand for transportation fuels, in
developing nations like China and India alone have driven demand increases
at twice the historic average in several recent years. Americans drive
around 3 trillion miles per year, almost twice as much as we did in 1980
(1.5 trillion miles), now demanding about 400 million gallons of gasoline a
day. On the supply side, geopolitical developments have curtailed
production and driven up prices at various points in time.

Industry Earnings in Context

In a high commodity demand/price environment, which currently exists,
industry earnings will generally rise. However, the oil and gas industry
profits are comparable to other U.S. industries, 9.5 cents for every dollar
of sales compared to an average of 8.2 cents for all U.S. manufacturers in
2006. You also might find it interesting to know that 70 percent of
ExxonMobil revenues are generated outside the U.S. And, with respect to
the price you pay at your local service station, independently owned
operators set those retail prices in competition with one another.
ExxonMobil owns and operates less than 900 of the 170,000 service stations
in the United States; that is less than 1 percent.

Investing in Tomorrow’s Energy

In our view and probably your own as well, another important question is
what are we doing with the money we earn? In the past twenty years, we
have invested about $280 billion worldwide on capital and exploration
expenditures to develop new energy supplies — a figure that exceeds our
total earnings over that period.

Looking ahead, the International Energy Agency has estimated that the oil
and gas industry will need to invest at least $20 trillion in new oil and
gas production and infrastructure through 2030 to meet the future growth in
global demand. Much of this projected growth in energy use is attributable
to improving living standards for billions of people in the developing
world. Only profitable companies will be able to make the investments
needed to compete in global energy markets and to develop the energy
supplies we will need in the future.

Government Taxes

Stable and impartial tax and regulatory policies are critical to companies
looking to invest on the scale noted above. You most likely are not aware
that for every dollar of ExxonMobil’s revenue, on average around 25 cents
is paid to governments, while ExxonMobil earns just over a dime. In 2006,
ExxonMobil earned $39.5 billion, but paid over $100 billion in taxes
worldwide. Over the past five years (2002-2006), ExxonMobil’s U.S. tax
bill was nearly $60 billion, exceeding our total U.S. earnings during that
time by over $20 billion. Without question, we are one of the world’s
biggest taxpayers and are therefore very concerned about the harmful
impacts of current proposals to impose even higher taxes on our industry.
Our government can help meet America’s growing energy needs by ensuring
reliable and impartial rules for all energy investments that will allow
American companies to compete internally.

Your email is important to us. We know price increases and our company’s
earnings have raised questions and deserve explanation. While we hope that
this response provides you with a better understanding of our company’s
challenges and of the global energy markets in which we participate, we
would encourage you to look at our web site www.exxonmobil.com as well as
the web site of the American Petroleum Institute www.energytomorrow.org for
more information.

At ExxonMobil, we’re committed to pricing responsibly and investing for the
future. Please know that every day our 82,000 employees worldwide are
working extremely hard to provide energy supplies to consumers at
competitive prices.

Again, thank you for taking the time to contact us.

Sincerely,

Ashley Galbraith
Exxon Mobil Corporation

Note: When responding to this message, please use reply to keep the email
thread intact. We need to see the information on previous e-mails to
better assist you. Thank you.

I still can’t believe he’s gone. This is a truly unfortunate loss.

Not only was he insanely funny - he was also intensely intelligent. A sort of modern societal philosopher, if you will. Anyway, check out some truth from our man George:

Yeah, I know. When I saw the title of this video I was put off too. But this fellow Tyler is hilarious and sarcastic. The only scary part is that people against gay marriage actually believe this bullshit.

If you haven’t yet heard, the first lesbian couple of this new wave of officially state sanctioned same sex marriages had their ceremony last night. Congratulations to them for standing up for what they know is right. What a great reward for all their hard work.

Unfortunately this right is in danger, and the forces against it are rich and powerful. Don’t let ultra-conservative Christians spread their hate any more than they already do. Stand up for the rights of your fellow human beings, and sign the petition at MillionforMarriage.com and let your support for same sex couples be known.

Don’t let the gay community have a basic human right taken from them again.

Here’s a great video. True, sarcastic and funny as hell.

Article I
Creating a Secret Propaganda Campaign to Manufacture a False Case for War Against Iraq.

Article II
Falsely, Systematically, and with Criminal Intent Conflating the Attacks of September 11, 2001, With
Misrepresentation of Iraq as a Security Threat as Part of Fraudulent Justification for a War of
Aggression.

Article III
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Possessed Weapons of
Mass Destruction, to Manufacture a False Case for War.

Article IV
Misleading the American People and Members of Congress to Believe Iraq Posed an Imminent Threat
to the United States.

Article V
Illegally Misspending Funds to Secretly Begin a War of Aggression.

Article VI
Invading Iraq in Violation of the Requirements of HJRes114.

Article VII
Invading Iraq Absent a Declaration of War.

Article VIII
Invading Iraq, A Sovereign Nation, in Violation of the UN Charter.

Article IX
Failing to Provide Troops With Body Armor and Vehicle Armor

Article X
Falsifying Accounts of US Troop Deaths and Injuries for Political Purposes

Article XI
Establishment of Permanent U.S. Military Bases in Iraq

Article XII
Initiating a War Against Iraq for Control of That Nation’s Natural Resources

Article XIIII
Creating a Secret Task Force to Develop Energy and Military Policies With Respect to Iraq and Other
Countries

Article XIV
Misprision of a Felony, Misuse and Exposure of Classified Information And Obstruction of Justice in
the Matter of Valerie Plame Wilson, Clandestine Agent of the Central Intelligence Agency

Article XV
Providing Immunity from Prosecution for Criminal Contractors in Iraq

Article XVI
Reckless Misspending and Waste of U.S. Tax Dollars in Connection With Iraq and US Contractors

Article XVII
Illegal Detention: Detaining Indefinitely And Without Charge Persons Both U.S. Citizens and Foreign
Captives

Article XVIII
Torture: Secretly Authorizing, and Encouraging the Use of Torture Against Captives in Afghanistan,
Iraq, and Other Places, as a Matter of Official Policy

Article XIX
Rendition: Kidnapping People and Taking Them Against Their Will to “Black Sites” Located in Other
Nations, Including Nations Known to Practice Torture

Article XX
Imprisoning Children

Article XXI
Misleading Congress and the American People About Threats from Iran, and Supporting Terrorist
Organizations Within Iran, With the Goal of Overthrowing the Iranian Government

Article XXII
Creating Secret Laws

Article XXIII
Violation of the Posse Comitatus Act

Article XXIV
Spying on American Citizens, Without a Court-Ordered Warrant, in Violation of the Law and the
Fourth Amendment

Article XXV
Directing Telecommunications Companies to Create an Illegal and Unconstitutional Database of the
Private Telephone Numbers and Emails of American Citizens

Article XXVI
Announcing the Intent to Violate Laws with Signing Statements

Article XXVII
Failing to Comply with Congressional Subpoenas and Instructing Former Employees Not to Comply

Article XXVIII
Tampering with Free and Fair Elections, Corruption of the Administration of Justice

Article XXIX
Conspiracy to Violate the Voting Rights Act of 1965

Article XXX
Misleading Congress and the American People in an Attempt to Destroy Medicare

Article XXXI
Katrina: Failure to Plan for the Predicted Disaster of Hurricane Katrina, Failure to Respond to a Civil
Emergency

Article XXXII
Misleading Congress and the American People, Systematically Undermining Efforts to Address Global
Climate Change

Article XXXIII
Repeatedly Ignored and Failed to Respond to High Level Intelligence Warnings of Planned Terrorist
Attacks in the US, Prior to 911.

Article XXXIV
Obstruction of the Investigation into the Attacks of September 11, 2001

Article XXXV
Endangering the Health of 911 First Responders

It just so happens that my hunch about Obama was right. It turns out that over the weekend, Obama ditched his press corps without warning, allegedly to attend the Bilderberg conference in northern Virginia. While his press secretary insists that he was just in private meetings, he sure dances around the subject in a skittish manner.

I think my vote will go to Jesse Ventura or Cynthia McKinney. Real change does not come from Bilderberg attendees.

Hmmm…here’s a hard one to argue against.