# The BP Oil Spill Has Negatively Impacted My Attitude Towards Brits **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 8, 2010, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015 "2010-09-08T03:28:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/81 "2010-09-13T02:50:13Z")
> [@santosvega](#): > > Does anyone else with a passing knowledge of 20th century history and current events find it ironic that an _American_ is complaining about atrocities committed by an (ostensibly, sort of, not really) British multinational corporation? Well, perhaps all we can do is hope that someday, sometime, some American corporation will slip up and do something horrible. That would surely put this all in perspective. Until that day we can do little but keep a stiff upper lip in the face of **Try2B Comprehensive’s** allegations. Damn those saintly American corporations for being so squeaky-clean and spreading joy and peace around the world! Under most circumstances you would be correct. But remember that there are still 43,000+ sq mi of ocean off-limits to fishing. ~150 million gallons of oil remain below the surface in the Gulf. There are American misdeeds galore; and then there is this unprecedented horror. ---
**Author:** ![johnpost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f17d59/32.png) [@johnpost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/johnpost)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 4:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/82 "2010-09-13T04:24:21Z")
tv news story showed finding oil penetrating two inches deep on the sea floor. ---
**Author:** ![BayouHazard](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/d78d45/32.png) [@BayouHazard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BayouHazard)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/83 "2010-09-13T05:23:21Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > It is time to establish an international court to deal with businesses that are across the globe. > The financial fiasco should have forced our hands. They sunk economies across the world. That should have been the impetus to develop international economic courts. I second the measure! _golf clap_ ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/84 "2010-09-13T05:42:18Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Is the debate coming down to whether BP is British? > > -Stock Exchange listing: London. I’m calling that ‘British’. > -Headquarters Location: England. Going out on a limb, I’m ‘labeling’ that ‘British’. > -Stockholders: Mostly Brits. Draw your own conclusions. > -History: A North Sea operator that metastasized recklessly, partly through the economic ‘miracle’ of ‘cutting corners’. > > If you think BP is not British, maybe you’d like to debate whether the Pope is really Catholic? I guess 3 minutes have passed so you’ve already forgotten what I posted last week. Once more, for revision: > [@](#): > > BP is 40% owned by British institutions and individuals and 39% by US ones. BP employees some 96,000 permanent members of staff for the day-to-day operation of the business, 10,000 British and 24,000 American. I expect your maths isn’t any better than your English comprehension or your memory, so FYI: 40% is not “mostly”. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 9:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/85 "2010-09-13T09:44:33Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I don’t recall Amoco causing any blowouts. Amoco’s track record for oil spills was pishpoor. > **[Amoco Cadiz](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amoco_Cadiz)** > > Amoco Cadiz was an oil tanker owned by Amoco Transport Corp and transporting crude oil for Shell Oil. Operating under the Liberian flag, she ran aground on 16 March 1978 on Portsall Rocks, 2 km (1.2 mi) from the coast of Brittany, France. Ultimately she split in three and sank, resulting in the largest oil spill of its kind to that date. > On 16 March 1978 in a southwesterly gale, the Amoco Cadiz passed Ushant at the western tip of Brittany, headed for Lyme Bay in the United Kingdom. At 9:46 am... Me, I couldn’t give a shit what some poorly informed hick thinks about me. You’re too fucking dumb to vaguely appreciate the multinational nature of BP, so who gives a flying fuck if you somehow decide to use this to fuel your idiocy. I’m quite happy to be disliked by fuckwits. ---
**Author:** ![qpw3141](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/6bbea6/32.png) [@qpw3141](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/qpw3141)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 11:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/86 "2010-09-13T11:11:34Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Under most circumstances you would be correct. But remember that there are still 43,000+ sq mi of ocean off-limits to fishing. ~150 million gallons of oil remain below the surface in the Gulf. There are American misdeeds galore; and then there is this **unprecedented horror**. You really are an unmitigated cretin, aren’t you? When the plant of a subsidiary of the American Company: Union Carbide exploded and released a cloud of deadly poison over the Indian village of Bhopal, around 2250 people died. How many have died as a result of this catastrophe? Oh, of course, Americans being inconvenienced far outweighs a few thousand Asians being gassed to death. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2010, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/87 "2010-09-13T12:35:10Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I don’t recall Amoco causing any blowouts. Depending on how you classify it, three of the largest ever ship source spills were the “Atlantic Empress” spill, the “Amoco Cadiz” spill and the “Amoco Milford Haven” spill. Now, the Atlantic Empress spill was bound for Texas with crude for Mobil (you may have heard of that ever so slightly American company) when it let 250,000 tonnes go in the Caribbean. I’m sure there are many reasons why the spill wasn’t Mobil’s fault but I’m not going to let that stop me. The Amoco Cadiz was, you guessed it, an Amoco vessel when it kinda lost a bit under 250,000 tonnes near France. I don’t see I’ve got any real option but to despise Amoco and Americans in general, do I? The Amoco Milford Haven had changed name and was known simply as the Haven by the time it gushed 150,000 tonnes on Italy. But I’m not going to let that stop me, it probably all derived from something you bloody Americans did when you owned it, fer sure. **Try2B Comprehensive** you are a silly, disingenous twat. Your posts in this thread are a constant flip-flop between at times attempting to justify your irrational and (for an American) grossly hypocritical stereotyping, and at other times (when the going gets tough) attempting to hide behind an admission that your views are irrational and silly. Man up. Take the stance that, in truth, you are actually stupid enough to want to take and get the rhetorical shit beaten out of you as you so richly deserve, or admit you are a dumbass moron whose opinions can be ignored. Don’t think you are fooling anyone with your whiney prevariction. If I was American you’d be an embarrassment. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/88 "2010-09-14T05:09:40Z")
> [@](#): > > BP is 40% owned by British institutions and individuals and 39% by US ones. BP employees some 96,000 permanent members of staff for the day-to-day operation of the business, 10,000 British and 24,000 American. Misleading. When one company takes over another, usually a controlling interest is good enough. 51%. The locals get to keep the remainder. Sure, they only control a marginal majority of the shares, but in effect they have 100% of the power over the organization. The number of proles laboring for them is irrelevant except perhaps to fan their ‘glory’. Brit control over BP in this case, no? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/89 "2010-09-14T05:20:23Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > BP is 40% owned by British institutions and individuals and 39% by US ones. BP employees some 96,000 permanent members of staff for the day-to-day operation of the business, 10,000 British and 24,000 American. > > Misleading. When one company takes over another, usually a controlling interest is good enough. 51%. The locals get to keep the remainder. Sure, they only control a marginal majority of the shares, but in effect they have 100% of the power over the organization. The number of proles laboring for them is irrelevant except perhaps to fan their ‘glory’. Brit control over BP in this case, no? I take it you are saying that the 39% of US owners might themselves be effectively owned by British interests. Yes, but the same argument cuts both ways; it’s just as possible that the 40% of UK owners are in turn owned by non-UK interests. Just as you are being owned in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2010, 5:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/90 "2010-09-14T05:30:05Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > If I was American you’d be an embarrassment. Well, now. It’s not me saying all of this stupid shit, so I don’t know that I’m embarrassed by **Try2BComprehensive**. I’ve said and done enough dumb stuff of my own to be embarrassed about. But I have to say, I wish he’d shut the fuck up and stop making himself look like a cretin all over this thread. It’s 1:30 am here and I’m too tired to go into a rant here, but T2BC, just do yourself a favor and shut up. I bet in a few weeks, people won’t even remember what a moron you’re being right now. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/91 "2010-09-16T02:27:12Z")
> [@qpw3141](#): > > > [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > > > Under most circumstances you would be correct. But remember that there are still 43,000+ sq mi of ocean off-limits to fishing. ~150 million gallons of oil remain below the surface in the Gulf. There are American misdeeds galore; and then there is this **unprecedented horror**. > > You really are an unmitigated cretin, aren’t you? > > When the plant of a subsidiary of the American Company: Union Carbide exploded and released a cloud of deadly poison over the Indian village of Bhopal, around 2250 people died. > > How many have died as a result of this catastrophe? > > Oh, of course, Americans being inconvenienced far outweighs a few thousand Asians being gassed to death. I don’t know, the event you reference _was_ extremely bad. But if the lives of non-human creatures carry any weight whatsoever, the BP spill gives any disaster a run for its money. 2250 dead. It’s fucking awful, you’re right about that. But you do realize that the sea culture of the Gulf had an extensive history, easily predating the precursors to British culture for one example, and in large part it has been simply snuffed out. It is a genocide of aquatic life (and some probable future number of starved humans) vs. 2250 people poisoned to death. How exactly do we do the math to resolve this one? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/92 "2010-09-16T02:43:44Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > > [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > > > Is the debate coming down to whether BP is British? > > > > -Stock Exchange listing: London. I’m calling that ‘British’. > > -Headquarters Location: England. Going out on a limb, I’m ‘labeling’ that ‘British’. > > -Stockholders: Mostly Brits. Draw your own conclusions. > > -History: A North Sea operator that metastasized recklessly, partly through the economic ‘miracle’ of ‘cutting corners’. > > > > If you think BP is not British, maybe you’d like to debate whether the Pope is really Catholic? > > I guess 3 minutes have passed so you’ve already forgotten what I posted last week. Once more, for revision: > > > [@](#): > > > > BP is 40% owned by British institutions and individuals and 39% by US ones. BP employees some 96,000 permanent members of staff for the day-to-day operation of the business, 10,000 British and 24,000 American. > > I expect your maths isn’t any better than your English comprehension or your memory, so FYI: 40% is not “mostly”. You sound like you’re quibbling. See an example from [this article](http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/sep/15/pope-benedict-xvi-aide-remarks): > [@](#): > > The cardinal’s reference to British Airways has also revived questions about why, in a departure from the norm, the pope will not return to Rome aboard a plane from the country he has visited – normally that country’s national flag carrier. > > At a briefing last week, Lombardi said the decision to fly there and back with the Italian airline Alitalia had been taken for reasons of “simplicity”. > > He added: “In any case, British Airways is no longer state-owned.” Alitalia was also privatised two years ago. Please read carefully. Whether or not I am an unmitigated cretin or no is completely irrelevant in this example- it is from a British source and involves characters who aren’t usually disparaged as ‘cretins’. Point is we have a row here about whether or not the companies are state-identified or not. Sounds like it comes down to questions of convenience- when it makes Brits look like they have scads of breeding, yeah British Airways is British all the way! When their privatized companies destroy a section of the planet, oh no, never 'eard of 'im! Nobody seems to have an issue with the nationality of Alitalia in the example-probably because it doesn’t compromise anyone’s convenience. And yet your British source refers to this privatized Italian company as ‘Italian’. You’re being lawyerly. And the Pope doesn’t trust British mechanics anymore, for some reason that I can’t put my finger on… Look at it another way. If someone made a movie about the history of BP and called it “It Came From Britain”, that might be sensationalistic but not exactly dishonest, no? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 2:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/93 "2010-09-16T02:49:03Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > I take it you are saying that the 39% of US owners might themselves be effectively owned by British interests. Yes, but the same argument cuts both ways; it’s just as possible that the 40% of UK owners are in turn owned by non-UK interests. Just as you are being owned in this thread. That _is_ pretty funny, but a little beside the point. The thread is not, “This formal proof demonstrates that all Brits are in fact one single crowd of rotters.” I don’t think you get what is being pitted here. ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/94 "2010-09-16T03:18:18Z")
> [@Princhester](#): > > **Try2B Comprehensive** you are a silly, disingenous twat. Your posts in this thread are a constant flip-flop between at times attempting to justify your irrational and (for an American) grossly hypocritical stereotyping, and at other times (when the going gets tough) attempting to hide behind an admission that your views are irrational and silly. > > Man up. Take the stance that, in truth, you are actually stupid enough to want to take and get the rhetorical shit beaten out of you as you so richly deserve, or admit you are a dumbass moron whose opinions can be ignored. Don’t think you are fooling anyone with your whiney prevariction. > > If I was American you’d be an embarrassment. I could be wrong, but I don’t think you are allowed to call people a ‘twat’ on this board. Not that brits care much for rules :rolleyes: I think you see what is going on here and simply wish it were otherwise so you would feel free to hand out some abuse. I am _not_ flip-flopping. Look at the timeline: -I’m minding my own business, making good money and having a great time in Paradisetown, USA. -BP fails negligently. The Gulf dies. Brits suddenly begin denying the Britishness of BP. -Months pass. Even now I am in tears on nearly a daily basis over the catastrophe. It is as if the saddest thing that could possibly happen happened, and I didn’t know what that was until after the fact. Historically my stoicism has served me very well thank you very much, but obviously it isn’t working on this one. Without having done anything wrong, I’ve developed a bona fide emotional problem! -The persistence of my distress apparently graduates to the osmosis or ‘spilling’ of this mental object from one chamber of my mind to another. Suddenly my attitude is that Brits can just piss off until I am feeling better. Do you see how that works? I did not arrive at my attitude of “Blow me, U.K.” through logical means, but rather through irrational, emotional ones. Being a Brit you may not be at all familiar with the anatomy of the passions, but believe me there is such a thing. The persistent, relentless grief has led to my unconsciously assigning blame; this mental structure now causes a variety of negative and unpleasant conscious self-suggestions. Viewed rationally, obviously there is no logical way to traverse from the events of the Gulf to the position that all Brits everywhere think the world owes them obsequious deference, and all us inferiors ought to just gladly suck it when we’re blessed enough to have Brit fuckups call attention to our wretched selves. It doesn’t even make sense! As this thread develops I think that will become ever more clear. But there is an emotional path to this position. I do not feel that I went down this path willingly. The BP oil spill has negatively impacted my attitude towards Brits. That’s what I am pitting. Either you get it or you don’t. Do you? ---
**Author:** ![Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/try2b_comprehensive/32/65_2.png) [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Try2B_Comprehensive)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/95 "2010-09-16T03:55:26Z")
Fucking Brits. Americans were respectful when your princess died. When the Gulf dies at the hands of your BP, you act like we’re assholes for _even fucking noticing_ :mad: ---
**Author:** ![villa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/bc79bd/32.png) [@villa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/villa)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/96 "2010-09-16T05:41:30Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Fucking Brits. Americans were respectful when your princess died. When the Gulf dies at the hands of your BP, you act like we’re assholes for _even fucking noticing_ :mad: No, Americans aren’t assholes. _ **You** _ are an asshole. Don’t be so fucking arrogant as to assume you stand for all Americans. And for the record, when Diana Windsor kicked the bucket, I went over to the bar and downed a few pints. ---
**Author:** ![Princhester](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/3e96dc/32.png) [@Princhester](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Princhester)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 9:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/97 "2010-09-16T09:13:16Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > I could be wrong, but I don’t think you are allowed to call people a ‘twat’ on this board. I am not in the least suprised that you fail to have a basic grasp of the facts in yet another respect. > [@](#): > > I did not arrive at my attitude of “Blow me, U.K.” through logical means, but rather through irrational, emotional ones. Fine. But if so quit with the pathetic attempts at rational justification. ---
**Author:** ![Gary\_Kumquat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4491bb/32.png) [@Gary\_Kumquat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gary_Kumquat)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/98 "2010-09-16T13:41:47Z")
> [@Try2B\_Comprehensive](#): > > Fucking Brits. Americans were respectful when your princess died. When the Gulf dies at the hands of your BP, you act like we’re assholes for _even fucking noticing_ :mad: Ah, _it’s a parody thread_. Sorry for the earlier post, you completely fooled me. ---
**Author:** ![TBortz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/91b2a8/32.png) [@TBortz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TBortz)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 3:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/99 "2010-09-16T15:47:13Z")
But my point is that I am starting to see this kind of behavior as a congenital British trait. So… should I seek counseling? Srsly I can get it free through work [/QUOTE] Could I please ask you to be more specific on what constitutes a trait when it an entire population is involved? To be extremely petty and rude I could say that the French eat frogs the Russians tend to be paranoid and the Americans tend to kill the troops of countries supporting them in combat, So the next time we have a great idea to blow off and try blaming the British for an unfortunate accident however caused, While being manned by shall we say non British nationals, a: Get your facts right b:Keep quiet. ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [September 16, 2010, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015/100 "2010-09-16T16:25:16Z")
Pfft! As if people _need_ a reason to hate the godless Brits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015.md?page=4) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-bp-oil-spill-has-negatively-impacted-my-attitude-towards-brits/553015.md?page=6)