British press: Bayou boaters have gone from Bubba Gumps to 'Spillionaires'

[dixiegrrrrl]

British press goes all Barbara Bush on the bayou.

(Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 7:31 PM Updated: Tuesday, August 10, 2010, 8:55 PM, )
the Press Register reports this article by Paul Thompson of the British Mail:

"It was the home town of Forrest Gump's shrimp-loving friend Bubba Blue in the famous movie. But since the huge oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, Bayou La Batre in Alabama has become home to a new breed of men known as the 'Spillionaires.'

"They are the shrimp boat owners who have prospered hugely from the millions of pounds handed out by BP."

According to Thompson, while poor British workers are seeing their pensions go to pot because the stock value of BP has plummeted, the shrimp boat set in the Bayou have raked in the dough since the spill.

Thompson refers to the pay that shrimpers -- largely out of work because of the spill -- get from taking part in the Vessels of Opportunity program. Boats are getting up to $3,000 or more a day, he wrote. Deckhands have been making about $94 a day."

link to al.com blog and Press register report of above:
http://blog.al.com/live/2010/08/bubba_gump_to_spillionaires.html

[hobbit709]

1. Talk about taurine metabolic byproducts.

[joeybee12]

2. Whata load of crap..is the Fail, er Mail owned by murdoch? n/t

[truebrit71]

5. No it isn't...but it gives him a run for his money for the right-wing bat-shit-crazy audience...

..in the U.K...

[joeybee12]

6. The one and only time I was in london I was appalled by what passes as

a newspaper there...I told some guys who worked in our London office my opinion, and they were appalled ours weren't more like their's!

[truebrit71]

9. There are plenty of other papers available, the funny thing is, the more right-wing they are..

..the more like a skin-rag they become..

[Kalyke]

12. Because right-wingers have no respect for women. eom

[Kalyke]

11. Um... I read The Guardian religiously.

It far surpasses the trash we have over here.

[Kalyke]

7. It is, naturally, a tabloid.

I could tell that by the corny headline.

I realize that Fleet Street was, at one time, known for their tabloids, but the proper British press would never be so flippant about a situation as dire as fishermen who have lost their livelihood.

I'm guessing the number of average people who have gotten rich off this disastrous is less than 1 percent.

[Gold Metal Flake]

3. WOW! A deckhand might make almost $12 an hour!!!

Assuming $94 for an eight hour work day. I'm guessing they are working longer than that while being exposed to poisons and not allowed to wear protective gear.

BP got a fucking bargain, is what I think. But I suppose Chinese child slaves would be more profitable. I guess it is an economic hardship on a corporation to poison an entire sea.


On edit: I thought hour, I typed day. Now I need to leave the office for an "hour". :-)

[Uben]

14. Wanna edit that?

day/hr

[Gold Metal Flake]

15. Doh! Thanks!

:hi:

[truebrit71]

4. First clue that you should ignore this? It quotes an article from the Daily Mail..

..a "news" organization that is politically as far-right as you can be without actually having to goose-step to work..

[dixiegrrrrl]

8. It was clever of the ala.paper to print it,then.

It will rile up more anti-BP feelings along the coast, and give BP bad publicity.
I cannot begin to explain the depth of anger across 4 states.
And hopefully much of the rest of the USA.

[tnlefty]

18. The anger isn't confined to 4 states...

just wanted to let you know. :hi: I'm sure that BP thought it very clever to remove Tony and replace him with Dudley, but it's not working. I and others that I talk to are beginning to despise him, Suttles and the other good ol' boys who are in the teevee ads even more than Tony. Bastards all.

[dixiegrrrrl]

19. Stories like this tend to keep the "piss off" going:

Gulf oil spill a learning experience, say BP executives.

"The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been a lot of things, including a learning experience, two BP PLC executives told the federal government's top drilling regulator Tuesday.

Speaking were Richard Morrison, BP's vice president of Gulf of Mexico operations, and Richard Lynch, BP's vice president of drillings and completion. They said spill response has led to technical breakthroughs in how to monitor and clean up oil, and created a storehouse of equipment and knowledge.

"I hope this gives you some insight and, I hope, comfort into our industry's newly expanded effort to fight this spill," Morrison said. "We hope this doesn't happen again, but if it does, we'll be ready."

http://blog.al.com/live/2010/08/gulf_oil_spill_a_learning_expe.html

We have been a LEARNING EXPERIENCE ??!!!
Now hold on a damn minute! These ossified assholes WROTE environmental statements before they even drilled that they had all the "equipment, knowledge, experience, etc" to handle any spill.
Yes, their statement gives me great insight into their spill effort, but absolutely NO "comfort", since they were lying then, have been caught in numerous almost daily lies since the spill.

[tnlefty]

23. The use of dispersants underwater and in such huge quantities

was also an experiment. I visit the florida oil spill law site (www.floridaoilspilllaw.com) early in the morning and this morning I almost blew up prior to taking my boys to school. Thad Allen stated that the use of dispersants had been halted on July 15th, when the well was capped, but one of his underlings apparently didn't get the memo and stated that they're still being used around the well bore.:wtf: If it's capped and not leaking why continue to use dispersants??? :wtf:

That site and www.monkeyfister.blogspot.com both have the same video from the same ROV showing constant eruptions of supposedly methane hydrates with black globs appearing at times.

I'm just sick of being lied to. What I see from the locals and what's being reported in most media just don't match up. The propaganda gets catapulted here, too.

Some us are still very angry and thinking you Gulf residents.

[slampoet]

10. The BBC's propaganda on this is so bad i called up my local NPR and cancelled my donations.

it isn't just the murdoch papers

[rucky]

13. This spill must be the best thing that's ever happened to them.

After all, we can always get shrimp from other parts of the ocean.

[jaksavage]

16. Like in Alaska

Boat owners who worked on the spill made very good money.
I went to a party for a guy who had one boat work 100 days delivering mail on the spill.
He owned 3 boats I believe and all were hired by excon.
It is hush money to keep the semi powerful locals happy.

[Johonny]

17. Where do you spend a pound in the US?

Americans got a hard enough time figuring out those Sacajawea dollars and BP is handing out payments in pounds! Those bastards.

[dixiegrrrrl]

22. aha! BP is also responsible for the obesity factor, then.

Handing out pounds.


Bet they killed Kenny at some point, too.

[Deep13]

20. If that were true, it would be fine with me. nt

[HipChick]

21. The Daily Mail aka The Daily Whine is a notorious Right Wing Attack Obama site...

Why are links allowed to this known r/w site?

It's like linking to the Drudge Report or Faux News, and then reporting it as fair and balanced

[KamaAina]

24. The link was to a mainstream paper's site in Alabama

whioch just happened to quote the RW Eurotrash. :eyes:

[Blue_In_AK]

25. It sounds like one John Shively

in Alaska (a strong proponent of the Pebble Mine http://www.renewableresourcescoalition.org/newsroom/2010-05-14/the-pebble-open-pit-gold-copper-mine-puts-at-risk-the-most-spectacular-and-abund) who was heard to say on video "Thank God for Joe Hazelwood." Idiots.