Oil rage from the past

How the hell did this happen? Ignorance, apathy, and (the greatest weapon) time, that's how. Let me recap for those who have bad short term history memories. 19 years ago there was an oil spill in the Prince William Sound area when a drunken captain of the Exxon Valdez tanker ship ran it aground, spilling 11 MILLION gallons of crude oil into the surrounding wilderness. 5 years later, in 1984, a jury awarded the Sound area (landowners, business owners, etc.) a sum of $5 billion dollars in damages, to be paid out by ExxonMobil, a move many thought would send a striking message to oil companies that they were not untouchable and were accountable for their actions. And most people left it at that. Content that justice had been served. But not ExxonMobil. They took the case back to court. To the top. And what did Americas Highest Court decide? The entity that is supposed to reflect Americas highest ideal of law and justice? They changed the amount needed to be paid to these people whose lives were forever changed. The amount now is $507.5 million. Calculators out people. You know what that is? That's 10.15% of the original amount. Count in inflation for the past 14 years, and it is even less. That is also, approximately, the equivalent of 24 hours worth of petroleum sales.
Oh... a striking message has been made. To the oil companines, your actions may cost you no more than what you take in for a day. To the rest of us, look out. Your land, the land around you, wild life, and your livelihood have a price. One easily added into the oil companies expense books, and forgotten about.

Money matters

So I have a trio of money related articles to pull up today. I found these rather relevant. First, let's look at America. Now, we all know that the economy is taking a down turn, we're close to a recession, the dollar is slumping in the market, etc. Don't be fooled people, oh no. We are not close to a recession. We are IN one. But, why is that such a taboo word? All economies have down turns, even ones that are doing really well. However, not all economies that are going down necessarily have to have an upturn. That's important to think about. "That's just doomsday rhetoric you're feeding us, Hatter" you may say to me. Oh really? Then let's look at the world. Amsterdam. Commonly known as the center for carnality and debauchery, where they are happy to take your money and let you loose yourself, right? Apparently not if you are running along with old Washington in your wallet. Amsterdam currency changers are actually refusing to change the American Dollar to Euros because they are afraid of losing big money. Wow. Ouch.

On the other side of the money issue, while our money is flying away, British money is being given away! Well, if you are in the military, anyway. That's right, Uncle Brown (for those of you who maybe never pay attention to British news, Blair is out, Brown is in) REALLY wants you... to stay in Iraq. A 15,000 pound loyalty bonus is being introduced to try to encourage a slowing to the military exodus that England is seeing due to the Iraq war. Bullets where they don't belong for 15,000 pound... hmm. Not sure I like the trade off.

Finally I really wish I had a blog back when RFID credit cards first came out. Then I could point you all back to where I FUCKING CALLED IT! That's right, easy as pie. If you have one of these, I would go to your bank and DEMAND one without any RFID. They are as far from safe as you can get, and they will only get worse.