greed on steroids

The cancerous phase of unregulated, corporate welfare, externalize costs and rake in the profits continues. The contrast between a fisherman and a corporate CEO couldn't be more clear. Always leads me to wonder..."just exactly what is it that guy does in an hour that is so unbelieveably valuable????????????" hmmmm

The Exxon Valdez ruling: requiem for fishermen, justice
Finally, after more than 19 years, the Supreme Court has put to rest litigation over punitive damages in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound.
By Frank Mullen
Special to The Times

Oil-covered birds were among the many victims in Prince William Sound in 1989 after the Exxon Valdez tanker ran aground about 25 miles from Valdez.

Finally, after more than 19 years, the Supreme Court has put to rest litigation over punitive damages in the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill in Prince William Sound. As a
fisherman involved in the litigation, I have dedicated one-third of my life to observation of this "David vs. Goliath" conflict.
Naturally, since I was an oil-damaged fisherman who lost an entire season of salmon fishing — who waded with hip boots in knee-deep oily mousse along pristine Alaska shoreline while picking up bird carcasses with a stick; who observed firsthand the comedy of horrors as Exxon hired the VECO Corporation to waste millions in a pathetically ineffective response; who has replayed a thousand times in my mind the voice of the drunk Joe Hazelwood slurring into the microphone his report to the Coast Guard: "We have fetched up hard aground on Bligh Reef ... ."

— I expected this case to be a no-brainer, and that the U.S. justice system would prevail on behalf of the little guy. Little did I know in 1989 that I would be sitting at a keyboard nearly 20 years later reflecting on the failures of the U.S. justice system. Little did I know that, as the years went by and I attended funerals of many of my fishermen friends who passed away without seeing closure to this agony, that I would grow to be so angry and disheartened by the success that Exxon has had with their methodical manipulation of the justice system. Way back in 1989, it was rumored that Lee Raymond, the CEO of Exxon at that time, was saying privately that he would dedicate every resource of the corporation to making sure that fishermen never received a dime in compensation. I find it interesting to note that Raymond's severance package when he retired from Exxon some years ago was about $400 million. Now, nearly 33,000 plaintiffs must split an amount only slightly higher than that!

full article
Fisherman Frank
Mullen lives in Homer, Alaska.

and this from the Alaska
News.........

... Last year, Exxon generated a record $40.6 billion dollars in profits, the largest profits of any corporation in history. The damages awarded under this ruling represent roughly 4.5 days of Exxon profits. ...
full article


looks like Alaska has a really good candidate running Berkowitz Condemns Exxon Valdez Ruling


powerful little video...imagine if the fisherman had received what the consultants where paid to introduce doubt about the external costs these criminals have shifted to us as they reap in record profits......it's our home!

and the contrast between where Lee Raymond, CEOExxon, and the residents and fisherman of Valdez are these almost 20 years later.....hmmmmmm

An Oily Favor
By William Raspberry
Monday, November 14, 2005

Oil profits "go up and down," Exxon Mobil Chairman Lee Raymond told the Senate the other day, explaining why the oil giants' huge post Katrina profits were not profiteering.

Exxon Mobil Chairman Lee Raymond, left, and Chevron Chairman David O'Reilly during a Senate hearing last week. (By Pablo Martinez Monsivais -- Associated Press)

Thus the $32.8 billion in profits that America's five biggest petroleum corporations reported for the JulySeptember quarter were more like a natural occurrence -- that darned "invisible hand"! -- than a calculated effort to take advantage of a national emergency. Profits just "go up and down."
full article