Day: July 27, 2010

Tony Hayward – Demon ???


What a witch hunt the BP saga has turned into.

I understand that Hayward has been,in recent times, the visible face of BP and that he could have, should have been a bit more diplomatic with some of his statements.  Many of which, published by the worlds media,  have been quoted out of context. Some comments, under the circumstances and in the cold light of day, are wholly understandable.

He wasn’t personally responsible for what happened on the rig and there are quite a few other company bosses and rig owners who are thinking “There but for the grace of god….”.

However, it seems these days we aren’t satisfied, until someone’s head has fallen. He is now being lined up as a sacrificial lamb.

But lets not forget that Hayward was running BP, a company that he had been working for since 1982. He didn’t get to that position by being a total duffer.

So for all those who are baying for blood and feel that he should be cut loose without a penny, I ask ” How would that be fair compensation for all those years of effort”.

Of course the answers will come back “What about all those whose livelihood has been destroyed by the oil spill ?”

Well of course BP are going to foot the bill for compensation and I know its going to take years and there will be folks who will never be compensated for the stress and anxiety during the in-between times.

Also, what a boon the disaster has been for Obama.  Sure he’s getting lots of pressure from the people of the USA but hey, he can honestly say “It’s not my fault”  and he has that demon Hayward who works for that British company that he can blame and wring dry for compensation.

But just a minute didn’t this start with an explosion on an oil rig rented from a company called Transocean who probably supplied the equipment and operations personnel too. They were originally incorporated in the US state of Delaware moving to Switzerland via the Cayman Islands but their roots go back to the Birmingham, Alabama based Southern Natural Gas Company.

Not so’s we should be worried at all but Transocean owns nearly half of the 50 or so deepwater platforms in operation around the world. Oh, and by the way, Transocean are headed up by Steven Newman who just happens to be an american. Although the US House Energy and Commerce Committee have sent letters to Transocean we don’t see the  same ferocity of attack aimed at Newman as is being suffered by Hayward.

The buck definitely stops with BP, they have the ultimate responsibility and have to head the clean up operation.

But lets not demonize Tony Hayward.

Wave Goodbye To Speed Cameras


I say Hooray. Lets get rid of them all.

I am one of the school who believes that they were only ever a money-raising mechanism. Especially when you take a look at where some of these cameras were situated and not necessarily on accident black spots.

I have never understood why we don’t use the same method of speed reduction that I saw on the road south from Alicante, Spain.

There they had installed radar controlled traffic lights. All the while traffic maintained a legal pace the lights remained at green. If someone broke the speed limit the radar detected the infraction and switched the lights to red.

Everyone stopped.

Then the lights changed back and the traffic got underway again.

Eventually everyone, well the locals anyway, are trained to keep their speed down. On my trips down that road it was typically the holiday makers in hire cars who were triggering the lights to change.

I would suggest that here in the UK this would be better than having signs that flash up a motorists speed. My experience is that this type of sign is largely ignored by the regular users of the road covered and it is only the newcomer who is “startled” into slowing down. At least with radar controlled lights all motorists would have to stop. The warning could not be ignored.

Pope Asks For Cash


Call me a cynical old bastard but did anyone actually ask the Pope to come visit.

Yet here he comes and suddenly all we hear is how the Catholic Church has got its hand out asking the parishioners to dip into their meager resources to pay for his visit.

We have also already been told that his visit will cost around 12 million pounds, not including policing costs !!!

The BBC reports that folks in Scotland will need to obtain “Pilgrim Passes” and the Catholic Church is suggesting a “donation” of £20 would seem appropriate.

£20 is quite a high fee to expect some folks to stump up even if they will get a “gift” pack and a CD.

See article …. HERE