The Museum of Hoaxes
Insanity
Posted By:
All-Seeing Eye Dog
Jan 28, 2005
 I'm hoping someone will tell me this is part of an incredibly elaborate
hoax... The Department of Homeland Security is now seizing oil fields in
America too, it would seem...

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/01/26/national/26seizure.html
Category: Politics; Replies: 9

Comments
Charybdis
in Hell
 Member
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 | 10:22 AM
Since oil fields are assets just like any other property then seizing them along with all their other assets makes sense to me. It just seems that this has simply never come up before.
all-seeing eye dog
Posted: Fri Jan 28, 2005 | 11:13 AM
Yes, but, the owner hasn't actually been formally charged with anything yet, and the whole thing was done not by a conventional law enforcement entity, but by the Department of Homeland Security which is subject to much laxer legal standards. Not to mention that they plan to auction the oil fields off--wait, never mind. Don't pay attention to any of this. What was I thinking? I'm sure the oil big wigs who run the country won't abuse their power to benefit their friends and associates (although in yet another coincidence Texaco's profits are the highest they've ever been). And I even work as a consultant and have actually seen how the interaction between government and business works, so you'd think I'd know better than to go thinking there's ever any kind of collusion involved. I mean, shady business deals just don't happen in modern America! I was just testing you to see if you were a pinko sympathizer. As my blog site will attest, I'm no enemy of America.... (allseeingeyedog.blogspot.com) Go back to sleep. We're all safe and sound.
All-Seeing Eye Dog
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 | 09:25 AM
Look man--the guy had already served his time (read more closely) and voluntarily forfeited another $50 million; his oil fields were only seized because the feds still just weren't convinced he didn't have more money stashed away somewhere. What kind of legal case is that? Punishing someone twice for the same crime seems like double-jeopardy. You do the detailed research and tell me if there's a solid enough case, but if you ask me the American people can't just take the government's word for it when it comes to something as basic as property rights. And a lot of other conservatives are with me on this. The protection of property rights is one of the foundational obligations of the federal government. In tin-penny dictatorships these kinds of seizures of personal property happen all the time under the guise of legitimate law enforcement. American people have to stop taking it for granted that our officials don't abuse their power for personal gain, especially when we get new evidence they do everyday. Our unwillingness to face up to the hard responsibilities of democratic citizenship is ruining our country! Do you honestly think it's a coincidence that the first time someone's oil fields have ever been seized in the history of America, it just happened to be under the watch of a president whose best friends are oil men (hell, for that matter, under a vice president who still gets a regular check from Halliburton)? And is it really a coincidence that it happened now, just when all the news stations are mandated to run nothing but coverage of the Iraqi elections (a time table the administration wouldn't allow to slip no matter what the situation in Iraq was)? And for my money, the energy and pharmaceutical industries are a bigger threat to the American way of life than marijuana dealers have ever been (besides, who DIDN'T sell marijuana in the 70s?). Am I just hyping my blog? Yeah, I had the NY Times print the article so I'd have some sensational story to drive traffic to my blog with. How much do you get paid to keep people confused about what's going on? Or are you just really confused too? Either way, I'm tired or pretending not to see the obvious.
anon
Posted: Sat Jan 29, 2005 | 06:02 PM
then it worked.
all-seeing eye dog
Posted: Sun Jan 30, 2005 | 12:19 PM
I'm sorry Paul. You're right. I apologize if my tone seemed disrespectful. I didn't intend it to. Had a bad day and got carried away.
Maegan
in Tampa, FL - USA
 Member
Posted: Thu Feb 03, 2005 | 09:32 AM
"Our unwillingness to face up to the hard responsibilities of democratic citizenship is ruining our country!"
-But no one wants to be responsible for anything today. Even judges have declined from voting or whatever it is they do...b/c they don't want to seem un/sympathetic to the issue on trial. It's their JOB to decide a case. If they decline to vote, they're being paid, but not doing their job.

(Sorry, this is a totally irrelevent to the actual idea of the thread...but it just reminded me of a story I read about judges who voted on something & some didn't vote & the judges who did vote tied on a really serious issue. But it reminded me of being responsible.)

Note: This thread is located in the Old Forum of the Museum of Hoaxes.