Category: History Publisher: lulu.com
ISBN-10: 1430322837
Type: Non-Fiction
Pages: 232
Copyright: July 7, 2007
ISBN-13: 9781430322832
Exxon Valdez 18 Years And Counting is a legal explanation of the case and a resource for the public to better understand the attitude Exxon maintains towards people and the environment.
I wrote Exxon Valdez 18 Years And Counting to help others understand the pain, loss, offensiveness, and nauseating effects this legal case has brought the plaintiff’s of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill and to give a view from a Native perspective of the loss to his native culture. When a company becomes so big that they can flaunt the laws, buy science, manufacture evidence, and manipulate expert witness testimony, and when fines and litigation are not a deterrent to bad business practices, then governments can't protect its people."The firm basis of government is justice, not pity." -Woodrow Wilson "The health of the people is really the foundation upon which all their happiness and all their powers as a state depend." -Benjamin Disraeli
Excerpt
Exxon has in effect sent a drunkard into my church and disposed of it toxins in my sacred and serene house of worship. They have taken from me my livelihood, my faith in the justice system, my native way of life, they have forced me to change my career, they have destroyed my sacred and serene beaches, they have proven that they are larger and more powerful than the governments and countries that they work in, they have caused me eighteen years of grief awaiting final payment, they have take from my children and my children’s children, and most likely seven generation yet to come, they have caused me physical, emotional, mental, and financial suffering, they continue to slap in the face anyone who dares to hold their feet to the fire, they have destroyed the lives of more people than we have lost in Iraq, Iran and Afghanistan combined, and they are allowed to continue to do so by our so called justice system and by the American population that continues to purchase products from them. They are the epitome of evil.
I sincerely apologize if any offense is taken to those who have lost loved ones in Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. It is not my intention to diminish in any way your loss, but rather to exemplify just how destructive and unchecked this company’s conduct is. As I invited you in the beginning of this book to explore the destruction that Exxon has left in its wake I invite you again to start by reading about how the Company is linked with Indonesian military killings, torture and other severe abuse in Aceh, Indonesia.
The International Labor Rights Fund communicates:
In the past decade alone, ExxonMobil has extracted some $40 billion from its operations in Aceh, Indonesia, leaving in its wake a legacy of death, destruction and environmental damage.
There have been credible reports dating back several years that Exxon Mobil Corporation, along with its predecessor companies, Mobil Oil Corporation and Mobil Oil Indonesia (collectively "Exxon Mobil"), hired military units of the Indonesian national army to provide "security" for their gas extraction and liquification project in Aceh, Indonesia. Members of these military units regularly have perpetrated ongoing and severe human rights abuses against local villagers, including murder, rape, torture, destruction of property and other acts of terror. ExxonMobil apparently has taken no action to stop this violence, and instead, reportedly has continued to finance the military and to provide company equipment and facilities that have been used by the Indonesian military to perpetrate and literally cover up (in the form of mass graves) these criminal acts.
The International Labor Rights Fund has taken on the challenge of seeking justice for local victims of these abuses. On June 20, 2001, ILRF filed an ATCA claim in the Federal District Court for the District of Columbia, No. 01-1357 CIV, on behalf of 11 villagers from Aceh who were victims of human rights abuses by Exxon Mobil's security forces. The general theory of the case is that Exxon Mobil knowingly employed brutal military troops to protect its operations, and the company aided and abetted the human rights violations through financial and other material support to the security forces. In addition, the case alleges that the security forces are either employees or agents of Exxon Mobil, and thus Exxon Mobil is liable for their actions. Exxon Mobil filed a routine motion to dismiss ILRF's claim, and ILRF filed a response against this motion on December 14, 2001. Exxon Mobil's primary defense appears to be that the human rights violations may very well be occurring, but the company did not specifically intend this result, and therefore cannot be held liable. The legal case update on Mar 2006, where Judge Oberdorfer ruled that plaintiffs may proceed with their claims of abuses, including wrongful death, battery, assault, and arbitrary arrest against Exxon Mobil under state law can be found here http://www.laborrights.org/projects/corporate/exxon/DenyingDismissal030206.pdf
(INTERNATIONAL LABOR RIGHTS, 2007).
The Borderline Anti-Memory PastBook asks questions a diary does not ask and raises the questions to dialectics and answers them in a way a memory work does not answer questions.
325 letters my father wrote to my mother during his time in World War II.
Woven together in a timeline of events of three of his brothers, 5 brothers-in-law, and one cousin, all 10 of them were in WWII at the same time.
