Chevron in Burma, w poll

According to Burmacampaign.org:

Since its 2005 takeover of Unocal, US oil giant Chevron has been one of the joint venture partners developing the Yadana offshore gas field in Burma, which earns the military regime millions of dollars.

See this diary from earlier today, now off the 50 most recent diaries list, which advocates specific actions we can take to protest Chevron practices.

And here's a great and, sadly, prescient tompaine.com article from one year ago that links Chevron's incursion into Myanmar/Burma to Bush administration policies.

The Chevron banner ad irks me so much that I'm thinking of posting a diary about Chevron's wrongdoing every time I see the ad go up.

Burma's only one example.

•  Markos can sell advertising to anyone he wants to

  and even though I do not like Chevron (and their add irks me too), they have every right to advertise here and Markos to accept them.

  That being said, I am all in favour of someone writing an anti-Chevron diary anytime a Chevron add goes up and I will be happy to rec' the diary (like I have done here).  In fact I would support a daily (hourly;-) ant-Chevron and anti-Oil company diary anytime.  I have written several anti-oil, pro-ANWR diaries in the past as that is one of my key issues.

  Also I have subscribed to DKos, so I do not need to see the adds anymore.  I would recommend this to anyone as well.

  by Norwegian Chef on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 06:49:24 PM PDT

  •  pragmatism

    I for one thing.

    as long as chevron paying through their nose putting an ad on this site, while the link/ad is relatively harmless. (eg. name recognition, vague image building)

    Big deal.

    But if their ad is very pernicious, directly advocating everything against what this site is doing (say GOP candidate, direct exploitation of something...) then I will raise hell.

    by fugue on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 06:55:03 PM PDT

    •  Pragmatism.

      2004 -- http://www.opensecrets.org/...

      2002 -- http://www.opensecrets.org/...

      All Cycles -- http://www.opensecrets.org/...

      by Mogolori on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:07:28 PM PDT

      •  specifically to this site

        Hey if you ask me, it is time to close chevron and charge it for crime against nature and humanity. Nevermind corruption.

        by fugue on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:10:08 PM PDT

      •  Feinstein? Pelosi?

        Maybe those few donations to Dems are to Feinstein and Pelosi?  Chevron's HQ is in their districts, right?

        by AskQuestions on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:25:44 PM PDT

•  Depends

  Depends if it adds to the dialogue. I have posted about Burma, including mention of Chevron and their role. I do believe people should contact Chevron and call on them to pressure the Burmese junta.

  Simply posting just because an ad us up doesn't necessarily make sense to me. Posting a daily update on what is going on, including various actions, IS a good idea. I wouldn't obsess about the ad. Click on it a few times if you want to cost Chevron some money.

  Keep up the pressure. But let's not tie it to any particular ad on a blog.

  by mole333 on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:01:52 PM PDT

•  Something in the FAQ that explains the situation

  would really be a good idea.

  I've got a diary that turned into a very ugly shitstorm yesterday on this subject because people assumed I was bringing the question up to be snarky or a troll; and/or because they trusted the DailyKos network/software/database more than a human being when I reported that I'd gotten an empty page back when I searched on Chevron before posting.

  People got really unnecessarily abusive to the point where that ALONE almost turned me off to further participation on this site. I wasn't half as disturbed by the use of Chevron as a cash cow as I was by the trollish behavior of some of the denizens here.

  I really think it would be good if Markos achieved the wherewithal to tell Chevron to go fuck themselves. Foraging on the enemy is fine, but in my opinion the way things are right now the enemy gets to forage on us more - dropping spontaneous and perhaps the odd intentional "Why is Chevron here?" shitstorms into our punch bowl far more than is worth it.

  At this point I wouldn't be at all surprised if some of the people who jumped me yesterday were Chevron corporate shills or other lurking GOP scum. It really works to the advantage of the oil-pig military/industrial complex when they can cause an hours-long denial of service attack on people's brains like that. There's got to be a better way to prevent this.

  by Randgrithr on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:08:09 PM PDT

  •  Oil-pig military/industrial complex

    A moniker that bears repeating.

    by AskQuestions on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:27:53 PM PDT

•  The monks appreciate your indignation. n/t

  by valion on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:50:22 PM PDT

•  Shut up and....

  ...take their money. It's for a good cause.

  by Bensdad on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 07:52:40 PM PDT

•  Do something real about Burma

  This is a website where people are encouraged to share their opinions, so I can't fault people who have so much to say about Chevron's ad. It is a free country, say what you wish.

  I don't care about Chevron's ad on the website. This is, in my opinion, mighty small potatoes to be worried about, given the situation in Burma.

  I do think that international corporations which do business in Burma, and with the junta, are in a position to push for respect for human rights--or not.

  What I'd be interested in hearing more about is the record of Chevron and other corporations in Burma, as to what they've done--or not done--to affect the situation.

  If a corporation has made the situation worse, then what are some practical steps that people can take to make this known and to pressure the corporations doing business there to do the right thing?

  Consider the work that the Burma Campaign has done. For example, Burma exports garments--many of which are sold in Europe, often high-priced clothing. The Burma Campaign set about finding out which retailers and manufacturers import from Burma. The Burma Campaign lists the clean companies, the replies from some companies, and the companies that have refused to provide information. People can use this list as a guide to purchasing clothes, if they wish to do so.

  I'm following the diaries about Burma quite closely.

  However, speaking only for myself, I hope that anyone who writes a diary about the Chevron ad on dKos will make that very, very, clear in the title. Those of us with no further interest in this topic can skip it and those who are passionate about the ad can read another diary about it.

  I thought that this diary might actually have useful and new (to me) information about Chevron in Burma--and it turns out to be light on new information about Chevron, and heavy on irritation about an ad on dKos.

  By all means, post as diary about Chevron in Burma every time you see the ad--I'll be interested in diaries about something substantive on this topic, just not about the ad on dKos.

  by True North on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 08:02:53 PM PDT

  •  I had exactly the same feeling w/ this diary.

    In my best of all possible worlds there would be a Rec'd diary up every moment to show our support with the Burmese people.

    Reducing the suffering of the Burmese people to a battle about Chevron ads on DKOS is insulting.

    KO had a nasty Marathon on tonight which I found insulting.  For a second I considered a pretty malevolent possibility:  what if Marathon is intentionally advertising on KO to discredit KO with lefties?

    Just a thought.

    by tecampbell on Tue Oct 02, 2007 at 10:11:11 PM PDT