I wasn't trying to target you specifically with the comment. I just wanted to relate a story and remind people that there are real people involved who are hurt by this guy's actions.
#13
sixpackshaker
What did Cheney do wrong, the way to get anything done in the 3rd World is with bribery. He was functioning in the system in place in that nation. I loathe Cheney, but he gets a pass on this one from me.
#14
Krisken
Apparently, Nigeria disagrees with you.
#15
sixpackshaker
Heaven forbid that the new kids on the block go after their political adversaries with the law. Now Cheney is caught in the new power struggle.
#16
Krisken
Cheney isn't in power at all, so saying he is a political adversary doesn't hold any water.
I'm trying to imagine someone over the age of 10 trying to use the "Well, everyone else does it" as a defense in a court of law. Now that is something I find humorous!
Cheney isn't in power at all, so saying he is a political adversary doesn't hold any water.
I'm trying to imagine someone over the age of 10 trying to use the "Well, everyone else does it" as a defense in a court of law. Now that is something I find humorous!
The people he was bribing was in power. They most likely demanded the cash. The Old Guard is out and the people that replace them try to clean up their mess.
Also the thehun, China actually has an apparatus that acts like law enforcement, Nigeria is just now starting to clean things up. But, biting the hands that feed you is idiotic and rather short sighted.
#18
Krisken
Sorry Sixpack, you haven't convinced me. I understand corporations think they can do anything they want, but I'm not going to show any sympathy when their illegal practices bite them in the ass.
What did Cheney do wrong, the way to get anything done in the 3rd World is with bribery. He was functioning in the system in place in that nation. I loathe Cheney, but he gets a pass on this one from me.
The fact is that a number of oil companies absolutely refuse to commit overseas bribery, partially because its unethical, and partially because it is illegal in the US itself (The FCPA). Companies that do this kind of stuff deserve the harshest punishment available under the law as they are participating in anti-competitive tactics that hurt other american companies by disallowing an even playing field.
If you google foreign bribery and oil guess who shows up repeatedly in tons of articles over and over and over again. Haliburton. That company is an absolute joke in my industry (not as bad as BP but pretty damned close.) I seriously hope there is some long jail time coming from both sides of the ocean for this, as it is wholly unnacceptable
Edit: I could care lesss about Cheney by the way, this doesn't have as much to do with him as it does a very corrupt american business.
What did Cheney do wrong, the way to get anything done in the 3rd World is with bribery. He was functioning in the system in place in that nation. I loathe Cheney, but he gets a pass on this one from me.
And then fun part is, you can replace the quote with a lot of sixpack's other quotes and be correct too.
#21
strawman
Actually they're just jealous.
They found out that Cheney's bribing other African nations at a much higher rate.
While it's good the Nigeria is trying to clean up its image and go after corruption, this is not much more than a dog and pony show. I will be surprised if anything comes of this particular case. I hope that they are prosecuting smaller cases just as vigorously, otherwise it would seem merely to be a ploy to fill their coffers while not really fixing the problem.
Well, he has slimmed down a bit and is looking better...
#28
Philosopher B.
#29
Necronic
Well. US accepted a fine for the charges as well (according to the story.)
Hm. Don't know how I feel about this. The fines are getting to a size where you getting close to a complete loss of profitability of the venture.
On the other hand. Those fines are being paid to the governments involved. The companies that competed on that bid are getting nothing, and at the end of the day less work is being produced for the dollar, which is always ALWAYS bad for a capitalist society.
Looks like some people are still going to hang for this though, Wojciech Chodan was indicted by the FCPA a couple weeks ago.