I have written about BP's BS regarding the explosion on the Deepwater Horizon rig and the resultant oil spill in the Gulf on April 20, 2010, which is over 3?-years ago. I, along with the rest of America, was angry with BP for several reasons:

1. Poor management control over their offshore drilling
2. The loss of human life on the rig and the aquatic life in the Gulf
3. BP spent over $100 million on advertisements while the spill continued for 4-months
4. Months of lying about the disaster as it occurred
5. Years of lying about the disaster after the hole was sealed
6. Years of fighting fines while advertising how dedicated they are to the eco-system

BP soon after the disaster started putting up ads about what they are doing. I read the Huffington Post article written just a year and a half ago entitled BP Ad Campaign Following Gulf Oil Spill Deemed 'Propaganda' By Some. My only editorial comment related to the use of propaganda, which should have been BS. The other was the term by some, which should have been by all except BP.

This DailyShow aired on June 10, 2010, which was 6-weeks after the spill started.

Deepwater Horizon oil spill – May 24, 2010, a month after the disaster occurred

Here is a 2013 commercial about BP's dedication to safety. One would have thought that they would have been interested in that prior to April 20, 2010. In addition, one would have hoped that they would have been into honesty also.

Governor Jindal railed against BP a couple months ago stating that BP has spent more on advertising, which was $500 million last year than it did on paying damages and fines for the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

Moreover, many other American have protested also.

BP Protester stand on the Union Jack

Okay, so what is the value of rehashing BP's BS? By 2014, much of the obvious problems will have been dealt with or at least moving in the right direction. Interestingly, on September 18, 2014, the Scots will vote on a referendum to withdraw from the UK. The British Petroleum's modes operandi in oil drilling is the same at the Great Britain's modes operandi in empire building.

Better Together is the name of the group that does not want Scotland to leave the UK. Having lived in Scotland while doing post-graduate studies 45-years ago and returning recently to study the independence movement, I think that I have an insight that many in both America and Scotland do not possess. Nearly a century ago, the British Empire consisted of a population of 458-million people, which was a fifth of the world population and covered a fourth of the landmass of the world, which was 13,012,000 square miles. The British Empire was "the empire on which the sun never sets."

There are nearly 200 places in the world (some of which are countries and other places are parts of countries once occupied by the British Empire...what remains is NI, Wales, Scotland and about a dozen islands scattered around the world. Go to Better Together for the list of those that did not buy better together.

The modes operandi of BP's psych disorder is tragic at two levels. The first level is what that attitude did in the Gulf and the people living there. However, that same attitude is seen in GB's attitude toward their empire.

Irish potato famine caused suffering

With the Acts of Union in 1800, the Irish Parliament had been dissolved. Therefore, what could the Irish do a half of century later to resolve the famine? There was no home rule; Westminster governed from London. Over a century after of not having home rule, Westminster in 1914 finally would give it to the Irish. However, WWI also started in 1914...and it did not take effect. Anger resulted among many Irish. One of the results was the Easter Rising or Rebellion occurred on Easter Sunday 1916.

Sackville Street in Dublin after the Easter Rising in 1916

Now, back to Scotland. On May 1, 1707, the Scottish Parliament ceased functioning as a result of the Acts of Union between the English and the Scots. Scotland for the next 300-years was without a parliament or home rule. That is like a state in the Unites States not having a state legislature. Imagine how someone in Illinois or Indiana would feel having their state being governed by Washington, DC...that is with or without Ted Cruz and Michele Bachmann.

Then there is another parallel with the Irish. It is not related to potatoes or grains, but offshore oil. Where does Scottish offshore oil revenues go? Scotland. Think again. Profits for Scottish exporting of their oil goes to Westminster precisely in the same way that grain export revenues did not go to Ireland. In addition, guess one of the oil companies drilling for Scottish oil...BP.

BP is also drilling for oil off the Scottish

Another issue is the Scottish Cringe. The Scottish cringe is their feeling of cultural inferiority in comparison to the English. The English have made the Scots feel a lesser partner within the UK. The cringe attitude can be traced back to the Roman times when Hadrian's and the Antonine Walls were built to keep the Scots out of the Roman Empire.

Now, not all English diss the Scots. Churchill said of the Scots "of all small nations of this earth perhaps only the ancient Greeks surpass the Scots in their contribution to mankind." Nevertheless, there are Scots and English do not accept Churchill's Scottish assessment.

In addition, Scotland, as a country, is would fit into the middle of countries in the EU in both geographical and population size. There are 28-EU members and Scottish population and landmass would rank pretty much in the middle of other EU members. Those members smaller than Scotland function quite well as EU member states. Having said that, many Scots question their ability to function as an independent nation. That feeling reinforces the cringe factor.

The next issue, the English Cringe or what I call the Churchillian Cringe. Without the US, Great Britain would have lost both WWI and WWII. However, while the English needed America that meant that the leader in the world in the 20th and 21st century was America and not the UK. Hence, both Churchill and many Brits suffer from Churchillian cringe. Therefore, the British/English Empire has dwindled down to Wales, Scotland, N. Ireland and a handful of small islands around the world. N. Ireland and Wales both are watching what will happen when Scotland answers this question on September 18, 2014: "Should Scotland be an independent country?"

This is the Scottish National Party's logo for independence

11/22/13

Scottish independence flag

Visit the Scottish Independence page to read more about this topic.