Just Stop Oil

[Bahnhof Strasse]

Mike Parry on BBC R2, shouty, shouty man. "Why an Aston Martin garage and not a food bank?" - ehrm...

 

[8ball]

Mike Parry on BBC R2, shouty, shouty man. "Why an Aston Martin garage and not a food bank?" - ehrm...

Aston Martin was a genius target to choose because... cars... and ... something something James Bond.

 

[Humberto]

Aston Martin was a genius target to choose because... cars... and ... something something James Bond.

Rich people's cars. It's the poor bearing the brunt of climate change consequences, they say.

 

[8ball]

Rich people's cars. It's the poor bearing the brunt of climate change consequences, they say.

The poor tend to bear the brunt of most things, true. However Aston Martin (small volume, independently owned, making big investments in green tech <for whatever that's worth>) seems an odd choice when e.g. Lamborghini is owned by a parent company notorious for fudging emissions data on cars right across the range.

 

[editor]

Throwing soup at a Van Gogh does seem uniquely pathetic.

Somoneo somewhere pointed out that Van Gogh was someone who was subject to oppression in his own life. So well done. That may have been said here, I don't know, I'm very tired

“It is not the language of painters but the language of nature which one should listen to, the feeling for the things themselves, for reality is more important than the feeling for pictures.”
— Vincent Van Gogh

 

[Karl Masks]

Why not chuck soup at a BP executive? Tin or not!

 

[hitmouse]

Interesting interview with the Van Gogh Soup protestors in Frieze - they remain impressively on-message throughout.

An Interview With Just Stop Oil

Activists Phoebe Plummer and Anna Holland – who recently threw a can of tomato soup at a Vincent Van Gogh painting in the National Gallery, London – speak about their fight for the future

www.frieze.com

Somewhat less impressed by the interviewer, though:

AD: Can you tell me a little bit about the structure of Stop the Oil?

 

[DaphneM]

Throwing soup at a Van Gogh does seem uniquely pathetic.

Somoneo somewhere pointed out that Van Gogh was someone who was subject to oppression in his own life. So well done. That may have been said here, I don't know, I'm very tired

this lot do seem a bit thick

 

[Karl Masks]

this lot do seem a bit thick

what about the soup though? Minestrone? Cream of chucking?

 

[NoXion]

So far, we’ve seen 33 million people in Pakistan displaced by apocalyptic floods, 36 million have had their lives absolutely ruined by the famines in East Africa. Yet, all it took was two young people to throw soup at a painting to get people talking more than they have done in such a long time about the climate crisis.

They're not talking about the climate crisis, though. They're talking about how stupid it is to target an unrelated artwork. Do these idiots actually pay attention to the content of the attention that they generate, or are they just limiting themselves to listening to those who pat them on the back for making a scene?

Also, the famines and the floods have been in the news. The stupid soup stunt isn't getting to anyone who hasn't already heard.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Guess they pick up more oil drilling contracts than you do with the thinking contracts.

It's about what stimulates oil production. Luxury cars do. Add to that, he fact that even with much-increased internal combustion engine efficiency, cars with 2 litre plus engines are still the norm in many urban centres (Range Rover Evoques are almost fucking ubiquitous round here).
Then you've got cunts like Bahnhof Strasse drive their 3 litre Audis, the younger, weedier siblings of Aston Martin. It's consumption culture, & the more often that's pointed out, the better.
Many German cities in the various lande have had great success giving tax breaks, scrappage & other schemes to people to get rid of big cars, & adopt a "Town Car" approach. Vehicles with smaller, more efficient engines are subsidised. Traffic pollution has fairly consistently fallen, even in congested city centres. Here (Brixton), we're still inhaling some of the worst traffic pollution in London.
Just Stop Oil's activism reminds me of some of Class War's stunts. It's about drawing attention to the absurdities of capitalism (remember the Cereal Killer Cafe redecoration?). It's more effective than marching from A to B.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Why not chuck soup at a BP executive? Tin or not!

A can of Castrol GTX (showing my age there!) would be more appropriate (& cause more severe wounding), surely?

 

[platinumsage]

It's about drawing attention to the absurdities of capitalism

Yeah fucking historical paintings in a free-to-enter gallery! That would never be allowed under full communism, they'd be permanently submerged in soup, safely out of sight.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Yeah fucking historical paintings in a free-to-enter gallery! That would never be allowed under full communism, they'd be permanently submerged in soup, safely out of sight.

A painting worth around £30 million. I think most people can appreciate the absurdity of THAT!

 

[Pickman's model]

A can of Castrol GTX (showing my age there!) would be more appropriate (& cause more severe wounding), surely?

or a simple can of coke

 

[ViolentPanda]

or a simple can of coke

GTX came in litre steel cans, coke comes in 330ml aluminium cans. I like to think of the damage a 1l steel can full of oil can do. Coke cans would split on impact!

 

[8ball]

It's about what stimulates oil production. Luxury cars do.

 

[ViolentPanda]

So you think that hundreds of thousands of new luxury vehicles annually, in Europe alone, don't stimulate oil production?
We - the west - have an ever-increasing number of cars on the road, many of them with unnecessarily large engines in them (see the Chelsea Tractor/school run threads of yore). It may not stimulate oil production as much as power generation does, but it's a factor, & one that shouldn't be ignored.

 

[8ball]

So you think that hundreds of thousands of new luxury vehicles annually, in Europe alone, don't stimulate oil production?
We - the west - have an ever-increasing number of cars on the road, many of them with unnecessarily large engines in them (see the Chelsea Tractor/school run threads of yore). It may not stimulate oil production as much as power generation does, but it's a factor, & one that shouldn't be ignored.

You could pick just about anything and say it “stimulates oil production”.

Including, apparently, old paintings.

Take a look at the proportion of fossil fuels used by cars out of the total usage. Cars are a distraction in terms of oil and energy use.

Governments know this, and like to use the fact to individualise the issue.

 

[Aladdin]

what about the soup though? Minestrone? Cream of chucking?

It was mashed potato today.
Very runny mashed potato.
A sin against mashed potatoes everywhere.

 

[Bahnhof Strasse]

It's about what stimulates oil production. Luxury cars do. Add to that, he fact that even with much-increased internal combustion engine efficiency, cars with 2 litre plus engines are still the norm in many urban centres (Range Rover Evoques are almost fucking ubiquitous round here).
Then you've got cunts like Bahnhof Strasse drive their 3 litre Audis, the younger, weedier siblings of Aston Martin. It's consumption culture, & the more often that's pointed out, the better.
Many German cities in the various lande have had great success giving tax breaks, scrappage & other schemes to people to get rid of big cars, & adopt a "Town Car" approach. Vehicles with smaller, more efficient engines are subsidised. Traffic pollution has fairly consistently fallen, even in congested city centres. Here (Brixton), we're still inhaling some of the worst traffic pollution in London.
Just Stop Oil's activism reminds me of some of Class War's stunts. It's about drawing attention to the absurdities of capitalism (remember the Cereal Killer Cafe redecoration?). It's more effective than marching from A to B.

I no longer have a three litre Audi, bought a 1.4ltr petrol for BB1 to become indoctrinated in to the car driving world. Plus most of my miles are by bike. But am still a cunt, almost as big a one as you.

 

[NoXion]

A painting worth around £30 million. I think most people can appreciate the absurdity of THAT!

Yet throwing soup or mashed potato at them does literally nothing to challenge that. Indeed the stunt just wouldn't work at all if it was just some random painting that wasn't valued in the millions.

Just Stop Oil's activism reminds me of some of Class War's stunts. It's about drawing attention to the absurdities of capitalism (remember the Cereal Killer Cafe redecoration?). It's more effective than marching from A to B.

How is this effectiveness determined? Following these events I've seen a lot of arguments along the lines of "well you're talking about it, so it must be working!". Yeah no, just because something draws attention doesn't mean that the attention is going to amount to anything useful for the cause concerned. A lot of the people I've seen talking about these actions (outside of Urban) are supremely baffled by the choice of art galleries as targets.

 

[MickiQ]

I no longer have a three litre Audi, bought a 1.4ltr petrol for BB1 to become indoctrinated in to the car driving world. Plus most of my miles are by bike. But am still a cunt, almost as big a one as you.

Don't worry I still have mine but it's only's a 2ltr so my cuntiness score is probably lower than yours.

 

[8ball]

So you think that hundreds of thousands of new luxury vehicles annually, in Europe alone, don't stimulate oil production?
We - the west - have an ever-increasing number of cars on the road, many of them with unnecessarily large engines in them (see the Chelsea Tractor/school run threads of yore). It may not stimulate oil production as much as power generation does, but it's a factor, & one that shouldn't be ignored.

… just as an addendum to previous reply- I agree the Chelsea Tractors on the school run are ridiculous and wasteful and polluting.

Also, good to see you back posting.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I no longer have a three litre Audi, bought a 1.4ltr petrol for BB1 to become indoctrinated in to the car driving world. Plus most of my miles are by bike. But am still a cunt, almost as big a one as you.

You'll never be as big a cunt as me. You'll always be an also-ran!

 

[ViolentPanda]

It was mashed potato today.
Very runny mashed potato.
A sin against mashed potatoes everywhere.

Was probably that instant wallpaper paste-a-like shite.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Don't worry I still have mine but it's only's a 2ltr so my cuntiness score is probably lower than yours.

Much lower.
For a start, you don't post boasts about yours, so...

 

[ViolentPanda]

… just as an addendum to previous reply- I agree the Chelsea Tractors on the school run are ridiculous and wasteful and polluting.

Also, good to see you back posting.

I had a lot of business stuff to deal with - I chair a CIC - plus the health stuff was physically & mentally exhausting me, especially the 2nd round of (supposedly relatively mild) chemo. Then I went & had a fall, fucked my knee up somewhat, & spent several weeks on oxycodone, which was very nice, but not conducive to lucid thought!
All in all, good to be back - except for that cunt Spymaster , obviously!

 

[Spymaster]

Nice to see you back too, fella.

 

[Dystopiary]

Lil Nas on twitter