 |
 |
 |
Africa Speaks |  |
 |
|
Forums | |
|
|
Science | |
|
|
US Crusade | |
|
|
Trini View | |
|
|
Books | |
Halliburton: From Bush's Favorite to a National Disgrace Posted: Thursday, March 15, 2007 It is a symbol of American cronyism, the beneficiary of lucrative Iraq contracts thanks to its relationship with Dick Cheney. Now Halliburton is relocating to Dubai - and US politicians are outraged. by Andrew Buncombe The story begins in 1919 with Erle Halliburton sitting up late one night with his wife, Vida, worrying about money. Squeezed together in their one-room home in the Oklahoma dustbowl town of Wilson, the couple were trying to work out how to meet the next payment on Halliburton's fledgling business, the New Method Oil Well Cementing Company. At about 1am, so the story goes, the pale light from a small lamp reflected off his wife's wedding ring. "I sat there admiring it when the thought came to me," Vida would later tell Jeffrey Rodengen, author of The Legend of Halliburton. "Here is the money we need. At first hubby would not listen to me... but I argued we could get it back. So we went to sleep all thrilled with the new idea of cementing, the new means of getting jobs, and the money." The rest, as is so often said, is history. Halliburton pawned his wife's wedding ring and set to work servicing drilling operations not just on the Healdton oilfield close to where they lived in Oklahoma, but also in Louisiana and Texas. The following year he changed the company's name to the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company. Full Article : commondreams.org |
|
|
