Ogre-oids, June 3, 2010

'tis the halfway point of the year, and the Ogre-oids are as plentiful as Americans on food stamps, or gallons of oil spilling into the Gulf. Here we go (again):

BP's public ad campaign praising its own response to the disaster it has caused. In typical America mass media fashion, BP is constructing a fantasy version of itself, taking out the entire back page of the NY Times to tell readers it is undertaking the biggest environmental response in history--an awfully euphemisitc term for a forlorn 43-day effort to mitigate the effects of the greatest environmental disaster in the country's history. Of course . . .

. . . "People don't care," the exact words of a BP store owner in Florida who reports that neither the Gulf disaster nor the presence of activists at BP outlets has had any impact on business. A business analyst said it is not surprising that the public still does business with BP outlets despite BP's reckless incompetence, saying that it is difficult for people to change consumer habits driven by price and convenience. Again, apathy, more than stupidity or media influence, drives American behavior. Who hasn't heard of the Gulf disaster and who can't figure out it's bad for the environment? Cheap prices and convenience always trump holding others accountable, unless of course, we're talking about . . .

. . . teachers. More than 4,400 teachers, mostly younger ones at the beginning of their careers with graduate school loans to pay off, will lose their jobs in the NYC area due to budget cuts. Teachers, who are not salespeople peddling commodities, are the only professional group singled out for accountablity for performance at a time when the financial industry and oil industry are destroying the economy and environment, which are, contrary to ultra-conservative mainstream America, intertwined . . .

. . . around the Gulf coast, the fishery industry is in danger of obsolence, as no one knows the scope or duration of effects of the Gulf oil disaster. According to today's NY Times, the fishery industry is worth $2.4 billion and 27,000 jobs annually to the Gulf economy. Meanwhile, down in the Carribean . . .

. . . Kingston police have been reported to be executing unarmed young men in their early to mid twenties because that demographic has been profiled as fighters in protection of alleged drug lord Christopher Coke, wanted on extradition charges by the U. S.--you know, the same country that lets big oil break the law and send hundreds of gallons of oil into the Gulf every minute. Multiple witnesses have reported that police enter homes where local families are taking shelter from the war-zone fighting to get Coke, who remains at large. To date over 70 civilians have been killed, over 500 arrested, and the entire country has been demoralized over the fighting. With the wars still going in Iraq and Afghanistan, one has to wonder just how destructive Americans want their own country to be? Ah . . . but just when you thought human life didn't matter to Americans . . .

. . . anti-abortion groups have made unprecedented progress at the state level over the past year, another sign of the progressive influence Obama is having on the country. Legislation has been passed in Nebraska, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Arizona, and three other states that either restricts or in some cases bans abortions after a certain point in pregnancy, under the "theory" that after 20 weeks fetusus feel pain . . . unlike 20 year old Jamacian males whose brains splatter over their own home's bathroom floor. Then again, fetuses can't be suspected of harboring drug lords.

In the name of keeping America minds as listless and unimaginative as possible, Louisville Mayor Jerry Abramson's budget for the next fiscal year includes a 65% cut for the Fund for the Arts, a program started in 1948 through an alliance between city hall, the business community, and the art community. At one point, the Fund had a budget of $575,000. This year's budget proposes $65,000 for the Arts. The Arts had requested $200,000.

More Americans--40.2 million--are on food stamps today than at anytime in the country's history. On the bright side, the jobless rate hovers around a 26 year high.

Israel--America's Middle Eastern ally--attacked a flotilla of activists en route to breakthrough Israel's blockade of Gaza to deliver humanitarian supplies. While there are conflicting reports from the activists on the flotilla and the Israeli military on what triggered the violence that led to nine activist deaths, it's hard to understand what legitimate defense a military would have for invading a boat transporting civilians in international waters on a humanitarian mission. Meanwhile the U.S. media has done its best to make the activists look like terrorists by running an AP story that reports that the flotilla has ties to an organization known by the Turkish acronym IHH that, in turn, has ties to al-Qaeda. But this same article, midway through acknowledges that U.S. could not validate that IHH has ties to al-Qaeda.

While not as politically or environmentally disasterous, but no less Ogre-ish, last night Detroit pitcher Amando Galarraga lost his bid for a perfect game when the first-base umpire blew a call that wasn't even close that would have been the last out of the game and clinched Galarraga's perfect game. Replays showed the throw to Galarraga, who was covering first on a grounder to the right side, beat the runner by a half step.