THE SPILL / ANNIVERSARIES

THE SPILL. Amazing to realize that it has been over six months since the Deepwater Horizon oil well explosion, and the subsequent oil spill which has been characterized as the single most catastrophic human-caused natural disaster in our nation's history. Its effects will be with us for decades to come. This writer devoted a number of posts to the political and economic causes of the spill, and to the harm done to the natural world.

The most recent episode of the acclaimed PBS series Frontline takes a hard look at the corporate culture of BP. Titled simply The Spill, the show documents BP's long record of accidents, with harm to both the environment and to human life, which presaged the Gulf of Mexico debacle. The Spill is a frightening and infuriating indictment of BP, the oil industry, and (implicitly) the mentality of greed-trumping-responsibility which has characterized such a huge portion of capitalism for the past thirty years -- which is saying something, given our excesses ever since the Industrial Revolution. The BP spill is a symptom of a much larger cancer, one which we allow to flourish every time we spend money and look the other way.

ANNIVERSARIES. Here is a versatile resource provided by Wikipedia -- a list of historical anniversaries. You can click on the name of a month and learn where that name originated, or click on a specific date (your birthday?) and learn the important events that took place on that date, throughout recorded history. Links lead to more links, and soon you will be having as much fun as Alice in Wonderland. Well, almost.