A quick thought about the oil spill and government oversight

I hope that there's going to be a massive overhaul of MMS and the government's oversight of the oil industry. I'm glad that Obama announced that he is naming another czar that the Republicans hate so much to oversee the oil industry. The people who don't want the government to overreach and have an oversight committee for every aspect of American life I think are the idealists, not me. We live in a very twisted, greedy era. If the government doesn't step in and tell people running industries and businesses what they can and cannot do, they will get away with bloody murder without so much a slap on the wrist. Deregulation and lax oversight is what got us into the hot economic mess we are in now. Deregulation lets people like Bernie Madoff get away with gigantic cases of fraud. Sure, there are corrupt people in government as well. Case in point, the cozy relationship between MMS and the oil companies. But I think as a whole, the people at the top of industry and business pose a greater threat to the American people than the government does. I'm probably going to be called a socialist for verbalizing this, but I can live with that. I'd rather have the government looking out for me like they're supposed to rather than watching them sit back and let all hell break loose.

BP spill microblog

I've stayed away from this as long as I could. Last week was an outrageous week for BP. First they bought the term "oil spill" on Google so that way their website and their response efforts are at the top of the page. Go ahead and try it if you haven't yet. Right there at the top, in a pale yellow box: www.bp.com/gulfofmexicoresponse. And then while I was watching Rachel Maddow last week she had a story about the fine print on the permit that BP filed in order to drill at the Deepwater Horizon. Apparently their paperwork said that they weren't worried about the impact on the coastline because they thought that it was too far off shore for it to be a threat if there was a catastrophic event leading to an oil spill, and therefore didn't prepare any contingency plans. They listed a walrus as an animal that could be potentially threatened in the case of a spill, for Christ's sake. Then she revealed that BP's "in case of emergency" person had died several years prior to them applying for this permit. Not to mention that several other people listed had bad contact information. Seriously?!? And now I read today that BP had some emails circulating about the executives disregarding advice about safety 6 days prior to the explosion. Again: seriously?!?

And now I'm starting to hear that the British are unhappy with the way our government is dealing with BP and the beating their public image is taking. I'm sorry, UK. If it would make you feel better, we can set up an oil rig in the English Channel that is managed by, oh I don't know, let's say Shell. They're an American-based oil company. Now let's blow it up and let over 50,000 barrels of oil spill out into the English Channel, ruining your fisheries, beaches, tourism, not to mention the toll on your wildlife. Then you can tell us that we are being too harsh on BP.

But a silver lining to this whole debacle is that I hope we will finally invest in clean energy and better and more efficient ways to handle a crisis of this magnitude.

On a lighter note, the statue known to many in this area of the world as either Touchdown Jesus or Big Butter Jesus is no longer with us. The image to the left is of what he looked like before he burned to the ground. To those of you not from Southeastern Ohio, this is a 6-story tall statue of Jesus. He looks like a referee signaling a touchdown, hence the name Touchdown Jesus. He got the nickname Big Butter Jesus because he looks like he's carved out of butter. Well, it looks as if lightning struck him last night, causing him to burn. But honestly, how could they not see this coming? He's a statue made of fiberglass and styrofoam with a metal framework. He was just begging to be hit by lightning. But don't worry, kiddies. He'll rise again in 3 days. OK, maybe not that soon. But word on the street is that the people at the church are already planning his resurrection. And now let's see the progression:

First, a flaming Jesus. Then, his metal skeleton:

Long time, no post

Wow, a lot can happen in the 2+ months since I've had time for an actual post. I didn't even brush up on the BP oil spill.

And that's the big story that's been all over the place, as rightly it should be. It's an environmental catastrophe which has easily eclipsed the only other catastrophe this can be measured against (Exxon Valdez). I was planning on taking my vacation this year and go down and volunteer to help clean up, but apparently they are all frowning upon people travelling so that they can volunteer (Locals only, folks. Pack up your shit and go home). I could go on and on and on about how the government agency that should have prevented this was in the back pocket of Big Oil. I could go on and on and on about how we really need to go green and get rid of our dependency on oil, whether it's imported or not. But this has been going on for 2 months now. If you've paid any attention to the news here in the US, you'd have heard all this already many times over. I'm not going to jump on the bandwagon when the 24 hour news networks are constantly discussing this. Well, maybe with the exception of Faux, I mean Fox, News.

The other big news event has been the Israeli flotilla raid. It's already fading from the news here, which is a shame. In general, I believe that the Israel/Palestine conflict is a prime example of why you should never, ever mix politics and religion. Especially if you're country is a holy city for 3 major world religions. Neither side will want to play nice with the other, so unfortunately this is just another chapter in an extremely long book. I will however point out that I think it is criminal what Israel did. Attacking aid workers trying to help the people you are persecuting in international waters is as criminal as it gets, I think.

On a side note, I'm going to try and not make this such a political blog. While I am passionate about politics and current events, most of my energy sadly goes to pop culture.

I had the great fortune of getting tickets to see Muse when they roll into town in October. I am very much looking forward to that. If you had told me at the beginning of the year I was going to see them twice within 8 months, I would have laughed at you.

SPOILERS! At least they are if you don't use a proxy here in the US and catch up that way...

Also, Dr. Who has returned. Although we are now currently 3 episodes away from the end of this series, I will say I've enjoyed it. I think the most memorable episodes for me were the 2 episode arc for the Weeping Angels, "Amy's Choice" (the one with the dreams) and "Vincent and the Doctor." I'm not afraid to admit that I cried towards the end of that one when they were in the art museum. For such a disturbed man to feel even the slightest bit appreciated for what he thought was going to end up being a wasteful pursuit was just touching.

Glee is still going strong, which I completely adore. I'm a total Gleek, I know. But I was a music geek in high school (choir all 4 years, color guard/marching band for 2 years). It almost validates me as being a cool kid. LOL!

And alas, Family Guy is now done for the year. I was disappointed that they decided to have "Something Something Dark Side" as the season finale, especially considering it had already been out on DVD since December. On the bright side, it means that the next box set will be out shortly. I will soon be able to enjoy my favorite cartoon family without the bleeps.

But it does also mean that my favorite TV show of all is back on shortly. Yes, True Blood starts back up on Sunday. I read through the latest book in about a day last month when it came out. They just keep getting better and better. I took part in the Ultimate Truebie fan event last week, which just added fuel to my impatience fire. It was wonderful seeing all my favorite TV characters up on the big screen. That Alexander Skarsgård is one sexy man. And now Joe Manganiello is joining as Alcide. Mmmmm...a vampire for the nights and a werewolf for the days...

Sorry, I need to go wipe the drool off my chin...

And I'm back. On the movie front, there has been a definite lack of decent movies so far this summer. I haven't seen Iron Man 2 yet, but I have the nagging suspicion it will be very similar to the first one. Robin Hood didn't look all that appealing, just a rehash of Gladiator from the exact same director/star team. I did recently see Shrek Forever After, and I will say it was a lot better than the 3rd and almost as good as the first. Prince of Persia doesn't look to appealing either, just another special effects bonanza. I was pretty disappointed with Sex and the City 2. While it was nice seeing the girls in a setting other than Manhattan, I felt it was really contrived. I also didn't like the way they treated Muslim customs in regards to women's apparel and public decency. I feel I would have rather seen the girls transported to somewhere else fashionable, like London or Milan (they've been to Paris, and frankly I think Paris movies are overdone). This past weekend saw the release of Get Him to the Greek, which I feel I can do without until it's out on DVD.

Let's see...what else is there this summer...

The A-Team - Pass.
The Karate Kid - I'll probably go see this one, even though it's remake. I love Jackie Chan and Jaden Smith I think will grow up to inherit his father's career.
Jonah Hex - the only comic book heroes that ever deserve to be put on the big screen are the big 3: Batman, Superman and Spider Man.
Toy Story 3 - I wouldn't miss this one for the world. Pixar never fails to disappoint.
Grown Ups - You'd think this was a Judd Apatow flick with all the big-name comedians in this one. It could go either way.
Knight and Day - My disdain for Tom Cruise aside, it looks like it could be ok.
Eclipse - Yea, I'll see this when hell freezes over.
The Last Airbender - Pass. M. Night Shamalamadingdong hasn't had a good movie since The Sixth Sense.
Inception - Finally saw a trailer for this today. It looks like it could be pretty good. I do enjoy Leonardo DiCaprio flicks most of the time.
Dinner for Schmucks - I'm a sucker for stupid humor sometimes, but this one I will definitely be seeing.
Salt - Angelina Jolie in another action/spy movie. Yawn.
Despicable Me - I have no clue what this is about. The trailers don't help at all (not to mention that they've been plugging this since the winter Olympics), and I'm not about to dish out $10 just so I can see what the hell is going on.
Eat Pray Love - The book was good, and it's about travel and food. I'm in.

This is in no way a complete list of the movies that are coming out this summer. I haven't even done the research to see if there are any good indies coming out this summer.

Alas, my time is up here at work. Time to retreat to the homestead and catch some Z's. Tomorrow I hit up the pool and start working on the tan.