Woe for the Earth and Sea

When the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform exploded on April 20 and sank to the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, killing 11 rig workers and severing the mile-long riser pipe connected to the wellhead, as horrific as that disaster was, it did not initially seem to have global ramifications. However, two months into the ongoing gusher on the floor of the ocean it seems that the localized catastophe has the potential to impact the world in far-reaching ways.

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LET THEM EAT CAKE

“Let them eat cake,” is the response attributed to Queen Marie Antoinette when informed that her subjects had no bread to eat.  To better appreciate the meaning of that remark, in French the word translated as “cake” is brioche, which is highly enriched bread made with egg and butter. The point of the Queen’s retort is that she was oblivious to the plight of the famine-ravaged peasantry. If they had no bread, they surely would not have any brioche to eat. 

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Shadows of a Titanic Tragedy

The world was shocked in the days following the night of April 14 of 1912, as the news spread of the sinking of the Titanic on its maiden voyage across the Atlantic. The vessel was the largest  ship ever built up until then and it was touted as the safest.  It employed the state-of-the-art technology of the time and was thought to be virtually unsinkable by some people.  

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