A strategic perspective on the oil spill and outrage HERE.

A representative quote:

We Americans have been abused again and again by those we trusted. First it was the banks. Now it’s the oil companies. It’s not that we had some wide-eyed innocence about how moral and ethical they were – this is business after all.

But we expected them to have a clue how to do their jobs. We expected the banks to be smart enough to know not to put the entire world’s financial system at risk just for a few extra winnings at the gambling table. We expected the oil companies, who were engaging in acts of simply astounding engineering prowess, to have worked out contingency plans to mitigate the obvious risks of drilling holes in the ocean floor 5,000 feet down.

It’s not even that mistakes were made or things went wrong. What’s enraging Americans is the completely cavalier attitude these ultra-rich executives have shown in the face of their utter stupidity. Watching these executives give testimony, it feels like we’re watching teenagers claim “I dunno” after they wrecked the family car in a joyride.

In today’s news, the spew goes unchecked as capping failed and nine miles of beach in Pensacola was covered in sludge, per Anderson Cooper.

This is a New York Times science story about how meteors may have hit North America 13,000 years ago and caused big changes, including the extinction of Mammoths and Sabre Tooth Tigers.

In Iraq, What Comes Next?

This is a Washington Post feature by Oklahoma City’s own Anthony Shadid about Christmas in Baghdad.

Hollywood Trimming its Sails in Economic Windstorm

The Los Angeles Times is freaked out over layoffs at the movie studios and the looming SAG strike.

Cold Front to Push Through Town

This is The Daily Oklahoman’s upcoming weather story.