Phil Rockstroh: Footlong Hot Dogs of the Apocalypse

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from Consortium News:



Footlong Hot Dogs of the Apocalypse
June 29, 2012

Since World War II, America’s wealth has sheltered the population from harsh realities that other fellow humans face. But that protection is breaking down, from the greed of the super-rich and the stubborn insistence of many Americans to stay focused on their footlong hot dogs and super-gulp drinks, writes Phil Rockstroh.

By Phil Rockstroh


Almost exactly ten years ago, in June of 2002, my wife and I were driving through Colorado, on our way from Los Angeles to New York City. In the early afternoon, while paused to tank-up our Toyota Corolla, at a massive convenience store/self-service gas island that boasted of “two-for-the-price-of-one, One and One Half Footlong Hot Dogs,” we watched a family of six emerge from a late model, oversized pickup truck, proceed into the store, and return with a bounty of hot dogs and super-gulp soft drinks.

A few minutes later, we passed their vehicle on Interstate 70, and I remarked to my wife on the connection between oversized consumer goods, oversized people, and the oversized amount of greenhouse gases trapping heat in the atmosphere. I queried, “Do you think they would even look up from their titanic hot dogs, if the world before them ignited into flames?”

After a few more minutes, my question was answered when a series of wildfires (very much like the ones that are scorching Colorado to ash and cinder, as I write these words) began to close in on our periphery.

Stunningly, mortifyingly, the answer to my question was, no. The occupants of the pickup proceeded straight through the screen of wafting smoke without averting their gaze from their gigantic snack food. When the world is on fire and a people refuse to take note … we’re apt to find ourselves in a bit of a fix. .................(more)

The complete piece is at: http://consortiumnews.com/2012/06/29/footlong-hot-dogs-of-the-apocalypse/

[Royal Sloan 09]

1. K-n-R, "It’s not dark yet, but it’s getting there.”

Bob Dylan

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2. Sometimes you kick, sometimes you get kicked.....

[BumRushDaShow]

3. These are the same types

who will drive around a police barrier and right smack into the middle of a flooded road.