The Oil Spill # 2

I am watching the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico spread. It seems to me that the New York Times is giving it less coverage than the Icelandic volcano, which is a small volcano, as the Icelanders kept pointing out. An inconvenience for air travelers, but not a crisis except for the farmers living right next to the eruption. No one died.

Per the Times today:

...BP...is facing a crisis similar to what the Toyota Motor Company had with uncontrolled acceleration, despite its efforts to control the damage to its reputation as a corporate citizen.

It's really odd to compare this to Toyota's little problem with acceleration, which was terrible for a handful of people, but was not important to most of the world; and it's odd to call this a PR crisis. It's a huge environmental disaster.

It has the potential to ruin the economies of five American states. If the spill ends in the Gulf's 'loop currents,' it might be carried around Florida and up the East Coast.

I don't know what might happen to the Caribbean islands. American news media are not covering that.

Maybe the Times figures its readers will not be inconvenienced. Or maybe it wants to play down the cost of free enterprise.