Empire: Insanity & Excess

Is this bothering anyone else?

NY Times leads this morning with the story of Lambeau Field Wisconsin:
subteranean pipes filled with a patented solution
imported heat lights, running 24/7
suspended overhead:
high enough that
over-extended grass can be nurtured, groomed & pampered,

‘The “frozen tundra” is a myth. The ground at Lambeau Field, legendary home of the Green Bay Packers, is heated. It has not been frozen during a football game since it was dubbed the “frozen tundra” more than 40 years ago.’

All
so the cleats – CLEATS
of superannuated thugs in overpriced protective gear-
so the CLEATS take hold
providing enough traction for the spectacle of televised ‘sports’
so the boys with their brewskies, across the nation can lose themselves
in suds and spectacle long enough
to get through another day.

“The payoff and the benefit is now,” Johnson said. “We have a more full canopy and more grass than we would without it. The green color is a side benefit. That’s aesthetic. The main benefit is stronger, healthier grass, thicker grass in places where it’s usually difficult to grow.”

WORLD HUNGER?
CHILD POVERTY?
ENVIRONMENTAL DEGREDATION?
but on the front page of the NY Times it’s worthy of headlines-

‘The ground below Lambeau Field has been heated since 1967’

And in Haiti, Turkey, Darfour they’re still in tents
Cholera anyone?

‘That changed in 2011, thanks to 24 hours a day of artificial sunlight provided by 1,000-watt bulbs’
“It’s just like playing in the summer on the grass,” Green Bay offensive lineman T. J. Lang said. “It’s never hard, it’s never frozen.”

Having objectified everyone/everything else
Nature’s is the problem de jour
‘fooling Mother Nature’ they call it
and damn the cost.

‘Not only did the lights cast a warm and eerie glow from inside Lambeau Field through the night, they extended the growing season for the grass well past the normal date of dormancy.’

This from the self-anointed ‘greatest nation on earth’
and damn the cost;

‘Johnson said grass needs three vital elements to grow well: warm soil (check, thanks to Mr. Lombardi), good light (check, thanks to Mr. van Vuuren) and warm air (hmmm). By mid-December, when daytime temperatures rarely rise above freezing in Green Bay, the lights and warm soil are not enough to offset the frigid air.’

The show must go on
(all together now) and damn the cost.

‘The contraption fools Mother Nature. Johnson used the lights 24 hours a day from October to early December, moving them every other day between games.’

The cleats- THE CLEATS
and damn the cost

this
out-distances words: even
my limited vocabulary for rage or obscenity

‘For 30 years, those coils kept Lambeau Field soft, with one exception.’

Oh America, I
fear/for you. How long
How long O Lord?
can Nature tollerate
your heated cleats?