Title: Mcgowanjm Wire 2012 Source:
[None] URL Source:[None] Published:Feb 26, 2012 Author:Various Post Date:2012-02-26 09:15:13 by A K A Stone Keywords:None Views:1524047 Comments:2390
TWO really good comments on the DeclineoftheEmpire article:
That poll is amazing; 35% of respondents trust what scientists (presumably, climate scientists) say about global warming "a little or not at all". Only 26% trust what they say "completely or a lot".
Planet stupid, indeed.
Posted by: Mike Roberts | 07/09/2012 at 07:09 PM Anywhere But Here Is Better
This life starts with stupid pain (eviction via the stupidly narrow birth canal). It continues with stupid pain throughout childhood (from crying for more stupid milk to fighting stupid turf wars with parents and siblings to side-stepping truly stupid bullies in the school yard). Painful stupid adolescence kicks you in the balls or tries to barnstorm your vagina, depending on gender and orientation. Adulthood brings pain on a whole new stupid level (from unrequited stupid love to stupidly unfulfilled sexual desire to thwarted stupid ambition). Stupid middle age brings angst, disappointment and growing despair beyond any measure of stupidity. Then old age creeps up on you like a thief with any number of stupid additional dollops of pain (onset of organ failure, decrepitude, senility and spectating as your contemporaries peg it one by one).
Occasional microseconds of joy convince you not to fall accidentally under a train, such as a particularly fine orgasm or a slice of warm chocolate fudge cake or listening to the Ozric Tentacles on headphones in a darkened room. (I recommend the latter as an instant brain repair should you accidentally catch more than five seconds of imbecilic Fox News while channel hopping.)
Yes, I would add it all up and come to the same conclusion as you have Dave, albeit from a slightly different direction. It's just plain stupid, this thing called human life. The pain it inflicts on stupidly sentient us just ain't worth it. And if there was an almighty god in whose image we were made, I'd have just one message to deliver at those pearly gates, en route to my preferred final destination called Oblivion.
"God," I'd intone, calm as a dead parrot in a comedy sketch, "you're fired."
MY EDIT:
The above is EXACTLY why HEAVEN &HELL are here & right now.
And Neither is a Permanent condition unless you WILL IT....;}
Posted by: Anywhere But Here Is Better | 07/09/2012 at 08:29 PM T E Cho
It's gettin worser faster now ...
There WILL be an AHA point of realization, a tipping point of ' wow, this really is for real ' . What will be the reaction then? There's got to be some historical precedents. Perhaps most of humanity is in the 'denial' stage of denial-> anger -> depression -> acceptance . The anger is next, what will that be like?
The predictions are wars over water, ESP when a country dams up rivers for their own use, depriving downstream countries of water. African govts damming the Nile, India and Pakistan,Bangladesh, to name 2 areas ripe for conflict.
And this doesnt count the other looming disasters Dave has detailed, ocean acidification, methane from arctic regions, economies worsening, political polarization, obesity/health epidemics, middle class powerlessness, etc. Etc. And water is need for food irrigation, wait till that hits the fan. All the while floods of refugees.
It's beginning to look like an Armageddon, a disaster of biblical proportions, 'myth' becomes reality.
Probably before the end of next year there'll be so much bad news, Dave won't even be able to keep up. He's practically having difficulty now, as he has hinted at. An embarrassment of riches of bad news. No disrespect intended.
So the focus will shift from what will the next 20-40 years look like to what will the next 5 - 15 years look like. Or a shorter time frame even. And the focus will keep getting shorter and shorter.
My $0.02 . But when the US military/ intelligence briefings/predictions begin to sound like something from Revelation, you know we are in for one hell of a ride.
