A depressing double feature
Mar. 25th, 2008 09:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
openspace4life"The best lack all conviction, while the worst
Are full of passionate intensity."
- William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"
This first "feature," which fits with the quote, is actually much the less apocalyptic (especially if you're a conservative). For us progressives, it's a horrible shame how the two leading Dems think they have to keep sniping at each other just because Clinton hasn't decisively lost. Meanwhile, despite previous trends that suggested more Americans are waking up to the awfulness of Bush's policies and the strength of McCain's support for them, the linked article says his approval rating stands at 67%. There used to be a free-for-all of five Republican candidates, but now they're in the clear and we (the Clinton camp in particular) can't seem to get it through our heads that we need to respond to that fact. Maybe it's not just an amusing exaggeration, and the Democrats really do have a talent for self-destruction.
On to Feature 2, also from the New York Times (maybe I'll find a better source later): First it was honeybees, now bats are dying mysteriously too. "Biosphere Collapse" used to be this blog's title, which I ditched because it's too much of a downer and seemed just a little on the unrealistically apocalyptic side. Now I'm wondering if we aren't looking at the first pebbles in the avalanche, and also what it will take for us humans to even get out of the way of its destructive path, to say nothing about stopping it. This is the main reason why we need a self-sustaining Mars colony ASAP.
Sigh. Maybe I'm just feeling gloomy because Arthur C. Clarke, popularizer of the space elevator, which may well turn out to be the best method of escaping from Earth en masse should it come to that, died last week.
Are full of passionate intensity."
- William Butler Yeats, "The Second Coming"
This first "feature," which fits with the quote, is actually much the less apocalyptic (especially if you're a conservative). For us progressives, it's a horrible shame how the two leading Dems think they have to keep sniping at each other just because Clinton hasn't decisively lost. Meanwhile, despite previous trends that suggested more Americans are waking up to the awfulness of Bush's policies and the strength of McCain's support for them, the linked article says his approval rating stands at 67%. There used to be a free-for-all of five Republican candidates, but now they're in the clear and we (the Clinton camp in particular) can't seem to get it through our heads that we need to respond to that fact. Maybe it's not just an amusing exaggeration, and the Democrats really do have a talent for self-destruction.
On to Feature 2, also from the New York Times (maybe I'll find a better source later): First it was honeybees, now bats are dying mysteriously too. "Biosphere Collapse" used to be this blog's title, which I ditched because it's too much of a downer and seemed just a little on the unrealistically apocalyptic side. Now I'm wondering if we aren't looking at the first pebbles in the avalanche, and also what it will take for us humans to even get out of the way of its destructive path, to say nothing about stopping it. This is the main reason why we need a self-sustaining Mars colony ASAP.
Sigh. Maybe I'm just feeling gloomy because Arthur C. Clarke, popularizer of the space elevator, which may well turn out to be the best method of escaping from Earth en masse should it come to that, died last week.
