No Treehugging Over 2 Seconds
Now is not the time to criticize the weather, our troops don't need to hear pansy meteorologists forecasting gloom and doom while we're at war. Look, I'm all for freedom of speech, but in a time of war we have to watch what we say, especially meteorologists. Forecasting weather is paramount to treason. Meteorologists should move to Russia if they don't like the weather.
Posted by: sac on January 20, 2006 10:29 PM
Jeff Jarvis links to a Guardian piece about Gaia theorist James Lovelock's belief that we are at the point of no return when it comes to saving the planet as we know it. (And yes, the goofy Brit feels fine about it.) The Independent did the Lovelock-step 2 years ago - check related articles sidebar too - and it scared the hell out of me then.
For added context, remember that in Jan 2006 I had just returned from a month in Israel and while I enjoyed the beautiful country and people, I left firmly convinced that the prospect of Middle East Peace is division by zero and that End Times of one flavor or another are approaching sooner rather than later. We humans are pretty good at fooling ourselves.
So how did this affect me? As much as it sounds appealing to strap yourself to twin 400-pound thrust, degeneratively hedonistic rocket engines to Planet Cocaine-n-French-Whores, I found myself latching onto Judaism's social justice core, not Black Hat Zionism as some have joked. Working at a non-profit seemed like a natural fit, volunteering and donating large swaths of my income were the logical next steps.
As a cynical idealist and compassionate pragmatist, I do this not because of some grand illusion of long-range hope (that would be audacity of the highest order), but because, believe it or not, I am a huge supporter of doing things that ultimately don't make a difference. (Example: this blog.) Simply, I figure that if our time here is shorter than expected, then we have to act even quicker to help the people who are less fortunate so that they can enjoy life while the clock runs out. To muck another metaphor, if the world is about to have its tubes pulled, it's time to pass out heavenly heavy pain meds to everyone in this giant hospice. Live fast, die respectfully. Something like that.
Posted by: sac on January 20, 2006 10:29 PM
Jeff Jarvis links to a Guardian piece about Gaia theorist James Lovelock's belief that we are at the point of no return when it comes to saving the planet as we know it. (And yes, the goofy Brit feels fine about it.) The Independent did the Lovelock-step 2 years ago - check related articles sidebar too - and it scared the hell out of me then.
For added context, remember that in Jan 2006 I had just returned from a month in Israel and while I enjoyed the beautiful country and people, I left firmly convinced that the prospect of Middle East Peace is division by zero and that End Times of one flavor or another are approaching sooner rather than later. We humans are pretty good at fooling ourselves.
So how did this affect me? As much as it sounds appealing to strap yourself to twin 400-pound thrust, degeneratively hedonistic rocket engines to Planet Cocaine-n-French-Whores, I found myself latching onto Judaism's social justice core, not Black Hat Zionism as some have joked. Working at a non-profit seemed like a natural fit, volunteering and donating large swaths of my income were the logical next steps.
As a cynical idealist and compassionate pragmatist, I do this not because of some grand illusion of long-range hope (that would be audacity of the highest order), but because, believe it or not, I am a huge supporter of doing things that ultimately don't make a difference. (Example: this blog.) Simply, I figure that if our time here is shorter than expected, then we have to act even quicker to help the people who are less fortunate so that they can enjoy life while the clock runs out. To muck another metaphor, if the world is about to have its tubes pulled, it's time to pass out heavenly heavy pain meds to everyone in this giant hospice. Live fast, die respectfully. Something like that.
