I was looking at the news this evening, and once again I am paralyzed by what I can only describe as \u201capoplectic depression.\u201d I\u2019m so angry that my hands shake \u2013 but all I can think to do is to order another drink and perhaps have a good cry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For one thing, there is the oil gusher nearly a mile down in the gulf. The rig killed at least 11 people as it exploded and sank. The filthy-tube is spewing crude from several holes as it snakes along the gulf-floor. The oil is slated to start hitting protected marshland and killing endangered species sometime this weekend. The company at fault (BP, in case you were wondering, one of the better ones) is, I believe, doing everything in their power to clean up and contain the spill. At least they\u2019re not playing the denial game. We\u2019ve also mobilized the navy \u2013 and asked the other major oil companies for help. If they can\u2019t convince the emergency \u201ccram shit in the oozing sore\u201d mechanism \u2013 we\u2019re apparently months away from even an attempt at a plug.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
If at any point in your wretched existence you were heard to chant \u201cDRILL BABY DRILL,\u201d I would most cordially ask that you go fuck yourself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Seriously. I\u2019ll wait.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Also, Arizona has legally codified the longstanding joke about the DWB (Driving while Brown) violation. It appears that a modest and reasonable solution would be to make \u201cpapers please,\u201d a standard part of travelling in the U.S. of A. I\u2019m a freakish liberal (NY Times reading, Latte Swilling, Please just bill me for social services, and all the rest) \u2026 the idea of \u201cpapers please\u201d in order to travel peaceably within our borders rouses me to dig the word \u201cun-american\u201d out of the closet and shake its pale, quivering-ness in your face. This should also be the case with the conservatives. We ought to agree on this \u2013 that being detained without charge based solely on the color of your skin is as un-american as, say, a state sponsored religion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The levity in my day came from my employers du jour \u2013 NASA \u2013 one of whom espoused what must be a longstanding party line on global climate change: \u201cWe sell to both sides.\u201d What he meant was that all his team does is to provide accurate date. Both sides in the climate change argument appear to be basing their beliefs on the data held in the system I\u2019m working with. That gives me hope \u2013 because if that\u2019s really case then the truth ought to win. It really, really ought to win.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, I\u2019m not holding my breath.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Gah. To bed. To sleep. Perhaps to dream.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Of fighting and fire and war \u2026 and a strange and huge house with multiple swimming pools and unwanted guests.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Like every night.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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