April 3, 2011
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Apocalypse and Disaster
Internet Island Topic Post #37: Apocalypse and Disaster
37.1 What do you think about the state of the world at this moment in history? Is there a global paradigm shift going on? A Biblical Apocalypse? Or is it just business as usual seemingly magnified by the presence of a 24 hour news cycle and instant reporting and punditing by the blogosphere?
You made me smile with your inclusion of Charlie Sheen among all the natural disasters.
What surprises (okay, annoys) me more than Mr. Sheen being a bit fruity is that so many people are all over his antics, buying tickets to see/hear him, paying hard-earned money to hear the guy rant. Really? I would have to say I believe it is the groanings of the world that have been going on since the beginning, although I do find it ironic that so much is happening so close together and have commented several times to that effect. I have always worried about cities (especially densely populous ones) and things like nuclear plants being built on such volatile fault lines. It’s terrible to observe the fallout of all of this, and it makes me wonder what will change, what will happen as a result. I wondered the same thing after Hurricane Katrina.
Comments (6)
Dear Lisa,
This Sheen guy seems to be all over the place. I’m glad I don’t watch TV news, talk or reality shows but his “antics” get spread around the internet too. His father must be really sad, and I notice his brother is keeping himself distanced.
I agree with you. I just posted a link on another site in comments to an entry I wrote on my Universal Blog in 2005. (http://universalmind.blogspot.com/2005_07_31_archive.html) The world has been moving and shaking before we got here, and it will continue moving and shaking long after we make our exit. I do hope that the power industry realizes that there need to be more safeguards so that nuclear plants (like the one at San Onofre about 40 miles from my build right on the ocean), offshore oil rigs (like the dozens right off the coast a few miles away from where I live) etc. don’t pose that much of a disaster when something goes wrong. In Japan, it was the failure of a backup generator (much like the ones I design switchgear for) that caused the rods to heat up, spreading radiation, and threatening a meltdown.
I watched a TV documentary once about solar power. The guy who had converted his house to solar actually generated so much electricity that he was able to “sell” it back to Southern California Edison. Interesting.
It’s been said many times that when mankind builds his cities along the banks of rivers, which are always in fear of overflowing their banks, then he’s asking for trouble. When I fly across the country, I’m always amazed at how much land is not populated, and the land around rivers and lakes are always overpopulated. If perhaps we could generate electricity from the sun and wind, using nature instead of fighting against her, and find a way of routing our water away from the rivers and lakes and start populating less “desirable” but safer places, then the future might not look so scary.
But even after Charlie Sheen goes away, another nutjob will take his place.
Thank you for participating. And I love the piano recitals by Mr. Cardell.
Michael F. Nyiri, poet, philosopher, fool
Nothing has changed in man or his world except the scale. More people make more noise, use more resources and leave more waste than at any previous time. Disasters kill more people simply because there are more people to be killed. And more people to talk about it, be affected by it and concerned, with many more outlets for expression and more education, communication, etc…
Am I not a big, boorish stick in the mud know-it-all? I blame your music. I like it too much.
@Amoralis - Ha. You made me smile.
I worry about the cities too. Some aspects of cities are efficient – mostly the transportation bits. Others are not. All those people in one space make food have to travel farther and harder to get to them. Disaster can decimate us when we put all our eggs in one basket. I love reading your take on this. I used to read you more back in the early II days, but we got away from each other. Peace!
@BoureeMusique - It’s great to hear from you! I blog more at Write Pray Love and my other Blogger blogs lately, but I still try to keep up with my Xanga, too. It’s my old buddy.
I would love to see you over at WPL sometime. Have a lovely Wednesday.
@baldmike2004 - Thanks! I love Mr. Cardall. Have you heard much of Hans Zimmer’s work? His music from “The Holiday” is amazing.