19 responses to “The News: Thursday, July 6, 2023”

1. 

   Cap HP

   07/07/2023

   You must be familiar with the original lyrics of "Big Rock Candy Mountain," yes?

   The punk rolled up his big blue eyes
   And said to the jocker, "Sandy,
   I've hiked and hiked and wandered too,
   But I ain't seen any candy.
   I've hiked and hiked till my feet are sore
   And I'll be damned if I hike any more
   To be buggered sore like a hobo's whore
   In the Big Rock Candy Mountains.

   Reply
   1. 

      Doug Holland

      07/07/2023

      Well, that's delightful. Bony Tenet could make it a hit.

      I did know that the song got tidied up a lot before Burl Ives sang it, but my preferred raunchy version doesn't have the hobo's whore.

      Reply
   2. 

      6070

      07/07/2023

      I have been skeptical of man-made climate change and I am still skeptical, but I can see and feel that something is going on, you don't break all-time records two days in a row. If I was convinced it was a problem to be addressed politicallty tell me, what would you recommend doing?

      Reply
   3. 

      Doug Holland

      07/07/2023

      We are living through man-man climate change that'll kill millions and millions of people, and it really doesn't matter whether you're skeptical.

      Also, it doesn't matter that I'm not.

      None of it matters, because what's coming is what's coming. Only way to stop it would be to very harshly rein in giant corporations, cut way back on war, and do all sorts of other things that would drag down the bottom line for GM and Chevron.

      There's no chance any of that will happen, so there's no solution.

      Reply
   4. 

      Anonymous

      07/08/2023

      Seriously, we are seeing the consequences of absolutely unchecked capitalism. I have no problem, in theory, with making money. Like, yeah, sell your widgets across the globe, make a fortune. But pay your share, check your environmental impact, treat your workers well. When the only thing that matters is tomorrow's bottom line and stock price, we land here.

      Reply
   5. 

      Doug Holland

      07/08/2023

      Well said, Anony.

      The pinkos and commies think it's treason when I say it, but I think capitalism is the system that works best. It's what I'd favor if my opinion mattered, what I'd order if it did, but capitalism has to be regulated.

      If it's not regulated, and regulated for reals, it's hell on earth and it makes earth hell and it makes monsters like Bezos and Schmuckerberg and it's the worst of all possible worsts.

      Reply
   6. 

      Doug Holland

      07/09/2023

      Gimme small-town capitalism, with big city conveniences.

      Google logs me out of this blog, my blog, twice daily.

      Reply
2. 

   johnthebasket

   07/08/2023

   Doug, 6070 (I didn't catch his last name) asked what he could do. Here's what you can do . . . disconnect power and/or gas service to your house for three days. Take all the batteries out of your battery-powered devices. Take the coil out of your car (easier than emptying the gas tank). There's no electricity, but take away the kids' computers and televisions anyway. Don't walk to the store: it won't be open. Now, try to grow enough food to feed your family in, say, the next week or so. Thus concludes the test.

   A decade ago, we thought this would be a 2070 scenario. It's now looking more like a 2030 to 2040 situation, maybe starting sooner than that. Stockpile canned and long-term-packaged goods and as much potable water as you can. That way your family can live a year instead of a month.

   Lights will blink off, one after the other until Earth is just another dark planet with a fucked up sewer system. There are some pessimists who say it will be worse than I've described. I remain an optimist. Something like a million homo sapiens sapiens will remain alive through a combination of agriculture and hunting and gathering. Nobody knows for how long.

   John

   Reply
   1. 

      Amy O.

      07/08/2023

      Whay tou guys are saying is really pessimistic and sad and I am afraid that it's true. I try not to think about it but when I do I don't even know what to say. It's not innocense, like they don't know what they're doing. They know completely, but they would rather have lives of complete comfort and unimagined luxury than give up 10% of that so there could still be a world.

      Reply
   2. 

      Doug Holland

      07/08/2023

      You surprise me, John the Basket. Maybe more pessimistic than me, and I'm entirely pessimistic.

      The thing about the power going out is, we always expect it to come back on, because it always has. When it goes black, you know the 'lectric company will have juice flowing again in a few hours, maybe tomorrow at worst.

      That ain't gonna happen, though. When the lights *really* wink out, it's not gonna be a wink, it'll be lights out forever.

      Same with food and water shortages. When it happens, we think it'll be temporary, because the authorities will get stuff trucked and trained where it needs to be trucked and trained. That'll be lots less likely when there are lots less trucks, trains, and authorities.

      I've been thinking for years that the only bright spot in all the looming catastrophes is that I'll be dead before climate change becomes truly awful.

      As you say, though, 2070 is coming a lot faster than the speed of time, and so far my health is holding out. 2040 seems optimist, and 2030 is close enough to see.

      Starting to feel like I might still be around as things get noticeably worse. Which could be as soon as this summer.

      Reply
   3. 

      Doug Holland

      07/08/2023

      The rich bastards who own and control everything will feel no pain until they're cornered by an angry mob wielding pitchforks. Soon, I hope, but it'll be a slight vengeance when it comes. It's already too late to save the civilization and culture we grew up in — life as we know it.

      Reply
   4. 

      6070

      07/09/2023

      You've all decided that the world is finished and our grandchildren will have horrible lives. Pessimistic, pessimistic.

      Climate is a big problem, yes, but humans are great at solving problems. Let's all meet here again in fifty years and see who's right.

      Reply
   5. 

      johnthebasekt

      07/09/2023

      Glug, glug.

      Reply
   6. 

      Claude Reigns

      07/09/2023

      "Climate is a big problem, yes, but humans are great at solving problems"

      But terrible at preventing them, which would be an indicator of greater intelligence.

      As Stanley Kubrick said:

      "I've never been certain whether the moral of the Icarus story should only be, as is generally accepted, 'don't try to fly too high,' or whether it might also be thought of as 'forget the wax and feathers, and do a better job on the wings.'"

      https://youtu.be/izFBLqfg3hg

      Reply
   7. 

      Anonymous

      07/09/2023

      >Let's all meet here again in fifty years and see who's right.

      Okay. Let's go back fifty years to 1973, when we were just starting to talk about these issues. And say "Come back in 50 years and see who's right."

      Reply
   8. 

      Doug Holland

      07/09/2023

      You remark, 6070, that "humans are great at solving problems," reminds me of my favorite problem-solver, Tom Midgley. I wrote about him once, so my reply is to re-post that article this morning.

      Reply
   9. 

      Doug Holland

      07/09/2023

      Claude — I liked the story of Spielberg in the car, too.

      Hey, I (finally) finished that Kubrick bio you recommended, by Michael Herr. Jolly good. And short.

      Reply
   10. 

       Doug Holland

       07/09/2023

       More fluids, John. They say more fluids is good for us… glug, glug.

       Reply
   11. 

       Doug Holland

       07/09/2023

       Anony — Dang tootin'. And the fifty years between now and 2073 will be lots more catastrophic than the fifty years between 1973 and 2023.

       Reply

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