Here Be Monsters

When ancient cartographers described areas beyond the border where knowledge and experience failed, they would simply write "here be monsters." This is a lovely metaphor for all that we'd rather not think about. This might be about denial. It might be about simply not knowing. It might be that the truth is more unimaginable that we ever dreamed, and not in a good way.

Over the last week, I've been running into people who believe things are far worse than I can bring myself to imagine. An old friend I hadn't seen in ten years turned out to be a 9/11 Truth Movement activist.

"I can accept," I said, "that our government would stage some sort of Reichstag fire event to provide cover for imperial ambitions and internal repression, but why would elites take out the heart of their own financial system?"

He didn't blink. Obviously the question had arisen before.

The buildings were old and needed to come down anyway. And they needed several thousand deaths to make it look good.

Oh.

Later last week, I met someone else who believes this. She also said that boxcars were being manufactured that have built-in shackles. And guillotines.

Guillotines?

Yes. Three to the car. Very efficient.

To me, this seems crazy. But what the hell do I know? At this point, pretty much anything feels like it might be possible.

Global warming is a fast-approaching death sentence for millions in the southern hemisphere, but the powerful in this country, other than Greg Nickels, don't much seem to give a shit. And he probably only cares because we just remodeled the aquarium, and it would be a shame to only get fifteen or twenty years out of it. The smart money, you'll notice, builds on higher ground.

The White House seems hellbent on fulfilling their Christian Armageddon fantasy in the Mid-east. Is George Bush crazy enough to attack Iran? Hell yes. It isn't really about "crazy." He just needs to be a greedy sociopath. That much is self-evident, and he has plenty of company.

The government heavily contracts military and security operations to a private mercenary army. The plans are in place to arrest and imprison internal "subversives" when the time comes. The surveillance society that already exists makes the most paranoid 50s fantasy seem tame in comparison.

That much is well-established.

According to the Bureau of Justice's own statistics, 1 in 32 adults are now in jail, prison, or on parole. I find it rather easy to believe that, given current trends, that number is likely to rise and, worse, at some point include me.

But obviously I'd rather not think about that.

So I don't know. These are dangerous times. 9/11 an inside job? Guillotines in box cars? Why not?

For all I know, homeless people are being ground up for dog food in the basement of City Hall. We're becoming a city of homeless-hating dog lovers. It would make sense.

Have I gone completely around the fucking bend? Not yet. But I expect to get there eventually.

Deeply, In a Deep Kind of Concerned Way

Every once in a great while, someone recycles something on YouTube and actually makes it better. Here, some kid sitting in his bedroom who goes by blueraycrazy2006 does a spot-on Bush impersonation while lip-synching to a Will Ferrell bit on Global Warming that aired last November on TBS's two-hour Earth to America comedy special. It's easy to find the original on YouTube as well, but this one's better. Way better. There's something about Bush that only a fourteen year-old can really nail.

Apocalypse Tomorrow

Not to get all giddy on you or anything, but last week's No and No vote on the viaduct gave me hope that my kids might possibly get to grow up in a world that doesn't completely suck.

Thank you Seattle. I couldn't vote myself. My opinions stopped counting the day I moved to Shoreline for the schools. Maybe as a follow-up you guys can do something about your crappy education system and expensive housing so I can come back someday and start voting again.

Last Sunday's NYT offered a truly grim picture of the future if global warming trends continue. As usual, the South gets to take it in the teeth for the affluence of the North.

A new Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change Report, which to non-scientists such as myself is virtually incomprehensible, predicts flooding, drought, famine, and disease, but mostly for other people.

By just 2030, death rates in the third world from diarrhea and malnutrition will dramatically climb, and hundreds of millions of Africans and tens of millions of Latin Americans will experience water shortages. By 2080, water shortages will affect billions of people.

North America, Northern Europe, and Australia will be among the last to be affected by the worst aspects of climate change. This is probably why the U.S. is not interested in building a huge military base atop the Guarani Aquifer, as many Latin America watchers believe to be the case.

Being thirsty sucks. Being white, affluent, and armed to the fucking teeth rules! USA! USA! USA!

Um, sorry. Where was I?

The good news is that if carbon emissions are significantly reduced within the next generation, the worst of this can be avoided. Mass transit and improved transportation grids are looking better and better.

So, like, if not now, when?