Ever since 2011 started animals have been dying, en masse, all over the place. We’ve been told it’s fairly common and all the commotion is media hype, but that doesn’t really sit right. I mean, first it was 1,000 birds in Arkansas, thenthe fishstarted dying, then more birds and now crabs. Now, I’m not saying this is some kind of biblical end of days kind of thing, although I might have already, but it’s a cause for concern I think, no?
There’s a song by The Police called “Canary In a Coalmine” and it’s kind of about the idea that this person is a little, say, over cautious.
First to fall over when the atmosphere is less than perfect
Your sensibilities are shaken by the slightest defect
You live you life like a canary in a coalmine
You get so dizzy even walking in a straight line
It’s a great song, and one of the things I love most about it is that the person it’s about is pretty ambiguous. It’s not an obvious jab at a girl that won’t let Sting make out with her, or some other kind of “stop being square” accusation. It’s a pretty gender neutral song that’s just saying “stop being so timid, live more.”
Of course, the thing about a Canary in a Coalmine, as the saying goes, is that they live short, but meaningful lives. They’re the first signs of danger, which I think is something we can acknowledge – without getting too far into conspiracy theories – could be scaled upwards. Animals with more delicate respiratory systems, animals like birds and fish, will be affected by upcoming dangers before more complicated animals like say … mammals.
Even a pretty incredible video like this, of a swarm of birds above the Eaton’s Centre in Toronto, is uncomfortably eerie. If it weren’t for the morbid news of that past week it would be beautiful, but the movements feel anxious and desperate now. Like they’re being closed in.
I know! Like a swarm of fucking locusts! All I’m saying is, even as a non-believer, I still kind of hope this is the end of days. Could you imagine? It’s it’s all true?! And really, is bird dropping from the sky in enormous numbers and fish floating to the surface by the millions not something you’d expect to read in the bible? I just want to know what happens next. When the mammals start dying, I’m going to church.
Update #1 01/07/11 10:30am: Behold, a google map to help keep track of the carnage:
Update #2 01/07/11 3:06pm:So science blogger and pretty smart lady Maggie Koerth-Bakerisn’t buying any of it, and you know what? she’s probably right. I trust her sensibilities more than my own. There is no birdpocaypse, just some dead birds, and there will probably be more which we may or may not hear about.
Stephen Hawkingwants us to stop looking for aliens, in fact he thinks we should keep our head down and hope they don’t notice us and I for one agree.
Basically the argument is that chances are, contact with extra-terrestrials would not be a friendly meeting. Rather, a race advanced enough to be travelling throughout the universe is probably not on a galactic search for new friends, but more likely resources. And what reason would we have to believe they would have any interest in living in harmony with us? Are there any examples, any at all, of colonialism on earth where the colonizers wanted to share? Of course not.
Perhaps some kind of inter-galactic governing body will exist some 10,000 years down the road, but only after hundreds of years of wars and galactic genocide that this planet will certainly not make it through.
This may seem like paranoid rambling, albeit with the endorsement of one of the smartest men on the planet. But the point is, why take the risk. The probability, and potential for, literally, astronomical earth-shattering disaster is far too high.
Also, while we’re on the subject, can we please stop trying to invent robots that are smarter than us? Has no one seen The Terminator? Again, why would a robot that is smarter than me do anything for me? Why would it serve me? And again, are there any historical examples of a smarter, stronger, better educated race being enslaved by their subordinates? Of course not! We’re manufacturing our own demise!
That is to say, I had my last cigarette ever on March 13th,2010, the end of a habit I picked up on June 2, 1997. Almost 13 years ago. It’s been such a constant in my life throughout that time that 13 years seems almost short, it’s difficult to remember a time when I wouldn’t have a pack of cigarettes and a lighter stuffed in my pocket. When leaving my house it’s more likely I’ll forget my cellphone.
The odyssey began outside the Opera House in Toronto, in anticipation of a Radiohead show. My friend Michael and I were camped out in front of the venue hours before the doors opened in order to ensure we would be up close (mission accomplished). What we hadn’t planned for was the downtime.
One of my favourite Super Bowl stories this year, besides of course the Mancrunch campaign, was Pepsi. Pepsi decided to forgo advertising during the big game. Instead, Pepsi launched the refresh project.
Rather than spending money on a Super Bowl ad, Pepsi will launch the Pepsi Refresh Project on January 13, 2010. At that time, users can submit their ideas to Pepsi for ways to refresh their communities, making the world a better place.
Voting will begin on February 1, 2010, and the projects that get the most votes will be funded by Pepsi. Pepsi expects to spend $20 million to fund thousands of projects.
And it’s working, the website is full of projects of various sizes being pitched by real people looking to make a difference in their world. It’s an experiment I really hope proves viable from both a philanthropic standpoint as a marketing/financial standpoint. Just imagine the possibilities!
The Conservative government announced this week it would be cutting off funding to the Community Access Program, reducing its $15 million budget down to $2 million. The initiative, brought forth in 1994, “gives thousands of Canadians affordable access to the Internet in places like schools, community centres and libraries. It provides access to those people who might not have computers or Internet access in their homes or workplaces.”
A noble and just effort for sure, so why the cuts?
I’ve got a post going up on this.org later today about the government’s planned debate over the lyrics to the national anthem.
It’s kind of a quirky and unexpected thing to bring up in the throne speech, but to me it kind of a fun idea to think about. How important are our national symbols and does it matter if they change?
The national anthem has only been O Canada since 1980 when it replaced God Save the Queen. It’s remained unchanged in English and in French since that time. The French (the original) version has remained the same since it was written in 1880, but the English language version has a long history of amended lyrics, which I discuss in the blog post (I’ll post a link when it goes up).posted!
The environmental movement has been gaining steam for some years now, forcing responsible citizens to re-examine all aspects of their lives, but now, truly responsible citizens must also re-examine their behaviour in death as well.
The Natural Burial Co-operative is a Guelph based organization promoting a greener afterlife. Actually, your afterlife is still your own should you choose to have one, the Natural Burial Co-operative simply asks that you dispose of your mortal shell more responsibly.
The ongoing saga over the sale of raw milk added another chapter last week. Dundas, Ont. farmer and raw milk champion, Michael will be back in court on a yet-to-be-determined date to defend his case against the Ontario Government.
Schmidt was acquitted last month of 19 charges relating to the sale of his unpasteurized milk, but the Ontario government has launched an appeal. They seem unrepentant in their quest to squash raw milk, which seems wholly ludicrous to me. I understand, and fully accept the claims that there are real health risks involved in its consumption, but so what? There are serious health risks associated with drinking alcohol and eating raw fish as well. Furthermore, in recent years, mass produced packaged meats seem to be a much more dangerous source of food born bacteria and Maple Leaf foods seems to have gotten through that debacle mostly unscathed.
I don’t want to alarm anyone, but “our everyday experience might itself be a holographic projection of physical processes that take place on a distant, 2D surface.”
This recent rise in lazy-man activism has been much criticized, for good reason. Really, what does it matter if an onion ring has more facebook votes than Stephen Harper. Does that mean we should move our federal elections to facebook? Is that how we engage people? Would the outcome be a country presided over by pub fare?
Facebook and other social networking services may create an environment for meandering, responsibility-free complaining, but when put to proper use they can be valuable resources to activists. They’re tools for communication that galvanize and mobilize enormous groups of people at once and while the groups mentioned above may only prove that a large chunk of the population has the munchies, the tool itself has promise.
