Bill Maher ended his show tonight with this song...

[Heartstrings]

Happy Earth Day 2017....."there is no new frontier, we have got to make it here"

The Last Resort

Eagles

She came from Providence, the one in Rhode Island
Where the old world shadows hang heavy in the air
She packed her hopes and dreams like a refugee,
Just as her father came across the sea

She heard about a place people were smilin',
They spoke about the red man's way, how they loved the land
And they came from everywhere to the Great Divide
Seeking a place to stand or a place to hide

Down in the crowded bars out for a good time,
Can't wait to tell you all what it's like up there
And they called it paradise, I don't know why
Somebody laid the mountains low while the town got high

Then the chilly winds blew down across the desert,
Through the canyons of the coast to the Malibu
Where the pretty people play hungry for power
To light their neon way and give them things to do

Some rich man came and raped the land, nobody caught 'em,
Put up a bunch of ugly boxes and, Jesus, people bought 'em
And they called it paradise, the place to be,
They watched the hazy sun sinking in the sea

You can leave it all behind and sail to Lahaina
Just like the missionaries did so many years ago
They even brought a neon sign 'Jesus is Coming',
Brought the white man's burden down, brought the white man's reign

Who will provide the grand design, what is yours and what is mine?
'Cause there is no more new frontier, we have got to make it here
We satisfy our endless needs and justify our bloody deeds
In the name of destiny and in the name of God

And you can see them there on Sunday morning
Stand up and sing about what it's like up there
They called it paradise, I don't know why
You call some place paradise, kiss it goodbye


Songwriters: GLENN FREY, DON HENLEY
© Cass County Music / Wisteria Music / Privet Music, Warner/Chappell Music, Inc., Red Cloud Music
For non-commercial use only.
Data from: LyricFind


Check out this video on YouTube:

[Dammit Jim]

1. We still need to go to Mars

Yes, need to.

[Silver Gaia]

5. Love the video! I agree. And I disagree with Bil Mahr on this.

The thing I would add is that it really has nothing to do, from a rational POV, with the bizarre (to me) notion Mahr expressed about wanting or needing to use Mars as somewhere to escape to because we've destroyed this planet to the point that it is unlivable. What??? Even setting aside all the reasons he gave, how would that be of any help to the vast majority of Earth people anyway? Most of us would still die on the planet we'd destroyed.

I don't think the idea of Mars exploration and eventual settlements was ever about some "disposable planet" mentality. It's about needing room to grow. To my way of thinking, this (and the points expressed in the video) has always been the foundation of the idea of going to Mars. The Earth can only sustain so many of us before her systems buckle under the demands of so many of us. If the human population keeps growing as it has, and I see no reason to think it won't, this will become an unsustainable situation.

The idea has always been about creating extraplanetary colonies so that our eventual excess population has somewhere to go. This is something we need to figure out BEFORE it gets to that point. And we would need BOTH Mars and Earth, so it's really NOT about destroying the Earth and moving on. It's about NOT destroying the Earth by overpopulation.

Maybe Bill needs to read a few good sci-fi books about this! (A good start would be Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy.)

[ja_mx]

8. Dumb (...and I'm not trying to be rude, but factual)

All Bill Mayer was trying to say was, 'finish what you start' before chasing a fantasy.

Your seemingly casual thought that Mars should be pursued as a backup, when you think about it, is chilling. The casualness with which you seem to accept man's eventually of fucking up our planet to the point of needing a spare planet is glutinous.

This nation-state has an obligation to clean up its mess before sticking its nose someplace else.

[Silver Gaia]

9. What I put forth is a sad, but unavoidable, truth.

It is not a casual thought. Mahr's idea was for Mars to be a "backup" planet - not mine, and it's not even MY idea. Surely you don't think the population isn't going to grow? The impetus to colonize other planets is to have somewhere for people to go when there are too many here. You must be too young to remember the "Zero Population Growth" movement.

[applegrove]

2. That was a really sobering New Rules tonight. Actually the whole

show was sobering.

[world wide wally]

3. My favorite Eagle's song

[mr_lebowski]

4. Last song on Hotel California ... a mostly forgotten gem 'til they played on the Farewell I Tour Vid

... if memory serves.

Now a lot more people know the tune, in large part thanks to pretty much everyone having seen that video at this point.

It's Signature Henley, and a perfect bookend to the classic album opener ... 'Hotel California'. Kinda makes the same point but in a bit more 'on the nose' sorta way.

I've always particularly loved this couplet ...

'We satisfy our endless needs ... and justify our bloody deeds ... in the name of Destiny ... and in the name of God'

[Norbert]

6. Today is Record Store Day

It would be great to see a bump in the sale of the Hotel California CD and Vinyl. People would be purchasing their best work.

[Delphinus]

7. This song

brings me to tears, every time. I love it and I love to sing it, but it's always with a choked voice that I sing. Excellent song.