THINGS HAVE TO CHANGE

[Matariki]

The other night I found myself weeping as I read about Japan dumping radioactive water into the sea. I thought about the huge dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico and what the oil spill is doing to the environment and the health of the folks living there. A small handful of insane, greedy people are making decisions that are destroying our lives and the lives of everything on the planet.

The following day my sister sent me this article. She was diagnosed with thyroid cancer, had to have her thyroid removed and is recovering from the surgery. Her boss sent her this article about the EPIDEMIC of thyroid cancer in Eastern Pennsylvania (where she has lived all her life) - linked to radiation from nuclear power plants. Pennsylvania has the highest rate of thyroid cancer in the US. (http://www.radiation.org/press/pressreleaseThyroid100121.htm)

Yesterday I listened to the news about Republican efforts to cut back Medicare. THE VERY SAME DAMNED PEOPLE responsible for creating a toxic and cancerous environment are the ones cutting off access to health care or making it completely unaffordable.

I am more furious than I have ever been in my entire life. But what to do? I can't think of a single thing more important than making sure we have a LIVABLE planet. NOTHING matters more than that because if all the fish in the sea die or our very drinking water gives us cancer - NOTHING else matters. Nothing.

Who are these evil people? Are they just short sighted and greedy or are they freaking demons or space aliens or something. And WHEN are we going to get together and stop them?

[FiveGoodMen]

1. I think the current crop of 'Murkins were kicked out of hell.

Didn't meet the minimum standards.

[Matariki]

2. heh. thanks for the laugh.

I don't believe in hell but I sure wish the people responsible have to live with the consequences of their evil. Just them, not other people.

[FiveGoodMen]

5. I don't literally believe in hell, either, but when you're describing the current circumstances

it's the only image that fits.

[Matariki]

7. I know.

:-)

[upi402]

3. Some don't wanna see who "them" is

Going to make stopping "them" even harder when some of "them" is us.

[RKP5637]

14. Yep, very good point, it cuts across everything. Some of them is us! n/t

[AndyTiedye]

4. They are Speeding Up Their Efforts to Kill Medicare Because of Fukushima

They know what all the radiation being released from Fukushima is going to do to us,
and they want to kill off Medicare before the wave of cancer starts to kick in.

[Matariki]

6. Really, the irony (if you can call it that) just struck me so sharply

That the very same people who are blocking the possibility of single payer health care, blocking the means to allow health care access to every citizen, are the very same assholes making decisions that allow nuclear power plants, massive oil spills, and dismantling the EPA.

I hate them.

[RKP5637]

8. I've often thought about your last statement. "Who are these evil people?" IMO they

are literally destroying everything, and here IMO they are completely un-American, akin to terrorists. Are they "freaking demons or space aliens or something." I'm sometimes entertaining the answer is yes.

I do think much as other species are extinct humans will follow along. I thought in 2008 we were going to make major changes in the country, but it's constantly clear to me that these people with wealth and power cornered are pulling the levers of power behind the scenes intent on destroying earth and humanity if necessary to achieve their result of self-enhancement of wealth fueled by compulsive and endless greed.

The way to stop them is to cut their source of money and wealth.

[Matariki]

9. That's the worst part emotionally - every time it seems like we make some progress...

they just entrench themselves more insidiously.

[RKP5637]

10. Yes, it's like a gross insidious viral infection without a cure but amputation. n/t

[glinda]

16. Aliens. I think we should do citizen's arrests by hundreds of people hauling them

to ready made prisons. We cannot go on like this anymore.

[RKP5637]

18. It's gotten way over the top. We, as a nation, look, sound and act like fools anymore to the

rest of the world. I'm really beginning to think there are just two types of people in the world, those that are progressive, and those that are destructive.

[Gregorian]

11. Isn't it obvious?

I always feel the same as if I were talking about some crazy conspiracy theory whenever I bring this up. But it's so obvious it's hard for me to believe people don't see it. It's the sea of cars on the highways. It's the fields that are now houses, stores, roads. It's global warming. It's wars for oil. IT is the monster of billions of people all trying to eat, clothe, work, get medical care, energy. Billions of people simply cannot do this without deforestation, depletion of resources, and competition for space and water eventually. It's called over-population. And it isn't just some thing that can be ignored. It isn't some oddball thing that only the overly sensitive talk about. It is not going to go away until we pay attention to it. And it is, not unlike politics, up to each individual to be personally responsible for. Just because we aren't going to double in the next 20 years doesn't mean it's all going to be ok now. We're in trouble at this population. Just Japan, for example. The carbon footprint of that earthquake is yet to be discovered. Massive. Just that one event. So WE are THEY.


By the way, the point I'm trying to make is that even if we change one thing, it's a multitude of others. Even if we change to solar, that is only one fraction of the issue we face. The real problem is not the symptoms we see.

[Matariki]

12. I agree with you in some respects

certainly about the sustainability of the current population.

However - there are people who have actively blocked research and development of cleaner fuels, sustainable agriculture, and access to health care, etc. - and THOSE people AREN'T us.

[RKP5637]

13. Yes, over-population is a root cause. We are living in each others garbage. And

layered on that we have idiots, for one example, like the teabaggers. We could save humanity, but many people just don't get what's going on, and IMO humans are very slow learners. Most don't pay attention until something smacks them in the nose. The problem with the impending disasters we have in the coming decades is there is not going to be a second chance to get it right.

[walldude]

15. There was a movie in the 80's called

They Live. Where it turned out, they actually are aliens trying to take over the planet.

[suffragette]

17. Your post made me go listen to a Bacharach/Costello collaboration

from a few years back called "Who are the People"

Sadly, just as relevant today.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SKraLpgqWkA

Could only find the non-explicit version on youtube, but I think the explicit version stronger - difference is the one word at the end.

http://www.bacharachonline.com/bacharach_lyrics_chords/at_this_time_lyrics.html

Who Are These People?

Lyrics by Burt Bacharach and Tonio K.

Who are these people that keep telling us lies
And how did these people get control of our lives
And who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
Make em stop


Who are these people that destroy everything
And sell off the future for whatever it brings
And what kind of leaders can’t admit when they’re wrong?
Make em stop


This stupid mess we’re in just keeps getting worse
So many people dying needlessly
Looks like the liars may inherit the earth
Even pretending to pray
And getting away with it


Who are these people that keep telling us lies
And how did these people get control of our lives
And who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
We’ve got to make them stop


Who are these people that keep telling us lies
And how did these people get control of our lives
and who’ll stop the violence cause it’s out of control?
Make em stop


See things really have to change
Before it’s too late

Explicit version ends:
See things really have to change or we're all fucked

[LiberalEsto]

19. Wish I could rec this 100 times

"I can't think of a single thing more important than making sure we have a LIVABLE planet."

What I cannot understand is that somehow all these corporate sociopaths seem to think the poisoned air and water, the poisoned soil, the damaged ozone layer, the radioactive materials, the acid rain, the dying animals and plants, somehow won't affect THEM or their families.

Do they think their gated mansions will somehow protect them from breathing toxic air?

[Lorien]

20. Agree absolutely. But sadly "The environment" doesn't make many people's top ten

list as a priority. The media ignores it for the large part as well; things are STILL a mess here on the Florida Gulf coast and will be for generations, but the media sees it as yesterday's news. When I hear people say that the environment isn't important because "technology will solve all of our problems" I have to remind them that technology couldn't plug the oil gusher for months and it sure as hell hasn't kept radiation from contaminating the sea near the nuke plant in Japan.

[NC_Nurse]

21. I blame religion. It's a great way to delude yourself that despite all of our

Destructiveness, we will somehow be saved from ourselves. Probably by some magical old guy in the sky who is just waiting for the right moment to swoop us all up to safety....or something.

Its amazing how many people really believe that kind of stuff. Personally, I think we're fucked.

[Matariki]

24. Some people think aliens are going to save us

clean up our pollution and radiation. Seriously, there are folks who think that.

[Shagbark Hickory]

22. They are evil, aren't they. Heartless and evil.

[felix_numinous]

23. Whatever these people have, a disease or something else--

their refusal to be open to ANY discussion is effectively excluding themselves from the rest of the population. They consider themselves, through religious, blood or other sense of entitlement, to be above discussing anything with us---which feels very cold and ruthless--and alien, reptilian, creepy.

Having the avenue of bargaining and discourse completely cut off, we are being forced to take another course. I think these 'inhumane' people need to be recalled.