Dearly beloved, we are gathered here to mourn the departure of an old friend, an old friend we hardly knew.
The Gulf of Mexico has had a long life, 230 million years, a beautiful history from the breaking of Pangea to the present. Of course, it's not the basin that lived, but the ecosystem that made the gulf so vibrant. The basin is just a vessel, and now the vessel is empty.
These are sad things not considered polite at a funeral, but they are things that must be said. WE killed the Gulf of Mexico. We killed it, with fertilizers down the great Mississippi River, producing a festering wound the size of new jersey which comes again and again every summer. But even as it was crippled the Gulf lived on, it was a hardy area of endemism.
And now, it is gone, lost to pneumonia a rattling cough and wheezing that killed it in it's sleep, all that crude oil stopping it's arteries up, clogging it's aveoli. The Gulf had another 100 million years left on it's life, when it was killed by human negligence. It's a symptom of humanity to value only after it's lost. And though the doctors are now scrambling with artificial resuscitation, the damage is too deep.
And, though we know there will be a rebirth, we believe The Process of Sustaining goes on, how many years will it take? 100? 1000? One million? After the Great Dying at the end of the Permian, it took 4 million years for resurrection.
Let us pray that the second coming of the Gulf of Mexico will not take that long, that it will rise again like the phoenix even brighter than before.
I saw an article on the Internet this morning, about the Jordan river. Apparently this waterway, where Jesus himself was purported baptized way back when, is now a "brackish stream" consisting mainly of sewage and agricultural runoff. The same thing is happening with famous natural sites all over the world. How long will it be until people realize that using the past as fuel for the future is a horrible, horrible idea?
Remington,
Voting Green next election, although he knows it won't do any good.
Quote from: Remington on May 03, 2010, 04:28:53 PM
I saw an article on the Internet this morning, about the Jordan river. Apparently this waterway, where Jesus himself was purported baptized way back when, is now a "brackish stream" consisting mainly of sewage and agricultural runoff. The same thing is happening with famous natural sites all over the world. How long will it be until people realize that using the past as fuel for the future is a horrible, horrible idea?
Remington,
Voting Green next election, although he knows it won't do any good.
Humans, the species most capable of contemplating the past and planning for the future on this planet, are the ones most responsible for forgetting the past and destroying the possibilities of the future.
Quote from: Kai on May 03, 2010, 04:52:16 PM
Quote from: Remington on May 03, 2010, 04:28:53 PM
I saw an article on the Internet this morning, about the Jordan river. Apparently this waterway, where Jesus himself was purported baptized way back when, is now a "brackish stream" consisting mainly of sewage and agricultural runoff. The same thing is happening with famous natural sites all over the world. How long will it be until people realize that using the past as fuel for the future is a horrible, horrible idea?
Remington,
Voting Green next election, although he knows it won't do any good.
Humans, the species most capable of contemplating the past and planning for the future on this planet, are the ones most responsible for forgetting the past and destroying the possibilities of the future.
You're just going to give yourself ulcers.
We have to kill nature before it kills us.
Quote from: Hawk on May 03, 2010, 05:18:03 PM
Quote from: Kai on May 03, 2010, 04:52:16 PM
Quote from: Remington on May 03, 2010, 04:28:53 PM
I saw an article on the Internet this morning, about the Jordan river. Apparently this waterway, where Jesus himself was purported baptized way back when, is now a "brackish stream" consisting mainly of sewage and agricultural runoff. The same thing is happening with famous natural sites all over the world. How long will it be until people realize that using the past as fuel for the future is a horrible, horrible idea?
Remington,
Voting Green next election, although he knows it won't do any good.
Humans, the species most capable of contemplating the past and planning for the future on this planet, are the ones most responsible for forgetting the past and destroying the possibilities of the future.
You're just going to give yourself ulcers.
Hardly.
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 03, 2010, 05:49:18 PM
We have to kill nature before it kills us.
I'm not sure the corporate ideology comes down to that, but it's a nice satire.
Quote from: Kai on May 03, 2010, 09:56:48 PM
Quote from: Doktor Howl on May 03, 2010, 05:49:18 PM
We have to kill nature before it kills us.
I'm not sure the corporate ideology comes down to that, but it's a nice satire.
I've said it with a straight face on conservatard boards.
Of course I was instabanned. :lulz: