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I'm young, I'm smart, I'm pissed, and I have nothing left to lose.  I've been waiting to figure out where to sign up, but I think the perception that signing up is all you have to do is partially indicative of the problem.

My work and education in restoration ecology have left me with a firm understanding of the importance of hope and resistance in the face of seeming futility.  Can we really "restore" an ecosystem?  Fuck no we can't.  No matter what we do, something unexpected or undesirable will come of it.  That which is done, generally speaking, cannot be undone.  But we can prioritize, mitigate damage, set objectives, and work towards them using the collective wisdom and resources we have at our disposal.  We can fuck up and we can learn from it and we can try something new instead of shrugging our shoulders and saying "let it burn".

I did a lot of public outreach, too.  You see, the common perception is that it's a bunch of hippy tree-hugging bullshit, or that things are "natural" as they are and ought to be conserved rather than managed and restored.  People are a lot more willing to give a shit and support your efforts when you get it through their skulls that what you're doing is to keep their homes from burning to the fucking ground.  And let me tell you, it's incredibly satisfying to watch your friends and neighbors wake up from their apathetic or ignorant stupors and gain the desire to help ward off impending disaster in whatever ways possible.

It's not a perfect metaphor and it's not supposed to be a perfect metaphor, but as I sit here feeling the fervor for forest ecology course through me, I'm realizing its applicability.  Sure.  I'm a goddamned hippy.  But the passion comes from a desire to protect what which I love from destruction, to keep it intact and inhabitable.  Well, the ecosystem isn't the only thing keeping this place inhabitable, nor is it the only thing threatening to collapse.  And I'm also a goddamned American with a desire to protect the country I love from destruction.  

I have some more thinking to do.  In the mean time, I'm going to keep getting mad.

These scattered thoughts are brought to you by a sleepless night and... this thread.

Fine, fuck it.  Y'all are adults (I assume). 

I think they're calling it "3 guys 1 hammer" these days.

ooh, ooh.  lemme guess!  Was it the glass jar in the ass?

I wish.  I wish with all of my heart.  "[edited out]" ring a bell?  If not, don't.  Really.  This isn't one of those trying-to-tempt-you "don't look"s, it's a "please, for the sake of your lifelong psychological well-being, don't look."  I don't know what possessed me to look, but it's absolutely motherfucking horrific and what little I saw was enough to leave me with years of nightmares.

Edit: You know what?  I don't even want to leave that there.

Whatever you do, DO FUCKING NOT google image it. I'm pretty sure this is the single worst thing I have ever seen that's actually real.

I was doubting the one with the woman's forearm and then I discovered it was an animated gif.  I doubt no longer (that something ate the flesh off of her, at least).  According to reddit, there's a whole video of it- I think I'll skip that one.  I'm pretty sure nothing will ever top (that doesn't feel like the right word) the worst thing I've ever seen that's actually real, but I'm in no mood to try.