I wish I had the hope or inpiration some people have here .

[blues90]

I just don't see a way americans will ever give up their guns and how gun laws will stop the problems . The healthcare system is so screwed up that anyone suffering from a mental issue have little hope as the systems stand of being cured .

Then their is this high hope of a democratic presidnent winning in 2008 and that this alone will brighten everyones world .

Add to this the issues of war and what we have opened up in the middle east with the insane idea they will ever have a democracy or even wanted one in the first place . How will this ever be resolved after all this damage has been done , it's just not going to go away .

Now that the supreme court is filled with freaks andthey have wound women back to the past on abortion , government has no place in a womens private issues no matter what they may be . Religion will never let go of their ideals either .

It seems to me we have been battling these same issues all my life and have only gotten worse in all respects , makes me wonder just who is in control and who has these jobs that relate to college and school safety and if they are even close to being quaified to have these positions .

No one wants metal detectors and police in every school and no one wants to give up their guns and no one wants to reach out with real help to those who for one reason or another just don't fit in or handle society very well .

Instead of eliminating nuclear weapons the world fights to add more as if this is the answer to peace .

It just seems to me even with the best efforts man alone is the problem that is one thing that will never change .

It is almost to the point of which way man will find their demise , the nuclear war or global warming , the two big gun issues of the world .

[mdmc]

1. Guns are the American way

I don't see a way to get rid of them. We need to look elsewhere.

So much violence. So much hatred. So much poverty and illness...

There are better places to improve our safety then banning guns. I won't stop folks from tryin to ban guns, it just ain't my bag.

[MADem]

2. Journeys of a thousand miles start with a single step.

Seriously, what's the alternative?

You can cry in your milk, or you can work for change. And even voting for intelligent candidates who support the bulk of, if not all, of your ideals is a start.

[blues90]

6. I have done all that years ago .

I did everything one person could do . I protested the vietnam war and this mad war in Iraq . I tried to convince as many people how wrong this war was in Iraq and ended up going too far and probably this is the reason I was fired being the ony dem in the damn place .

I have maintained a small corbon footprint all my life because I always had an awareness of the environment .

I watched as the great leaders we had like the Kennedys be murdered and watched my friends who found their way into vietnam come home in boxes or metally damaged for life .

I thought Clinton would be the answer but this turned out not to be quite so .

I really thought people would have seen the light by 2004 and really thought Kerry would be the next president and would get this Iraq mad mistake vanish . Well who knew the next day would turn out to be balck box winners , should have learned from 2000 that this was a huge mistake yet everyone who were in control bought into it and we had no choice .

So now I am supposed to find hope this will change because we made it just barely in 2006 . Because Hillary has big money or Obama says what he feels people want to hear , this is all political games that we should be well aware of since the past proves that just because a speech is great does in no way mean this will come true . Promises are easy to make .

Perhaps it's all for the next generation to solve and figure out , perhaps they will make the difference we were not able to do .

[MADem]

8. Well, join the club. I thought I'd be done with this shit at my age, too.

Of course, when I was in service, my carbon footprint (what's with that bullshit phrase, anyway? Why not just say "Don't be a fucking environmental PIG!!) was large, based on my being part of the defense establishment, but personally, I've always been a "Turn down the goddamn heat--what, are we heating the great outdoors?" and "Am I the only one who turns a goddamned light off around here?" school of energy conservation. Never drove huge cars, combined trips, always--even when it wasn't the fashion, remember well the odd-even days, remember the pre-Reagan malaise and the entire Reagan administration "Midnight in America--for the Poor" era...and the Clinton era when regular people actually were able to get a leg up.

Here's the thing, though. It's NEVER done. Ever. It is a continuous work in progress. Your only option if you can't deal with it is to just drop out. No one would blame you. But if it bothers you as much as it seems to, that probably wouldn't do it for you either...

[blues90]

9. I don't know where carbon foot print came from .

It must be some high tech , new age sci-fi term .

I can honestly say when I'm out on the roads here it beocmes too much to bear , all the cars now and cells phones and people blindly rushing around just gets me down .

I could live easily without this high tech world and would prefer to be well away from the masses but within rage so I could get to something within an hour . Maybe it's time for me to sell all and get a motor home and see if such a place exists because as it is will not quite cut it for me anylonger .

Maybe some cheap old motor home for me and my wife and work small odd jobs to keep going if this is still even possible these days .

[Joe for Clark]

3. You make a great point.

Hope - is also a great thing. We have that.

If we looked back now to a hundred years ago - what would we see??

Hope changed those things. And it will now.

Joe

[Gregorian]

4. A few thoughts and tips

These problems are part of the new way we are living. The modern way. But we've always had liars and murderers.

Due to the population, we just have more of everything. The way I see where we are today is an anomaly. We found a source of energy that has allowed us to not only grow almost without bounds, but with great comfort. And it cannot be sustained. This will not last.

I get in my car and absolutely cannot believe the number of processes required in order to make the things that go into making it run. Not just gasoline, but gear hobbing, spline broaching, hardening, plating. Overhead cams, fuel injection, pistons, clutch, transmission. I say this because we are not too far from having electric cars. No clutch, no transmission to speak of, no fuel (if it's powered by photovoltaic generated electricity), no gears to speak of.

This world is in a state that is way outside the equilibrium of nature. It is going to change. Slowly it is changing. In 200 years, there will be far fewer people, and still a comfortable lifestyle that is withing nature's equilibrium.

Up until now, life has not been a very comfortable one. Diseases did not have cures. Injuries went untreated. We've made progress, and then too much. It will swing in another direction very soon. That is exactly what is happening right now. That is what Iraq is all about. We invaded because we are on the back side of the energy curve.

Here is what I do to try and stay sane. Watch the Daily Show. Ride a bike at least ten miles per day, not on the road with cars, but somewhere beautiful. Listen to college radio. Avoid all commercials. Try to work as little as possible. Make my life simple.

None of this may apply to anyone but myself. It works for me. I just hope it has any help for anyone else.

[Skarbrowe]

5. It applies to me too, Gregorian. At least I'm trying. After reading

"The Last Hours of Ancient Sunlight" by the GREAT Thom Hartmann, I decided to adjust my life in ways I could. It's not that I didn't know many of the things that Mr. Hartmann discusses in his book, but the precise, logical way he talks about what course humanity had to be on once it left a hunter-gather society use of energy per person, I realized that there is only one direction for humankind. We will have to in some way lose billions of people in the future. How that will happen..well, we've set ourselves up for any number of major human extinction scenarios. Not total extinction, hopefully, but the earth cannot support 10 billion plus people.

So, take long bike rides or walks, try and see all the beautiful things you can. Try and get the noise and clutter out of your life. Vote for candidates that you at least feel will do the best possible for this planet and simply enjoy what you have now. I look around at what I have and think of how it is like in other parts of this planet, and I am very, very fortunate human being at this point in time.

[Gregorian]

7. It's nice to know there are many who know and understand.

Not everyone wants a beer with Bush.


I have a friend that grew up across the street. We're the lucky ones. We grew up in Palo Alto, a town that has brains. I have to share this because it's a bit funny. He made up a business card about 20 years ago. He would hand it to people and watch the look on their face. It had his occupation as "Hunter gatherer".

Interesting times. I was thinking this morning about how the world would be if we lived to be 300 years old. We'd have to live through our mistakes. We might not make so many hit and run decisions.