When I heard about the massive earthquake in Chengdu, I thought maybe my wish had come true, the earth found a way to vomit.
Three Gorges Dam Unaffected. Hmmmm.
However, 10,000 people died (!!! :’(!!!). Read how the World’s Most Notorious Dam may have contributed. “Reservoir-induced seismicity”. My wish? maybe not so farfetched after all. Or maybe angry river spirits have no need for my silly wishes.
I wonder if the Columbia has any similar aspirations.
I thought of something like that, but it would mean that rivers and tectonic plates have a hard time aiming at the little fuzzy creatures (us). Thousands and thousands of people dead, and hardly a CEO among them, just some of the poorest, most vulnerable people on the planet. I’ve long thought of the earth fighting back, but I don’t think we really want the earth fighting back. She operates on a planetary level, and she has a very hard time distinguishing between civilization’s pillars and civilization’s main victims.
I know we’ve got plenty of sci-fi geeks around, so any of you fans of Babylon 5? I think we may end up like Londo at the very end of the Shadow War…
with an alien parasite that we have to get drunk in order to escape its mind control power?
???
[quote=“Willem, post:3, topic:880”]with an alien parasite that we have to get drunk in order to escape its mind control power?
???[/quote]
Alien paracite = civ culture; alcohol = (insert entheogenic pathway here)
[quote=“chase, post:4, topic:880”][quote author=Willem link=topic=932.msg10219#msg10219 date=1210783972]
with an alien parasite that we have to get drunk in order to escape its mind control power?
???
[/quote]
Alien paracite = civ culture; alcohol = (insert entheogenic pathway here)[/quote]
hey chase! not to derail things, but you need to continue (or start) a thread on old english groovyness! 
I had more in mind the scene where Vir sees Morden’s head up on a pike, and Londo comes in celebrating, “We’ve done it! We’ve eliminated the Shadow presence on Centauri Prime, and now the Vorlons will leave us be.”
And then the sunlight goes dim, and they see the Vorlon planet-killer settling into orbit. “No,” Vir reminds him, “there’s one thing left that’s been touched by the Shadows.” And he points at Londo.
So Londo tells Vir to kill him, do it, and make sure the Vorlons know you’ve done it.
Of course, at that very opportune moment, the Battle of Coriana VI kicks into high gear, and the planet-killer has to leave. I doubt we’ll luck out with such a deus ex machina. When it comes time for the earth herself to shake off her infection, she won’t do well distinguishing between us. So we really want to sort this thing out amongst ourselves; none of us would like what would happen if Mother has to get involved.
You really aught to have said that to me before ai posted again on the “to be helping verbs” thread. Oh well, ai guess ai can to do it anyway.
Back on topic - yeah, the “disasters” heading our way from Earthmother wont to discriminate between us, so we should beware of places we know of that seem likely targets and train ourselves for disaster survival.
good point abt the discrimination tho. But nature has a subtle precise and wonderful way of working. Plus as a pantheist (or daoist) i see myself as a part of the the Dao, individuality is an illusion to me. I dont die, i just get recycled, nothing wrong with that is there? The dao never works excesively, in fact she never works at all, she just goes the way she does, and everything just flows as a part of her, if i was to be recycled by the flow of nature, it is what nature intended, it just means i am needed in another form…
-Tj