In THX 1138 the movie he made before the Starwars bonanza, Lucas peoples the world with emotionless characters who constantly run electric razors over their hairless domes as a sort of nervous tic. (I couldn’t find an image with the razors.) Sitting on the train, looking at the scores of people plugged in and fiddling with their iPods, Blackberrys, Samsung super phones and other paraphernalia, scrolling with jaded eyes through their emails, web apps, or whatever…I couldn’t help thinking of THX.
The oil spill in the Gulf is bad, but it’s not the apocalypse. The stuff is nasty, but it’s less heavy and black than what came out of the Valdez. It’s less concentrated in area. Of course, it’s still going strong. Not to mention why it happened. Personally, I’m more concerned about the anoxic dead zone in the Gulf that is a chronic condition caused by agricultural runoff.
Maybe something good will come of the leak. Perhaps BP will fold, other companies will think twice about offshore drilling. They’ll demand higher prices to cover their liabilities in case of disaster. Higher fuel prices, less driving, more incentive for alternative energy sources. Right now, oil gets a free ride on the externalities, but of course, we like it that way. Although, I haven’t heard much from the Drill Baby, Drill! crowd lately.
from Book I, Chapter 30 of Augustine’s City of God:
Some of you do not know the facts; some of you pretend not to know, and you raise an outcry…Well, here are the facts. The public games, those disgusting spectacles of frivolous immorality, were instituted at Rome not by the viciousness of men, but by the orders of those gods of yours [his pagan opponents]. … Listen to me, if your minds will allow you to think sensibly, after they have been drunk so long on the liquor of nonsense!…I wonder if posterity will be able to believe this when they hear of it!
Saint Augustine had the instincts of a flamer in the blogsphere!
Posted by Lichanos 
Journey to Perplexity 