Stephen King Rules!!

Wow!! I went to see Stephen King's "The Mist" on Saturday night. What a movie! And not in the regular, formulaic horror movie sense of the word. King does horror like no one else. Although "The Mist" was suspenseful and slightly gruesome at times, the main point of the storyline said something far more important about humanity. Perhaps that it is why the fourteen year olds walked out of the movie saying it "sucked." They just didn't get it! I don't want to ruin the ending or most of the storyline for people who haven't seen the movie yet, but it really makes a point about humans and science. When is enough going to be enough for us? What has to happen to humanity before scientists will pull back on the limits they are pushing? Probably not until it is too late, is King's analysis.

The movie got my sister and I talking about this subject on a larger scale. She told me that one of her clients told her they are cloning racehorses and show horses already! Omigod! The motivation is purely money! Why pay half a million dollars or more for a horse with good parents, because the good genes may or may not be passed down. Instead, let's just clone the prize winning horses because we already know they will be successful! Sick, sick! We may as well just start cloning the smartest, most athletic people in the world to eradicate the ills of society, such as poverty and homelessness. What is our existence coming to? People who get their "rocks off" on playing God are going to be the downfall of this planet, one way or another! The ethics of policy makers are slowly being loosened, as every five or ten years, scientists do something they never would have dreamed about in the past. I can hardly wait to see what another ten years of science and decisions will bring!

Tanorexia

I think I have tanorexia. Could there even be such a word? I don't know. All I know is that I quite enjoy going to the tanning beds when I cannot get natural sunlight. I just got back from a tanning session tonight, and I sat down to think about how it makes me feel. Why I would actually take the time and money to leave my house and drive to the tanning salon. Simply put, it makes me feel good about myself. I like the look of tanned skin, and I feel more energized after the vitamin D and UV exposure.

The appeal of tanned skin is an interesting question in itself. Tanning is such a societal construction of beauty. In the victorian times, white skin was seen as beautiful because it meant that you were wealthy and didn't have to work in the sun. But this seems more about status than actual beauty. In a world where social status is not blatantly obvious, tanned skin is seen more beautiful on anyone than really white skin. I think it is because we associate the sun with being healthy, and being outdoors and active. Someone who has a healthy looking glow looks like they spend time outdoors playing sports or doing yard work.

All I know is that after a week of not tanning, I start to feel the itch that I had better go and get some "sun".

Alberta Pride

A small part of the pride I feel in being an Albertan has been taken away from me forever, as a result of the outside report done on the tar sands, published in the "Guardian". I knew the basic facts about Fort McMurray, such as it being extremely over run with workers, money, and problems of drug and alcohol abuse. I assumed that there must be some environmental effects of oil production, but they were never put into perspective for me. And that is exactly what the Alberta government wants! I think most people would be horrified to find out the facts of tar sand production, and perhaps there would be more support for environmental issues than there presently is.

One barrel of natural gas and water is needed to produce one barrel of crude oil??? Are people nuts?? Countries like Australia are in a constant state of drought and water conservation, and we use enough water in one day to service a city of a million people? Do people not realize that water is a non-renewable resource? The fact that the water ponds holding the tainted water can be seen from space is crazy!! People should think about the day there is no water to irrigate crops, or there is no viable water for drinking. The widespread panic and destructive effects on civilization will be devastating! Do people really think it cannot happen? The human race is good at "sticking their head in the sand" and pretending that everything will work out for the best. Perhaps it is the realization that many of these users will be dead before the effects are felt by humanity, but they should feel for their children, who may be the victims of famine, drought, and other little nasties.

Sometimes I wonder why the large environmental organizations such as Green Peace, do not take more active measures to fix the problem. I guess they do not want to suffer the major effects of actions that the majority of society do not support anyways. Also, the possibility of human casualities and injuries is not attractive either, as these tar sand productions go around the clock. Green Peace staged a little protest on the high level bridge Monday afternoon. They rappelled off the bridge and hung a banner, supporting the shut down of the oil sands to meet Kyoto requirements. I totally understood their issues, as a result of just reading the "Guardian" article for class. I think the benefit that they had on the general public was nil, because they did not explain the issues at all. Most Albertans hear the statement "shut the tar sands down" and they laugh and say "yea right". That is why an article such as the one done in the UK is needed here. Albertans may not be so quickly to laugh when they are confronted with concrete, accurate facts on the environmental and social effects of our oil boom. I know it was a sobering experience for me.