Concrete Jungle

I'm going to rant, kinda. But first of all, read this. It's basically about how Bush is going to allow energy companies to tear up the remaining wilderness of the USA.

There's a ride at Disneyland that nobody but little kids, their parents, and people who are tired of walking ever go on... I think it's called the Disneyland Railroad, and it takes you all around the park so you get "behind the scenes" (meaning you get to see generators and such) views of some rides. But at one point, they actually give you a little natural history lesson, as you get to venture through their version of the Grand Canyon and "Primeval World." So, during a lull between Disney attractions, the train goes into a sort of tunnel, and you are offered a view of the Grand Canyon, stuffed with fake wildlife and plants and things. Like I said, very natural history museum. Then the voice in the tunnel tells us that we are about to go back in time... to see the original inhabitants of the Grand Canyon... (cue menacing music): DINOSAURS! The scenery is much more lush, and you get all sorts of dino action - eating trees, hatching, eating some poor smaller dinosaur, fighting, whatever. I love this part of the ride. It's so silly.

Thing is, I'm starting to wonder if this is how future generations will see nature. Bush seems to really be on a rampage about tearing everything up in order to find as much fossil fuel as possible. I can't help but imagine a place where nature is just pummelled into submission and the world really does seem all man-made. And you get to see displays of what nature was like in a museum.

I have a friend who has a brother living in Alaska. He's lived there for about 15 years. He wants Bush to come and tear the place up. Why? "Most of the 'wilderness refuge' of Alaska is as hospitable as Venus! Lots of baby moose die every year because they get clogged up with mosquitoes the size of your fist. The Sahara Desert is a much more hospitable environment than most of Alaska."

Okay then. Maybe drill that to shit. But does he have to level desert plateaus still marked with petroglyphs, destroy more habit for actual wildlife, and contaminate the few water sources the West has left?

Who am I to talk? I live in California. Los Angeles, no less. People were never supposed to live here in the first place - it's a desert, and what few natural water sources we had we destroyed a long time ago. California's living on borrowed time. So I guess the country has just decided to catch up.

But have you ever noticed how grass and weeds come up through the sidewalks? Maybe there's hope after all...