“Musings of a Malcontent” is a weekly op-ed by GlobalWarmingisReal contributor Carlyle Coash

2012

Maybe it’s me, but I was hoping for a better first week of 2012. I know – it’s silly. To have great leaps forward as we began the year is an optimistic attitude to hold. I envisioned great leaders stepping up to pledge the end of hunger, war and suffering on our planet. I dreamed of the major oil companies vowing to truly change their ways, photos of executives out cleaning up the various spills with their own hands. I pictured pollutants being disposed of properly and chemical companies vowing to find better ways to make their products.

So far, well – it could be better.

The headlines have left little for inspiration. Kim Kardashian got a new haircut. Tiger Wood’s ex buys a $12 million dollar mansion and then tears it down. Snooky looses weight and is stunning everyone with her new figure. Twilight: The Musical is opening on Broadway. A fast food restaurant in Belgium is coming out with a Darth Vader Burger – the bun is jet black. (This actually perked my spirits a little). Iran is still threatening to block the Strait of Hormuz. Pre-wedding plastic surgery for brides-to-be is becoming common with thousands of dollars spent on boob jobs and the like.

No wonder the environment gets no respect. With headlines like these it’s hard to get noticed – too much competition from the banal. Plus I keep finding crazy stories of scientists and researchers spending their time on pointless activities. I figured at some point they would get re-focused, but still the madness keeps happening. It is hard to have energy for the big issues when you’re tormenting some small creature to see if it dislikes being impaled. Sure it’s great to know it hates impaling, but we could have guessed that without much effort.

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