2012

The end, as we know, is now near,

And each day life gets more austere;

When doom's truly severe,

We'll all disappear—

It’s looking to be a big year.

Realistic Predictions

Soothsaying what’s realistic

Is not consequently sadistic;

Predict with distinction:

Include mass extinction,

And don’t try to be optimistic. 

The Daily News

News which once seemed so essential

Is now mostly inconsequential;

At best, it’s tangential:

What’s influential

Is doom which might seem exponential.

“There’s No Tomorrow”

Watch the short video “There’s No Tomorrow” at:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOMWzjrRiBg

This movie just made its debut

To help folks who’re new get a clue;

It could change their view,

But will it break through?

Or be seen by only a few?

It’s likely the horde will be floored

Once this news gets stored in their gourd;

History will record

If it does get explored,

Or ends up just being ignored.

It might merely preach to the choir,

While the messenger's branded a liar;

But it's there to acquire
For those who desire

To grasp this dire scheme entire.

Out of Gas

From  http://dieoff.org/page125.htm  :



What do you think it will mean

To run out of gasoline?

With no change in routine,

We’ll soon reconvene

Right back at Olduvai ravine.

The steady increase in gas prices

Is soon going to lead to a crisis;

It will open some eyes

When, to our surprise,

We’re unable to run our devices.

While often it’s quite rightly panned,

Economics explains what’s at hand;

We can all understand

Collapse that’s unplanned:

It’s simple supply and demand.

Some people try to proclaim

It’s all due to some scapegoat they frame,

But it’s how we've evolved

And our problem’s not solved

By finding someone to blame.

Soon we won’t have any gas

For getting to work or to class,

And without food we’ll see

That there won’t even be

Any gas passing out of our ass. 

We’re All Going to Go When We Go

Cross-posted from http://forums.silentcountry.com/forums/showthread.php?14167-Why-mankind-s-destiny-is-a-foregone-conclusion

We’re all going to go when we go,

The highborn as well as the low;

We will wind up our show

In collapse fast or slow,

With nobody left to say “D’oh!”

Two things are sure, as we know:

Nuke plants will blow and we’ll glow;

Then to add to our woe,

We’ll soon say hello

To heat in which most life won’t grow.

When supplies slide off the plateau,

Then everyone else is a foe;

So go with the flow,

And enjoy status quo—

We’re all going to go when we go.

Need to Come Up with a New Idea?

If asked for a new thought or style

At school, work, or where you beguile,

Try this on for size:

Soon everyone dies;

That oughta hold ‘em awhile.

Nothing New under the Sun

Each species gets one time to run,

To be born and to be undone;

There’s a season to build,

And one where they get killed—

There’s nothing new under the sun.

Ode to the Dixie Chicks

“The Truth...from a band that got excoriated for telling the truth”
http://billhicksisdead.blogspot.com/2012/02/lies-we-tell-ourselves-part-1-gop-is.html

There was a great band called the Chicks

Which was met by some damned dirty tricks;

From a few words they said,

They were suddenly dead,

Destroyed by some hate-driven dicks.

Take heed, little cowpoke, and hear

Of the end of the Chicks’ career;

They sure knew how to play,

And they still make their way,

Right into my welcoming ear.

It’s sad that the world’s really so,

That we lost maybe Dixie’s best show

Since New Orleans blew

Hot jazz which was new

A full hundred long years ago.

Perhaps it's the best thing to do,

To speak your view, honest and true;

But watch out, my young pup,

Better STFU,

Or the same thing might happen to you.

Kicking the Can Down the Road

The world’s debts somehow overflowed,

And now no one can pay what is owed;

Plus, business has slowed

Because oil has plateaued—

So we’re kicking the can down the road.

A People’s History of the World

Humans, to live, must contend

For resources on which they depend;

But animals tend

To overextend—

There’s no more to append. The End.

“Self-Inflicted” Decline?

http://www.alternet.org/world/154133/noam_chomsky%3A_america%27s_decline_is_real_--_and_increasingly_self-inflicted/?page=entire

http://forums.silentcountry.com/forums/showthread.php?14017-US-in-state-of-self-inflicted-decline

We won’t find a way for evasion

Of our mass extinction occasion;

Since it’s not going to matter,

Don’t sweat complex patter

Based on political persuasion.

Homo sapiens psychology,

Which some may label pathology,

Might now seem inept

But has not changed except

It uses advanced technology.

Dissatisfaction with Resource Depletion

As the fan gets hit with excretion,

The struggle for asset accretion

Makes dissatisfactions

With other folks’ actions

A feature of resource depletion.

Our Animal Nature

The reason we’ll soon be deceased

Is we’re not that much different from yeast:

Born to compete,

We’ll become obsolete—

It’s the nature of every beast.

Oil Cutoff

"Iran Cuts Crude Exports..."
http://forums.silentcountry.com/forums/showthread.php?13940-Iran-Cuts-Crude-Exports-To-Six-European-Countries )

Cutting off oil was a key

To start WWII’s killing spree;

While there’s no guarantee,

We might get to see

If it’s going to start WWIII.

Strange but True

A story that’s strange but true

Describes what some people do:

Despite global warming,

The plan they are forming

Tells them they’ll somehow get through.

In fantasy, we can transcend

Physics laws, upon which we depend,

And in spite of our trend

To overextend

We never thought all this could end.

Bubble Trouble

The methane, bubble by bubble,

Will heat what remains of the rubble;

It’s not what we planned—

On the other hand,

At least it’s the end of the trouble.

Meditation on the Decline and Fall of Quality in Goods and Services

Cross-posted from:

http://conflicteddoomer.wordpress.com/2012/02/11/plumbing-and-other-things-in-a-complex-society/

At first, it’s hard to admit,

But collapse is not going to quit;

Every day, I submit

Stuff becomes more unfit:

Everything’s turning to shit.

Here’s what makes me berserk

(Which you may think’s only a quirk):

Things keep getting worse,

So I swear and I curse;

I hate it when shit doesn’t work.

Terminator

T-100, to T-1000

I’m not up for domestication,

But how about cohabitation?

You can see levitation

And augmentation

And why "I need a vacation!"

I arrived with no clothes to unpack,

But still, I’m quite good in the sack;

You’ve got what I lack:

A very nice rack,

And after I’ve come—I'll be back!

Sarah Connor

You think something’s wrong with my head,

But doom is becoming widespread;

You think that you’re wise,

But everyone dies;

Everyone’s already dead.

More Nuclear Power Plants

http://forums.silentcountry.com/forums/showthread.php?13808-US-to-get-nuclear-power-plant-in-Georgia

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=first-new-nuclear-reactor-in-us-since-1978-approved

Safe new power, that is their aim,

But it won’t matter what they proclaim;

If they build it or not,

The difference is squat:

Our end will turn out much the same.

Three Days of the Condor

"What do you think the people will want us to do then?....Ask them when they’re running out. When it’s cold at home and the engines stop and people who aren’t used to hunger...go hungry! They won’t want us to ask...They’ll want us to GET it for them.”

What will you want them to do

When gas lines form into a queue,

And you’ve come to conclude

That you’ll die without food:

Will you want them to get it for you?

Psychological Research

If researchers only switched gears,

They could become doom pioneers;

Instead they do what

They like to do but

Won’t matter in just a few years.

 

...“psychological” modeling....

http://conflicteddoomer.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/sacrificial-lambs/

They could use areas where they are strong,

And find places where we went wrong;

With their understanding,

Soften the landing,

Maybe fix why we can’t get along.

 

“...the neurology of the brain....”

http://conflicteddoomer.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/sacrificial-lambs/

All of us soon will be leaving

Gains we’ve worked so hard in achieving;

With science’s dearth,

The sun circling the earth

Is what we’ll be back to believing.

End of Empire News

http://endofempirenews.blogspot.com/

When I want catch up on the news,

pammie’s blog is the one that I choose;

It’s there I peruse

Doom’s cutting edge views

While we’re rowed on our Styx river cruise.

Access to Medical Care

The collapse proceeds, and life gets tougher every day; for example:

http://billhicksisdead.blogspot.com/2012/02/health-insurance-deductibles-nearly.html

Medical care is in flux,

And access today really sucks;

In times of slim pickens,

Doctors took chickens,

But now it’s about the big bucks.

Doomer Therapy, Kubler-Ross Style

“...it occurred to me that, in our grief over the impending death of Business As Usual, we have sidestepped moving on from bargaining  to acceptance by taking a turn back toward bargaining’s ancient stepsister, the sacrificing of lambs...to whatever gods we feel need appeasing so that BAU might live....”

http://conflicteddoomer.wordpress.com/2012/02/04/sacrificial-lambs/

Some people restrain grief progression

Using bargaining-based obsession;

It’s a kind of digression

To hold back succession

To the subsequent stage, depression.

==

For a framework to deal with our loss,

The five stages of grief are my boss;

They’re not lots of fun,

But they get the job done,

And that’s why I like Kubler-Ross.

K-R’s a good system for basing

A way to serenity chasing;

It helps people plan

For when shit hits the fan,

And prepare for what they’ll soon be facing.

Folks get a good introduction

From her theory’s simple construction;

Using just a rough sketch,

It helps their minds stretch

Enough for doom basic instruction.

Everything’s Falling Apart

There are examples all around us every day—for example:

http://billhicksisdead.blogspot.com/2012/02/dallas-meeting-on-school-closures-turns.html

 

When it’s hard to keep staying alive,

And most life can barely survive,

Computers won’t work,

But folks won’t go berserk

Over how much is five times five.

Hopes for the future have faded—

Poor quality now has pervaded;

It happens each day

And in every way:

Everything’s being degraded.

Everything’s falling apart

(You could plot the trend on a chart);

Doom living’s an art:

Since we cannot restart,

You get used to it fast if you’re smart.

Groundhog Day

He tells us what weather’s in store,

But soon he’ll have free time galore:

His job’s just a perk,

And he’ll be out of work

When winters don’t come anymore.

When the Grid Goes Down

"...Officials have been taking extra care to reassure the public that there’s no danger, since after Japan, the idea of radiation leaking from a nuclear plant tends to set people on edge.”

http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/headlines/2012/02/san-onofre-nuclear-plant-closed-after-radiation-leak/


Not very far down the road,

We’re going to reap what we’ve sowed:

The world will go cuckoo

When everything’s Fuku

And nuclear plants all explode.

Fail-Safe

The Fighter Pilots

—That order’s a death decree!

—This is the way it must be.

—On the screen there’s no doubt:

Now they’re all flaming out.

—They’ve gone down into the sea.

Goodbye, My Friend

—I liked London. One could transcend

The war; on long walks, time I’d spend

Amid historic array...

—It is a hard day.

—Good-bye, my friend. —Good-bye, my friend.

Helen Grady

Jack...this is Helen...hello?

There's no war! Don’t let the bombs go!

I've never lied to you...

You know that is true...

Jack...please answer me....No!

The Ambassador

—When the hydrogen bombs ignite,

A shriek will report your plight;

As they drop to the ground...

—Explosions now sound!

The sky is lit up very bright....

The Matador

We knew what this mission might be.

Only I touch the bomb control key,

And I fly the plane;

From these acts you refrain—

The dream! The matador! Me!