“It’s like electricity. Everybody wants it, but nobody wants to see the wires in their backyard. It’s the same with crematories,” says Jack Springer, spokesman for the Chicago-based Cremation Association of North America.

Pretty women scramble men’s ability to assess the future (New Scientist) and Pentagon: Rocket Fuel in Your Lettuce is Safe (Environmental Media Services)

Quote: “I appreciate that, you know, other people have to live, but I don’t see that they need to impinge on those around them. I mean, fine, survive if you must, but don’t bring the rest of us down with you. I enjoy my CDs and DVDs and PVC and PCBs and 9-5. No way […]

Kirkpatrick Sale in the Ecologist:

FICTIONALISING APOCALYPSE
And the heart of the matter is that second question: `Is there a way we can prevent environmental injuries from happening again?’

I am not especially optimistic about answering that question in the affirmative. We don’t realise it, any more than fish realise they are swimming in water, but we are immersed in a culture, a way of seeing and living, that has erected a protective psychological shield that enables our society to go on doing what it does even though it knows apocalypse is pending. It is something that psychologists call `cognitive dissonance’: the ability to hold in your heart, in your mind, two contradictory beliefs or ideas – in this case, desire for the continuance of the capitalist system and the health of the planet.

Imagine culture as a sinking boat. It?s sinking, but most people don?t realize it. they claim the turbulence is just normal, from the waves slamming into the sides of the boat. or maybe they?ll nod at mention of the fact that, yes, the waters are, as of right now, relatively choppy. they?ll say: of course they are, what do you expect, but, good heavens, the boat certainly isn?t sinking.

For just a second, though, assume it is. Imagine that it is sinking.