Driving in to the alternate headquarters of this global communications colossus, Hopscotch Coffee, this AM I recalled an old line I once posted on social media:
Alright, I’ll admit it: I have a love/hate relationship with humanity.
Really, anybody who isn’t conflicted in their feelings about this bizarre species to which we belong simply isn’t paying attention.
On the one hand I’d like all god’s chilluns to live, breathe, and thrive as long as they can. OTOH, sans any clear and present predatory dangers like saber-toothed tigers or packs of wild hyenas, the only thing we have to fear is…, us.
We’re doing our level best to scare the poo out of ourselves. To wit: today’s New York Times features two stories about honest-to-gosh existential threats we face in the coming years. The only good thing that can be said is at least we have a choice in how we’re going to destroy ourselves.
1. Researchers are warning that we the people are burning oil at unexpected accelerated rates the last five years, leading the scientists to conclude that climate catastrophes not only will become more severe but will wash over us quicker than had been expected. Looks like The Loved One and I could have saved ourselves some tens of thousands of dollars by not buying hybrid cars since 2006. I mean, what was the point?
2. 
The United States is threatening to pull out of the Intermediate Nuclear Forces treaty it signed w/ the Russkies back in 1987. In response, V. Putin and his generals promise to blow the shit out of any Eastern Europe country that hosts American mid-range nukes in the event of a spat between the two demagogue-led nations.
Then again, maybe it’s just me. We’ve had one day of sun in the last…, oh, I dunno…, 17 months, so my reserves of hope and optimism are reaching startlingly low levels right about now.
Still, jeez, I thought we’d started to amp down our lust for H-bombs and gas guzzlers decades ago.
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Beloved
Pinney
My guest this afternoon on Big Talk will be musical theater director and choreographer George Pinney, who has been back in town overseeing the workshop production of “Tuning In,” now playing through December 15th at the Bloomington Playwrights Project.
Pinney is invariably described as the “beloved” professor emeritus in the Indiana University Department of Theatre, Drama & Contemporary Dance. I had to ask him what made him so beloved, thereby embarrassing the bejesus out of him, but he did answer in an honestly self-aware fashion.
Tune in today at 5:30pm to WFHB, 91.3 FM. You can catch Big Talk on your radio, streaming, or podcast, the link for which I’ll provide as soon as it exists.
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Cheer up Big Boy pitchers and catchers report in 10 weeks. Hope springs eternal. Also, don’t worry about Putin; he doesn’t want war any more than we do and the instigator in a game of chicken always blinks first.