Extra Ordinary Days

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Extra Ordinary Days

by Tom Atlee

On seven otherwise ordinary days

an Oregon graduate student discovered -- without even meaning to --
     that a newly engineered bacteria
        might accidentally destroy all terrestrial plants

a controversial election ended
     with the U.S. Supreme Court
        making the loser President of the United States

a flock of geese came within seconds of triggering
     global thermonuclear war

a dime-sized robot was created,
     capable of prowling around buildings
        in coordinated swarms

a dozen physicists debated whether to proceed with an experiment
     that might turn the earth into a black hole

global trade in high-tech torture devices was found to be booming,
     with a 7500% increase since the 1970s
        in the number of companies making
          electroshock stun weapons

and, oh yes,
     a hundred species disappeared from earth forever,
        along with 18,000 hungry children
          (but we knew that already: that happens every day)...

Is it possible that
life is not ordinary any more,
despite all its appearances
and comforts?

Yesterday, I saw the death of life itself
stalking just around the corner
of that very ordinary day.

And today, just a few minutes ago,
I saw it watching us
as we dashed along the edge of the End Times,
looking straight ahead, moving fast,
desperate to accomplish so many urgent things.

It is time to look down --
at the earth, at the void, at our hearts.
Perhaps only a blast of vertigo will snap the trance,
call off The Fall,
save our souls and the world in one clear Seeing.
For we are too busy in a not-see death camp on the edge
of the beginning
of the world's ending.

The prospect of Death, seen once, unmistakeably,
can do wonders for Life.
We need to see death now,
clearly,
for the sake of the children
of this and every generation to come,
of this and every type of life.

When the fire starts in the kitchen downstairs
at 2 am,
we'll only get one chance to wake up.
Please don't think the alarm
is part of your dream.
For I have seen this, and it is a fact:
Business as usual is over --
despite everything that remains to be done.

It has been said that war is obsolete.
I say, in the same way,
that business as usual is over --
even though the sun also rises
and the bells toll.

It has been said that what is happening is inevitable.
Well, I say unto you:
    Business as usual is over --
even though its presence continues insisting
like the ghost of an amputated arm.

And now I'll whisper this last:

     (For the sake of the children:
          Let's wake up
          together
          in the very next extraordinary day
          that so much needs and wants us awake.)

References

an Oregon graduate student discovered -- without even meaning to --
that a newly engineered bacteria
might accidentally destroy all terrestrial plants

<http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storydisplay.cfm?storyID=170916&thesection=news&thesubsection=general>
'GM BUG 'COULD END ALL LIFE' The New Zealand Herald 03.02.2001
<http://www.purefood.org/ge/klebsiella.cfm>
"Klebsiella planticola - The GM Monster That Almost Got Away"

II.

a controversial election ended
with the U.S. Supreme Court
making the loser President of the United States

For an overall look at the Supreme Court decision, see
<http://www.proactivist.com/opinion/laymans_guide.html> and
<http://www.thenation.com/doc.mhtml?i=20010205&s=bugliosi>
Although unofficial Florida recounts are still unclear, <http://www.registerguard.com/news/20010325/3a.nat.recounts.0325.html>
the Supreme Court prevented an official one, while the presence of massive irregularities prejudicial against likely Democratic voters in Florida is well documented
<http://www.campaignwatch.org/> and
<http://news.bbc.co.uk/olmedia/cta/progs/newsnight/palast.ram>
making it extremely likely that any truly fair re-examination of the voting, using the "one person one vote" standard, would have given Florida to Gore -- and no one disagrees that Gore won the popular vote
http://www.evote.com/News/EV01202001H.html

III.

a flock of geese came within seconds of triggering
global thermonuclear war

<http://www.freespeech.org/pndwa/nuclear/0004/n_risks_grave_000417.htm>
"Stanford panel agrees: Risk of nuclear attacks grave"
By Peter Stair "The Stanford Daily"
<http://www.latimes.com/news/reports/y2k/lat_missile000101.htm>
U.S.-Russia in Experiment on Joint Missile Monitoring
By Mary Walsh, LA Times

IV.

a dime-sized robot was created,
capable of prowling around buildings
in coordinated swarms

<http://www.sandia.gov/media/NewsRel/NR2001/minirobot.htm>
"What may be world's smallest mini-robot being developed at Sandia"
<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2001/02/010201071806.htm>
WHAT MAY BE WORLD'S SMALLEST MINI-ROBOT CAN "TURN ON A DIME AND PARK ON A NICKEL"
ScienceDaily/Sandia National Laboratories, February 1, 2001
<http://www.beyond2000.com/news/Feb_01/story_1000.html>
"When Size Does Count"

a dozen physicists debated whether to proceed with an experiment
that might turn the earth into a black hole

<http://www.sunday-times.co.uk/news/pages/sti/99/07/18/stinwenws02029.html?999>
"Big Bang machine could destroy Earth"
by Jonathan Leake, Science Editor
The Sunday Times of London July 18 1999
<http://www.co-intelligence.org/CIIPol_hotpot.html>
"Jumping from the Hot Pot: Notes on Democracy in a Technological Age"
by Tom Atlee

VII.

global trade in high-tech torture devices was found to be booming,
   with a 7500% increase since the 1970s
     in the number of companies making
        electroshock stun weapons

<http://www.web.amnesty.org/web/news.nsf/WebAll/B01970BEA5C3D1F8802569F20043FDE9?OpenDocument>
THE TORTURE TRADE SPREADS WHILE GOVERNMENTS FAIL TO ACT
Amnesty International - 1 March 2001

VIII.
and, oh yes,
a hundred species disappeared from earth forever,
... that happens every day)...

<http://www.worldwildlife.org/lpb/foreword.html>
Walter Cronkite's forward to the World Wildlife Fund book "Living Planet"
<http://129.252.37.27/env_sci/Impacts/Extinction/Intro.htm>
"An average of present estimates indicates that about 100 species are becoming extinct every day"

IX.
along with 18,000 hungry children
(but we knew that already: that happens every day)...

Estimates vary. I used CARE's data.
http://www.care.org/info_center/world_reports/hunger/
CARE: "about 24,000 people die each day as a consequence of hunger and malnutrition. Three-fourths of these deaths are children under 5." (18,000). Here are 3 other estimates:
http://www.pcusa.org/hunger/facts.htm
Presbyterian Church "Facts about hunger" (over 16,000)
http://school.newsweek.com/pages/hunghurt.htm
Newsweek's special "Hunger Hurts Us All" (34,000)
http://www.franintl.org/issues/food/rome/statement1.html
The UN's Food and Agricultural Organization's 1996 World Food Summit (35,000)