It is a time of freedom and fear, of Gaia and of borders, of many paths and the widening of
a universal toll road, emptying country and swelling cities, of the public bought into
privacy and the privacy of the public sold into invisible data banks and knowing
algorithms. It is the time of the warrior's peace and the miser's charity, when the
planting of a seed is an act of conscientious objection.
These are the times when maps fade and direction is lost. Forwards is backwards now, so we glance sideways at the strange lands through which we are all passing, knowing for certain only that our destination has disappeared. We are unready to meet these times, but we proceed nonetheless, adapting as we wander, reshaping the Earth with every tread. Behind us we have left the old times, the standard times, the high times. Welcome to the irregular times. Reason #1378 to Boot Bush: Energy Star is a program that encourages businesses to conserve energy and gives consumers information they need to buy more energy-efficient appliances, preserving environmental resources and saving billions of dollars that would have gone into wasteful energy use. And the cost of the billions of dollars of savings to the taxpayer only runs in the millions of dollars, meaning that the Energy Star program in effect more than pays for itself -- to the tune of $70 saved for every $1 spent. Wonderful! You know what I'm going to say next, don't you? That's right: the Bush Administration cut funding to the program, resulting in the cancellation of Energy Star programs. (Source: Associated Press August 30, 2003) Return to the Irregular Times Main Page
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