Maybe it was true, I leafed through all the men I had known to see whether or not I hated them. But then I realized it wasn't the men I hated, it was the Americans, the human beings, men and women both. They'd had their chance but they had turned against the gods, and it was time for me to choose sides. I wanted there to be a machine that could make them vanish, a button I could press that would evaporate them without disturbing anything else, that way there would be more room for the animals, they would be rescued.

—Margaret Atwood—
—Surfacing—

All problems fix themselves eventually, so the button would be pointless.

The people currently fighting each other to press the button are playing an adult version of Capture the Flag. Will they or won't they, that is the big question.

I wouldn't press it. Why, is the suspense too much for you?

The biomass of humans and their animals is 4 times the biomass of wild mammals and birds. I read that in the book Anthropocene Reviewed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 08/31/2025 08:03PM by Elder Berry.

I knew I was way too optimistic when I read the subject line and wondered if it was about a feature of female anatomy...

I'm also reminded of YouTube views of Britain's Got Talent, when after a great performance, the audience yells at the judges, "push that button!!

THAT's what you did on this latest Rumpspringa?

Watch reruns of Britain's Got Talent and hope someone pushes a button?

any truth to how easy it is to push your button?

What is it about old people that makes them want to ask themselves strange questions?

"No individual is old who is still learning."

--guess who*













*yep, Judic West

"Even if he is learning the same thing over and over again."

--Judic West, under his breath