Light Pollution Reflection / Refraction Number 11

Posted on April 24, 2008

WARNING:

I guarantee my reflections and refractions will create controversy and confrontation; and quite likely I'll step on many toes, but it's time to be brutally honest. So, if you are thin-skinned proceed accordingly--take your hand off the mouse and back away from the computer.

TURN OFF YOUR &^~#_@^-< LIGHTS! Part 1

Only human extinction will erase light pollution!

As long as Homo sapiens (the so-called intelligent one) thrives, it's LIGHTS ON!

We Stargeezers cling tenaciously to our Milky Way memories of 60-plus years when the Milky Way was visible, even in some big cities; but once we are ashes or worm food, the memories will quickly fade to extinction!

So, we have much to do.

Bottom line: the sky was darker 10, 30, 60, 100 years ago because there were fewer outdoor nighttime lights way back then.

There's only one real solution to light pollution and that is to:

TURN OFF THE #~!^ -* &% LIGHTS!

Get over it astronomers--making America's night lights dark-sky friendly won't lessen light pollution because the essence of America is unrestrained, unrestricted growth.

Members of the Growth Industry (GIs) are supercapitalists, and at all costs they'll grow 'Merica from "sea to shining sea"! Their bible has one verse: Bigger is better. More is best!

Why does development occur? Because there are developers! Maybe Shakespeare was wrong. Perhaps he should have written... "First, kill all the develo...!"

By the time all of America's night lighting is dark-sky friendly, growth will add more lights--zillions more; and whether dark-sky friendly or not, they'll be more than enough to extirpate starlight!

"But, but, but...Stargeezer, turning off the lights isn't a realistic solution either! We can't just turn off the lights all over America!"

Stargeezer asks: Why not?

AMERICA, TURN OFF YOUR +*@^#!~&`> LIGHTS!

Ok, ok, I agree, total darkness is not an option until... well, extinction! Hmm... But there are other choices.

Tonight, fewer than one-third (100 million) of Americans will see the Milky Way under a clear, moonless, dark night sky. We must double this number--no excuses, no compromises, no exceptions-- and in just a few more years!

But how, Stargeezer, you cranky old coot?

Well, first, keep in mind that whatever we do must change the night sky rapidly, recognizably, and measurably and in a short time, with a knock-their-socks-off WOW! factor! What we do must get everyone's attention instantly!

Unlike what the dark sky orgs have tried: laws, ordinances, regulations, new lighting designs, etc., etc., etc., we must use better and faster strategies that quickly make the sky darker over America.

How quickly? Well, the NRA don't pussyfoot around, folks; of course, they're all armed with guns, guts, 'n god...oh, and ammo!! OK, I'll just blurt it out-- nonastronomers must see obvious change in 2 or 3 years!

Why? Because nonastronomers, the folks who must live with the changes we want, without sacrificing safety and security, must see immediate and identifiable changes or they'll quickly lose interest and move on to other things.

Remember, the good ol' U.S. of A. is all about shopping, celebrity worship/gossip, the endless accumulation of ever more wealth, pitiful "reality" TV, out-of-control concentration on sports,...well, you get the point.

Look, America is not the same as it was even five years ago. That's what happens when technology changes everything every time you turn around! So, instead of doing things like we did five years ago (IDeAs?), we've got to press forward with all possible dispatch and think 'outside the telescope tube' or our starry night sky is history, and in less than 10 years!

Technobuzzards always think the solution to every problem is to add another layer of technology or write another computer program. Get over it technobuzzards! A better light isn't and won't be the solution to light pollution. It's less light, period! So...

TURN OFF YOUR LIGHTS, AMERICA!

So, how do we turn off the lights that assassinate starlight? That's the essence of Part 2. Watch for it in Reflection and Refraction number 12.

JOIN THE DISCUSSION with your own reflections and refractions. Just click on my e-mail address below and have at it! I will not sell or give your e-mail address to anyone. Your reflections and refractions will be placed under the link to the left labeled "Fan Mail - Hate Mail." I may edit comments I place there, but I will be careful to retain your words wherever possible.

NO EXCUSES! NO EXCEPTIONS! NO COMPROMISES!