Endangered - so what?

I heard recently that not long after 9/11, Lee from boyband Blue said somethign along the lines of "So what if all those people died - elephants are getting slaughtered every day". Harsh, but fair or misguided sentimentalism?

Well firstly, let's look at the whole issue of spending millions of pounds saving endangered species - many of which we have never heard of. Would we even miss the ones we have heard of? I mean, I can't see that the world is a worse place for the lack of Dodos, Sabre-toothed tigers, or the Peruvian blue-tipped humming bird, in the same way we don't miss T-Rex or Diplodocus. What is the obsession here? Will the Cassowary go the same way as the Moa? Quite probably. Have you heard of either? Possibly not.

Apart from some animals having a very valid position in the food chain, it seems that the only other reason is that 'it would be a shame' if they became extinct. Well, I'm sorry, but that's not good enough for me.

Secondly, we have this guilt about being the dominating species on the planet, and not giving a damn about any other species. Do we really think that if bears could talk, fire guns and drive cars they'd have the survival of the human species at the top of their agenda? Somehow I think not.

Lastly, scientists admit that we don't even know how many different creatures there are on the planet, and we are discovering thousands of new ones every year. So what woud happen if they became extinct before we discovered them? Nothing much really. We'd never have missed them.

So, let's stop saving animals for sentimental reasons and start saving the ones that really matter. While we're at it, let's actively destroy the ones that have no reason at all to exist, but cause misery to millions of people. Wasps, mosquitos and snakes to name but a few.

I Am Your Father Luke

Ok, so I was one of the people who put 'Jedi' down as my religion on the last census. Some guy sent an email round saying that if 10,000 people did it, then we'd have an official recognised religion on our hands. What actually happened is that, although tens of thousands of people did put Jedi down, we all got lumped under 'Other'.

That is simply not fair. We still smile smugly at ancient races worshipping the Moon, and believing thunder to be the anger of the Gods. But most, if not all, modern religions are based on books, stories, belief and hearsay too. So why can't I cite Star Wars as a religious text, and claim to belive in The Force? Let's be completely honest with ourselves here - it's no more fanciful than most religions today. We just need a leader - anyone?

Suicidal Tendencies?

Before you panic - don't. I live a very contented life, and suicide is the very last thing on my mind. It took me a hell of an effort to overcome my natural survival instinct and leap off a 50m platform witha bungy cord attached to my legs, so it's not something I have in my 5 year plan. I don't even have a 5 year plan actually.

What is weird though, is that very occasionally I get the urge. On the motorway, I am all too aware that a quick flick of the wheel could drive me head on into a concrete pillar - and a tiny part of me for a tiny fraction of a second wants to 'give it a go'. The same part of me that wants to take a running dive off a cliff, pull open the emergency door on the plane, jump in front of a train or see what it's like to plummet to earth from the top of a multi storey car park.

It's nothing to do with topping yourself, just something about the rush of adrenaline you'd get as the train slams into your head, or as the ground approaches at a hundred miles an hour. A mate of mine gets it too - are we weird or is this fairly common?