the __earthinc

Once when I was small, I’d read this one book published by Reader’s Digest. It was a book with black, hard cover. I couldn’t remember what the book was about but it had a picture with the Sphinx covered with snow. Seeing Egypt covered in snow is impossible back then that even I who was a nothing but a kid dismissed the picture as an impossibility. Now however, seeing the scenario in the real world is not really science fiction. Cairo may well be seeing snow if the climate continues to change as drastically as it is now.

Ann Arbor has the reputation as a town with notorious winter. All people that I’ve known off always sigh about spending the wintertime in the Tree Town. Upon hearing all the complaints and the sorts, I had waited my first winter in Michigan complete with almost all the winter gears. Later, turned out that my first winter was not so bad at all and I pushed all the words I had heard before as merely exaggeration. Yet, I heard chatters among the local residents on how that winter was fairly easy compared to past years.

This year winter, the truth is now known. The snow fell but it was late. But it fell anyway with a vengeance. By the time it took a halftime break, the snow was more than ankle’s deep. After halftime was up, the snow fell again well into February. By that time, the snow in some parts of Arboretum was groin’s deep.

February passed slowly and winter with it, or so it seemed. March was pretty much getting warmer although it was still cold by any standard. Then, on St. Patrick Day, the Sun finally came up and everybody declared spring was here to stay. Unfortunately, right after the warm green St. Patrick, God decided, let it be snow rather than light and the next thing I knew, the snow was ankle’s deep again.

Afterward, April sets in so did spring, or so it seemed again. The temperature was still below the 20s nevertheless (and this I mean degree in Fahrenheit of course).
Currently. the Sun is high up the sky and it is tempting to go outside and smell the spring air. Today is spring indeed but it is going to snow again tomorrow, like it was yesterday.
To some people, this might be God’s way of playing enjoying April Fool’s. Like how Nue put it, I was dumbed.

If snow in spring is not impossible, then snow is Egypt is possible too sooner or later.
This is the reason why we need to change our mind set. We cannot continue to pollute when the result of pollution is right in the air that we breathe. How much longer do we need to be convinced that something is wrong?

True that climatic change might be just a natural cycle but how much more living evidences do we need to see in order us to be convinced that we are actually accelerating the cycle?

How much longer do we need to confirm that global warming is being accelerated and in turn causing the climatic change to be accelerated too?

Will seeing the Sphinx wrapped in snow convince us?

If that so, it might as well be too late for us. By us, I mean you and me. This includes the industrialist and the environmentalist of course.

Anyhow, an April Fool’s joke fooled lots of gullible fools. To Nue, I believe it Poisson d’Avril. ROTFLOL.

Below are the mails behind the April Fool’s joke author and me and with Nue’s pissed and dumbed mail to Mike. The format defers since different email platforms were used. And I DID NOT, I repeat, DID NOT hack into anybody account for this.

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003, Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams wrote:http://128.84.137.192/2003/US/04/01/deport.muslims/index.html
COOL APRIL FOOL STUFF!!!
I salute you! =)

Wednesday, April 02, 2003 7:58 AM -0500

Heheh, thanks. :) I have a few Muslim friends who fell for it while some
caught it. Happy April Fools!

Cheers,
Mike

On Wed, 2 Apr 2003, Mohd Hafiz Noor Shams wrote:

hey again,
i think one of friends is pissed off and she is thinking of mailing you.
Considering she actually called home and stuff, i imagine her email gonna
be harsh. hehehehheh
Just ignore it hehehehehe.
Damn, i can’t stop laughing hahhahahaa.

Wednesday, April 02, 2003 10:40 AM -0500

LOL. One of my friends thought it was HORRIBLE but so funny at the same
time. Her first reaction was “i’m not surprised, bush is a moron” and so
forth. My friend and I were laughing hysterically!

Mike

[I then asked Mike for Nue’s mail after knowing that Nue sent an email to him. I lost this copy somehow]

Thursday, April 03, 2003 5:13 PM -0500

Hey, here you go. :) Hehehe.

———- Forwarded message ———-
Date: Wed, 02 Apr 2003 12:38:40 -0800
From: nue abdul [I censored the add for privacy reason]
To: *****@*****.shafe.com
Subject: congratulations

—
a nice and productive day is all you need :)

Greetings
I don’t think any introduction is necessary
Just know that I am one of your stupid joke victims
A few things to be said,
you made me panic like hell
you made me rethink my future plans and LIFE
you made me actually spread the paranoia
you made me feel like an ass

All in all, although the joke was GOOD and INGENIUS
I just think that the topic is a bit too inappropriate
But then again, gullible me
So keep up the good work
May your other works, work like hell

regards
pissed and dumbed

Date: Wed, 2 Apr 2003 18:14:18
From: Mike Shafer
To: nue abdul

Thank you. :) I’m sorry I had to shut down the page…. the powers that be
didn’t find it funny. Oh well. :(

After all this, Nue demands me to buy her an ice-cream but hey, a really good laugh worth paying an ice cream for somebody.

p/s – The Russian HAS finally put da! server back online. I’d thought it went offline for good, which really scared the crap out of me.