I listened to the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists’ announcement that their Doomsday Clock has moved to 90 seconds to midnight - 10 seconds closer to world catastrophe.

It is a moving presentation and I urge you to watch it at https://thebulletin.org/doomsday-clock/#post-heading.

When I think about the urgent need for action by world leaders and compare that to actions by our government and especially the U.S. Congress, I see an AWOL sign. On the Senate CSPAN site, when the Senate is actually in session, I mostly see “waiting for a senator to speak” and “no vote today.” In other words, business as usual - nothing urgent.

The main thing that causes this AWOL is unlimited outside influence by monied interests like big oil, drugs, agriculture, forest products, finance, banks and many more. Government leaders, including members of Congress, must spend about 50% of their time raising money for reelection.

With the reality above, I see little reason for hope that humankind can overcome the existential threats enumerated in the video.

Will you please try to prove me wrong?

Bruce Dasinger

Niantic