"The more things change, the more they remain the same."

I was reading various blogs to distract myself from boring work, and just got terribly depressed over at LGF, which tracks (a) media bias; (b) Islamic terrorism; and (c) general stupidity. It's a great blog, and I think Charles Johnson provides a huge public service when he consolidates all this information, but it can still make for depressing reading. I found consolation in the thought that things really haven changed that much in 40 odd years. How else to explain the Kingston Trio's song Merry Minuet:

They're rioting in Africa, They're starving in Spain. There's hurricanes in Florida, And Texas needs rain The whole world is festering With unhappy souls. The French hate the Germans, The Germans hate the Poles; Italians hate Yugoslavs, South Africans hate the Dutch, And I don't like anybody very much! But we can be tranquil And 'thankfill' and proud, For man's been endowed With a mushroom-shaped cloud. And we know for certain That some lovely day Someone will set the spark off, And we will all be blown away! They're rioting in Africa, There's strife in Iran. What nature doesn't do to us Will be done by our fellow man!