There's a very good chance that the Chinook salmon is going to die for good this year. From the L.A. Times -- Paul Thornton, <paul.thornton@email.latimes.com> --comes this heartbreaking bit of news:

"A case in point is what The Times Editorial Board calls the "California salmon wipeout." For more than a generation we've been warned about reengineered watersheds and altered weather patterns posing an extinction threat to the chinook salmon that reproduce in the frigid waters of rivers fed by seasonal snow melt. Now, says the editorial board, Trump-era federal rules have conspired with low precipitation and record-high temperatures to warm streams to the point that the salmon die before they can reproduce. The board warns that allowing an iconic fish species to go extinct in California has profound implications for other animals, including humans."

I find it hard to stay optimistic in a world full of politicians so toxic that they apparently care nothing about the people they are supposed to represent or even the world in which we all live. I know I'm supposed to keep a positive attitude, but how do you do that? By not paying attention to anything going on around you? Because I think that's the only way it would work for me.

National Geographic

Every time I read about the death of the last Rhino and the endless passing of the elephants, the burning of the Amazon forests -- my heart sinks a little further. Why are so few people so casual about it? Is it because we'll all die before we see the ultimate carnage we've wreaked on our planet and its wildlife. Since we won't be here, why should we care? Is that it?

Three species of rhino—black, Javan, and Sumatran—are critically endangered. ... In Africa, southern white rhinos, once thought to be extinct, now thrive in protected sanctuaries and are classified as near threatened. The western black rhino and northern white rhinos are extinct in the wild.

World Wildlife Federation: Loxodonta Africana, African elephant Feeding by browsing on bush Africa

Meanwhile, African elephants are disappearing at a heartbreaking rate and I have to wonder if any grandchildren I have will ever see a live one?

Or are we REALLY that stupid? We may not live forever, but we have children and grandchildren. What is wrong with us?