The End is Near
Sampling today's news, one can't help but think
The End is Near. The CIA warns a nuclear ballistic
missile from North Korea could reach the United
States. Federal officials caution Americans to
stock up on duct tape and plastic sheeting to cover
doors and windows in case of biological attack.
Anti-aircraft batteries and fighter jets protect
our nation's capital. World governments are more
divided than ever, even as a war with Iraq seems
imminent. The stock market continues to tumble
while gasoline prices soar. How long has it been
since we've heard good news?
What's worse, the future doesn't look much
brighter. It doesn't seem to matter, at least in
the near term, whether or not we invade Iraq. We
will face continued terrorist threats either
way—and, one could argue, increased
threats either way. A skittish Wall Street will
probably react nervously whether we go to war now
or continue to postpone it. And even with Iraq out
of the way, there's always North Korea waiting in
the wings.
I'm a confessed news junkie, so perhaps I watch
too much Fox News and read too much CNN.com. Maybe
the barrage of doomsaying has colored my
perceptions. But there seems to be plenty of doom
to say without the need for hyperbole or
imagination. And I'm even on a "news diet" this
week, since what's shaping up to be a 70-hour work
week has limited my intake of daily news.
Perhaps I need to sit back and take a look at
what's on my bookshelf. Amongst my many paperbacks,
an entire row of novels like Lucifer's
Hammer, Earth
Abides and A
Canticle For Leibowitz conspicuously
reveals a morbid fascination with post-apocalyptic
scenarios. Maybe I don't need a news
diet—going cold turkey for a while might be a
good idea.
Development note: I've
noticed that this site doesn't look like it should
in Netscape Navigator. Rather than waste time
jury-rigging it to look right in a
soon-to-be-obsolete browser, I'll just add the
cliché "This site best viewed with Internet
Explorer."
©2003 Michael
Strickland ALL RIGHTS
RESERVED
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