There's something happening here...

but what it is ain't exactly clear...

here are some links to discussions of what that might be:

Signs of the Times
"bits and bytes of the digital flotsam that refer to changing patterns and conditions ... with reference to 2012 - assumptions of a psychic apocalypse"

Repossessing Virtue
"As the global economic crisis began to unfold this past fall, we wanted to respond immediately, in our way. We began to conduct an online conversation parallel to but distinct from our culture's more sustained focus on economic scenarios. For in each of our lives, whoever we are, very personal scenarios are unfolding that confront us with core questions of what matters to us and what sustains us. We made a list of our guests across the years who we thought might speak to this in fresh and compelling ways."

This series is accessible as an audio program or as a transcript (goto Program Details and click Transcript).


On a lighter note, here is a 2008 Darwin Award nominee:

Thou Shalt Not Steel
Confirmed True by Darwin

(8 March 2008, Czech Republic) Steel is valuable, especially the high-grade alloy used in steel cable. Scrap metal dealers do not ask questions. They pay in cash. And a good supply of steel cable can be found in elevator shafts.

This particular gold mine was a towering shaft inside an empty granary near Zatec, forty miles northwest of Prague. The cable was tightly fastened, and the far end of it disappeared into the shadowy distance above.

After substantial wear and tear on a hacksaw, our man finally cut through the strong steel cable. At that instant the counterbalance, no longer held in check, started to move silently downward, accelerating until it reached the bottom of the shaft.

Result: one proud winner of a "terminal velocity" Darwin Award.

R.I.P.

The surest way to becoming an old dog is to stop learning new tricks