I go back and forth on whether or not to be seriously scared of the avian flu. It has gotten more press for the last couple years than DDT poisoning, alar in apples, killer bees, mega-earthquakes, overpopulation, impending meteor impacts and any of the other predicted catastrophes we were supposed to live in fear of, all rolled into a ball. But since all of those other disasters kind of fizzled out (at just about the time Irwin Allen made a movie out of them. Hmm. A coincidence? I don’t think so.), I’m inclined to forget about this one, too.

Then again …

you come across a story like this one, and you think to yourself “@%#%!!!” (or something to that effect). People in the U.K. are trying to sort out enough mass graves to handle things? Don’t those guys ever lighten up? Now, goodness knows they could turn out to be massively wrong about all this. But I guess I’ve come across enough articles now to at least wonder what it would mean if they weren’t.

Just as well that I came across this article by James Lileks, to restore a little levity to the situation:

Content yourself with the comforting certainty that FEMA’s on the case! Men in hazmat suits will jump out of helicopters and impose order while dramatic music swells in the background, just like in the movies. (Note: for this scenario to work, Harrison Ford has to be President.)

If by any chance the buzz on this subject is starting to freak you out, I recommend giving the article a read. If not, of course, you can go back to your regularly-scheduled programming. But keep an eye on your parakeet, just in case.