Gary F. Ehman (1937–2021)

Sitting in a long line waiting for a gas pump to be vacated can increase one's awareness of social breakdown becoming a real possibility. The intricacies of our modern world and how closely dependant we are on others who live far away become glaringly apparent. One questions how a catastrophic storm—with such a beautiful name, Katrina, meaning "pure"— a thousand miles away can so completely affect our every-day routines to the point of a growing desperation, frustration and, even, fear.

"Governors claim oil companies guilty of gouging in Katrina aftermath" "Man charged with scamming in attempts to collect disaster relief" "Retailers accused of inflating clean-up materials costs" These headlines, and many others like them, scream out from newspapers, TV news screens and Internet Blog pages.

It is going to take awhile, but I may be able to eventually forget the North Carolina newspaper picture of a man, his smiling wife and their four young sons grouped together for a swearing-in photo. The shock of seeing this seemingly happy scene in relation to the story it highlighted resulted in a sigh and sudden blur of tears.

Why should that be a problem?

The latest "study" of male juvenile delinquency has apparently revealed to some experts that men may be genetically wired to become criminals. Based on a twelve-question survey about delinquent tendencies, and the genetics of those questioned, one can now assume the male species is damaged goods.

Disaster after disaster, misery heaped upon misery—drought, fires, floods, earthquakes, wars, diseases—dominate the news these days. Does it seem as if these things are growing more intense, or is it just that they are “better reported” than ever?

The age-old debate intensifies, as the “realists” disdain the “doomsayers” and the “doomsayers” point accusatory fingers at the “realists.”