Yeah, considering all the wackiness coming out of legacy Hollywood, admittedly screenwriters, writers, and many authors turn out to be prophetic. The China syndrome is one such legacy movie preceding 3 mile Island, Chernobyl, and Fukushima. I think much of which was enabled IMO by technical hubris.

Speaking of Hubris lets poke away at the southland some more, The last cat 4 hurricane that hit Louisiana this year, kind of messed up a huge oil services area, I guess upkeep and location placement kind of was an after thought considering it is an area frequented by hurricanes. Also more fossil fuel product tonnage is shipped from Louisiana ports to and from elsewhere than any other US port, even more than Houston. Let’s not even backtrack to Katrina and Harvey, among others, and all the collateral damages referred to as a 'didn’t see that coming' story.

Many died in the 1918 pandemic, and probably during a time of a whole lot less knowledge from epidemiologists if they even existed back in that day. Trouble is not only are we up to about 330 million peeps in our neck of the woods, which even though not being a medical scientist I think enhances chances of viral activity compared to 1918. (Back then they may have called it the Spanish flu during WW1, as opposed to nowadays we have the China flu, according to wonderF’k P45) On top of all that, considering your ‘playing with fire’ piece, we have a large number of peeps denying medical advice and checking into super spreader events willy nilly all over the place.

Medium author J. Wildfire has again handled this whole subject of apocalypse very well in recent days, and also points out that the earth is not going to die, people are, including most if not all the so-called prepper’s.

Yes we westerners have our fatal flaws, no doubt, right back to our recent European ancestors. I guess statistically it’s some kind of race to the end of times, how soon(?), we are a nation that likes to get things done.

Thanks for the rant time, and getting it in before you enjoy a new and improved work hiatus.