This is me paying attention

Ok, so I tried to ignore the news recently, but I have just no choice paying attention. What's going on, world? 2008 is turning out to be an annus horribilis across the board. In fact, I cannot really think of a single continent that hasn't suffered some kind of tragedy in the past couple of months.
My heart absolutely goes out to the people in China's Sichian region - the numbers are staggering and I cannot even begin to imagine what sorrow flows through the region. As if the outbreak of the child-killing HFM disease is not bad enough. And let us not forget about the bombings in India and the sudden outbreak of Xenophobia right here in our back yard. I am not even going to think about Zimbabwe or the rest of Africa.
Between Mother Nature and our own stupidity, the future of the human race doesn't appear to be too bright.
It is a good thing I do not believe in some kind of end game, otherwise I might have started shaving my hair into a little ponytail, chanting and possibly paying a different kind of attention to the clouds. However, should I see some horses - four to be more specific - riding out of the clouds, I may be inclined to panic a little.