I remember predictions about disaster striking at midnight, January 1 2000. Computers weren’t setup for years later than 1999. The world as we knew it would end at the stroke of midnight.

Oops! False alarm. Everything went on as usual. Lots of people got all worked up about a disaster that never happened.

When I was growing up, news was highly curated. We got newspapers delivered to our door every morning (The Herald) and afternoon (The Leader). TV news came at dinner time every evening via hour-long broadcasts (up from 30 minutes).

I’m no expert, but journalistic standards seemed higher. In the rush to meet daily deadlines for the next edition, mistakes sometimes happened. We didn’t hear about things as quickly, perhaps, but when we did, the dust had settled enough for a reasonably accurate story.

Things have changed. Multiple 24-hour news channels compete for viewers. Good news has never sold papers. Why watch the news if everything is going well?

The media promises to let us know the minute the shit hits the fan. Until then, lots of people who may or may not know what they’re talking about share what they believe is going to happen. One thing for sure–none will say everything is hunky-dory.

I like to stay informed and get news from multiple sources. Separating the wheat from the chaff is a challenge. Journalistic standards appear to be at an all-time low.

The news since November 5 has been devastating. I no longer trust people to do what’s right. What happened is bad enough. Predictions about what’s coming are worse.

Remember Y2K?

Things are rarely as bad as they say they will be. The prognosticators possess no crystal ball. It’s all speculation and conjecture. Where I come from, we call it horseshit.

Staying in the moment is my early resolution for the coming year. Worrying about the future is a rabbit hole I intend to avoid. Whatever will be, will be. All is well today, and that’s good enough for me.