World Ends at 5. Video at 11.

So, it's a Friday.  Didn't particularly seem like it was going to be anything too special this morning.  Frankly, the market was up about 200 points yesterday and, well, hey...guess it was just one of those jabs that sets up the knock-out, sucker punch. A lot of us were hoping it was the start of a correction. Oops.

Here it is, now, just shy of 3PM (eastern time), and the Dow is down over 300 points and who the hell knows whether that's the start of a slow roll over the edge and a breathtaking freefall by the close. Of course, there's also that wonderful news about Israel and Iran getting ready for their own version of a nice summer barbecue: take some hummus, babaganoush, falafel, pita, and add a few tactical nukes for spice. And on top of it all, Amazon has crashed!  Go type http://amazon.com and you this message: Http/1.1 Service Unavailable. 

I just dunno.  Maybe this is the start of some cosmic event where the heavens are aligning.  After all, we're sort of there today with it being June 6 -- you know, 66.  That's like two-thirds of the mark of the beast and all.  What's the year anyway?  2008.  Okay, so maybe you subtract the "2" from the "8" and we make it 666.  I'd share my DaVinci Code insights with you, but I'm not sure there's enough time left.

Okay, so, who knows?  Maybe I'm just overreacting.  Still, those wonderful lines from T.S. Eliot do seem to bubble to the surface this afternoon:

This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
This is the way the world ends
Not with a bang but a whimper.

Who'd a thunk it.  On some nondescript Friday in June it all just stops--and you can't even place a damn order on Amazon for that last-minute, must-have purchase you were putting off for just such an occasion.  I had this perfect item picked out for just such a catastrophe but the last I looked it required at least two business days for shipping.  Damn.

Oh well.  If we're all still here on Monday--never mind.  Otherwise, you heard it here first.  World ends at 5PM.  Video at 11PM.

Postscript:  To my complaining fan who prompted this blog entry: here's your shout-out.  Okay? Does that satisfy your Muse craving for anonymous recognition?