T-minus four years

CCD used to be those dreadful Saturday-morning religion classes I had to attend at the local church because my parents wanted me to receive communion, confession, confirmation, etc. The letters stood, then, for Confraternity of Christian Doctrine. Now, however, there is a different -- and almost as insidious -- CCD infecting the world: Colony Collapse Disorder.

Honeybee colonies across the planet are dying off at ever-growing rates and CCD has been coined to describe the phenomena. Apparently some research indicates that cell phones and other types of radiation are the cause of the bees' demise. There are also a number of other explanations.

I've been railing against technology -- on my computer, of course -- for some time now, so this comes as no surprise to me. Human "progress" is impacting the world in ways we don't understand. We push forward without ethical discussions of the ramifications of our actions. And, as a result, the world is polluted, the fabric of society is shredded, vast numbers of animals are destroyed, people are divorced from the food cycle, and -- quite possibly -- the insects that are responsible for pollination are being eradicated.

I've read that Einstein said that if bees disappeared, "man would have only four years of life left." Start the clock.