2012? We are all doomed

While we partially insulated residents of Bath tinker at theedges of our discontent, is there not a much larger rumbling goingon around us? The year 2012, according to past soothsayers, hasenormous consequences for the human race worldwide.

Should we be concerning ourselves as to whether Pulteney Bridgebe free of traffic or not, as another revolution springs up in yetanother Middle Eastern dictatorship? Is there really any point,debating the importance or otherwise of a contentious bus route fromNewbridge as Al Qaeda and the Taliban seem as elusive as ever? Do weneed to concern ourselves watching bland blocks of Eastern Europeanstyle dwellings go up on our beautiful riverside, as Israel, withthe blessing of the United States, ignores the dictat of the UnitedNations and constructs thousands of houses on others land.

Is it that important in our daily lives, that Bath is to have yetmore Sainsbury's superstores, a much larger Waitrose, and a hugeTesco, knowing there are vast swathes of humanity unable to get justa loaf of bread? Why the trepidation at the loss of thousands of MODjobs, and the closure of a factory in Keynsham, knowing that some 70per cent of the populations of North Africa and Middle Easterncountries are unemployed or below the poverty line? Does it worry usin our little Georgian enclave which political party wins control inMay, as an anti-Islamist movement is quickly swelling in Austria andGermany? If, as predicted by some, May or December of next year seesthe world as we know it come to an end, with Islam, Judaism andChristianity at each others throats, forcing the demise of theUnited States, New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Great Britain andmost of Western Europe, followed by mans final war, I can't see thepoint in spending millions just to get me from Newbridge to the citycentre two minutes quicker.

DAVE LAMING Larkhall, Bath