With the recent disasters affecting Japan and even parts of our own territory in the U.S., it’s hard not to feel like 2012 may, in fact, be the end of us all. This sense of fear (or, in some cases, existential acceptance) is particularly heightened when you’re watching Fox News (out of entertainment rather than the need for objective and/or sane reporting) and Bill O’Reilly deems the ebb and flow of tides inexplicable and there’s talk of the upcoming ”supermoon.” Have you HEARD of the supermoon? Apparently, it’s super. And it’ll be here this weekend. And we will probably all die.

To elaborate, on March 19th, the moon will be closer to the earth than it has been in 18 years, and what’s more is it will be a full moon, making the sight all the more dramatic. Many experts– whoops, astrologists– predict that this could have catastrophic effects on the earth, including more earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and the desire in humans to raid the nearest Walmart.

A recent Washington Post blog mentions a few other things that can be explained by the supermoon. Suddenly, everything that ever went wrong in the world makes sense. I totally thought the article’s author, Alexandra Petri, was being serious, but some people seem to think she’s being tongue-in-cheek, and they got pissed off. It made me giggle.

In no way am I trying to make light of the tragedy in Japan, and I don’t think Alexandra Petri is, either. It’s pretty disturbing to watch the footage of what truly does look like something out of the movie 2012, except this isn’t CGI and most people aren’t John Cusack, who is somehow able to avoid every house-sized fireball hurling his way.

What I DO find funny is how quick we are to accept the “facts” that terrorist fearmongers tend to throw our way for the purpose of instilling anxiety in those who take them too seriously. (Thanks to Gillian and Alexandra for throwing “terrorist fearmongers” my way– thesaurus.com wasn’t cutting it.) Of course, I don’t know the facts. I’m not claiming to be more informed than the professionals who study, like, smart stuff. But I do think the amplification from newscasters of what are merely projections and possibilities is something we should be wary of. God knows every hurricane, flood and fender-bender between now and the end of next year will be blamed on the Earth’s impending doom.

All I’m saying is, I don’t trust these propaganda-abusing “reporters” to inform me of the facts any more than I trust the guy in the Jeep Wrangler with skull and crossbone window stickers NOT to suck at driving. YaknowwhatImean? Take a chill pill, y’all, and let’s think of Japan. Who knows? Maybe we’ll be able to spot the man on the moon this weekend.