Times' Columnist Danny Westneat has a great column about our societal reaction to things like government budget crises, escaped mental patients and flooding.

He points out that many of us are getting way out of hand with the language we use, being overly dramatic. He quotes County Councilman Larry Phillips as saying ""What we're witnessing is the systematic dismantling of county government." and then goes on to say that this year's County Budget is only 4% below last year's and that the county has only had to lay off 1% of it's employees while many businesses have experienced cuts much greater.

He also mentions that because people have referred to the potential flooding of the Kent Valley this winter as the next Katrina that it has driven many of the insurance companies away prematurely.

Good show, Danny. As he does admit, times may not be easy but let's all just take a chill pill and be grateful for what we still have.