Doomsday Clock two minutes to midnight no big deal to Trib

I was a tad dismayed the scariest in a litany of scary Trib news items today was buried in a tiny, five sentence spot on page 12. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists unveiled the annual setting of its Doomsday Clock, its symbol of how close mankind is to global catastrophe, which metaphorically will occur at the stoke of midnight. The Bulletin kept the setting at two minutes to midnight, the 2018 setting that tied the previous low set in 1953 when the US and Russia began testing hydrogen bombs. Originally set at 7 minutes till in 1947, mankind saw its highest distance of 17 minutes from Armageddon with the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Bulletin cited several factors for two, 30 second reductions in 2017 and 2018 as well as its precarious setting this year; including US abandonment of the Iran nuclear treaty and the Paris climate agreement, exacerbating the twin threats pushing mankind to its hour of doom. Maybe Trib editors figured putting such distressing news in a blaring headline on page 1 might discourage future readership. Maybe they're simply oblivious to this existential treat to mankind. Regardless, the annual January setting and statement of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists' Doomsday Clock should be the lead story in every newspaper, network and cable news outlet and social media website in America; indeed the entire world. Maybe such stark importance placed on our continued survival might just motivate the 7.5 billion of us still alive to pressure our leaders to reduce man's mad race to extinction. That may not be easier...but it's sure more important than keeping up with the Kardashians.