COME MONDAY, it is three years and counting. Three years till what? Three years until the end of the world! You didn't know that? Where have you been? Dec. 21, 2012--a Friday. That's the big day. The Mayans have supposedly predicted that this is when the end will come, and so have several other previous cultures. Why, even that old soothsayer Nostradamus is said to have determined that this date will mark the end of time. Of course, that makes me a little wary, because nobody seems to recognize Nostradamus' predictions until after they happen. After the Sept. 11, 2001,...