Who's afraid of 2012?

[Guest guest]

This writer misses a couple of points.

First, the solar system will also be passing through the galactic plane in 2012. Around Dec. 21 is the date the solar system will be effectively crossing that line. In addition, the planetary alignment will be lined up with the center of the galaxy as well.

This transition happens about every 25,000 years or so, so now it is happening again.

Nostradamus may have also predicted something happening in 2012.

Many of the cultures that predicted a problem in 2012 were not Christian societies because they either predated Christianity (Chinese I Ching and the Celtic seers) or they had no contact with Christianity before the prediction was made (the Maya). To say that belief in Doomsday is only a Christian and Islamic thing is a cheap swipe at religion. Virtually all cultures and religions that have existed believed in an end of the world scenario of some kind.

It will be interesting to see if anything really does happen. My guess is that most likely what will happen will be the Earth's magnetic field reversing. We know this happens periodically, and the field has been weakening rapidly for decades. Maybe it is just coincidence that crossing the galactic equator is also about to happen, or maybe not. Still, when that does happen, the magnetic field severely weakening or shutting down, it will be a serious problem and not something to joke about like this writer seems to think it is.

In a message dated 6/1/2009 5:33:50 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time, no_reply writes:

Who's afraid of 2012? An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!

[Guest guest]

http://www.startribune.com/lifestyle/46650192.html?elr=KArksD:aDyaEP:kD:aUq9_b9b\

_jEkP:QUiD3aPc:_Yyc:aUU

Who's afraid of 2012?

Plenty of folks, as it turns out. According to the ancient Mayans, Chinese sages

and biblical prophets, Doomsday is just three years away.

By KAREN YOUSO, Star Tribune

Last update: June 1, 2009 - 3:44 PM

Did you know that Earth has an expiration date? Yes, it's Dec. 21, 2012. That's

when life as we know it will end. Who says? The ancient Mayans predicted it,

Chinese sages wrote of it and many Christians say it's foretold in the Bible. Go

ahead, Google 2012, search for it on YouTube and learn. Or buy " The Complete

Idiot's Guide to 2012, " now in bookstores. You could wait for the movie; " 2012 "

will be in theaters this fall. Meanwhile, look clued-in with a " 2012 Doomsday "

T-shirt (available in infant and toddler sizes, too). Basically, our days are

numbered -- to 1,298 to be precise -- because a convergence of factors will

result in the destruction of Earth: Extreme solar activity will peak just as

Earth's protective magnetic shield is weakening, and there will be an alignment

of planets that happens only once every 640,000 years. To top it off, the highly

complex and accurate 5,000-year Mayan calendar comes to an abrupt end on winter

solstice 2012. It all adds up to bad business for our planet.

" The odds of global destruction are projected at 94 percent, " according to the

website for the Institute for Human Continuity. It's working to ensure the

survival of the human race beyond 2012. (More about that later.)

For those rolling their eyes, or maybe rolling in the aisles, harken to the

words of science.

" There's no disaster coming, " said Lawrence Rudnick, distinguished teaching

professor of astronomy at the University of Minnesota, responding to fears of

killer solar flares. Scientists aren't discussing 2012. There's nothing there,

Rudnick said. It isn't even interesting. " We have plenty of real issues to worry

about on Earth, " he said.

It seems " The end is near! " is heard every few years. What is it about the

apocalypse that we can't stop worrying about it?

" It's fear of death, " said Harvey Sarles, professor of Cultural Studies and

Comparative Literature at the University of Minnesota. Doomsday anxiety goes way

back. It's a product of Western thought and religious tradition, he said --

basically, the stories of Christianity and Islam and the focus on death and

getting back to heaven.

In times of strife or pivotal calendar moments, Armageddon fears gain traction.

They're actually very appealing and comforting to some people, Sarles added.

Indeed, cataclysm and destruction predictions fit well with some Christian

interpretations of the Bible's Book of Revelation, according to Sarles. The

current financial upheaval, natural disasters, flu epidemic -- even the

disappearance of honeybees -- are seen as runups to the main 2012 event,

according to some Christian websites. They see the four horsemen of the

apocalypse closing in, and they welcome it. The second coming of Christ is near,

they believe, and they'll soon be a pile of clothes on empty shoes after they're

Raptured.

But not all 2012 devotees are of the same mind. New Agers, such as author and

professor Arguelles, predict that " the end of the world as we know it "

means that there will be a universal spiritual awakening. It isn't the end of

the world, they say, but the beginning of a new and better one, which is an

interpretation closer to what the Mayans believed. From troubled times will rise

a new consciousness. Events surrounding 2012 are but the birth pains of a new

age, the Age of Aquarius, at last.

Some scoff at the whole 2012 idea and predict a Y2K-style fizzle. Natural

calamities and human strife happen all the time, and the Mayan calendar ending

has no significance. It's just a calendar, they write in their blogs and

websites. Like any other calendar, it ran out; time to get a new one.

Meanwhile, there's money to be made before the drop-dead date. There are books

to peddle, bunkers to sell and TV shows to produce -- ABC's " Wife Swap " is

looking for families that are preparing for 2012 for their " Wife Swap 2012

Special " -- and a host of movies to promote. In a slick marketing move, Sony

Pictures created a very realistic organization and website -- the Institute for

Human Continuity (www.institute forhumancontinuity.org) -- for its movie " 2012. "

It's fake, but you wouldn't know it by the website. Besides sophisticated

interactive disaster scenarios, it tells visitors that the institute has been

working 30 years on preparation strategies and is now running a random lottery

" to give all humans an equal shot at surviving. " Sign up now, the site urges,

and since it's one ticket per person, get the family to sign up, too. (The

lottery is probably for free movie tickets.)

If you still believe that maybe this time it's different, that 2012 really is

the end, don't be tempted to run up the credit cards or spend your 401(k)

thinking you'll be expiring instead of retiring. A safer bet for winter solstice

2012 is that autumn will end, winter will start and it'll be cold in Minnesota.

[Guest guest]

environmental1st2003 wrote:

>>Who's afraid of 2012?<<

It is one of the latest forms of conspiratorial hysteria and much like

what happened before Y2K. (Around 1998, I set an old 386 SX computer to

the year 2037, as a test, and it worked just fine, including programs

which cautioned users to the contrary.) These sorts of panics can serve

to remind us of P.T. Barnum's wisdom.

--

Mark A. , Ph.D. " ... the modern challenge is how to live with uncertainty.

The basic fault lines today are not between people with different beliefs but

between people who hold these beliefs with an element of uncertainty and people

who hold these beliefs with a pretense of certitude. " — L. Berger,

sociologist

[Guest guest]

VISIGOTH@... wrote:

>>Nostradamus may have also predicted something happening in 2012.<<

Here is a poem I wrote concerning Nostradamus:

Existential Authenticity, July, 1999

When July has come and gone

Will the month of August dawn

Somehow life seems just the same

Nostradamus takes the blame

--

Mark A. , Ph.D. " ... the modern challenge is how to live with uncertainty.

The basic fault lines today are not between people with different beliefs but

between people who hold these beliefs with an element of uncertainty and people

who hold these beliefs with a pretense of certitude. " — L. Berger,

sociologist

[Guest guest]

A few things could wipe us out. Asteroids, polar reversal, etc.

A new one that I heard about a while ago was the so called "death star." When a certain stars go nova or supernova, they send an X-ray burst across the universe. Now, we see these things fairly often but they are a long way off and are no danger.

However, one such star has been found less than a thousand light years away. Several such stars are within that range but their poles aren't aimed at us. One is. It is close enough that if it goes nova, the x-ray burst wouldn't directly harm life on earth, but it would wipe out the ozone layer leaving the surface exposed to lethal ultraviolet levels for decades or more.

In the grand scale of things, the odds of the star going nova is very small. We'll be much more likely to destroy ourselves by economic collapse or another major war or maybe the flu.

IF the earth's magnetic poles reverse, many of our preparations may be uselss. An Excellent Credit Score is 750. See Yours in Just 2 Easy Steps!

[Guest guest]

Good Afternoon;

In the late 1970's, there was an end of the world theory connected with an alignment of the planets in our solar system. This theory was used by certain religious people to try and frighten the unconverted into being converted.

Human nature (or some human nature) seems to be drawn to escapism;

-we're all going to die, so let's live for today,

OR the world will end, we will be rescued from this 'vale of tears,'

OR we are so bored with life as it is, lets follow whatever theory is 'out there' about the future

OR let's try to predict the future becasue we can't stand to live with the unknown

Personally, I think it is wise to plan for the future, while realizing we don't know how long we will live. (to plan both in a physical sense and spiritual sense)

IF the earth's magnetic poles reverse, many of our preparations may be uselss.

As wrote, excerpted;

Still, when that does happen, the magnetic field severely weakening or shutting down, it will be a serious problem and not something to joke about like this writer seems to think it is.

The House On the Borderland, regarding the end of all things, was written by Hope Hodgson, before 1920. Many 'end times' novels have been written, some maybe to present a particular religious view, some as a warning against nuclear proliferation, .........

renaissanzelady,

writing with more cynicsim and less optimism than usual

"My cat Rusty is a servant of the Living God."(adapted from a poem by Smart)>>Who's afraid of 2012?<<It is one of the latest forms of conspiratorial hysteria and much like what happened before Y2K. (Around 1998, I set an old 386 SX computer to the year 2037, as a test, and it worked just fine, including programs which cautioned users to the contrary.) These sorts of panics can serve to remind us of P.T. Barnum's wisdom.-- Mark A. , Ph.D."... the modern challenge is how to live with uncertainty. The basic fault lines today are not between people with different beliefs but between people who hold these beliefs with an element of uncertainty and people who hold these beliefs with a pretense of certitude." — L. Berger, sociologist------------------------------------Fellowship of the Aspergian Miracle is the last series of message boards founded by an original Aspergia member to carry the Aspergia

name with the www.aspergia.com website owner's permission. To contact the FAM forum administrator, use this e-mail address: FAMSecretSociety-owner Check the Links section for more FAM forums.

[Guest guest]

" In the grand scale of things, the odds of the star going nova is very small.

We'll be much more likely to destroy ourselves by economic collapse or another

major war or maybe the flu. "

People also have a tendency to destroy themselves by other means before supposed

calamities hit. Recall the Heaven's Gate cult. 39 members of the Heaven's Gate

cult died by suicide when Hale-Bopp sailed past earth in 1997. They thought the

earth would end at that time.

Administrator

[Guest guest]

>

There have been a lot of shows on the science channel, I am not sure about 2012

but I do think this society will collaspe, in the next 100 years anyway. We are

due for a mojor humanity overhaul. Did you see the show on Tesla. I hope we

move more in that direction, the special alluded to many aspergerlike behaviors

[Guest guest]

Hi;Tesla is one of my 'heroes', I've read about him but did not see the special, Is the Science Channel available on the internet?? We don't have cable TV or satellite.I think if civilization collapses it will be due to economic or ecological factors.renaissanzelady "My cat Rusty is a servant of the Living God."(adapted from a poem by Smart)Subject: Re: Who's afraid of 2012?To: FAMSecretSociety Received: Wednesday,

June 3, 2009, 9:27 AM

>

There have been a lot of shows on the science channel, I am not sure about 2012 but I do think this society will collaspe, in the next 100 years anyway. We are due for a mojor humanity overhaul. Did you see the show on Tesla. I hope we move more in that direction, the special alluded to many aspergerlike behaviors

Be smarter than spam. See how smart SpamGuard is at giving junk email the boot with the All-new Yahoo! Mail

[Guest guest]

Scientists have been finding evidence that ecological disasters may have played a role in the destruction of many societies. Droughts seem to be the biggest killer because droughts disrupt the food supply. Interestingly, floods are another big destroyer because people tend to build in flood prone areas that get wiped out. In ancient societies, the safety systems we have now did not exist, so if a village or town got hammered by a disaster, it had to recover on its on, if at all.

The US and Europe are doing alright and have been cleaning up their act. The biggest threat is going to be water supply. Last year the Southeastern US had a problem from a multiyear drought. It was make worse because some cities, like Atlanta Georgia, have done a terrible job of planning and have grossly over expanded. As a result, they tried to take more water than was their share from the Alabama River which supplies water to much of Alabama and part of Florida. Atlanta's actions caused trouble for many industries, including fisheries in the Gulf region because the lack of fresh water flowing out into the sea and caused the waters to become so brackish that shrimp began to die.

Out in the west, Lake Meade behind Hoover Dam is getting so low there is a concern that electrical power generation will be affected. That will be a very big deal since the dam supplies power to much of the region and Southern California. Lack of rain also means that Los Vegas has been heavily tapping an aquifer system for water. Said aquifer if getting low as well and it will take centuries at least to refill, so Vegas could make a dry land into a true desert. California has the same sort of problem as well with lack of rainfall. Already it has been cutting off water to farmers to send it to the cities instead. But then what did they expect? Like Vegas, they built San Franciso and LA in deserts with natural water supplies suited of a fraction of the current population.

Another problem could be the return of a dusk bowl cycle in the midwest. If that happens again, it would be annoying for the US, since we still do have a lot of farming around the country. However, the midwest supplies food around the world, especially emergency food aid to starving lands. If those lands go out of production, the impact around the world would be tremendous. A lot of people don't realize that drought has already been affecting parts of the midwest for years now, mostly the southern regions like Texas, so there is the potential for another such cycle.

I think if civilization collapses it will be due to economic or ecological factors.renaissanzelady Limited Time Offers: Save big on popular laptops at Dell

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi;

> Tesla is one of my 'heroes', I've read about him but did not see the special,

> Is the Science Channel available on the internet?? We don't have cable TV or

satellite.

>

if you do a google search under video, it usually will show up, there may be a

few The BBC ones are usually good, or science channel will repeat