Year 2012: End of the World
Critically examining the "End of the World"
Capped, Really?
Aug 6th
Well, it’s been a while since I last commented on the situation in the Gulf so it is probably well past time for an update. As of a few weeks ago there is a temporary cap that seems to have managed to stop the oil gusher. I did not make a joyous post right away because after BP’s previous efforts, I thought a “wait and see” position would be prudent. There was initially some concern that the cap might cause the seabed to destabilize or that there might have been a second leak, but supposedly that was not the case. At least, anything that was detected was “not consequential.” While I wont say there is a conspiracy, I find myself wondering how reliable BP’s reports to Thad Allen actually are, what with their assurances that they had plans to handle situations just like this one when they got permission to begin drilling.
Then there was the tropical storm Bonnie, the second tropical weather event to hit the gulf since the leak began on April 20th. Essentially this caused a delay of a few days in that the support fleet had to pack up all their pipes and sail away, until they decided the weather wasn’t really that bad. Still, between the tear down, the move, and then the reassembly of the pipes the plug process was delayed for several days.
The good news is that with the relief well essentially completed BP launched the first half of their plan to finally plug the well by injecting mud into the cap. (As of this writing the top injection is “done” and seems to have worked.) Once the relief well is completed they intend to inject a mud and concrete mixture into the broken well head from beneath the surface to finally put an end to this gusher, presumably once and for all. The relief well for the second injection is expected to be completed in less than two weeks at this point.
It is pretty clear that a lot of people are just hoping this thing will go away, so it is no surprise that many are beginning to ask where all of this leaked oil has gone. BP’s new chief executive Bob Dudley was claiming the leak was over as early as July 27th, and discussed scaling back clean up efforts. The scale back is apparently sensible, as most reports seem to indicate that the effort to keep the oil from reaching shore, (or the surface of the ocean for that matter) were for the most part effective. This is of course due to the unprecedented use of the dispersant Corexit. While Corexit is EPA approved, there have been findings of tiny droplets of oil making their way into the Gulf food chain thanks to Corexit’s efficiency at breaking down the black blobs into essentially too small to see particles. These particles actually have an easier time making it into the food chain.
At this point, of course, the threat that this combination might have on the ecology is being vastly downplayed, and some even claim that due to the rich ecosystem of the Gulf, oil is not something to be all that concerned about. Couple that with the proclamation that roughly 75% of the oil has been “cleaned” and I would be surprised if this was still a news story by September. Granted, it’s also just come out that apparently the estimated rate of the leak was still too low and this is in fact the largest off shore oil spill in global history.
But everything will be all right, I’m sure. The off shore drilling ban is going to be lifted sooner than anticipated, the judge who ruled on the case sees no conflict of interest between his own oil and gas investments and ruling on off shore drilling, and local politicians are hoping the Obamas will go swimming in the Gulf when they come down for a vacation! I mean, I’m sure this sort of thing will never happen again, it is not like we’re going to be letting the people responsible collect all the evidence or anything.
Oh, and in case you somehow missed it, there was also an oil spill in China, an oil spill in Michigan, a second blown oil head in Louisiana, and an Alaskan pipe line all happened while this was going on. The truth is that our own burn now, pay later attitude as a society is far more dangerous than any curse that the Maya(n) people never made in the first place. As long as we remain silent, nothing will change.
It is time to take action, be heard.
Aug 3rd
It is evident in my articles that while I have no fear of a foretold apocalypse in the year 2012 I am genuinely concerned for the future of the human species. Our planet is durable, having survived multiple mass extinction events in the past (including some that cycle with apparently clockwork precision every 27 million years, but do not worry, we still have 16 million years before the next one in this cycle should occur) it is far more likely that humanity will be wiped out than the entire planet. As the fictional Ian Malcolm says, “Life Finds a Way.”
That does not however give me much solace. Our world is rampant with corruption, poor policy, and ignorance, putting all of us on a dangerous precipice. It is essential that we collectively demand more from our leadership, locally, nationally, internationally, and privately. It is only by making our voices heard that we can hope to sway policy makers to take a long term view of our place in this world and the cosmos. With that idea in mind, I have decided to try and compile information on how to contact your local government leaders. As we are based in the USA, the information we were most easily able to compile will be for the USA. However, we will try to provide information where possible for international visitors so they too can take up the cause with their own leaders. If you have useful information in this regard that we were unfortunately able to track down on our own, please, add it to the comments. Hopefully at some point in the future we can compile a more up-to-date resource list than what we have been able to put together so far.
So to start off with, here’s some useful links for our US visitors.
Find your Federal House Representative
Both of these links will provide you with contact information for your federal legislator. These people are supposed to be your representative in the government, so make sure they know what your ideas are so they can represent them accordingly.
Vote Smart is also an excellent resource for US citizens as it will not only list your current Federal congress people, it will list all of your local elected officials as well as candidates. While it seems to be lacking direct contact information, it does give you their names which is an excellent place to start. Most, if not all, state legislatures have some method of contacting your local official through their websites these days. While some may not make it as easy as entering a zip code and being given contact information for your official, by using the information from Vote Smart you can easily identify your district and the name of your official to make contacting them that much easier.
This link will help you locate your Parliament Member if you’re from the UK.
And this one has the information for the European Parliament (note: the link is to the English version of their page as that is the language we use here on the site)
And here’s a link to the website of the Australian Parliament
While we would like to be able to provide comprehensive information for everybody in the world, such an undertaking would require a whole website of it’s own (and of course, there are still some countries that are not democracies, representative or otherwise). Regardless of whether we were able to provide information for you specifically, we would encourage you to do the necessary research and take the required steps to make your voice heard and help drive our leaders to pursue policies that will benefit both our species, and our planet.
The Problem with Prophecy
Jul 22nd
Doomsday prophecies are nothing new. Neither is a widespread desire to believe them. But in the end, they’re meaningless. The thing that most people fail to realize about “prophecy” is that it is ultimately open to interpretation. If an individual wants to believe a prophecy is true, whether as reinforcement for their religious world view, because they’re superstitious, or simply because the idea of a Universe in which they might actually be accountable for their actions is truly terrifying, it is a relatively simple matter to interpret specific lines as being relevant or in reference to actual historical events. The fact that the link between the event and the prophecy exists only in their mind is all too easy for them to dismiss.
Nostradamus is famous, or infamous, for a plethora of prophecies he wrote in his life time. He has been credited with predicting World War 2, the Atomic Bomb, and the 9/11 terrorist attacks of 2001, and more, but the truth is none of these things are actually explicitly expressed in his own words. Rather, he uses vague poetic images which people hundreds of years later have decided allude to events that transpired between the time of Nostradamus and their present time. This is like seeing a television with no signal, cluttered with snow, then suddenly seeing the image of a sailboat after somebody else tells you it is there. It is all to easy to fit the random elements into a pattern when you have a pattern you want or expect to see.
This same process holds true with “biblical prophecy.” Most “biblical prophecy” as espoused by the “Rapture Ready” is a crude hack job of biblical texts that has as much reason and consistency as William S Burrough’s “cut up” technique of writing. That is to say, they’ll take a few lines from one book, a few lines from another, toss them in a blender, set it to puree, and then pour out the sauce and go “literal interpretation of the ineffable word of God” despite the fact that for it to be the “literal interpretation of the ineffable word of God” it would a) have to be true for the present time, which would b) make it utterly meaningless and insensible for the 2000 some odd year history of Christianity. I have a hard time seeing how something “ineffable” can be right for the last 20 years, and wrong for the 2000 years proceeding it. That seems like a pretty huge and glaring error.
At the end of the day, the value of prophecy to those that believe in it is the concept that things are preordained. That they are not accountable, or for that matter, even capable of affecting the world in which they live or it’s future. It is in short a “bury your head in the sand” card. If everything has already been foretold, why make an effort to change it? This is why prophecy, despite being utterly bogus, is all too dangerous. If people at large do not make an effort to create positive change, to push for progressive reform that safeguards the environment while elevating the living conditions of human beings, then nothing will change. The status quo is not our friend. While what we know may be comfortable, it is anything but safe.
The Maya(n) 2012 Prophecy, the Mesoamerican Long Count, and Why People Are So Confused
Jul 26th
If you’re wondering why the “n” in Mayan is in parenthesis in the title, it’s because it should in fact be Maya, but media more typically uses the popular, but incorrect, “Mayan.” This is a relatively small mix up compared to all of the excitement about a supposed “Mayan Prophecy” for world shaking events of some kind in December of 2012. There’s debate as to which exact day it supposedly occurs on, but the two most common interpretations are the 21st and 23rd.
There are some good reasons for the discrepancy of when the Maya(n) calendar supposedly ends that have to do with determining where it starts. While the Mayan calendar is very good at measuring days, the start point, or day one, of the calendar is not universally agreed upon. This is why you have disagreements on where it ends, they purport that it has a specific number of days (1,872,000, as the end is supposedly the “end” of our current period, the 13th b’ak’tun.) so depending on which exact start date they choose, they get a slight different end date. By and large we have managed to get a relatively accurate correspondence with our modern calendar thanks to historical documents during Europe’s conquest of the America’s.
The thing is, the calendar does not actually end with the 13th ba’k’tun. Specifically, the Temple of Inscriptions in Palneque contains references to a date that would correspond with October of 4772. The Mayans believed there was a cycle that predated the current one they lived in(and we’re living in it too). It is faulty reasoning at best, and crass arrogance and disrespect at worse, to suppose they would not expect there to be another one. In short, while a cycle of the long count Maya calendar is 13 b’ak’tuns, which is ending in Dec of 2012, that does not mean the world ends with the cycle. Quite the contrary, it is a milestone achievement.
The argument that the end of the world will occur when the Mayan calendar’s current cycle does is the equivalent of seeing a 2009-2010 calendar and assuming that the whole world is going to end on Dec 31st, 2010. Most people would quickly point out the absurdity of that. We make calendars annually. The calendar ending does not mean the world does. The fact that there are far fewer dates recorded by the Maya for the next cycle compared to our own is simply a question of distance. You would be hard pressed to find a publisher making calendars for the year 2100, or even 2020, at this point, but we could easily calculate a future date with our calendar system. If one was to set a long term goal or perhaps an elaborate fantasy in a far flung future, they could do so simply. Nobody can see the future, but we can recognize and predict patterns fairly well as a species. Considering that people have been “foretelling the End of the World” since man discovered fire for some reason or another, and they have all been wrong, there is no justification in believing the hype that claims this impressive feat of time keeping has any kind of life and death significance. No, things that have life and death significance are for more subtle, widespread, and all too common.
The Nemesis Star is Not Out to Get Us
Jul 28th
If I had a nickel for a every theory about how the world is going to end in 2012, I would be sipping margaritas on a beach somewhere right now. I have not had the time to break down the convoluted logic that has lumped the Nemesis star into the Planet X theory or what they have to do with 2012. By all accounts the answer is that they are entirely unrelated except to those who wish to sell you a book explaining their esoteric connections. The really important word in that sentence? Sell.
I have however found this report which analyzes a theoretical connection between the “Nemesis” star and a cyclical pattern of mass extinctions that seems to occur roughly every 27 million years. How this is tied into 2012 I cannot imagine as it is widely agreed upon that if this cycle does occur again, it is not due for another 16 million years. If we as a species cannot find a way to spread beyond the confines of Earth to a “safe” location in 16 million years, well, we deserve that extinction.
That report is pretty darn technical, so to break it down, the researchers have ruled out the possibility of the Nemesis star as the cause of the cyclical extinctions because it is too regular. You see, due to the distance between our planet and the Nemesis star, if some kind of energy was being emitted from it that caused those extinctions, the number of gravitational fields and celestial bodies that would effect whatever might be transmitted would result in the cycle being more erratic than it actually is. That is right, the cycle is too reliable to be caused by a celestial body as distant from us as the Nemesis Star.
Image by NuclearVacuum
The Nemesis Star has lately been tangled up in the theories of “Planet X” or “Nibiru” which assert that a planet or nearly planet sized celestial body will collide or nearly collide with Earth causing a polar shift. If anything, I think this is an excellent example of how these various scenarios and theories tend to bleed together in the statements of those who are trying to assert their truth. The theory began with Nancy Lieder of Montana who asserted that she had received information from aliens of dire importance. It seems she initially argued that the Hale-Bopp comet was a false cover for an impending calamity. Later she would cite 2003 as the year of Earth’s inevitable doom. Now apparently the date has shifted to 2012 to coincide with the end of the Mayan calendar’s current cycle which has been embraced by pseudo-scientists, new age crazies, and countless others as the new “hip” date to predict the end of the world. Frankly, the idea that a celestial body 4 times the size of the planet Earth could be kept secret is patently absurd. Between the communication systems available today, the number of amateur astronomers, and the sad state of international political relations, an object like that would certainly be common knowledge.
If you’re thinking that perhaps there is a secret “Ark” program like in 2012, well, that wouldn’t work either. If a mass that size collided with our planet it would not be feasible to maintain the resources to support the population of elitists and specialists for the amount of time required for Earth to become hospitable to human life after such an impact. Essentially, the long running hysteria people have had about an impending Apocalypse continues today, and the conspiracy theorists that cite Planet X, Nibiru, and the Nemesis Star as the cause are far more concerned with reinforcing their own preferred world view than actually looking at the data and facts. Either that, or they’re just looking at their bank accounts.
Timewave Zero, Terence McKenna, and 2012
Aug 23rd
Terence McKenna’s Timewave Zero theory is one of many popular theories about what might possibly occur on 12 21, 2012. Granted, the fact that he may have tailored his date to coincide with the end of the Maya(n) calendar’s current cycle is a pretty reasonable explanation as to why this theory is becoming widely accepted.
Essentially Timewave Zero is based on the results of a computer program that McKenna developed as part of his formulation of Novelty Theory. Essentially McKenna posits that the amount of “novelty” occurring in the Universe will increase or decrease in relation to time. According to this theory the Universe is designed to both increase and decrease Novelty, or newness. He posits that this newness can be modeled as a wave that indicates when, if not where, Novelty will increase or decrease. This model is supposedly capable of tracking significant events in history, though considering it’s a cosmological model, one has to wonder what kind of event actually has historical significance from a cosmological viewpoint.
This model apparently has an asymptote in 2012, or as McKenna called it a “Singularity of Novelty.” While reports vary as to whether or not the model initially coincided with the 12 21 2012 end date of the Maya(n) calendar cycle, by the time McKenna died this was the “official” time that theorized singularity would occur. But what would a Singularity of Novelty actually entail?
That is a hard question to answer, as the theory itself essentially claims that such an event would involve everything possible happening all at once. If his theory is accurate the world as we know it, hell the Universe as we know it, would be radically and fundamentally altered. But there is good news, according to Timewave Zero, the period after would be an “Age of Peace.” Furthermore, it is highly unlikely that if such a cosmic shift did occur that anybody would be particularly bothered by it. Everything, existence itself, would be fundamentally changed by the event. Concerns about anarchistic post-apocalyptic survival would not only be unnecessary but irrelevant.
Terence McKenna was a brilliant man, but it is important to remember that much of his Novelty Theory was based on his own experimentation with psychedelic substances such as psilocybin mushrooms. Not to discount the possibility that altered states of consciousness might lead to better understandings of the Universe and how we fit into them, it is important to remember that such states can just as easily lead people into believing that they are being chased by mythic beings or speaking to God. (McKenna himself felt that he was able to hear the voice of Logos, an essentially benevolent God like entity while under the influence of these substances, who in fact helped him develop his Novelty Theory.)
The cynic in me has a hard time believing that the ideas proposed by the Timewave Zero theory will come to pass. However, even if they do, there does not seem to be any way to avoid the consequences, or even a reason to worry much about what they will be. On the other hand, if Timewave Zero is not accurate, there are plenty of dangers to the human species from both natural and man made events that we must all prepare for. If Timewave Zero does not deliver an Age of Peace, it is up to all of us to usher in such a time of prosperity ourselves.
Re: Comet Nibiru, Alien Genetics, Anunnaki Gods
Sep 8th
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Is Nostradamus a credible source? 2012?
Sep 8th
The following is a question being asked on Yahoo Answers. Both the questions and answers given do not reflect the view of our website.
Question:
Is nostradmus an actual source of true information…i read a couple of his predictions and they are kinda true (Hister/hitler)…but i mean he wrote thousands of them so i mean you gotta get one right sooner or later right?
My Melodic Death Metal Band of the Day – 14?
Sep 8th
The following is a question being asked on Yahoo Answers. Both the questions and answers given do not reflect the view of our website.
Question:
my melodeth band of the day is the Austrian band, Thirdmoon:
Cadaverous Haven:
Crawl Through Subspecies:
Amen:
MQ: thoughts on the band?
my shuffle song of the day is (one of my fav. songs of all time) Timewave Zero by the Swedish porg/melodeth band, Scar Symmetry:
MQ2: thoughts on the shuffle song?
BQ: Coke or Pepsi?
What if 2012 Apocalyptic EVENTS actually happened?
Sep 8th
The following is a question being asked on Yahoo Answers. Both the questions and answers given do not reflect the view of our website.
Question:
What if this time People were wrong and the catastrophic events will take place in December 21, 2012?
like the Biggest Earthquake In recent history that took place in L.A and San Fransisco ?
The Biggest Mountain Volcanic eruption in history in Yellow Stone National Park?
Giant Swarms of Tsunami’s Happened to every continent!! What if the Polar shifts took place?
The Reason why people do not believe in 2012 cause of the Y2K fusses cause just the year 2000 happened ! But the MAYAN CALENDER ENDS IN 2012 !
Nostradamus even thought about the world ending in 2012
Ancient Chinese People even knew something is gonna happen 2012 not 2000
All I know that in 2012 the planets will align with all the planets in one perfect line and also the milky way and the sun will also align this occur will happen in each 26,000 years or so. These are real facts people no False crap right here?
If the Apocalyptic visions of 2012 were true ? What would you do?
