December 2011
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Existential risk
From Bloomberg News, “Guardians of the Apocalypse”:
For the uninitiated, existential risk is a broad term covering catastrophic events that could wipe out the human species. Some existential risk devotees agonize over nuclear wars, climate change, and virus outbreaks. Others, such as Schwall, put more energy into worrying about the potential downside of information technology. They...
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Recent failed apocalypti
Canada’s Metro World sums up some recent failed end of the world predictions in this article—”Five doomsday prediction flops“—but, as regular readers know, they barely scratch the surface of failed apocalypse predictions.
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Fundamentalist Mormon apocalypse?
It’s just because he’s in prison for raping little girls in forced “marriages,” but Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (FLDS) ”prophet” Warren Jeffs is receiving visions of the end times.
According to a recent report from the Southern Poverty Law Center, champion watchdog of hate groups on all the fringes, Jeffs is prophesying the end of...
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End of the world roundup
Tourism boosters in southern Mexico aren’t about to pass up the 2012 Maya Apocalypse bonanza, having installed a countdown clock to encourage visitors.
Um, perhaps “encourage” is the wrong word.
A collection of short stories by Maureen McHugh set in the collapse of civilizations, After the Apocalypse, is getting plenty of good reviews.
Interested in visiting sites associated...
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More on the "Armageddon" virus
According to AP reports, the details of the so-called “Armageddon” virus—a version of influenza A(H1N5), a bird flu, that can be transmitted from person-to-person contact and has a human mortality rate of 60 percent—will be restricted by scientists.
The research, which was conducted in the Netherlands and the U.S. on a grant from the National Institutes of Health, was...
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Looks like Camping's getting an ending, all right
Or at least the beginning of the end: News from New Jersey is that the Camden radio station owned by Rev. Harold Camping’s Family Radio is being sold.
It would be a safe guess that, following his double-barrel prophetic failure (two dates in 2011 both passed without either the Rapture or Armageddon occurring) and the stroke Camping suffered, the rest of the Family Radio empire will be sold...
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Apocalypse soon
“Apocalypse soon” by Daniel Baird in the Jan/Feb issue of The Walrus:
Yet the disenchantment that follows unfulfilled predictions of the kind made by Miller, Camping, and others has by no means diminished the public appetite for the Apocalypse. New Age adherents of the 2012 prophecy, which has created an Internet frenzy and a small publishing industry, believe the end of the ancient...
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Google Flu Trends →
Apocalypse Obsession makes a good point, but not necessarily because a flu epidemic signals the end of the world. Rather, it’s a pretty good indicator of whether or not you’ve been exposed, which means you may get sick. Take precautions—get a flu shot (I already have), wash your hands frequently, stay away from people who are sick.
This is a really good time to remind everyone...
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Reporting the end of the world
Apparently, some journalists haven’t just given a little thought to this; they’ve given a lot of thought to it.
How to report a world-ending crisis, such as a global epidemic of a deadly disease, an approaching, planet-detroying asteroid, or an alien invasion?
Well, like all good journalists, they had a conference about it. Or rather, it was a topic at this year’s News Foo Camp...
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"Eight tiny reindeer of the apocalypse"
Now this sounds like my idea of a holiday play!
It is the story of how the end of civilization as we know it is brought about by Christmas. Every time I go to a mall in December (or November) I can’t help thinking “end times…end times…” It looks like a society gone wrong. It looks like a disaster. So I’ve taken that feeling to the extreme.
Read the story at...
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A brief history of the apocalypse
A fellow named Chris Sheldon has put together this wonderful timeline of apocalyptic predictions: A Brief History of the Apocalypse. Since he starts at 2800 BC, it’s pretty comprehensive; it’s also proof that, whatever the latest prediction, it’s probability of being true is pretty low.
via Boing Boing
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“Well, traditional apocalypse narratives deal with the unfortunately...”
– John Hodgman, Expert, in an interview with Straight.com about his new book, That Is All.
Anonymous asked: Why don't you Beleive that these are the End times?
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2012 apocalypse fears unfounded, NASA says →
Just a reminder: There’s no evidence for an impending apocalypse, and all the “signs” are the same ones that people have been using to claim that it’s “imminent” since, well, forever.
audreyschild777:
If you’re afraid of the world ending next year for any reason, please read this. Thank you NASA! Hugs & kisses.
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Daniel Defoe's zombie apocalypse
From Lapham’s Quarterly, this piece by Andrew McConnell Scott makes the case that Daniel Defoe’s A Journal of the Plague Year is the equivalent of contemporary “zombie apocalypse” scenarios.
We’ve certainly seen the “zombie” scenario alter over time, from the Haitian-voodoo singular zombies to the rampaging zombies of Night of the Living Dead, and more...
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Another apocalypse shelter--for $1.75 million
It was built to withstand a nuclear attack during the Cold War, but this “cabin” has 2,000 square feet, nine floors, and enough space to secure you and your loved ones from pretty much any Armageddon scenario. This article from Digital Trends suggests it for the coming zombie apocalypse.
This article from the New York Observer says the owners want $1.76 million, but I’m sure...
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Just when you thought we were done with the Mayan...
… it drags you back in.
Yep, this report from MSNBC’s science and tech section suggests that deforestation led to drought, which eventually brought about the collapse of Mayan civilization. So it was an apocalypse, albeit one brought about by the Mayan culture’s unsustainable forestry practices.
In the case of the Mayans, how did relatively primitive farmers manage to affect...
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The "armageddon" virus
In what may be the most intriguing—and dangerous—viral research ever, a group of scientist in the Netherlands have apparently designed a strain of the avian flu that has a 60 percent mortality rate for humans and that, unlike most avian flu viruses, can be passed by human-to-human contact.
“This study, from what I can tell, may be the most worrisome and controversial...
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Nope, no 2012 Mayan apocalypse
Well, at least according to one German expert. The Washington Post reports that Sven Gronemeyer of Australia’s La Trobe University recently presented a paper at a conference on Mexican archaeology.
He said the inscription describes the return of mysterious Mayan god Bolon Yokte at the end of a 13th period of 400 years, known as Baktuns, on the equivalent of Dec. 21, 2012. Mayans considered...
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Presidential anti-christs
Given the number of things that pop up from American conservative fundagelicals who think President Barack Obama is the antichrist, it’s interesting that blogger Goblinbooks got around to doing some historical research.
Above is an editorial cartoon from Punch, showing a horned Abe playing the trump card of Emancipation against the South. Anyone who took a US history class can probably...
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