I've watched the world end a dozen times during my perusal of the Internet.
Aussie Bloke predicted a major cometary strike a few years back. A dowdy nutjob named Nancy Lieder spent years blathering away on sci.astro about a mysterious 'Planet X,' which was to swoop past the Earth in 2003, killing all but the usual chosen few. More recently, there were the anti-CERN people, who believed we'd all be sucked into a black hole the instant the supercollider came online.
Despite being killed over and over again by rogue comets and sudden black holes, I still seem to be more or less alive. Yes, the Earth is a ravaged, increasingly-barren wasteland populated by desperate hordes of humanity struggling for survival, but it's been that way for quite a while and so far we haven't seen fit to do much about it but gripe about switching to florescent light bulbs now and then.
So I hope you'll pardon me if I am less than terrified by the latest end-o-the-worlders, who claim Doomsday is scheduled for May 21, at 6:00 PM (Eastern, I think).
I haven't looked into their reasoning, since I'm pretty sure I've seen it all before, one place or another. Pour up a base of religious wackery, add a dash of deeply flawed numerology, stir in a pinch of outright paranoia, season with ignorance and a dim-witted world-view more appropriate to mollusks than primates, and viola! It's the end of the world. Again.
Like every day before it, May 21 will dawn, proceed, and end at midnight. People will be born. People will die. A far greater number of people will dress poorly and fail to pay sufficient attention to their personal hygiene. There will be ill-conceived marriages and nasty divorces and whirlwind romances and somewhere young love will blossom. In short, humanity will be up to its usual tricks, and will be no more or no less successful than it usually is with them. The only constant will be humanity's steadfast refusal to learn from its mistakes. And bacon. We'll eat lots and lots of bacon.
Somewhere in that mix, I guess a couple of hundred people will exchange 'What was I thinking' looks before quietly going home to remove all the WORLD ENDS MAY 21 stickers from their cars. And quite a few of those people will soon replace their failed May 21 stickers and placards with whatever date pops up next. That's the whole live and don't learn bit I mentioned before.
So here's to May 22nd, which I predict will begin right on time, and with all the usual activity days generally bring.
Now, if you are one of the May 21sters, and you're reading my blog, you have 3 days to prove the sincerity of your faith by immediately arranging a significant PayPal cash transfer from you to me. Details provided upon request....but hurry, this is a limited time offer!
Aussie Bloke predicted a major cometary strike a few years back. A dowdy nutjob named Nancy Lieder spent years blathering away on sci.astro about a mysterious 'Planet X,' which was to swoop past the Earth in 2003, killing all but the usual chosen few. More recently, there were the anti-CERN people, who believed we'd all be sucked into a black hole the instant the supercollider came online.
Despite being killed over and over again by rogue comets and sudden black holes, I still seem to be more or less alive. Yes, the Earth is a ravaged, increasingly-barren wasteland populated by desperate hordes of humanity struggling for survival, but it's been that way for quite a while and so far we haven't seen fit to do much about it but gripe about switching to florescent light bulbs now and then.
So I hope you'll pardon me if I am less than terrified by the latest end-o-the-worlders, who claim Doomsday is scheduled for May 21, at 6:00 PM (Eastern, I think).
I haven't looked into their reasoning, since I'm pretty sure I've seen it all before, one place or another. Pour up a base of religious wackery, add a dash of deeply flawed numerology, stir in a pinch of outright paranoia, season with ignorance and a dim-witted world-view more appropriate to mollusks than primates, and viola! It's the end of the world. Again.
Like every day before it, May 21 will dawn, proceed, and end at midnight. People will be born. People will die. A far greater number of people will dress poorly and fail to pay sufficient attention to their personal hygiene. There will be ill-conceived marriages and nasty divorces and whirlwind romances and somewhere young love will blossom. In short, humanity will be up to its usual tricks, and will be no more or no less successful than it usually is with them. The only constant will be humanity's steadfast refusal to learn from its mistakes. And bacon. We'll eat lots and lots of bacon.
Somewhere in that mix, I guess a couple of hundred people will exchange 'What was I thinking' looks before quietly going home to remove all the WORLD ENDS MAY 21 stickers from their cars. And quite a few of those people will soon replace their failed May 21 stickers and placards with whatever date pops up next. That's the whole live and don't learn bit I mentioned before.
So here's to May 22nd, which I predict will begin right on time, and with all the usual activity days generally bring.
Now, if you are one of the May 21sters, and you're reading my blog, you have 3 days to prove the sincerity of your faith by immediately arranging a significant PayPal cash transfer from you to me. Details provided upon request....but hurry, this is a limited time offer!