2012: So ends the Mayan Calendar, as does the world?

[MTStringer]

I mean, really, have you checked David Ickes Home page?http://www.davidicke.com/index.php/ For the love of God, did they? Are they aware many, many Americans have access to computers and can do so for themselves? Unbelievable. In my book, consulting Icke and the like puts Jesse in the "no better than Springer" category. Let alone Alex Jones.

[Ryan Ruck]

Yep, ol' Jessie is definitely a few fries short of a Happy Meal. I suppose it was getting knocked over the head all those times as a professional wrestler. In case anyone didn't know, he's also a 9/11 Truther.

[vector7]

What did you expect from a thread in the Skeptic's Corner about the world ending according to a 1500 year old Mayan Calender?

It does make for a good story though.

I do however shelve everything I come in contact with just in case parts of that same S starts to H T F and come to pass.

[zenbudda]

i am on the same page as vector. sometimes you have to remember these things in order to retell a new crowd of people that it's just a bunch of bull and that these types of "the sky is falling" scenarios can be disproven. i think conspiracy theories are ok to have. i don't mind people that follow them. i do mind (to a limited extent) when you present facts to people who believe in conspiracies and they disregard them to protect the theory. i think it's interesting though that the mayan calander has "some" similarity to zodiacal ages (I think we are in Aquarius right now, meaning our north pole points to the constellation Aquarius). i could have been reading false data the last time I researched this, but there is "some truth" behind pagan ritual/celebration of the zodiac when it comes to seasons, weather patterns, etc.

[American Patriot]

A new crowd of people... AH.... I started reading the UFO stuff as a child.

There's been a couple generations that have passed since I was a child.

New people coming onto the stage every day, who've got the "gullible" gene

[MTStringer]

Sorry guys, it's just that David Icke REALLY puts me off. I guess, if I were to see a shrink about it, I would probably learn it's due to inner frustration caused by my inability to "invent" something equally "brilliant" for the internet conspiracy herd to consume. It really must be fun to sit back and laugh at the dummies, kind of like fishing, or getting folk to believe "Paul is dead", or "W" has a brain. OOPS, better stop now.

[vector7]

http://spaceweather.com/


CRACKLING SUNSPOT: Old sunspot 1039 is crackling with solar flares. Over the past 48 hours, it has produced five M-class eruptions. Click on the image to play a movie of the latest, an M2-blast recorded by STEREO-B at 1756 GMT on Jan. 20th:

The ongoing sequence of flares signals a sharp upturn in solar activity.

Before this week, the last time the sun produced even a single M-class solar flare was in March 2008--almost two years ago. M-class solar flares have a moderate effect on Earth. Mainly, they boost the usual ionization of Earth's upper atmosphere, causing short-lived radio blackouts at some frequencies and radio enhancements at others. For an example, scroll down and read the section "Ionospheric Disturbance."

Today, the active region responsible for these fireworks is emerging over the sun's eastern limb where it can be seen from Earth: finder chart. Readers with solar telescopes are encouraged to monitor developments.
__________________

[zenbudda]

david icke's story is interesting. the lizard people thing was very annoying, but the whole planet x and annuaki (sp?) idea is pretty cool.

[American Patriot]

If there were a "Planet X" or Anunaki or however it is spelled, or a Nibiru that orbited the Sun every 3600 years and dropped into our visible area... that is had a highly eccentric orbit, and is returning in 2012....

well, we'd already know about it.

[zenbudda]

agreed. still a cool concept though. not sure how these being would survive on a planet that swings that far out away from the sun though. but if they have interplanetary travel technology, then i guess they could.

i'm still sticking with the idea that the mayan calendar coincides with different constellations being dominant in the sky. the amazing part to me would be that these people who did not have video cameras or calculators or anything could still keep records for over 3000 years to predict such occurrances. amazing. i mean think about it. we can't keep our records straight for 100 years without libs rewriting history. lol.

[RememberCuba94]

One thing I hear from my dad all the time is that the 2012 theory has been proven scientifically. Basically, according to science, the earth moves to the center of the universe. When this happen, the North and South Poles will move causing catastrophes of epic proportions.

However, I've heard from other people that it only appears that the earth is moving from the center of the earth. It really isn't.

Any veracity to either of these theories?

[American Patriot]

One thing I hear from my dad all the time is that the 2012 theory has been proven scientifically.

I find that difficult to believe... but it's probably true if your Dad says so.... I know my rule of thumb was, if there was an argument, Dad was ALWAYS right and I was ALWAYS wrong... that way, I simply moved on with things

Basically, according to science, the earth moves to the center of the universe. When this happen, the North and South Poles will move causing catastrophes of epic proportions.

Not precisely accurate.

"Science" has proven we do go through magnetic shifts about ever few thousand years. It's got nothing to do with "going to the center of the universe" though because, frankly, there isn't any such thing.

Secondly, the poles dont "move". The magnetic field does.

If you take a needle, and magnetize it, you will have a north pole and south pole. You can determine this by floating the needle in water and it will point to the north.

Then, you can re-magnetize the needle so the eye is now north (or vice versa). Nothing violent happens when you do this.

the way (at least my theory, since I can't prove it, but it's pretty sound) it happens is actually simple.

If you go look at some astronomy sites right now, today/tomorrow, you will see the sun kicked out a HUGE storm late last night or sometime this morning.

Fortunately, it wasn't aimed at us but if it HAD been......

Then we would have been hit with a piece of the sun, a coronal mass ejection. That is a mass of plasma contained in a huge, very strong magnetic field. Those fields are powerful and can slam into the earth.

If one is big enough and hits us dead on it could conceivably re-magnetize the planet, flipping the poles. If it is going to happen, things have to be perfect. The direction of the CME, the Earth int he right place, the timing and the hit. All have to be "just right".... mathematically it's probably low on the scale of probabilities, but according to science, the ocean is full of magma fields where the lines of force solidified into the hardening magma over the eons.

Could it happen in our lifetime? Sure. Tomorrow perhaps. Or Sunday. Who knows.

Yellowstone might explode on Saturday though, and nuclear war might start on Friday.... we might never know about the other things though.

However, I've heard from other people that it only appears that the earth is moving from the center of the earth. It really isn't.

Any veracity to either of these theories?

The magnetic poles do indeed flip.

The Earth does NOT "go through the center of the universe"....

[RememberCuba94]

I find that difficult to believe... but it's probably true if your Dad says so.... I know my rule of thumb was, if there was an argument, Dad was ALWAYS right and I was ALWAYS wrong... that way, I simply moved on with things




Not precisely accurate.

"Science" has proven we do go through magnetic shifts about ever few thousand years. It's got nothing to do with "going to the center of the universe" though because, frankly, there isn't any such thing.

Secondly, the poles dont "move". The magnetic field does.

If you take a needle, and magnetize it, you will have a north pole and south pole. You can determine this by floating the needle in water and it will point to the north.

Then, you can re-magnetize the needle so the eye is now north (or vice versa). Nothing violent happens when you do this.

the way (at least my theory, since I can't prove it, but it's pretty sound) it happens is actually simple.

If you go look at some astronomy sites right now, today/tomorrow, you will see the sun kicked out a HUGE storm late last night or sometime this morning.

Fortunately, it wasn't aimed at us but if it HAD been......

Then we would have been hit with a piece of the sun, a coronal mass ejection. That is a mass of plasma contained in a huge, very strong magnetic field. Those fields are powerful and can slam into the earth.

If one is big enough and hits us dead on it could conceivably re-magnetize the planet, flipping the poles. If it is going to happen, things have to be perfect. The direction of the CME, the Earth int he right place, the timing and the hit. All have to be "just right".... mathematically it's probably low on the scale of probabilities, but according to science, the ocean is full of magma fields where the lines of force solidified into the hardening magma over the eons.

Could it happen in our lifetime? Sure. Tomorrow perhaps. Or Sunday. Who knows.

Yellowstone might explode on Saturday though, and nuclear war might start on Friday.... we might never know about the other things though.

However, I've heard from other people that it only appears that the earth is moving from the center of the earth. It really isn't.



The magnetic poles do indeed flip.

The Earth does NOT "go through the center of the universe"....

So basically nothing will happen if the magnetic fields move? Well, besides the whole "getting hit with the piece of the sun" scenario.

[American Patriot]

Nothing... that would be significant.

Our compasses would change, we'd have to redraw the magnetic lines on charts, we'd have to change how we use the compass. It wouldn't affect GPS as that doesn't use magnetic compass variations.

On the other hand, it could have a significant effect on wildlife and animals that migrate.

Whales, birds and who knows what else will probably go the wrong way and die.

[RememberCuba94]

Poor animals...

[American Patriot]

Preacher's doomsday forecast fizzles out ... again

End-of-world prophecy goes nowhere, five months after previous failure



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msnbc.com staff and news service reports

updated 2 hours 40 minutes ago


ALAMEDA, Calif. — Once again, the world failed to end, despite a high-profile prediction from a radio preacher in California.
Harold Camping, the 90-year-old leader of Family Radio International, stirred a global frenzy when he predicted that the Rapture would take 200 million Christians to heaven on May 21. When the Rapture didn't occur, Camping said he got his Bible-based calculations wrong and revised his prophecy to set the world's end on Friday, Oct. 21.
But as the day wore on around the world, there was no sign that doomsday had dawned.
Millions of dollars had been spent by Family Radio and its followers to get the world out about May's date with doomsday. Some quit their jobs, or donated retirement savings or college funds for the more than 5,000 billboards and 20 RVs that were plastered with Judgment Day messages.
This time around, Camping took a lower profile — perhaps because he was chastened by the mockery he suffered in May, or perhaps because of his health.
Camping suffered a mild stroke in June. His daily radio program, "Open Forum," is no longer aired on the Family Radio syndication network, which includes more than 60 U.S. radio stations.
Contacted by telephone on Thursday, Family spokesman Tom Evans declined to comment on Camping or his prophecies — except to say that he had "retired" as a radio host but remained chairman of the board of Family Stations Inc.
'Nothing to report'
Camping himself had little to say when he answered the door of his home in Alameda, wearing a bathrobe and leaning on a walker. "We're not having a conversation," he told a Reuters reporter, shaking his head with a chuckle. "There's nothing to report here."
Municipal records show that a Sunday prayer group led by Camping, the Alameda Bible Fellowship, has continued to meet on a weekly basis in a large ground-floor room of the Veterans Memorial Building leased by the city Recreation and Parks Department.
Marcia Tsang, a facilities coordinator for the department, said receipts show that Camping's group has been renting that space since at least 1996, paying the standard fee of $45 an hour. The room remains assigned to his fellowship under an evergreen reservation that extends beyond this week, she said.
Local American Legion officer Ron Parshall, 70, part of a veterans group that meets at the same building in an adjacent room one Sunday a month, said he has seen Camping leading his Bible services there regularly.

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He said Camping's congregation has dwindled since the failed prophecy in May — down to about 25 attendees on a typical Sunday, plus about 20 youngsters who attend Sunday school classes in conjunction with the prayer group.
Parshall said he thought Camping was "a nice man."
"He was just too radical for me," he said. "Anyone who claims to be that close to God, I take it with a grain of salt."
Calculating the endtime
Most Christian interpreters of the Bible — even those who believe the end is truly near — say the precise date for Judgment Day cannot be predicted. They generally point to a passage in the Book of Matthew in which Jesus says "no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen."
Camping, however, based his prophecies on an idiosyncratic calculation of the number of years since the Noah's Ark flood and the number of days since Jesus' crucifixion, plus a healthy dose of numerology. If it weren't for the multimillion-dollar publicity campaign, his prediction might have attracted little notice in May.

Reuters TV file Doomsday preacher Harold Camping reads the Bible in his office at Family Stations Inc. in Oakland, Calif., in this image from a May 16 video. Camping has maintained a much lower profile in advance of Oct. 21, his latest date for the end of the world.

In a message on the Family Radio website, Camping tried to explain his revised math. He said that God's judgment and salvation were actually completed on May 21, but that a reinterpretation of the dates in the Bible pointed to an Oct. 21 doomsday.
"Thus we can be sure that the whole world, with the exception of those who are presently saved (the elect), are under the judgment of God, and will be annihilated together with the whole physical world on Oct. 21," he said on the website.
Camping said he didn't think doomsday would be marked by natural disasters or blasts of hellfire. "I really am beginning to think as I've restudied these matters that there's going to be no big display of any kind," he said. "The end is going to come very, very quietly."
Camping, a retired civil engineer, also prophesied that the Apocalypse would come in 1994, but he said later that didn't happen because of a mathematical error.
This report includes information from Reuters, The Associated Press and msnbc.com.

[Toad]

Hey hey hey, not so fast there, Mr. Donaldson. By my watch there's still... 14 and a 1/2 hours until he fails again.

[American Patriot]

Ok, ok... fine. I'll give him til 3 seconds after midnight then.

/grin

[MinutemanCO]

It might be more effective if old weird Harold just retired and waited quietly for the world to end. I shall make a prophetic statement of my own. I venture that Camping's world will come to a close before the balance of the world ends.

[American Patriot]

I think you're right. What is he now? 98?

He's thinking HIS world will end soon, or perhaps praying?