NANCE AND MYRDAL: How ‘new’ science alters the abortion debate

At what stage do states have a legitimate interest in protecting human life? Six weeks? Six months? Six years?

This question was answered by brave North Dakota lawmakers last week as they passed common-sense laws based on new science and technology that allow us to clearly see a beating heart and life within the womb. HB 1305 and HB 1456 ban abortions after a detectable heartbeat and for reasons of gender selection and genetic abnormalities. This technology was not available 40 years ago when the Supreme Court made the landmark decision to allow abortion on demand, overriding states’ rights in the infamous Roe v. Wade case.

The sex selection-genetic abnormalities law simply affirms that anti-discrimination laws already on the books should apply to all persons, regardless of age. Every child deserves the right to live, regardless of its sex, genetic abnormalities or a potential genetic abnormality. Our Founding Fathers clearly delineated the right to life as one that is unalienable and endowed by our Creator. It is horrific that in America today babies are being killed on the basis of their sex or genetic abnormalities. America is the only advanced country that does not restrict sex-selection through law.

A human heartbeat in the womb can be detected as early as six weeks of gestation (often earlier), and the North Dakota law bans all abortions when there is a detectable heartbeat. It is a universally accepted fact that a beating human heart is the fundamental affirmation of life. Maybe this is why no opposing discussion was heard in either chamber as this bill came up for a vote.

Of course, the abortion industry is crying foul, saying that none of these laws will pass muster in court. We say, “Bring it on.” Abortionists have opposed everything from partial-birth abortion bans to ultrasound bills, and they continue to lose in court. This will be no different.

The saddest argument is that taxpayer dollars will be “wasted” to defend the legislation. When faced with regulation of any kind, pro-abortion liberals become fiscal conservatives in a heartbeat (no pun intended). It probably has nothing to do with the profits they stand to lose from potential clients. Still, even forgetting that there are hundreds of legal experts willing to defend the law pro bono, not a single penny is wasted in the defense of life. Abortionists are silent on $5 million in taxpayer money wasted on Senate haircuts, but they cannot stand seeing any money used to defend life.

Besides, the heartbeat legislation will withstand judicial review. Roe and Casey left the states “legitimate interests from the outset of the pregnancy in protecting the health of the woman and the life of the fetus.” Those arguing that the law is unconstitutional argue that it places restrictions on the right to privacy. Yet that is simply not enough. The heartbeat law goes to the balance raised in Roe and Casey, weighing the state’s duty to protect life with a woman’s right to privacy. The law acknowledges 40 years of advancement in science and medicine, which weigh in favor of life. It acknowledges the right to privacy, but it also says the state’s legitimate duty becomes stronger once a heartbeat is present and detectable. Nothing has been done to the right to privacy; the right to life has become weightier.

Abortionists fear this law because they know Americans with common sense from either side of the political aisle can agree that, at the very least, a beating human heart deserves full protection under the law, regardless of age, gender or disability. The idea is not challenged but fundamentally supported by our Constitution.North Dakota has been at the center of the debate over life as long as there has been a debate. Before it was even a state, North Dakota had a territorial law prohibiting abortion (adopted in 1877 - 12 years before it was a state). That prohibition was carried over to the Century Code after it became a state and stayed on the books until Roe. In fact, in November 1972 (two months before Roe was decided in January 1973), North Dakota voters rejected - by a three-to-one margin - a ballot measure that would have weakened their abortion laws. North Dakota was a pro-life state from before “Day One.”Steve Forbes once said, “Our Founding Fathers created a nation based on life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Switch the order of these three fundamental human rights - putting happiness before liberty or liberty before life - and you end up with moral chaos and social anarchy.” Forty years ago, we did switch those values around, and Americans must ask themselves today, “Are we better off because of it?”We simply cannot continue to ignore the ever-increasing scientific, technological and experiential evidence from the past 40 years revealing that unrestricted abortion on demand has hurt our nation. We are proud of North Dakota for being the first state to take that bold step.

Sopore gunbattle leaves behind tragedies,trail of destruction

Sopore gunbattle leaves behind tragedies,trail of destruction

Scores Of Orchards, Houses Damaged

Sopore, Dec 20: Tuesday’s gunbattle at Saidpora, Sopore in which six militants were killed has left behind a trail of destruction in the area with scores of orchards and houses damaged completely.
 The 48-hour encounter that ended last evening had put Saidpora area under complete siege with parts of Sopore witnessing heavy stone-pelting.
 The locals of Saidpora said their orchards and houses were completely damaged in the encounter. “We were not allowed to step outside our houses during the past two days. We only heard blasts every second minute,” said a local. “It was a war-like situation.”
 According to locals, houses of Ghulam Muhammad Dar son of Ghulam Rasool Dar and Khaati wife of Late Muhammad Nawab Dar were razed to rubble in the fierce gunbattle. “The families are roofless now,” the locals told Greater Kashmir.
 The residents said scores of orchards were badly damaged during the action. “We have less regret about damage to the houses but destruction to the orchards is a big loss. It took us decades to groom the orchards,” the families said.
 The damage to orchards was caused by the movement of army bulldozers, the locals said. “Dozens of trees were uprooted in the encounter. It is a big loss. We have been giving our best to maintain the orchards but now there is nothing more than debris,” Khaati said with tears rolling down her cheeks.
 According to locals, the houses of Muhammad Ramzan Bhat, Ghulam Hassan Bhat, Ghulam Mohiuddin Dar, Abdul Hamid Dar, Ghulam Muhammad Dar, Khursheed Ahmad Dar, Abdul Malik Dar, Muhammad Ashraf Dar, Ghulam Rasool Dar, Muhammad Dilawar, Muhammad Ashraf Dar, Mushtaq Ahmad Dar and Abdul Rashid Peer were also damaged in the encounter.
 Meanwhile, the town observed complete shutdown for the second consecutive day today. Government institutions and business establishments remained closed with traffic remaining off the roads.
 Main Chowk, Tehsil Road, Ashpeer Road and Channakhan witnessed stone pelting.

Those wild and crazy Mayans

Those wild and crazy Mayans put down their marker that the end of the world would occur on Dec. 21, 2012 — about two months from now. There is, of course, some small chance that they might be right. On the other hand, there is a very large probability that the real end of the world will occur around March 4, 2014.

The doomsday clock will ring then because the U.S. economy may fully crash around that date, which will, in turn, bring down all world economies and all hope of any recovery for the foreseeable future — certainly over the course of most of our lifetimes. Interest rates will skyrocket, businesses will fail, unemployment will go to record levels, material and food shortages will be rampant, and there could be major social unrest. Any wishful thinking that America is in a “recovery” and that “things are getting better” is an illusion.

The problem is not Medicare, which won’t quit on us for another six or seven years. Nor is it Social Security, which will not be fully bankrupt for another 15 years or so. The crisis is much more immediate and much more serious.

The central problem is that America is the bank of the world. What this means, simply, is that the dollar is the world’s currency (often termed the “reserve currency”). Throughout the world, nearly all traded goods, oil, major commodities, real estate, etc., are denominated in dollars. The world needs dollars, and the U.S. provides them and provides confidence that the dollar is the “safest” currency in the world. Countries get dollars by trading with us on attractive terms, which enables Americans to live very well. Countries support this system and cover their risk by investing in dollars through T-bill auctions and other mechanisms, which enables us to run budget deficits — up to a point.

The central issue is confidence in America, and the world is losing confidence quickly. At a certain point, soon, the United States will reach a level of deficit spending and debt at which the countries of the world will lose faith in America and begin to withdraw their investments. Many leading economists and bankers think another trillion dollars or so may do it. A run on the bank will start suddenly, build quickly and snowball.

At that point, we will need to finance our own deficit, and we will not be able to do so. We will raise bond rates to re-attract foreign investment, interest rates will go up, and businesses will fail. Unemployment will skyrocket. The rest of the world will fully crash along with us. Europe will continue to decline, and the euro will not replace the dollar. Russia will see a collapse in oil prices as market demand softens, and Russia will collapse along with it. China will find nowhere to export and also will collapse. The Russian and Chinese governments, which see all this coming and have been stockpiling gold to hedge against such a dollar collapse, will find that you cannot eat gold. There will be uprisings — think of the streets in Spain and Greece today — everywhere. Technological advances that traditionally drive productivity increases and economic growth will not be able to keep up with this collapse.

When might this all happen? Paul Volker indicates we might face a mess like this in the next year and a half. David Walker, former U.S. comptroller, i.e., the former chief accountant of the U.S. government, has suggested similar time frames for economic catastrophe. Most agree that the budget sequestration approach won’t work from either economic or political perspectives, and mindless across-the-board cuts in spending will only exacerbate a mess. The Federal Reserve’s third round of quantitative easing, in which we print money to buy our own bonds in order to goose economic and employment numbers, means we are floating our own debt, a good formula for sudden hyperinflation.

The next president will have about six months to fix this problem before it is too late. He must be fully prepared, able and willing to work with Congress and move quickly and decisively. During the election, the most important question to ask is, who understands all this and is prepared to prevent it? Everything else is noise.

Grady Means is a businessman, former assistant to Vice President Nelson Rockefeller and former economist

Waiting for 2014

Waiting for 2014!

Will the year 2014 bring major changes in the world and especially in the South Asian region including the Indian sub-continent?

My Take

M.ASHRAF

Recently, there have been many prophecies creating panic in some parts of the world about the doom’s day being round the corner. It is said that according to Mayan prediction the world will end on December 21, 2012! Michel Nostradamus also predicted something similar happening soon. However, in practical terms there are two analytical propositions which seem quite disturbing. One is the possible economic crash in 2014 and the other is the Afghan situation after American and NATO forces leave the area in that year.
Grady Means wrote in the Washington Times of October 25, “Those wild and crazy Mayans put down their marker that the end of the world would occur on Dec. 21, 2012 — about two months from now. There is, of course, some small chance that they might be right. On the other hand, there is a very large probability that the real end of the world will occur around March 4, 2014. The doomsday clock will ring then because the U.S. economy may fully crash around that date, which will, in turn, bring down all world economies and all hope of any recovery for the foreseeable future — certainly over the course of most of our lifetimes. Interest rates will skyrocket, businesses will fail, unemployment will go to record levels, material and food shortages will be rampant, and there could be major social unrest. Any wishful thinking that America is in a “recovery” and that “things are getting better” is an illusion”.
“The central problem is that America is the bank of the world. What this means, simply, is that the dollar is the world’s currency (often termed the “reserve currency”). Throughout the world, nearly all traded goods, oil, major commodities, real estate, etc., are denominated in dollars. The world needs dollars, and the U.S. provides them and provides confidence that the dollar is the “safest” currency in the world. The central issue is confidence in America, and the world is losing confidence quickly. At a certain point, soon, the United States will reach a level of deficit spending and debt at which the countries of the world will lose faith in America and begin to withdraw their investments. Many leading economists and bankers think another trillion dollars or so may do it. A run on the bank will start suddenly, build quickly and snowball”.  Earlier in June, 2010, Professor Nicholas Boyle of the Cambridge University in his thesis had predicted the end of the world on same lines. According to him, “A 'Doomsday' moment will take place in 2014 - and will determine whether the 21st century is full of violence and poverty or will be peaceful and prosperous”. So much for the end of the world in practical terms!
Now, coming to our part of the world, the biggest worry is Afghanistan. What will happen once Americans and NATO forces leave the area? There are varied opinions and analysis. However, quite few experts point to a possible civil war among the tribes as happened after the exit of the Russians. The Americans after having arranged the exit of the Russians let Afghanis fend for themselves. The shadows of these coming events are visible from the present day happenings there. Three things are evident and point towards a coming grave situation. One is the continuous brain drain. There are continuous migrations of the educated and modernized Afghanis. According to some estimates the migrations are in hundreds of thousands. Quite a few go to Europe and America. Second is the brisk sale of arms. Everybody seems to be keen in getting some sort of a weapon to defend oneself in the forthcoming free for all among the tribes. Weapons of all types, mostly of the Russian make are available. In fact, the prices have shot up recently. Weapons of American and European make are also available. These are being smuggled in from the Pakistan’s illegal weapons market of Landi Kotal! The third is the panic and apprehension among the foreign aid workers. They are not sure as to the attitude of the future government especially if it is led by the Taliban. Earlier too Taliban had made certain strict regulations for the aid workers after the exit of the Russians. However, that time these workers did not have any military associations but during the present upheaval they have been closely aligned with the military. That makes them more vulnerable.
Will the Taliban come back to power? That is the million dollar question! There are possibilities of a civil war between the Pushtoons and Uzbeks also. Both India and Pakistan are looking at post 2014 Afghanistan from their strategic angles. Pakistan is supporting Taliban for getting strategic depth while as India wants to keep Pakistan engaged from that side to get relief on its own side! Taliban were born and bred in Pakistan but that whole process proved ultimately very costly and the country is in total shambles with violence becoming a way of life. In any case, coming back of Taliban will be a nightmare for both the countries unless there is some agreement before they capture Kabul. One has to wait and watch.
Back home 2014 will also be a year of upheavals because of the elections. If all goes as planned, Pakistan may have an elected government in 2013 after having completed the tenure of its last elected one! However, it is not sure what shape the new government would have. On the Indian side even though there are speculations for an election in 2013, it is presumed that the present government may drag itself to 2014. However, most of the political analysts and even astrologers, who are an important part of life in India, predict a “Khichidi” government. All major parties are expected to get a drubbing. Some even predict Congress coming back with two digit tally only! BJP may also face a reverse. The third front may gain but all third front governments have been short lived. So India too may be in turmoil and face instability in 2014. Well, Kashmir, which too is going for elections may see some new slogans as “Bijli, Panni, aur Saddak” won’t sell this time after the experience of last four years or so. In brief, 2014 may spring many surprises all over the world, including the sub-continent and in Kashmir too! So let us wait for 2014, the year of change for the 21st Century as predicted by Professor Nicholas Boyle of the Cambridge University
!

Cambridge expert predicts 'a great event' will determine course of the century

World could be plunged into crisis in 2014': Cambridge expert predicts 'a great event' will determine course of the century

A 'Doomsday' moment will take place in 2014 - and will determine whether the 21st century is full of violence and poverty or will be peaceful and prosperous, according to a Cambridge University professor.

In the last 500 years there has been a cataclysmic 'Great Event' of international significance at the start of each century, he claims.

Occurring in the middle of the second decade of each century, they include events which sparked wars, religious conflict and brought peace.

Great Event: The movie 2012 (pictured) suggested there would be massive world disaster that year. But Professor Boyle claims it will be 2014 when there is a huge world event

• In 1517 Martin Luther nailed his theses to the door of Wittenburg church, sparking the Reformation of the church and rise of Protestantism.
• 1618 marked the start of the 30 Years War and decades of religious conflict in Western Europe
• That conflict ended with the establishment of the Hanoverians in 1715. They ruled over Great Britain and Ireland, and Hanover (in Germany).
• The enlightened Congress of Vienna took place in 1815, following the defeat of Napoleon, and heralded a century of relative stability across Europe.
• In 1914 the First World War broke out, a catastrophic conflict that would claim millions of lives and set the tone for international discord throughout the 21st century.

Cataclysmic events: The 'Doomsday' of the last century was in 1914, when the First World War began

Does the Mayan calendar end

 Does the Mayan calendar end in December 2012?

 A: Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012. This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar.

Video: NASA Scientist David Morrison Debunks the Myths

Are there any threats to the Earth

Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012.

 Answer (A):The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2014

About the Mayans

If you're reading this story, it means the world didn't end on Dec. 21, 2012. Despite reports of an ancient Maya prophecy, a mysterious planet on a collision course with Earth, or a reverse in Earth's rotation, we're still here. 

The Mayan connection "was a misconception from the very beginning," says Dr. John Carlson, director of the Center for Archaeoastronomy. "The Maya calendar did not end on Dec. 21, 2012, and there were no Maya prophecies foretelling the end of the world on that date." 
› Read More About the Mayans

Video: Why The World Didn't End Yesterday 

Since the beginning of recorded time

Since the beginning of recorded time, people have been thinking about the end of the world and making predictions about how and when it might happen. Most major religions have their own theories on the topic, which often include fateful battles between the forces of good and evil and cataclysmic natural disasters.

According to a 2007 article in The New York Times,“[g]nostics predicted the imminent arrival of God’s kingdom as early as the first century.” The Shakers thought the world would be over in 1792, while the Jehovah’s Witnesses pegged various years between 1914 and 1994 as an end date. More recently, some doomsday forecasters have focused on the year 2012. Citing the conclusion of a lengthy cycle in the ancient Mayan calendar, certain theorists anticipate the end of life as we know it on December 21, 2012. These theorists believe that on December 21, 2012, the Earth will experience unprecedented, cataclysmic disasters ranging from massive earthquakes and tsunamis to nuclear reactor meltdowns. In order to prepare for these events, some proponents of the 2012 prophecy have already begun stocking up on survival supplies.

The planet’s major religions each have their own beliefs about the end of the world, the triumph of good over evil and Judgment Day. In Christianity, the Book of Revelation, the last chapter of the Bible’s New Testament, mentions Armageddon, the final battle on Earth between the forces of God and Satan. The wordArmageddon is thought to come from the Hebrew for “mount of Megiddo.” Located in present-day Israel, Megiddo, an ancient, strategically positioned city, was the site of a number of battles. Some Christians interpret the Book of Revelation as a roadmap that lays out exactly how the world will end. They contend that Judgment Day will take place on Armageddon and Jesus will save the true believers, while non-believers left behind will face enormous suffering.

In Islam, the end of the world is referred to as the Hour and involves Jesus returning to Damascus to slay an anti-Christ who has put the planet in peril. With the anti-Christ out of the picture, a period of perfect harmony will ensue. Jesus will later die a natural death, which will usher in a time of destruction that leads directly to the Hour. In Judaism, there is no term for Armageddon, but there are references in the Hebrew bible to events that could be compared with Armageddon, including the Day of the Lord (in which God causes death and destruction to people who deserve to be punished) and the War of Gog and Magog (in which Israel and its god fight their enemies, rather than an anti-Christ).

Jumbo jets collide at Canary Islands airport

On this day in 1977, two 747 jumbo jets crash into each other on the runway at an airport in the Canary Islands, killing 582 passengers and crew members.

Both Boeing 747s were charter jets that were not supposed to be at the Los Rodeos Airport on Santa Cruz de Tenerife that day. Both had been scheduled to be at the Las Palmas Airport, where a group of militants had set off a small bomb at the airport's flower shop earlier that day. Thus, a Pan Am charter carrying passengers from Los Angeles and New York to a Mediterranean cruise and a KLM charter with Dutch tourists were both diverted to Santa Cruz on March 27.

The Los Rodeos airport is known for its sudden fog problems and was not a favorite location for pilots. At 4:40 p.m. on a typically foggy afternoon, the KLM jet was cleared to taxi to the end of the single main runway. The Pan Am jet followed behind it and was to wait in side space while the KLM jet turned around to begin takeoff. However, in the fog, the Pan Am pilot was unable to keep the KLM jet in sight and did not move into the proper position. The Dutch crew of the KLM jet, apparently unable to understand the accented English spoken by the flight controllers, began to take off down the runway before the Pan Am jet was able to move to the side space.

At the last minute, the Pan Am pilot saw the other 747 coming straight at his own jet and screamed What's he doing? He'll kill us all! while attempting to swerve into a grassy field. It was too late. The KLM 747 slammed into the side of the Pan Am jet and both planes erupted into a huge fireball. The only survivors on either plane were those in the very front of the Pan Am 747. Survivor Lynda Daniel later said of the disaster, It exploded from the back. Most of the people in the first six rows made it.

This Clock Tracks The End Of The World

This Clock Tracks The End Of The World

Maybe you're familiar with the Doomsday Clock. It's an analogy started by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to track how we close we are to the apocalypse by way of nuclear war or other global disaster. Midnight means the end of the world. Artist Tom Schofield went ahead and turned that analogy into reality with this clock, which automatically checks the Bulletin's site for updates on the human race's demise. Cheery!

As of 2012, the clock's been set to 11:55 p.m. (Gulp.) That's not the closest to midnight ever--it was set to 11:58 back in 1953--but it's still too close for comfort. That's where Schofield's clock, the Neurotic Armageddon Indicator, is sitting right now. It uses a computer program to regularly check the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' website for any time changes, then adjusts accordingly.

Hard to say when that change is coming, though: the hands have been altered just 20 times since the clock started in 1947, and often they aren't change for several years. So Schofield's clock will neurotically check the Bulletin's site until the real clock budges. Unless it's midnight, in which case it's going to be tough to find updates.

This Clock Tracks The End Of The World

Maybe you're familiar with the Doomsday Clock. It's an analogy started by the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists to track how we close we are to the apocalypse by way of nuclear war or other global disaster. Midnight means the end of the world. Artist Tom Schofield went ahead and turned that analogy into reality with this clock, which automatically checks the Bulletin's site for updates on the human race's demise. Cheery!

As of 2012, the clock's been set to 11:55 p.m. (Gulp.) That's not the closest to midnight ever--it was set to 11:58 back in 1953--but it's still too close for comfort. That's where Schofield's clock, the Neurotic Armageddon Indicator, is sitting right now. It uses a computer program to regularly check the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists' website for any time changes, then adjusts accordingly.

Hard to say when that change is coming, though: the hands have been altered just 20 times since the clock started in 1947, and often they aren't change for several years. So Schofield's clock will neurotically check the Bulletin's site until the real clock budges. Unless it's midnight, in which case it's going to be tough to find updates.

End of the World 2012: Decoding the Ancient Mayan Calendar

End of the World 2012: Decoding the Ancient Mayan Calendar

But don't get me wrong, the number 13 had tremendous cultural importance to the Mayans. Which mean the Long Count date of 13.0.0.0.0 would hold a lot of significance for them. But they also looked at time as cyclical rather than a straight line. Everything that is happening had, in some form or fashion, happened already and would happen again.

The world had already ended twice for the Mayans. The gods had wiped humanity out once for being too noisy (the ultimate jerk neighbor revenge scenario) and again when Man forgot the gods.

This is worth noting because the 13.0.0.0.0 date is mentioned a couple of times, both in terms of descent by heavenly beings. But the glyphs that go into any kind of detail are scoured clean by time. Which, of course, leaves it wide open to wild speculation by all kinds of highly qualified people on the internet.

The most likely scenario is that the date will bring some sort of obscure astronomical event. The Mayans were pathologically fascinated with tracking the heavens. When you combine that with talk about descent of powerful beings from on high, you’re probably getting Something rising in the House of The Other Thing in a way that would have been highly exciting to an ancient Mayan.

But even if I turn out to be just another smart mouth on the internet and the Mayans did know something we dont, we can expect not only cataclysm, but also rebirth. Things will turn out okay, even if only in the long term. The sun will still rise, the crops will still grow, Man will continue. Only this time, maybe they can do it without NHL strikes, Honey Boo Boo, and other horrors of modern life.

Who missed the massive picture of Everest this week

Who missed the massive picture of Everest this week? It's not that Apocalypse related, but as I get closer to the end I'm searching for beauty in the world and I want to share it with you. Drink it in while you still have time. But don't go there, when the Apocalypse doesn't happen you'll just be a berk in long-johns with a rubbish ration pack off ebay.Click here for the full experience.

^{There are no reports that the doommongers have tried to climb Everest, probably on account of it being an actual mountain, and therefore difficult.}

Henry Samuel is alive

Henry Samuel is alive. Our fearless Paris correspondent files from Bugarach, which you'll know about if you've been following this seriously. I can't explain it every time.

Ladies and Gentlemen, this has been a riot

Ladies and Gentlemen, this has been a riot, but the time has come to say goodbye. We're all alive, so what more can I tell you? There is a handy email alert service available here which will notify you of the various prophesised doomsdays as they come and, inevitably, go. I really thought this was the one you know? Oh well.

I've been Joel Gunter, and I leave you with a final dispatch from Henry Samuel, who ventured bravely to Bugarach to hang out with a load of other journalists and a handful of lunatics at the end of the world, and survived. Bravo, Henry.

^{This really does look a little bit like the end of the world, doesn't it? (picture: JULIAN SIMMONDS)}

Mayan Apocalypse: as it didn't happen

Thirteen long Baktuns ago, way back on August 11 3114 BC our time, the world began. We've had a pretty good innings ladies and gentleman - cured all sorts of disease, created great art, invented the printing press, jazz and the X Factor, and generally had a good laugh. But time is up - the Mayans predicted it and most modern scientists agree. (UPDATE: as you were, everybody)

Image 1 of 4

Once at the heart of a conquering civilisation in its own right, the ancient city of Tikal is now a pilgrimage site for both hard-core Star Wars fans and enthusiasts of Maya culture Photo: Alamy

From Rio de Janeiro

From Rio de Janeiro

Jonathan Watts, Latin America Correspondent, writes:

For the business minded, every crisis is an opportunity. And so it is proving to be for the Mayan nations of Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, El Salvador and Honduras which are aiming to cash in on the end of world hype.

Between them, these four countries expect almost a million extra visitors this week thanks to a series of special programmes to mark the end of a 5,125-year cycle of the Mayan calendar on Friday.

The events - including rituals, concerts, conferences and fireworks - will take place at 39 ancient sites, including the pyramids of Chichen Itza in Mexico , Copan in Honduras, Tikal in Guatemala and La Joya de Ceren in El Salvador. State presidents will attend some of these festivities. At others, the start of the 13th baktun - or new era - will be marked by night surfing competitions and pyramid building.

Archaeologists and indigenous groups have complained that this momentous moment is being misinterpreted, trivilialised and commercialised.

“Baktun’s not the end of the world, but a cycle,” Carlos Barrios, a Guatemalan Mayan priest, told the El Tiempo newspaper. “It is an energy shift. We’ll get into a new consciousness that is in closer harmony with Mother Earth. “

“We resent those who say it’s the end of the world, because no Mayan ever said so. Others have mixed the sacred Mayan calendar with the Chinese calendar,” said Barrios, who lamented the rise of an end-of-the-world industry, selling everything from tin cans and water purifiers to bunkers and mountaintop properties.

The director of the Guatemalan Institute of Tourism, Pedro Duches, predicts that between 150,000 and 200,000 tourists will visit his country - one of the centres of Mayan culture - to mark the start of the new era. The visitors may find themselves hoping to be abducted by aliens because Duches also acknowledged that it has been difficult to find hotel beds at the sites of the main festivities.

German tourists and a Mexican in pre-hispanic costume at a tourist area of Playa del Carmen in Quintana Roo state, Mexico, during preparations for the celebration of the end of the Maya Long Count Calendar. Photograph: Pedro Pardo/AFP/Getty Images

End of the world – as it didn't happen

The Maya Long Count calendar reads '13.0.0.0.0' ('thirteen b'aktun') for the first time in 5,125 years, believed by some to mark the end of civilisation. Our correspondents report on preparations for the apocalypse around the world, which turned out to be unnecessary, and speculate about how and when the Earth will meet its inevitable doom

Bubble bursting at speed of light will end our universe

Bubble bursting at speed of light will end our universe - so we won't even see it coming

'It may be that the universe we live in is inherently unstable and at some point billions of years from now it's all going to get wiped out,' said Lykken, who is also on the science team at Europe's Large Hadron Collider, or LHC, the world's largest and highest-energy particle accelerator.

Physicists last year announced they had discovered what appears to be a long-sought subatomic particle called the Higgs boson, which is believed to give matter its mass.

Work to study the Higgs' related particles, necessary for confirmation, is ongoing.

If confirmed, the discovery would help resolve a key puzzle about how the universe came into existence some 13.7 billion years ago - and perhaps how it will end.

'This calculation tells you that many tens of billions of years from now, there'll be a catastrophe,' Lykken said.

'A little bubble of what you might think of as an ‘alternative' universe will appear somewhere and then it will expand out and destroy us,' Lykken said, adding that the event will unfold at the speed of light.

Scientists had grappled with the idea of the universe's long-term stability before the Higgs discovery, but stepped up calculations once its mass began settling in at around 126 billion electron volts - a critical number it turns out for figuring out the fate of the universe.

A NASA illustration of what the brightest supernova ever recorded, known as SN 2006gy, may have looked like when it exploded. Experts now say they know how our own universe will end - with an alternative universe appearing to destroy us

The calculation requires knowing the mass of the Higgs to within one percent, as well as the precise mass of other related subatomic particles.

'You change any of these parameters to the Standard Model (of particle physics) by a tiny bit and you get a different end of the universe,' Lyyken said.

Earth will likely be long gone before any Higgs boson particles set off an apocalyptic assault on the universe. 

Physicists expect the sun to burn out in 4.5 billion years or so, and expand, likely engulfing Earth in the process.

Bubble bursting at speed of light will end our universe

Bubble bursting at speed of light will end our universe - so we won't even see it coming

• Leading researcher claims a 'bubble' of an alternative universe will appear, expand out and destroy us
• Researchers say 'catastrophic' event is tens of millions of years awayScientists studying the properties of the so called 'God Particle' say they may be able to determine exactly how the universe will end.
  A concept known as vacuum instability could result, billions of years from now, in a new universe opening up in the present one as a tiny 'bubble', and eventually replacing it, they say.
  
  'If you use all the physics that we know now and you do what you think is a straightforward calculation, it's bad news,' Joseph Lykken, a theoretical physicist with the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Illinois, told reporters at the American Association for the Advancement of Science meeting in Boston.
  

  CERN, the world's largest particle physics laboratory in Geneva, Switzerland. One of its researchers has claimed researchers can now accurately predict how the universe will end
  
  

End of the World

End of the World

After witnessing a man's death in a bizzare accident, Father Pergado goes on a spiritual retreat, where he encounters his alien double bent on world conquest.

The world is hottest it has been since the end of the ice age

The world is hottest it has been since the end of the ice age - and the temperature's still rising

Report claims that by the year 2100 the earth will see temperatures not seen since the dawn of civilisation

The world is now warmer than at almost any time since the end of the last ice age and, on present trends, will continue to reach a record high for the entire period since the dawn of civilisation, a study has found.

A reconstruction of global temperatures going back 11,300 years, which covers the historical period from the founding of the first ancient cities to the space age, has concluded the biggest and most rapid change in the climate has occurred in the past century.

Scientists found that the warm period following the end of last ice age, called the Holocene, peaked about 5,000 years ago when the world began to get cooler. However, this cooling went into a dramatic and sudden reversal about a century ago when global temperatures shot up to levels not seen for thousands of years, the scientists found.

The study, published in the journal Science, further undermines the frequent argument put forward by climate “sceptics” that global temperatures now are no higher than they were in previous centuries, long before the increase in industrial emissions of carbon dioxide.

It also found that if carbon dioxide emissions continue to increase, even at the more moderate levels predicted by some climatologists, global temperatures by 2100 will have reached levels not seen at all during the entire period when humans developed agriculture, invented writing, first practised science and started the industrial revolution.

“We are heading for somewhere that is far off from anything we have seen in the past 10,000 years – it’s through the roof. In my mind, we are heading for a different planet to the one that we have been used to,” said Jeremy Shakun of Harvard University, a co-author of the study.

Previous studies have attempted to estimate global temperatures over the past 2,000 years using “proxy” records, such as tree rings and pollen samples, in place of direct readings, which only began with the invention of thermometers in the 19th Century.

“We already knew that on a global scale, Earth is warmer today than it was over much of the past 2,000 years,” said Shaun Marcott of Oregan State University in Corvalis, the lead author of the study of global temperatures.

“Now we know that it is warmer than most of the past 11,300 years. This is of particular interest because the Holocene spans the entire period of human civilisation,” Dr Marcott said.

The latest study extended the proxy temperature record back to the end of the ice age using data gathered from 73 sites around the world, based mainly on extrapolations of temperatures from fossils recovered from cores drilled into ocean sediments, as well as other terrestrial archives.

The scientists said that the chemical and physical characteristics of the fossils, which included the type of species and the isotopic composition of the material, can provide a reliable estimate of surface temperatures at that site when these life-forms were alive.

The study concluded that global temperatures gradually rose after the end of the ice age for about 6,000 years due to changes in the tilt of the Earth’s axis, which brought more solar radiation to the northern hemisphere in summer.

This warming trend reached a peak about 5,000 years ago when cooling began to lower average global temperatures by about 0.8C. However, around the start of the 20th Century this trend went into reversal, with global temperatures increasing by 0.8C – but over decades rather than millennia.

“Global temperature, therefore, has risen from near the coldest to the warmest levels of the Holocene within the past century, reversing the long-term cooling trend that began about 5,000 years before present,” the study says.

Candace Major, program director of the US National Science Foundation, which funded the study, said: “This research shows that we’ve experienced almost the same range of temperature change since the beginning of the industrial revolution as over the previous 11,000 years of Earth history – but this change happened a lot more quickly.

XV – End Of The World

Don Terra Dot – End Of The World E.P

The End of the World — Jeeze, Again?

The current Mayan Calendar “end-of-the-world” prophesy is only the latest in a long line of doomsday predictions.  Here’s a very abbreviated list:

Papal Prophesy–– Pope Innocent IIIlaunched a crusade in 1213 to wrestle the holy land from the hands of the Islamic infidels, which he saw as the anti-Christ.  He also proclaimed that the Second Coming would be in 1284. The year passed without major notice, but not, of course, for those killed by the Christian crusaders.

Artful Apocalypse —  Painted by Italian Renaissance master Sandro Botticelli, the painting Mystical Nativityincludes a prediction that the “loosing of the devil” would be in A.D. 1504. Fueled by the teachings of fanatical preacher Savonarola, Florentines quaked at the apocalyptic references.

Botticelli’s Mystical Nativity

End of the World 2012 Book

End of the World 2012 Book: The Latest Up-to-Date Information on the Mayan Calendar, the Alignment with the Galactic Center, and the December 21 2012 Mayan Prophecies?Will the World End in 2012?

It’s the end of the world as we know it—again

Books: It’s the end of the world as we know it—again

"A History of the End of the World" by Jonathan Kirsch (Harper San Francisco; $25.95) 

To true believers, North Korea's recent nuclear test was just the latest in a series of signs that the end-time is near. In Jonathan Kirsch's compelling new book, "A History of the End of the World," he points out that false prophets and "numbers crunchers" have been calling for Armageddon for 2,000 years, despite the fact that the reputed author of the Book of Revelation, John, son of Zebedee, "teaches his readers and hearers to do nothing about the evil that surrounds them except to keep the faith and keep quiet."

Apparently, ours is not the only historically challenged era, because over the last two millennia, everyone from Savonarola to Jonathan Edwards to Billy Graham and David Koresh has forgotten the past and has offered new predictions about the end-times. They've all been wrong. Still, each new generation brings a new seer or two and a new list of seemingly prophetic calamities like the Black Death, the Crusades, the Civil War, World War I (dubbed the "war to end all wars," a clear reference to Armageddon), World War II and now the War on Terror, all of which are supposed to foretell the apocalypse.

Yet Jesus, who some believe wrote Revelation, specifies in the Gospels that no one, not even he, will ever know when the world will end. Only God knows, apparently. And the final battle will take place not on Earth, but in Heaven, one clear indication that the Book of Revelation has been misread throughout history.

Kirsch, who has written 10 books, including five previous ones on the Bible, did prodigious research for his latest tome. He purchased obscure, out-of-print texts and took 1,000 pages of single-space notes. For Kirsch, a book critic and lawyer, who represents The Jewish Journal on a pro bono basis, reading and writing flow through his DNA. For 30 years, his father wrote six book reviews a week for the L.A. Times, a mere fraction of the 20 books he read each week. Kirsch's own son is also a book reviewer, and his daughter an accomplished reader.

Like literary critic Harold Bloom, author of "The Book of J," Kirsch has not only made a valiant effort at conquering the Western canon through voluminous reading (he has pored through the ancient works of Josephus and Augustine, the sermons of Cotton Mather and other Puritans, and "medieval bestsellers," to list just a few examples), he has also had a long-held interest in the authorship of the Bible.

Where Bloom speculated in "The Book of J" that the J writer, whose lyrical Torah passages feature a distinctive anthropomorphic God, was a woman, Kirsch suggests that the author of the Book of Revelation was not simply a man but a Jewish one at that.

Revelation, as Kirsch shows in his book, is infused with Jewish messianic tropes, such as the constant use of the totemic number seven, a figure of great significance to Jews going back to Genesis. Moreover, Revelation contains almost no references to the Trinity, Communion or the "love thy neighbor" ethos of the Christian Bible. Instead, it presents Jesus as a violent and sanguinary warrior, whose vengefulness calls to mind a monstrous version of the Torah's God.

Revelation's author, a killjoy in extremis, has a hatred for human sexuality, particularly that of women. That has not stopped women from being some of the most renowned interpreters of the scripture. Many of these mystics and visionary nuns, like Na Prous Boneta and Marguerite Porete, were burned at the stake during the Inquisition.

But women alone are not doomed. The only men certain of being saved are the 144,000 ones "who have not defiled themselves with women," which means that Mel Gibson will have to find another way to heaven. Gibson may indeed have more to worry about than Jews. Referring to Amos' apocalyptic writings in the Torah, Kirsch writes, "The prophet Amos, quite unlike the author of Revelation, does not predict that God will destroy and replace it with a celestial paradise in the clouds. Rather, as Amos sees it, God will spare the Israelites who have remained faithful to the divine law, and he will grant them nothing more exalted than a good life in the here and now."

Although Kirsch does not deny the bloodthirsty nature of Revelation, he notes that many readers have interpreted it as having a happy ending. There are true believers who anticipate the Rapture as the greatest day of their lives, and some fundamentalists over the years have decided to do good deeds by ending slavery and helping the poor. A few millennial cults have even conducted themselves with more than a degree of postmodern whimsy, like the House of David, a sect famous for its long beards and barnstorming baseball games.

Unfortunately, for every relatively benign outfit like the House of David, there have been multiple Branch Davidians, willing to kill themselves and others as a final act. And for every Jimmy Carter, a humane born-again, there have been more than a few charlatans among Christians and Jews, participating in what The New Republic's Leon Wieseltier calls a "grim comedy of mutual condescension."

As Kirsch says, "They gain political advantage by betraying themselves and playing cynically on someone else's values."

---

THE LIFE AND TIMES OF NATHAN BADLEY…

just like Moby Dick, but shorter and less whale-oriented.

Start Your Watches, It’s The Countdown To The End Of The World

MAY 11, 2011 BY BADLANDSBADLEY

I feel obligated to let you in on a little fact.

The world is ending May 21^st.

I’m sure right now, you are tempted to go read the latest article about Lindsay Lohan’s legal troubles and ignore everything I’ve just said. Well, don’t do it. This is way more important. Besides, she’ll have a new legal issue to read up on tomorrow.

A California based radio network has posted 1200 signs all across America warning of the coming Judgment Day. They’ve even had the courtesy to send people across the country to hand you a flyer that you will briefly glance at before laughing and throwing it on the ground. That’s just the kind of generous people they are.

The leader of this movement is 89-year-old Harold Camping, the network’s general manager. Camping is known for his deep voice (at least according to his Wikipedia page) and is a renowned biblical scholar who has, in his five decades of studies, read ALL the way through the Bible at least twice. I don’t know if you’ve ever seen a Bible, but there are a lot of pages. That’s pretty darn impressive.

You may not know exactly what the rapture entails, as it has never happened before. We’re all just a bunch of rapture rookies sitting around waiting for a terrible apocalyptic sign like a giant volcano sprouting from the ground or huge winged beasts or the original lineup of Guns N’ Roses reuniting, only to skip the classics and head straight for “Chinese Democracy.”

Thank goodness Camping realized we won’t know what to be looking for, and was so kind as to line it all out for us.

According to Camping, starting 6 p.m. ET, the entire world will be shook by earthquakes, officially making it the worst Saturday night you’ve had since you were forced to go on that blind date with those conjoined twins. Sure, they were nice, but you had no idea which head to talk to and don’t even get me started on the goodnight kiss.

These earthquakes will end roughly mid-October. Somewhere in between May and then, the people that God decided at the beginning of time were his favorites will go to heaven. Everyone else will be stuck on Earth, now with massaging action.

The million dollar question on everyone’s mind is why does Camping know all of this? So many people are wondering this that it is one of many frequently asked questions on the radio network’s website, which has been inundated with questions such as “What signs precede Judgment Day?” and “How do I get a silky deep sonorous voice like Harold Camping?”

The main reason we should all trust Camping, though, is this isn’t his first rodeo.

In fact, Camping is an expert at predicting judgment day, having done an excellent job at predicting a previous judgment day in 1994. Sure, it didn’t quite happen, but the effort put into it was outstanding. There have been earthquakes since then, so you can’t say he was entirely wrong either.

Camping attributes his previous judgment day mishap to incorrect math on his part, but this time, he is sure he is right. He has gotten out his calculator, added everything up again, and come up with May 21^st.

Now, of course I’m having a bit of fun at Camping’s expense today. He is just a kooky old man doing kooky things. It’s no different than what other old men say in between their hard candies and jigsaw puzzles.  He just happens to be in charge of a large network of radio stations, so we hear what he has to say.

Will there be a rapture on May 21^st? It seems highly unlikely. Will Camping continue to make crazy predictions based on his interpretation of Biblical passages? Of course he will. It’s his thing.

With all of that said, if there is an earthquake anywhere on May 21^st, I’m going to feel really stupid. So, if anyone living near a fault line could do me a favor and just go crazy glue that bad boy together that would be great. It doesn’t have to be a great glue job, just good enough to last until the 22^nd and prove that Camping has no idea when the world will end. Then we can all laugh together and remember the time we thwarted Camping’s plan for global destruction.

At least we can until the world ends in 2012. I really think those Mayans knew their stuff.