Article Archive for October 2011
Updates: Flood, Tsunami & CME
Thailand is now 1/3 under water due to the worsening floods. This map shows the affected area (might take a little while to load).
Up to 20 million tons of debris from the Japanese tsunami in March will eventually be washed ashore on the west coast of the USA, and will start arriving in three years. The debris includes TVs, fridges and shipping boats. Expect beachcombing to become a boom hobby!
Half of the USA got to see the northern lights last Monday, thanks to a coronal mass ejection (CME) from the Sun. The pic below is from Norway, more recent pics are at SpaceWeather.com
Doom ‘n’ Gloom Daily
I subscribe to just about every blog and news service that could, maybe, possibly, have a story meaningful to the 2012 meme. One of the very best is The Extinction Protocol. There’s not much commentary, but they relentlessly bombard me with every earthquake and volcanic eruption, as well as every cluster of tremors, or clusters near volcanoes, which might mean something might happen. Plus disease outbreaks, forest fires, social unrest, tsunamis and all the rest. Nothing escapes their attention, and in their eyes it is all evidence that the end is nigh. I you want to lose sleep and continually worry, it is a good site to frequent. They are the key reason I keep buying more gold!
Here are some recent examples of their stories…
One of the biggest stories in recent weeks concerns the Canary Islands, where offshore volcanic eruptions and earthquakes are causing concern:
Villagers are mentioning “bubbles” coming up …
Tomorrow: End of Calleman?
This date crept up on me – I hadn’t paid it much attention in the past – the whole concept seems flimsy. But here it is, presumably unlike Mr Camping he will accept that his theory was wrong…
The most recent article from Carl Johan Calleman implies that something amazing will occur when the Mayan Long Count Calendar ends on Oct 28, 2011 (his calculations) - but as is typical of New Age Prophets, he doesn’t actually specify anything much at all:
We have now celebrated the Cosmic Convergence and there is less than one night and one day before the fulfillment of the evolutionary plan for all of creation (or at least the attainment of the top level). As predicted the Ninth wave of this plan, which is coming to a close together with the other waves of the Mayan calendar on October 28, 2011, has brought a tremendous frequency increase …
Another Satellite Re-Entry
Re-entry being the polite word for “crashing to earth and perhaps killing someone”.
The ROSAT X-ray observatory, launched in 1990 by NASA and managed for years by the German Aerospace Center (DLR), will return to Earth within the next two weeks. Current best estimates place the re-entry between Oct. 22nd and 24th over an unknown part of Earth. ROSAT will produce a spectacular fireball when it re-enters, but not all of the satellite will disintegrate. According to the DLR, heat-resistant fragments as massive as 1.7 tons could reach Earth’s surface.
The latest prediction is that re-entry will occur during the early hours of Oct. 23rd over a still-unknown region of our planet.
Harold Camping Wrong Again
This won’t come as much of a surprise, even for Christians, or even for his many former followers. The world did not end on Oct 21 2011.
The good news is there’s a new writer on the 2012 scene. While he is all-skeptic (and I’m half-skeptic, but concerned about all the real possibilities for 2012), his blog is very well written and fully-referenced. Here’s what Justin Deering has to say about Camping at 2012Delusion.com:
Yes, he’s gone into hiding. This is in stark contrast to the high-profile Project Caravan just a few short months ago, in which Camping’s followers left their families and their jobs, gave away their possessions and their pets, got into buses and RV’s and toured the country, warning everyone who would listen of the impending doom and plastering billboards everywhere along the way.2 The followers, based solely on Camping’s predictions, were extremely vocal with their message: Repent, before …
Massive Comet Almost Destroys Earth!
OK, the close call was back in 1883, but that just means it could have killed your forefathers and not yourself. The size of the comet and how close it came to Earth have been assigned ranges, but the worst possibility is that it was only 335 miles away, and was as big as the comet that took out the dinosaurs!
Mexican astronomer José Banilla took the image, which appears to show something passing in front of the sun, on August 12 1883.
When it was released publicly in 1886 in the magazine L’Astronomie it was dubbed the first photo of a UFO – a series of 447 objects that looked ‘misty’ and ‘left behind a similar misty trace.’
…A new study by the Univeridad Nacional Autónoma de México now suggests that it was a comet in the process of breaking up.
‘According to our calculations, the distance at which the objects passed …
Features Your 2012 Safe House Should Have
Note that these features are not for a bunker, but rather a “safe house”. The full article is over at one of those sites that exist to promote ebooks that cost more, yet have less substance, than most printed books. That’s not to say the material is invalid – here are some of the 38 “essential features” listed:
At least 1000 feet above sea level & at least 50 miles from the coast
500 miles from a super-volcano
At least two hour’s drive from a city or large town & within a day’s hike of a local farming town
Within 20 minutes hike of a small river or stream, but well above its banks
The property should be remote and hidden. Regarding the house itself, basically it needs to be solidly built, and incorporate features that would protect it from fierce weather, like shutters.
For an elaboration of such ideas, visit the 2012 forum, or wait …
Harold Camping Receives Major Award
Well, perhaps not major, but the Ig Nobels are certainly famous awards. This year, as announced at the end of last month, the joint recipients of the Mathematics Prize were the following people, each of who predicted, and got wrong, the date for the end of the world:
Dorothy Martin (1954)
Pat Robertson (1982)
Elizabeth Clare Prophet (1990)
Lee Jang Rim (1992)
Credonia Mwerinde (1999)
Harold Camping (1994 and 2011, and still maintains that the real end will be on Oct 21 of this year)
None of the honorees were in attendance at Harvard to receive their reward… Full list of winners at the official Ig Noble site
Above-Ground Bunker by DuPont
The brand most associated with bullet-proof vests is Kevlar, developed by DuPont way back in 1965. One way of describing how well it works is that it is 5x stronger than steel of the same weight.
Not very well-known is that DuPont make Kevlar-lined survival shelters (I only heard about it from this news item ). While an underground shelter is superior (safer from radiation, harder for marauders to find), there are advantages to being above-ground, and especially if it is installed as a regular room within your home. For one, you have immediate access. This means not braving a disaster getting to your shelter. It is also ideal for anyone with mobility problems – you can even access this shelter with a wheelchair. And the StormRoom is approved by FEMA as an above-ground hurricane and tornado shelter.
I think this video is a great example of the level of protection provided:
Storm Solutions …
Darren Aronofsky’s Noah Movie Gets Go-Ahead
As you can see from the video below (which is from Aronofsky’s graphic novel about Noah), this will certainly not be a cutesy story about pairs of animals. It’ll be more akin to The Passion of the Christ. There will be obvious appeal for survivalists because this story will show how one man has enough faith to prepare properly, but will also demonstrate survivor’s guilt – after the flood subsides Noah turns to drink.
It will go into production early next year, so I guess it will not be released until 2013… Read more here
Real World Promotion Technique for 2012ers
T-Shirts. Not new, but rather timeless. How better to open a conversation on the 2012 meme with strangers? Many people out there are 2012-curious, and just need an out-of-the-closet 2012er to discuss it with.
Yes, some designs are related to the US presidential election, but even so, at CafePress there are more than 30,000 individual 2012 designs that you can apply to t-shirts, mugs, mouse pads and so on. At least one design will fit into your scheme of things.
Elsewhere there are plenty of other options. Several variations on a theme at http://www.2012tshirt.co.uk/ for £12-00. A brilliant beer t-shirt at Stevens Point Brewery (I can’t wait to taste the beer). I particularly like (and wear) this party design:
At some stage I’ll release an official Survive 2012 design, but it will need to be cleverer than Shift Happens.
UPDATE: I really like this one, but they don’t ship to Australia
http://2012threads.bigcartel.com/product/galactic-alingment
Survivalist or Futurist?
I’ve been wondering as to what I should call myself, and I figure many of you might find the commonalities and differences interesting:
Survivalist: the policy of trying to ensure one‘s own survival or that of one’s social or national group [full definition]
Futurist: a person who studies the future and makes predictions about it based on current trends [full definition]
These two paths cross when a prediction is made that places yourself or your society at risk. Doomsday 2012ers are at that point. So which are you?
Survivalist: Practical
Futurist: Theoretical
Survivalist: Reads blogs like The Survivalist Blog and forums like 2012 Forum
Futurist: Enjoys the World Future Society Conference where she can learn from dozens of speakers; although none are teaching survivalism
So… while most survivalists are futurists (by definition), few futurists are survivalists.
Survivalist: Will survive 2012
Futurist: Will watch it unfold on TV
So I guess it is fair to say that survivalists are a subset …
