Another NASA Expert Debunks 2012
June 1, 2010
It isn’t hard to debunk 2012 – there is no scientific evidence that anything bad will happen. However, if you visit a psychic and he/she tells you a double-decker bus will knock you down next week, would you avoid such buses, even though the evidence that it will really happen is lacking?
And given all the disinformation and plain made-up stories about 2012 out there, it is easy to pick on those easier to discredit – such as Nibiru and the “galactic alignment”. A recently released video has Dr. David Morrison from the NASA Lunar Science Institute (Ph.D. in astronomy) debunking the entire 2012 meme. Given that he is an expert on defending our planet from asteroids and comets, it is interesting that this 2012 possibility is not covered…
The video is entertaining, and promotions for the 2012 movie receive appropriate chuckles from the academic (?) audience.
Enjoy:
PETA Asks Survivalists to Consider Vegan Products
May 25, 2010
Today PETA have issued a press release, explaining how they have sent a letter to Vivos owner Robert Vicino urging him to serve only vegan food in his network of underground 2012 survival mega-bunkers. This follows reports that Vivos has nearly completed construction of a fully stocked bunker somewhere under the Mohave Desert, and PETA points out that “vegans are fitter and trimmer, on average, than meat-eaters and less threatened by leading killers such as heart attacks and cancer.”
“Whether you live in an underground bunker or a penthouse suite, the best way to ensure that you’ll still be around next year is to ditch meat and go vegan,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “By maintaining a vegan diet, the bunkered survivors would be in better shape to adapt to their post-apocalyptic world and would help put an end to the doomsday scenarios that animals on factory farms and in slaughterhouses face every day.”
Editor Opinion: The focus of the letter is that vegetarians tend to be healthier and live longer. People buying bunker berths are unlikely to change their eating preferences if they have not already. More than most in the Western world, they have thought much about their longevity, and how to make great efforts to extend it.
In recent times there has been much discussion regarding the inefficiencies of meat production, yet PETA has failed to address the angle that would most appeal to post-apocalyptic survivalists. Where even growing staple crops might prove to be a difficult task, survivors are unlikely to waste their supplies of grain on cattle. And even if they did farm animals, factory farming post-2012 would also be unlikely. It seems unlikely that PETA have investigated this any deeper than a publicity grab.
WSJ – 2012 Will Be Televised
April 19, 2010
Humorist Joe Queenan has written a piece for the Wall Street Journal, mocking the 2012 meme and the History Channel:
It was a 2008 History Channel documentary about the Mayan Calendar that first drew the public’s attention to the fact that Dec. 21, 2012 will probably be the last day in human history—meaning that 2011 will be the last year any of us will need to do any Christmas shopping. Watching that program again this week, I noted, nervously, that Dec. 21, 2012 is the date arrived at independently by both the ancient Mayans and the I Ching, and that the Welsh sorcerer Merlin is also on board with the belief that human civilization will end late in 2012. The Mayans and the I Ching guys could have had their numbers wrong, but Merlin’s verdict kind of sealed it for me.
Happily, some Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse buffs believe that the magnetic disturbances erupting at both poles on that date do not mean that all civilization will disappear, but rather that we will move into a new and better phase of the great human drama. That’s why I can’t wait to see the documentaries that air on A&E, The History Channel, the Military Channel and the Discovery Channel in 2013. Things like “I Never Knew I Was Pregnant and Living Through Armageddon,” “When Extraordinarily Large Numbers of Rats Attack,” and “Secrets of the Post-Apocalyptic Hoarders.”
Given the numerous apocalyptic documentaries that have appeared on cable TV in recent times, Joe’s tongue-in-cheek titles might not seem so far-fetched two years from now. After they have covered every doomsday scenario, they’ll need to delve into more “human interest” angles.
A Timeline for the 2012 Meme
February 25, 2010
Ever wondered when and how the whole 2012 thing entered our consciousness? Here’s a (non-comprehensive) overview of how it all fell into place:
- Ancient Times – the Mayans (or some earlier civilization) created the Long Count calendar, which ends on Dec 21 2012
- 1897 - Joseph Goodman (Mark Twain’s first editor), published a paper proposing the 3114 BC start date
- 1937 - J. Eric Thompson publishes the GMT (Goodman Martinez Thompson) Correlation, confirming the 3114 BC start date, and therefore the Dec 21 2012 end date
- 1975 – several books are published that refer to 2012, including The Transformative Vision by José Argüelles and The Invisible Landscape by Terence McKenna
- 1996 - Fingerprints of the Gods by Graham Hancock first suggests the idea of 2012 being the End of the World in the form of a global cataclysm
- 1998 - Maya Cosmogenesis 2012 by John Major Jenkins introduces the concept of a Galactic Alignment
- 2000 – The launch of Survive 2012, the first website devoted to the 2012 doomsday scenario. Geoff Stray’s compendium of all things 2012, Diagnosis 2012, followed shortly after.
- 2006 - Decoding the Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy airs on the History Channel, the first of many similar documentaries
- 2006 - 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl by Daniel Pinchbeck
- 2006 – 2012 Forum website launched
- 2008 - Apocalypse 2012: An Investigation into Civilization’s End by Lawrence E. Joseph
- 2009 – The Hollywood blockbuster movie 2012 causes discussion of the topic everywhere from CNN to Playboy magazine
2012 Movie Grosses $200 Worldwide, First Weekend
November 19, 2009
The general rule of thumb in Hollywood is that if/when the gross box office takings of a movie equals the budget, it becomes profitable. The blockbuster movie 2012 has matched its budget in the first weekend of release, with takings of $65M in the US, and $135M overseas. As of today it has reached $235M globally.
One of Emmerich’s other movies, with a similar theme – The Day After Tomorrow – kicked off with slightly more on its first weekend and ended up with close to $550M worldwide in theatrical takings.
If every ticket worldwide is sold for $US15 (most will be less), then that’s would be at least 36 million cinema viewings over the space of a few months, and then there will be cable, DVD, and regular TV viewings all occurring prior to Dec 2012. Which will place the world in an interesting situation – the biggest, most graphic, most widespread “prophecy” of all time. For most people it is just a movie. For for how many will it be something to be terribly concerned about?
NASA: 2012 is Nothing to Worry About
November 12, 2009
Scientists who debunk popular concepts that have no scientific basis tend to just make statements. Were they to field questions from the public, a different feel for 2012 might emerge. Here’s some excerpts from this week’s statements from NASA (why do they feel the need to debunk a popcorn flick?), accompanied by the questions I’d like to ask in response:
NASA: Nothing bad will happen to the Earth 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 2012.
Rob: What wiped out all large mammals in the Americas just 10,000 years ago, and is there a connection with a human population low point suggested by genetic investigations in that era.
NASA: 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
Rob: What does Mayan & Aztec myth describe as happening the last few times the Long Count calendar ended, before ticking over (hint: all humans were destroyed).
SOL 2012: Open Survival Society
November 11, 2009
The Mataha Foundation, based in Belgium, and founded by artist Louis de Cordier, is planning an impressive, high-tech 150 person bunker high in the Sierra Nevada region of Spain. It will consist of numerous linked underground domes, including such facilities as a bar, hairdresser, spa, & secretarial services.
One of the reasons for selecting the Sierra Nevada is the ability to be 2000 metres above sea-level, the minimum height for survival according to leading 2012 survivalism author Patrick Geryl.
The brochure for SOL 2012 is very comprehensive, and covers aspects of 2012 survivalism that might not have been obvious:
In the same way that money will be used up until the last moment, the residents will be allowed to make profits to reduce their personal levies by offering services such as manicure, foot reflexology and piloting, or by selling exclusive products such as wine and chocolates. However prostitution and drug dealing (cocaine, heroine, opium) are not part of the allowed activities, because these can jeopardize the social functioning of community, which must be in constant preparedness.
SOL 2012 will be fully equipped, for example:
“…blacksmithing equipment (forge, anvil), cartographic instruments (sextants, gyrocompasses, spyglasses), dentistry & surgical tools, sledges, mountain bikes and motor cycles, windmills and solar panels for the production of electricity, radio and telephone equipment, accurate mechanical clocks, lenses and corrective optometry for glasses, boats, musical instruments; and of course a library, with multiple copies of the most functional books and blueprints.”
Cordier and Geryl were the driving forces behind the recent discovery of the Labyrinth in Egypt, potentially the home of the Hall of Records. While I personally believe a network of smaller survival initiatives is the preferable model, and that large groups of strangers will have numerous obstacles to overcome, if I was to just hand over some cash in exchange for a 2012 survival scenario, I’d be with the Mataha Foundation.
For more information, visit the SOL 2012 website. Standard price for adult participation is 50,000€.
Jeff Hart on Bast v. Emmerich
September 25, 2009
Mixed in with an overview of the 2012 meme, Culture Blues writer Jeff Hart looks at the forthcoming 2012 movie – cities are destroyed in glorious fashion, people make impassioned speeches, and scrappy humans like us manage to survive against all odds – and Sony’s viral marketing for the movie – it’s a glossy, make-believe version of what Robert Bast’s Survive2012 site really is – a resource devoted to making sure some of us make like John Cusack – and compares it with the ideas of Robert Bast, who is actively preparing to survive 2012, despite not actually having a bunker yet. Hart gets the feeling that Bast is a more sincere Roland Emmerich, a smart guy on the fringe, attempting to cash in on our hunger for extinction.
Hart concludes:
If the internet’s foremost expert on 2012 (an honorary title I’m bestowing on Bast) doesn’t have his bunker ready yet, then there’s still time for me. Forget The IHC’s phony election – I’ve got three years to prepare.
Full article here:
http://www.cultureblues.com/2009/09/skeptic1/
2012 Forum Featured in Playboy Magazine
August 16, 2009
In this month’s edition of Playboy (September, USA, Heidi Montag on the cover) is a feature article written by Frank Owen, looking into the survivalist aspects of the 2012 phenomenon. Members from the popular 2012Forum.com website are interviewed – chiefly Steve Pace of Missouri, but also Susan Skains, Ace McQuade and forum founder Robert Bast.
In a well-written and balanced piece, Owen ultimately suggests that a little preparation for whatever may come is not such a bad idea. Interestingly he also quotes a forum post in which Daniel, who claims to have travelled back in time to provide us 2012 information, tells us how he is stuck in a space-time continuum.
Where to next for the 2012 meme? I expect to see it appearing in Time, NewsWeek & 60 Minutes within the next 12 months.
UPDATE: The 2012 Playboy Article is now online
Planetary Doom a Result of Advancement in Special Effects?
May 3, 2009
This year we have perhaps more apocalyptic Hollywood movies than ever before;
Her examples include “Watchmen” (where nuclear conflagration is just minutes away) and the recent hit “Knowing,” where Nic Cage is our last hope to save the planet. She notes that two of this summer’s most anticipated box-office behemoths are “Terminator Salvation” and “2012,” both of which involve potential planetary demolition. Kennedy also lumps in destruction sequences from such family films as “Monsters vs. Aliens” (where the Golden Gate Bridge is gleefully wrecked) and “Wall-E,” which is set in a city that bears the unmistakable look of post-apocalypse.
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