Unlike yesterday, this is a much more personal recollection of the decade. Well, what a decade it has been! The one that is clearest in my memory, and definitely the decade that will shape my years to come. And so how was it for me? Well, that is a very good question, that could only properly be answered in a few years time as I look back and contemplate the happenings of the past ten years. But it has definitely been a decade of two halves. At the beginning of the decade, I started it in revelry on the streets of London. And by the end of the decade I also will be on the streets of London, but not as boisterous as I will be working the night shift. In between it has been an eventful ten years.

The first half of the 2000’s was spent studying and travelling. I studied far too frivolously and travelled far too hard, but I thoroughly enjoyed myself. I visited a war zone to reconnect with my family, I climbed temples in the jungle, taught English to kids and adults, nearly died in a desert and hiked across the lands of the Moors. And then in 2004, I made an about turn and decided to pursue filming with a vigour. I surprised everyone that knew, me, alienated quite a few of them and got stuck into the business of making films. Now, six years later, and with very little to show for that decision, the big question to ask myself of this decade is ‘has it been a waste of my life?’ After all, these are supposedly the ‘best years’, and if I fail in my quest to make a (decent) living out of writing and directing my own feature films, than I would have wasted those years on nothing more than a pipe dream.

Looking back can be almost as dangerous as looking forward. Fear grips our paths towards the future, regret litters our paths behind us. All that we really have is the present day, and the hum-drum safety net of work, eat, and sleep. And yet, as I look back, I think to myself that it has been an all right decade, but something has to give soon to make it a really spectacular one…

On November 26, this Blog posted, “Global Warming – Fraud Exposed“.  The issue involves college professors who promote the theory of man-made global warming forging data to make their case.

Today it was announced that Dr. Phil Jones, head of the UK’s East Anglia University Climate Research Unit, stepped down, the result of the leaked emails that showed fudged data efforts.  Also, fellow believer Penn State University’s climate scientist Dr. Michael Mann, was reported under “inquiry” by the University for his role as exposed in the leaked emails.  But it isn’t over yet.  President Obama’s top science adviser, John Holdren, a climate scientist, has had his name appear in the leaked emails.  The group of science manipulators is still growing.

This story has the potential to eclipse any fraud case in history.  People and businesses are poised to make billions off of the theory of man-made global warming that at the very least is based on unreliable data.  Potentially more dangerous is that basic structures of society are being changed to meet the catastrophes predicted by the theory.

It certainly looks like those who made billions on the Y2K fraud learned their lesson well.  This new scam will be much bigger.

We have under a month left until the end of the decade, and so how was it for you? Was it hell? Certainly if you look at world events we had major terrorist attacks in NY, Madrid, London, Mumbai and Bali littered amongst the multitude of events worldwide. We had massive natural disasters. The Tsunami and the 2005 hurricane season were the big natural disasters of the decade but let us also recall Cyclone Nargis, the Kashmir Earthquake. Bam in Iran and Sichaun in China also suffered from massive earthquakes. As a tail end note, Mozambique suffered from massive flooding at the beginning of the 2000’s .

Oh, and if you are in the west than look no further than the economic meltdown of the past two years. Plus we in the west elected some of the worst tyrants in recent history, who instigated more wars and suffering amongst the most destitute people on the globe. At least we are not in North Korea.

In the UK we seem to be quite happy to give over our hard won freedoms to governments and law advisors more interested in controlling the population instead of listening to it. So now we have CCTV up your backside (the cameras in my job can see me pick my nose), a new expensive compulsory ID Card system and a populace too scared to live because of the no-win no-fee parasites that bombard your cable television channels with cheap adverts, promising you the world (the money had to come from somewhere).

On a personal level we have also given up much of our individual freedom. Shackled by debt, the average UK resident is no better than the bonded labourers of the 19th century. Now striking has become a byword for treason despite the fact that is was here in the UK that led the industrial strike movement and the establishment of basic workers rights (we need more men like him).

And so, that’s it. The Noughties, the 2000’s, the beginning of the new Millennium and the 21st Century. Tomorrow, a more personal view…

Systemes.
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C & C

암호 메시지 구문

암호 모듈

암호 방식

암호 보안

암호 보조 처리기

암호 사용 기간

암호 수출 규제

암호 시스템

암호 시스템

암호 열쇠 키

암호 자료

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Copyright by kim sang hoon ( c ) 1997-2006 hoonsolo inc
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Y2K
【컴퓨터】
2000년 문제
《Y는
연도(year),
K는 1000을
뜻하는
킬로(kilo)를
의미하며,
연도의
마지막 두
자리만
사용한
컴퓨터
프로그램으로
2000년을
1900년으로
인식하는
컴퓨터
프로그램의
오류》
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y2k.com/exitpage/
y2k.com
i
BKI
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h
h
h
h
Goodday.hoonsolo

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myc&c
myc&c
문자열 입력

http://y2k.com/exitpage/Technology.php

http://y2k.com/exitpage/Credit.php

http://y2k.com/exitpage/Electronics.php

암호 [ crypto A ]

홈 뱅킹 [ home banking A ]
은행 예금자가 개인용 컴퓨터(PC)나 전용 단말기를 설치하고,
은행의 주 컴퓨터에 온라인으로 접속하여 가정에서 은행 업무를
제공받을 수 있는 서비스. 초기에는 예금자가 전화의 음성 자동 응답
서비스망을 통해 은행의 주 컴퓨터를 호출, 컴퓨터의 음성 지시에
따라 필요………………………………………………………………….

일렉트로닉 뱅킹 [ electronic banking, EB A ]
금융 기관 예금자가 컴퓨터 또는 전용 단말기를 설치하고, 은행의 주
컴퓨터에 온라인으로 접속하여 기업이나 가정에서 각종 은행
서비스를 받을 수 있는 시스템. 사무실이나 가정에서 예금의 잔액
확인, 입출금 조회, 계좌 간 예금 이체 등을 할 수 있고 은행에서는
각종 …………………………………………………………………………

암호 경로 [ 暗號經路, cryptographic path A ]
망의 임의의 두 접속점 간을 암호화하기 위해 같은 경로를 공유하는
서로 다른 논리 채널들에 각기 다른 암호 키를 할당함으로써 분리될
수 있는 논리 채널…………………………………………………………..

암호 열쇠 키 [ 暗號-, cryptographic ignition key, crypto ignition
key, CIK A ]
암호 키의 보관, 전송, 보호를 위해 사용되는 전자적 키. 키를 암호
열쇠 키(CIK)와 암호 모듈로 나누어 사용하되 필요한 경우 2개를
결합해서 하나의 키 암호화 키(KEK)를 만들어 당해 암호 모듈과 여타
다른 키들을 활성화시킨다…………………………………………………

암호 검사합 [ 暗號檢査合, Cryptographic checksum A ]
데이터의 변경 여부를 검사하기 위해 파일에 지정하는 수학적 수치.
암호 검사합은 파일 안에 있는 데이터를 해시(hash) 한
해시값이라고도 불리며, 고정된 길이의 값으로 변환하는 복잡한
수학적인 연산(암호 알고리듬)에 의해 생성된다. 인가되지 않은
사람은 해당 검사합………………………………………………………

암호 깨기 [ 暗號-, code breaking A ]
☞암호 해독.

암호 다이제스트 [ 暗號-, Cryptographic Digest A ]
가변 길이의 입력 문자를 고정 길이의 출력 문자로 변환하는 단방향
해시 기능. 고정 출력 문자는 각 입력 문자마다 유일한 해당 파일의
지문 확인 역할을 한다. 암호 다이제스트가 들어 있는 파일을
내려받을 경우 다이제스트를 다시 계산해서 출력 문자가
다이제스트…………………………………………………………

암호 메시지 구문 [ 暗號-構文, Cryptographic Message Syntax,
CMS A ]
전자 서명, 압축, 인증, 암호문 등에 대한 구문. PKCS #7 암호
메시지 구문 표준에서 나온 것으로, 추상 구문 기법1(ASN. 1) 중 기본
부호화 규칙(BER)을 사용한다. 데이터 보호를 위한 요약 구문으로,
하나의 요약 구문이 다른 구문을 내포하는 복합 구문이
가능하다………………………………………………………………………

암호 메시지 구문 [ 暗號-構文, Cryptographic Message Syntax,
CMS A ]
전자 서명, 압축, 인증, 암호문 등에 대한 구문. PKCS #7 암호
메시지 구문 표준에서 나온 것으로, 추상 구문 기법1(ASN. 1) 중 기본
부호화 규칙(BER)을 사용한다. 데이터 보호를 위한 요약 구문으로,
하나의 요약 구문이 다른 구문을 내포하는 복합 구문이 가능하다.

암호 모듈 [ 暗號-, cryptographic module A ]
암호 알고리듬을 포함한 암호 로직 및 처리를 수행하는 모든
하드웨어, 소프트웨어, 펌웨어의 총칭.

암호 보조 처리기 [ 暗號補助處理器, cryptoprocessor,
cryptographic coprocessor A ]
암호 처리 프로세서가 들어 있는 하드웨어 모듈. 데이터는 물론 회로
변조를 보호하는 많은 기능을 가진 장치로, 암호 기능만 있는 것도
있지만 다른 처리 기능을 가질 수도 있다. 예를들어, 스마트 카드
보조 처리기는 암호 알고리듬을 스마트 카드 기능으로 내장한다.

암호 사용 기간

암호 키의 승인 혹은 효력이 유지되는 특정 기간. 키 수명 또는 유효
기간이라고도 한다. 키는 평문을 암호문으로 만들기 위한 알고리듬에
사용된다. 암호 기간은 암호 데이터 비도, 암호 위험성, 비용 등
요소에 따라 결정되는 키 관리의 매우 중요한 부분으로 그 기간은
보통 일시의 기간으로 표시되지만 특수한 키는 암호화할 최대 데이터
양으로 표시될 수도 있다.

암호(暗號) 【주로 상업용】a code;【군호】a password;a
watchword;a sign;【비밀 기호】a cipher;cryptograph
문자 암호 a letter code
전신 암호 a telegraphic code;a cable code
암호를 풀다 decode;decipher[crack, break] a code
암호를 쓰다 write 《a message》 in code[cipher]
암호를 대다[말하다] give a password
암호화하다 code;encode
암호 없이는 이 계좌에 접근할 수 없습니다 You cannot access
this account without a password.

암호명(暗號名) a code name;code designation
암호문(暗號文) a cryptogram;a cryptograph;a coded message
암호 문자(暗號文字) a cipher;a code word
암호법(暗號法) cryptography
암호장(暗號帳) a code book
암호 전보(暗號電報) a telegram in cipher

[/code];a cipher[code language="(d)"]

telegram
해외 암호 전보 a cablegram in code;a code(d) cable
암호 전보를 치다 send a code telegram;wire 《a person》 in code
암호 통신(暗號通信) a signal;cryptography
암호 해독(暗號解讀) code-breaking;cryptanalysis;cryptography
암호 해독관 a cipher officer
암호 해독의 열쇠 a cipher-key

http://hoonsolo1234.hihome.com/www18.html

If the world is really going to end in 2012, I will be totally surprised. For one thing, the whole “End of Time” thing has been done before. Many times. In my lifetime, we’ve already had Y2K. (which really wasn’t about the millenium since that didn’t start until 2001). The whole Y2K thing sent people scrambling to the stores to stock up on food and bottled water. The funny thing is, the people living in the year 999 A.D. also thought the end of that year would mean the end of the world. Even the Bible ends with a chapter of doom. I’m not sure what it is about the human race that is always so preoccupied with the end of everything. What about the here and now?

So now we’ve got the Mayans to thank for this latest panic. Personally, I think that a tribe of people so advanced that they can predict the future would have been smart enough not to poison their water supply by throwing dead bodies into it. Just saying.

There are lots of theories about the Mayan calendar. The doomsday theory bases itself on the fact that the calendar ends. Some brilliant smart ass on a forum site pointed out that her calendar ends on December 31, 2009. Oops. The cool thing about modern calendars is that the new ones come out in October so you know there will be some continuation. But this Mayan thing…just ends. And there are people with lots of letters behind their names who think that means the world as we know it will be stricken by some species-ending disaster. There is even a movie coming out (well before 2012) working off of just that theory. Hollywood always profits from disaster films.

But Hollywood isn’t the only place that profits from disaster theories. Think about who’s making money with the whole “green” trend.

I think the Mayans got tired of carving. Or maybe they all died before they could continue this whole calendar thing. They were not even around when the Spanish got to their pyramids. Reports say they’d been gone (dead) for 700 years. Yet…these primative people who believed in human sacrifice are now being credited with predicting everyone’s future but their own. Typical.

I have no doubt the human race will disappear one day. Just like the dinosaurs. But the earth isn’t going anywhere. I don’t believe any big disaster is going to happen in December 2012. Just in case, I won’t be buying Christmas presents until the last minute. Just in case.

I’m sure there will be some far more extreme things being done en masse just like with Y2K. Me…I’m just going to sit back and watch. Nothing like a good “end of the world” freak out to keep me entertained.

Headlines about Boris Yeltsin greeted West Coast readers on 1/1/2000

Ah, wasn’t life simple then? The biggest national concern was Y2K, and that almost seemed secondary to the excitement of the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for people to witness a new millennium dawning.

Now, the first decade of the 2000s is nearly done, and what a different world we live in now. People and events making an impact since then include Barack Obama, Osama bin Laden, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Hurricane Katrina, the tsunami in Indonesia in 2004, the deadlocked 2000 U.S. presidential election, the New England Patriots, and Web 2.0.

I’m a pack rat as far as retaining news clippings, pictures, etc. And my above shot of the Jan. 1, 2000, editions of the Los Angeles Times and the Orange County Register (I was working at the Register then) showed that Boris Yeltsin stole the show as the clocks turned on the new decade. And this pic shows the look of CNN.com in those days.

And for me, it was the most eventful 10 years I’ve been through. Maybe that’s standard for those of us lucky enough to keep getting older in good health. Still, I don’t think I’ll ever compile more meaningful memories in a 10-year span. In no particular order, my top five events of the past decade. (I’m sharing them now before everyone gets absorbed with Christmas presents and the BCS.)

– Moving back to Atlanta: Hardest decision EVER, after 12 years in The OC and 22 in SoCal. Few big decisions are open and shut, and so it was here. But being a UGA grad, it made sense at the time, especially since I’ve visited and kept contacts open during all the years. The collapse of the SoCal real estate market since then is some solace for missing beach time in the winter.

– Cruises to Mexico: I took three — 2003, 2004, 2006 — and each was memorable. Being in a floating city with no cell-phone use is the ultimate getaway, and you could feed a small country with all the food on board. Mexico is a beautiful country, but very poor. The magnificent scenery and culture is mixed with the tragic sight of children selling trinkets to cruise-ship passengers as they go to and from the city in Ensenada. It gets worse than the US, folks. (Honorable mention: two trips to Las Vegas, including one to see Celine Dion.)

– News media changes: My career was forever altered after the 9/11 terror attacks and resulting ad downfall forced massive downsizing at the Register, as well as other papers and industries. The silver lining: I and others had to use other talents. I proved I can pass the difficult Series 7 licensing necessary to be a stock broker/financial planner,and I got two company-paid training trips to San Francisco. Who knows, I may get back into it someday, and I can effectively write about it.

– California as visitor: It was a real tonic to go back to the Golden State  this month for the first time since moving away. Dismal headlines and TV reports do not tell the whole story. Sunbathing in November and being able to watch TV shows after “Monday Night Football” are things you can’t do just anywhere. And I knew all the right spots to hit in Newport Beach for a gooey cinnamon roll and Christmas gifts for family.

– Becoming a new media aficionado: This is somewhat different than the previous media category. When a door closes, another opens, but no one is sure which one. I’ve gotten heavy into social media since returning to Atlanta in 2007. I even spoke on a social media panel that the AJC assembled in March for newsroom personnel, and CNN has included my Tweetup videos in news coverage. Everyone likes recognition.

That’s all for now. It would be interesting to hear others’ memories of the past decade, and I plan to offer some predictions for the coming years.

All our married life, whenever Jerry and any of his friends got together they played ‘end of the world’ games.  Sometimes the game carried over into real life, as during the Cuban missile crisis when Jerry dug a hole in the basement so we would have a place to cower behind earthen walls until the shock waves were over.  Then, of course, we planned to hose down the roof, to wash the radioactive dust away.  Over the years, other variations of this game were played.  In one, we planned to take a bolt-cutter to the armory down the road so we could steal heavy duty all terrain vehicles and flee to the hills with our loved ones and supplies.   Twenty-five or thirty years ago, Hank Reinhardt started putting in his two cent’s worth, and the plans became even more elaborate.  It didn’t matter what scenario was posited: nuclear war, total social and economic collapse, riots, civil strife, plague, famine–every possibility was covered.  Hank only hoped that when the balloon went up, he would not be too old to participate.

Now, I don’t want you to think these people in my living room were loonies like you read about who take to the woods, act out their fantasies and call themselves ‘survivalists’.  No, they just talked about it.  On Sundays, they went target shooting.  When Julie Wall was learning to shoot, one of the practical tests was to hit a man-sized target from the window of a moving VW.  She did pretty well, but Jerry complained he could never hit anything when Julie drove—she’s always been a speed demon.   I had rather read about how people coped with the end of the world, in books like The Postman and The Stand, and stories like Nightfall and Inconstant Moon.

So you can imagine Jerry’s delight when he found out about Y2K.  Here was an actual threat to prepare for!  Having just recently retired from The Birmingham News he had time on his hands, anyway.  First, the basement had to be cleared of all the accumulated VW parts—fenders, transmissions, tires, carburetors, etc., etc., etc.  From my point of view, this was a definite plus—we hadn’t owned a VW for years.   In the process, a lot of other junk disappeared and shelves we had not seen in decades reappeared.

A word about our basement: It fits Jerry.  The rest of us who are not vertically challenged must either stoop, or scuttle hunched over like Quasimodo, until we can find a place between studs to stand without endangering our noggins.  Jerry has always liked his basement to retire (retreat?) to.  I recall when our youngest was 3 or so, I was making sure he knew where he lived and who lived with him.  He named himself, and me, and his three sibs, but left out his father.  “What about Dad?” I asked him.  “Oh, he lives in the basement,” Forrest replied.

After the basement was cleaned out, painted, more light fixtures installed, and made home to discarded furniture and rugs, it became almost habitable.  In case of gasoline shortage, a bicycle is at hand, and if things get really nasty there is a goodly supply of ammo.  It was time to provision!   While I was not as concerned about Y2K as Jerry, I didn’t discourage his new hobby.  I had never had a pantry before.  Too, it kept him off the streets, and I knew where he was and what he was doing.  But he did require a little direction.

His first purchases were these huge, institution-sized cans of pears, tomato sauce, and the like.  No, no, Jerry!  There is no way we can use this much food without it going bad.  And that defeats the purpose.  He countered with the proposal that we invite ‘everybody’ over to eat it up when we open big cans.  I didn’t like that idea either as I am supposed to be retired, too.  Feeding and cleaning up after ‘everybody’ is not my idea of retirement.

Canned goods in six-packs from Sam’s satisfied both of us.  Next came dry goods: sugar, flour, beans, rice, pasta and oats.  Oats!  He bought a hundred-pound bag of oats.  We sat down and had a little talk about rodents.  We talked about Rubbermaid containers, and freezer bags to hold smaller portions in the large containers.  (This is the man who bought a Rubbermaid shed for the side yard—he should know about Rubbermaid containers.)  Speaking of freezer bags, that reminds me.  Another purchase was a freezer for the basement.  A small chest-type freezer sitting under the old floor furnace also served to keep one from killing ones-self on the sharp corner of the furnace, now air return and filter portion of the a/c system.

Jerry’s next foray was to look for plastic containers.  “Do you know how much those things cost?” he exclaimed.  Next stop, Thrift Store.  Not only did he find large plastic containers with lids for a little bit of nothing, but somewhere he came up with a huge round, tall, tank-like container for water, which supplements the countless gallon jugs of water already stored.  Lack of water will not be a problem during Spring flooding, as the low spot in the basement fills up in no time and has to be pumped out daily.  He has an electric pump, but if the power goes he can always siphon it.   A propane lantern is standing by.  The spare gasoline and propane tanks and bottles are stored in the Rubbermaid shed–which will melt, but it will not rust!

Hank’s influence is still felt in his hand-me-down toys that Jerry inherited.  They include three Roman siege machines: trebuchet, catapult, and springal.  When I protested these would not be useful in a Y2K crisis, Jerry said, “Not unless I use them as models to build larger machines…”

Over time, the Y2K crisis lost its feeling of urgency, and the pantry (as the basement food storage system is now called) took on a life of its own.   The news stories assured us that Alabama Power is Y2K compliant, so it was safe to stock the freezer.  The shelves are almost full.  I can rustle up supper for six on a moment’s notice.  We’ve read stories saying that Mormons have always been counseled to have emergency supplies for their family, so now we are feeling proud that we, too, can feed our nearest and dearest for a good while, if worse comes to worse.

But if it doesn’t, the first thing I’m going to do is take those huge cans of pork and beans to the Jimmy Hale Mission. (And I did.)

Another day we world as we knew it ended: November 22, 1963.  Below, the newsroom watches JFK funeral.

Well, this is something I waited for, and have been waiting for.  I was prepared for Y2K, for whatever it might have brought. I had food, water, ammo,  and had been ordained as a minister beforehand- all the bases were covered. I am still wondering what happened.  I have a theory.

Some millennialists, theologians, end-times enthusiasts claim that, because the bible was written so long ago, dates and times may be off. This is the explanation we began hearing on the morning of January 1st, 2000. They said the return of Jesus may in fact be in the year 2002, 2006, 2009, maybe even 2011 (December 24th perhaps). I will continue using the year 2000 as my benchmark, as it supports my theory, which is this: Jesus came back, saw how we had messed everything up, decided he had done enough in the past (remember that whole cross incident?), and went home.  Simple.

But what would his father say? Hmm. Another simple answer, ala Southpark: “I sent you people my only begotten son, and he’s never been the same since.” (As Jesus twirled around, alone on a swing, staring off into the distance.) No wini, wici, widi. Rather wini, wici, defugere.

Its an explanation. And we humans need explanations. And I guess there is always the Tzolkin and the Haab; maybe the Maya have the answer.

‘No planes fell from the sky, but a lot happened to keep them from doing so’.

http://americanradioworks.publicradio.org/features/y2k/notebook.html

This is a common view of the Y2K bug among software engineers and IT professionals in Anglo-American societies. For them it may be true that their hard work saved civilization from digitally-challenged-date Armageddon, but everywhere else in the world, they did next to nothing and yet, conspicuously, planes still didn’t fall from the sky.

So what was going on?

The story of Y2K bug is a marvellous example of how our subjective conceptions don’t just shape our view of reality, they shape objective reality itself.

Was the Y2K bug a serious threat or not? You’d think there’d be a straight and clear answer to this question, but it seems impossible to find one. The distinction between subjective and objective truth appears to dissolve before our eyes and if it can do so in relation to a super-expensive, high-stakes, world-wide emergency like Y2K, where else can it similarly dissolve?

The outcome of the Y2K bug has been used as a vindication of the ‘precautionary principle’ but also as a critique of that principle and an argument in favour of the ‘fix on failure’ principle. Most of the positive reporting has focussed on the positive ‘unintended consequences’, the ‘surprising legacy’ of Y2K preparation (especially the structural development of the IT industry) rather than demonstrating that a disaster actually was averted.

Economist John Quiggin has been the single most cogent thinker on Y2K, especially since his measured scepticism predates the benefit of hindsight. Two of the points he makes are especially worth reflecting on: blame-allocation schemes generally produce bad policy; some form of institutionally-sanctioned scepticism is indispensable.

Below is a list of resources, placed in order of increasing depth of coverage/insight.

Newsweek’s list of most overblown fears

Article from Slate Magazine

US Senate Committee final report

Public Radio miniseries – the surprising legacy of Y2K

Phillimore, J and Davison, A (2002) A precautionary tale: Y2K and the politics of foresight. Futures, 34 (2). pp. 147-157.

John Quiggin paper

More Quiggin

For a fourcultures take on this kind of thing, see The Dam Bursts.

Early this week I posted a description of political correctness: “Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end.”

Under any definition, political correctness is a dangerous bastardization of reality.  However, it is now joined by the equally dangerous “scientific correctness”.

A disturbing trend creeping into in the scientific community allows the use of partial data to justify a political agenda.  This has included pandemic scares that never materialize and predicting catastrophes such as Y2K that were just dead wrong.  As costly as these mistakes have been they will be miniscule compared to the more recent proclamations that man has created the current global warming trend.

It has recently been discovered that scientists involved in the study of climate change have been hiding and fixing evidence of global cooling.  Computer hackers broke into the Climate Research Unit’s computer system at the University of East Anglia, England, disclosing emails that show evidence of data hiding and the destruction of documents that did not meet their desired conclusions about global warming.

Key figures in this evolving story are Professor Phil Jones, head of Climate Research Unit, and Professor Michael Mann of the Pennsylvania State University.  Following are excerpts from the released emails as reported in The Washington Times:

• Jones talked to Mann about the “trick of adding in the real temps to each series … to hide the decline [in temperature].”
• After getting caught, Mann’s excuse to the New York Times: “scientists often used the word ‘trick’ to refer to a good way to solve a problem ‘and not something secret.’”
• Jones told Mann: “If they ever hear there is a Freedom of Information Act now in the UK, I think I’ll delete the file rather than send to anyone” and, “We also have a data protection act, which I will hide behind.“
• Jones urged Mann to join him in deleting emails about the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s controversial assessment report (ARA): “Can you delete any emails you may have had with Keith re [the IPCC's Fourth Assessment Report]?”
• Jones told Mann, Professor Malcolm K. Hughes of the University of Arizona and Professor Raymond S. Bradley of the University of Massachusetts, Amherst: “I’m getting hassled by a couple of people to release the CRU station temperature data.  Don’t any of you three tell anybody that the UK has a Freedom of Information Act!“
• Jones told an academic, “I did get an email from the [Freedom of Information] person here early yesterday to tell me I shouldn’t be deleting emails.” And offered more tricks: “IPCC is an international organization, so is above any national FOI.  Even if UEA holds anything about IPCC, we are not obliged to pass it on.”

Irrespective of Professor Mann’s lame excuses and redefining “trick”, the evidence is clear.  These professors got caught manipulating “scientific” data to match a politically motivated conclusion.

While those who believe in the religion of man-made global warming will attempt to spin this into isolated incidents, that’s not credible.  These are but the scientists that got caught, a conclusion strengthened by the way many in the scientific community has shunned those with differing views, refusing to let them speak and the threat of finding cuts on those who dare to express a different conclusion.

What are the motivations behind the push to conclude that man-made global warming is an absolute fact, irrespective of scientific data?  For some on the political Left, they desires to move wealth from richer to poorer countries: i.e. redistribution of wealth.  For others, the motivation is simpler and less altruistic; just follow the money.  Who will benefit from the man-made global warming conclusion?  Governments will gain power as they control more aspects of the economy.  Industrial companies, such as General Electric, will receive billions from governments to produce green gadgets.  There is also the Wall Street financiers who are positioned to make a bundle on the trade of carbon credits under Cap and Trade.  Finally, let’s not forget the high-priests of this new religion, like Al Gore.  They have become rich preaching of the coming catastrophe.

The unintended consequences of the actions proposed by the Obama Administration to limit the use of carbon-based fuels is huge and potentially catastrophic.  It will affect jobs, food production and redistribution of wealth.  Before we commit to these radical steps we need to be sure of the science behind the theories of global warming.  Given the self interests and bias that has infected the science, the Obama Administration should immediately create a truly independent board of scientists to do a bottoms up investigation of all of the data.  Only this method can insure proceeding in a prudent way.

Given President Obama’s Leftist’s views on wealth redistribution, it is doubtful that real science will be allowed to triumph over politics.  Let’s remember that it was this same Leftist philosophy that only 30-years ago shut down our nuclear power growth.  These same folks were responsible for a the wrong decision that made this country more dependent on carbon-based fuels and will once again take us down the wrong path.  So the world turns!

Planestupid is a group dedicated to showing that human caused global warming is, in large part, caused by aircraft travel.

Where to start?

The revelations this week confirming many of the conspiratorial aspects of Al Gore’s Religion, Global Warming, raise a number of questions.

Should we trust scientists or the U.N.? —  It appears that many scientists were willing to shape experiments and data to fit their needs.  They also seems to be quite apt at using peer pressure to silence those who disagreed with their global warming mantra.  As such, many have proven to be untrustworthy.  It also appears that the U.N. did much the same thing by silencing descenters.  Trusting the U.N. has always been unwise but it now appears that to increase funding and gain more control over more people, the U.N. has again misled us.

Does Global Warming Exist? I don’t know.  I’m guessing that you don’t either.  It does appear that we all need to go back and actually study data and how it was obtained rather than choosing a political agenda and finding statistical data to support how we feel.

Is the use of carbon fuels by humans the cause of climate change? My guess is that it has an effect. I also guess that the effect is much smaller than we have been led to believe.  I continue to wonder about events like the Krakatoa Eruption o f ‘83.  If scientific estimates of the 1883 eruption are correct, it was over 10,000 times the destructive force of the Nuclear bomb detonated at Hiroshima.  Did it have an effect on global warming?  How big an effect compared to today’s use of carbon fuels?

How similar are the results of the campaigns to promote the Y2K disasters and the Global Warming disaster? A lot of people made a lot of money on the Y2K scare.  They sold computer upgrades, new programs, insurance, and you-name-it.  Many of these people did what they could to stir the pot and create the panic preceding Y2K.  My guess is that Al Gore has made a lot of money on global warming.  I know he has done a lot to promote it.  I think the similarity is great.  The difference is that we learned the falsehoods of the fear mongers on Y2K at shortly after midnight on January 1, 2000.  If Human Caused Global Warming is real and is as bad as Mr. Gore would have you believe, it will be too late to change our ways by the time we find out the truth.

We could get much closer to the truth if the U.N., many “scientists”, and all those who benefit from the fear of global warming would be honest.   This week’s revelations may help move us to more of the truth.

What should we do?

The 2012 movie came out on November 13. It was the number one movie in gross sales in its first week making $65 million. As a global disaster film of epic proportions, we wonder if the science fiction scenarios the movie depicts are purely fictional. Could it be that the science fiction is a portent of plausible future outcomes?

I found the movie to be engaging and highly entertaining. I saw it as a kind of video game. The lead character spends the whole movie dodging falling buildings, volcanic fireballs, and crumbling streets and runways.

I had no doubt he and his family would be there at the end along with, of course, the dog. So I see the movie as a kind of unwitting comedy.

The 2012 movie has the potential for negative cultural influence in two ways. In the first case, some people may take it as a credible foreshadowing of how 2012 will actually unfold.

Part of the promotion campaign for the movie was a website featuring a totally fictional Institute of Human Continuity where people could ostensibly sign up for a survival lottery. It’s clear the movie makers are trying to cash in on people’s fears of 2012.

In the second case, as a disinformation vehicle, the 2012 movie has the potential to reduce the whole 2012 phenomenon to ridicule. Then we are at risk of discounting the real challenges we face in the 2012 time.

In the interest of a grounded and realistic perspective on 2012, let’s look at some of the things the movie gets wrong. The movie makes some passing reference to the Mayan calendar which, as recorded on one monument, famously ends abruptly on December 21, 2012.

But there is no evidence at all that the Mayans predicted the world was going to end on December 21, 2012. The countdown to doomsday scenario is not in the Mayan record anywhere.

The Mayans just pointed their finger at the end of a great 25,800 year cycle. Starting with Jose Arguelles in his 1987 book, the Mayan Factor, it is modern humanity that has brought the issue of 2012 as a problematic time to prominence.

The dates for the earth change disasters are unclear in the movie. They ramp up starting in 2009 and it seems to all happen before the December 21, 2012 date.

The trigger is said to be the effect of neutrinos from the sun that somehow start behaving differently. Rather than passing through matter, the neutrinos engage with the earth core and heat up the core to the point where the crust becomes unstable.

The movie references the galactic alignment coming in 2012 where the plane of our solar system will intersect the center of the galaxy. This is supposed to somehow affect the sun which in turn affects the earth.

The neutrino idea is a movie gadget without even a hint of scientific plausibility. A basic change in elementary particle physics is not what we can expect from 2012.

It is true that scientists predict an increase in sun spot activity peaking in 2013. But this is just part of the normal cycle of solar activity. Sun spots have only a minor disruptive effect on our planet.

My clairvoyant reading is that we are not facing any sort of astronomically sourced catastrophic earth changes in the 2012 time. This reading falls in line with the best scientific information currently available.

Scientists tell us, and I clairvoyantly concur, that the sun’s output should be stable for at least another one billion years. My reading is we are not facing any major earth changes for the next 10,000 years.

And what’s happening in 10,000 years? My clairvoyant perspective is there will then be a change in magnetic polarity. But this pole reversal won’t have a devastating effect on the planet at that time.

The alignment with the galaxy center is a real astronomical event but seeing it as a countdown to doomsday makes no rational sense. This is an event which happens every 25,800 years as a result of the precession of the equinoxes. In the history of our planet, it has happened thousands of times before and the earth is still intact.

If there was some major planetary devastation happening on a regular 26,000 year cycle, it would certainly show up in the fossil record. There is simply no evidence at all this is true.

Is 2012 phenomenon then a kind of Y2K false alarm? In some ways 2012 repeats the millennial worst case scenarios where people thought the world would drastically change when 1999 became 2000.

In the case of both Y2K and 2012, some real event acts as an anchor for people’s projections. In Y2K it was the computer problem with the 2000 date and in 2012 it’s the galactic alignment.

In Y2K, the techies came in and fixed the computers. On January 1, 2000, it was business as usual. But 2012 is different. Here we are dealing with a phenomenon of far-reaching and substantial consequences.

We are indeed at a watershed in human history. Humanity has issues. We’re facing unprecedented challenges: global warming, planetary pollution, deforestation, species extinction, overpopulation in some countries, reduced birth rates and aging populations in others, pandemics that result from diseases jumping from animals to humans, natural resource exhaustion, economic turmoil.

The fate of humanity hangs in the balance. This fate will be decided by what we do in the next 20 years. Moreover, as a consequence of human actions, all life on the planet is in peril.

The apprehension of global disaster portrayed in the 2012 movie strikes a chord in us because we understand that, from one point of view, it would be divine justice if we were to suffer a massive die off of human beings.

We’re on the cusp of betraying the stewardship of the diversity of life on the planet, if we have not already done so. This stewardship comes from the fact that we are the one species that can manipulate the environment.

The good news is that the fate of humanity and the fate of life of earth are still, even at this late date, within our control. We don’t have to live in an ecologically adversarial relationship with the planet. We can move away from the disastrous perspective that all the resources of the planet are here to meet our human needs.

We have the capacity to respond to the growing ecological crisis on our planet. The response to the depletion of the ozone as a result of manmade chemicals is one positive example.

The perspective of seeing the 2012 time frame as a call to action gets lost in apocalyptic thinking and unfounded Chicken Little rumors like the return of a totally fictitious Planet X, Nibiru.

When in crisis, human beings unfortunately have a proclivity to seek distraction from the real issues by indulging in fiction and fantasy. 2012 as a countdown to doomsday is an egregious example.

The powerful emotions of fear and desire can keep us from seeing the future clearly. 2012 as doomsday feeds our fear. Equally pernicious is the desire to have 2012 mean something like rapture or ascension.

The spaceships are not going to come to take us to heaven. Nor will we experience such a kick start to our evolution that we no longer need physical bodies.

The distractions of doom or transcendence are comforting to us because, in both the worst and best case scenarios, there is no need to do anything. Our future is being determined by outside forces over which we have no control.

The real challenge we face in the 2012 time is to expand our consciousness and grow our spiritual intelligence. This impetus to a spiritual awakening of humankind does not come from a single source but from a convergence of sources. What’s sourcing 2012 will be a topic for another blog.

If we look at 2012 as a time frame that starts some years before 2012 and extends some years after, we can see a process underway to empower humanity to achieve the transformation needed for what will prove in the end to be a reinvention of civilization.

Humankind is not going to be allowed to fall through the cracks. Our billions of years of evolution are not taking us to a dead end in the 21st century.

Shaykh Muhammad Salih Al-Munajjid | Language: English | Format: PDF | Pages: 10 | Size: 1 MB
Praise be to Allaah Alone and blessings and peace be upon the one after whom there is no Prophet. The Standing  Committee on Academic Research and Issuing Fatwaas has reviewed the many questions and requests for fatwaas  submitted to His Excellence the Grand Mufti and forwarded to the Standing Committee from the general trust of the  Council of Senior ‘Ulamaa’ (no. 3825, dated 21/7/1420 AH). People have asked questions concerning the rulings on  paying attention to and celebrating the European (Gregorian) millenium, and others matters pertaining to this  event. It is sufficient for us to quote just two of the questions asked: In the first question, it is asked:  “Nowadays we are seeing media reports about the events and preparations leading to the Year 2000 CE and the  beginning of the third millenium. The kuffaar, Jews, Christians and others, are excited about this and are pinning  great hopes on this event. My question, O respected Shaykh, is this: some so-called Muslims are also showing  interest in this event and regard it as an auspicious time for getting married or doing certain things. Some of  them are advertising this event in their stores and companies etc., in ways that are offensive to Muslims. What is  the shar’i ruling on respecting this occasion, showing an interest in it, exchanging greeting on this occasion –  whether verbally or by sending cards – etc.? May Allaah reward you with much good on behalf of Islam and the  Muslims.”

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Hurricane Katrina was one of the greatest catastrophes to hit the United States.  Nearly 1,600 died in Louisiana alone with massive flooding in New Orleans when its levees failed.  The storm displaced about 300,000 people and caused over $80 billion in damage.  While a natural disaster was initially blamed for the damage, it is now evident that our government had significant responsibility.

In a scathing decision, US District Court Judge Stanwood Duval Jr. placed significant blame for the damage to New Orleans during the Hurricane squarely in the lap of the Army Corps of Engineers.  Judge Duval found that:

“It is the court’s opinion that the negligence of the Corps, in this instance by failing to maintain the MRGO [Mississippi River Gulf Outlet] properly, was not policy, but insouciance, myopia and short-sightedness,”

“For over 40 years, the Corps was aware that the Reach II levee protecting Chalmette and the Lower Ninth Ward was going to be compromised by the continued deterioration of the MRGO … The Corps had an opportunity to take a myriad of actions to alleviate this deterioration or rehabilitate this deterioration and failed to do so.  Clearly, the expression ‘talk is cheap’ applies here.”

“This court cannot but comment that the Corps’ approach reminds the court of the old adage, ‘Close your eyes and you become invisible,’”

“It is beyond arbitrary and capricious — it flies in the face of the purpose of NEPA [the National Environmental Policy Act] and ignores the very heart of what ‘operation’ means,”

Referring to the Corps’ actions: “were in direct contravention of professional engineering and safety standards,” ……. “… Ignoring safety and poor engineering are not policy, and clearly the Corps engaged in such activities.”

According to Duval, the MRGO channel that was managed by the Army Corps of Engineers was not properly maintained.  As a result, it widened with erosion and deteriorated making the walls vulnerable to waves from Lake Borgne.  This led to levee failure and subsequent flooding of portions of New Orleans.

The Court’s ruling was in favor of a half dozen plaintiffs whose property was damaged by Katrina.  While the damages amounted only to about $700,000, there were 100,000 homes and businesses in the affected parish and Lower 9th Ward.  Judge Duval’s ruling will lead to compensation for many more.  So, first taxpayers pay to build the levees and maintain them and now we get to pay for the incompetence of our government.  Look for a multi-billion dollar bill added to our already ballooning deficit.

If government caused catastrophes like Katrina were isolated, it could be passed off as a bad mistake.  However, it is not.  Governments have a history of creating “mistakes” that are very expensive.  Whether it is construction projects such as Katrina, scientific/system failures as in the space shuttle Challenger disaster, wrongly predicting oncoming events such as Y2K, or not properly managing agencies such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, the government’s track record is very poor.

Given the recent letdowns of the private sector such as the Wall Street banks, some Americans look to government for the cure.  If history is the judge, it indicates that the cure is often worse than the disease!

Here’s an email that was sent on the morning of January 1st, 2000.  Just one of the many tragedies of that fateful day.  DY

To: y2kprep@australia.gov

From: vptransportation@australia.gov

Subject: Disaster

Our worst fears have been realized.  We should have followed the lead of the United States and devoted a minimum of a hundred billion dollars to solve this problem.  Unfortunately, it is now too late.  This morning, bus ticket validation machines across our fair nation are failing.  We’ve made our bed and now me must lie in it.  That’s right, our bed is inappropriate preparation for potential computer ailments, and our lying in it is the tremendous inconvenience of not being able to properly validate our bus tickets.  We were warned.  We should have listened.

By Madeline Twomey

A two-part Slate article, recently re-blogged on the New York Times’ “Green Inc,” (‘Energy, the Environment, and the Bottom Line’) discusses the Y2K scare and its application to the current global warming crisis.

Y2K and global warming are both issues that inherently generate talk about “the future.” Y2K was about this technological unknown: would computers really shut down on January 1, 2000? …And global warming has been fighting non-believers for years: will sea levels really rise? Will there be noticeable temperature changes? Will polar bears really become extinct?, etc. The future is a hard concept to grasp and it’s even harder to rally people behind the unknown. But what began as a problem only in the tech-world, with little work being done at the time to find a solution, soon became a universally-accepted, serious concern among political elites.

How can we make this happen with global warming? With its similar skeptical beginning, how can we make people care? It’s the same question we, as Planet Forward journalists, have been looking to answer for months now.

But Google “Y2K and global warming” and you’ll get 128,000 results, mostly of people who remember Y2K as a scam, and view global warming in a similar light.  When the world didn’t end on that January 1^st, the public simply thought there was never a problem, not that it had been solved.

The author of the two articles, Slate technology columnist Farhad Manjoo, discusses this phenomenon in the first of the two articles. Manjoo asks the question:

“Say we go through flu season and see relatively few deaths from H1N1. Does that mean that swine flu was overhyped or that the massive vaccine program worked? Each side in the debate will be free to draw its own conclusions—and you can be sure they will.”

In his argument, Manjoo makes an accurate and unfortunate comparison between Y2K and global warming.  But even now, looking at a clip of Leonard Nimoy’s 48-minute long “Y2K Family Guide,” (below), it’s hard not to laugh.

We can’t let this happen to global warming; what can we do to stop it?

          Growing up in society, we as human beings have learned the value of filtering the information we receive on a daily basis. That’s why when grandpa starts talking about the second gunman on the grassy knoll we start looking at them and thinking about how much it sucks to be old. Not believing every single thing you hear is a basic requirement of survival. So when I hear that people believe the world is going to end in 2012 based upon an ancient Mayan prophesy I did what any fiscally responsible person would do and started buying futures in bibs, wheelchairs, and applesauce- Because people are retarded.

When shit goes down everyone will have one brand of retard food to turn to.

          For the lucky people out there who haven’t heard about this metaphorical golden shower upon our collective intelligence, the 2012 Doomsday Theory is just what it sounds like- a prediction that the world is going to end/explode/melt in 2012 and people will be all like “ooh whatcha say?”, except they won’t because they’ll all be dead.

          First off, this theory holds less water than a Louisiana levy. Secondly, you’re basing your beliefs upon the prophecy of a man who was the Mayan Empire’s version of the ignorant billboard guy outside of Woodburn. Lastly, for those of you who went to a charter school, the Mayans weren’t exactly the valedictorians of their time. It’s hard to be taken seriously as an empire when you lost to food poisoning. You also lose credit when “Virgin Knifing” and “Decapitated Head Basketball” were your national pastimes. It’s also not a good sign when a movie about your bullshit theory comes up on Google Search before a site about your actual bullshit theory.

Back in their time, these guys were called "The Yankees"

          Specifically, this theory states that the world will come to an end on December 21 of 2012, which is 12/21/12. Since ominous numerically based chaos theories have had such a good run in the past it’s safe to say people shouldn’t be taking this situation lightly. Seriously, I was 12 years old and I knew Y2K was some “ish”. Despite this, there are still those people who have bought completely into this idea, the type of people who bring their own bag into the grocery to save trees.

           One such individual is a man by the name of Dennis McClung, who has created a website called 2012supplies.com that sells “disaster preparedness survival supplies”. Seriously. Upon hearing this I decided to put the hentai and Crackerjacks to the side and do some serious investigative journalism for once. Upon entering the site, instead of a finding viruses or Rick Astley horse porn like I had expected to, I found products to save myself from the impending “whatever is going to happen on 2012”.

Right before the horses showed up.

            Some of the products on the site were gas powered generators, flashlights, food rations, and the “Gotta have it” size tubs of potassium iodide (for those late night radiation resistance cravings). The only problem with the site was that they didn’t have any of the things I needed for when the world explodes. The “Lifetime Supply of Air” was all out of stock and contrary to popular belief, space blankets don’t work in space.

Posted by Audiegrl

“There apparently is a great deal of interest in celestial bodies, and their locations and trajectories at the end of the calendar year 2012. Now, I for one love a good book or movie as much as the next guy. But the stuff flying around through cyberspace, TV and the movies is not based on science. There is even a fake NASA news release out there…”~~Don Yeomans, NASA senior research scientist

NASA—Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won’t be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice.

Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we’re frequently asked regarding 2012.

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

Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012?
A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 — hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012.

Q: 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.

Q: Could a phenomena occur where planets align in a way that impacts Earth?
A: There are no planetary alignments in the next few decades, Earth will not cross the galactic plane in 2012, and even if these alignments were to occur, their effects on the Earth would be negligible. Each December the Earth and sun align with the approximate center of the Milky Way Galaxy but that is an annual event of no consequence.

Q: Is there a planet or brown dwarf called Nibiru or Planet X or Eris that is approaching the Earth and threatening our planet with widespread destruction?
A: Nibiru and other stories about wayward planets are an Internet hoax. There is no factual basis for these claims. If Nibiru or Planet X were real and headed for an encounter with the Earth in 2012, astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Eris is real, but it is a dwarf planet similar to Pluto that will remain in the outer solar system; the closest it can come to Earth is about 4 billion miles.

Q: What is the polar shift theory? Is it true that the earth’s crust does a 180-degree rotation around the core in a matter of days if not hours?
A: A reversal in the rotation of Earth is impossible. There are slow movements of the continents (for example Antarctica was near the equator hundreds of millions of years ago), but that is irrelevant to claims of reversal of the rotational poles. However, many of the disaster websites pull a bait-and-shift to fool people. They claim a relationship between the rotation and the magnetic polarity of Earth, which does change irregularly, with a magnetic reversal taking place every 400,000 years on average. As far as we know, such a magnetic reversal doesn’t cause any harm to life on Earth. A magnetic reversal is very unlikely to happen in the next few millennia, anyway.

Q: Is the Earth in danger of being hit by a meteor in 2012?
A: The Earth has always been subject to impacts by comets and asteroids, although big hits are very rare. The last big impact was 65 million years ago, and that led to the extinction of the dinosaurs. Today NASA astronomers are carrying out a survey called the Spaceguard Survey to find any large near-Earth asteroids long before they hit. We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs. All this work is done openly with the discoveries posted every day on the NASA NEO Program Office website, so you can see for yourself that nothing is predicted to hit in 2012.

Q: How do NASA scientists feel about claims of pending doomsday?
A: For any claims of disaster or dramatic changes in 2012, where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact. There is no credible evidence for any of the assertions made in support of unusual events taking place in December 2012.

Q: Is there a danger from giant solar storms predicted for 2012?
A: Solar activity has a regular cycle, with peaks approximately every 11 years. Near these activity peaks, solar flares can cause some interruption of satellite communications, although engineers are learning how to build electronics that are protected against most solar storms. But there is no special risk associated with 2012. The next solar maximum will occur in the 2012-2014 time frame and is predicted to be an average solar cycle, no different than previous cycles throughout history.

Addition information concerning 2012

NASA Astrobiology Institute: “Nibiru and Doomsday 2012“

Bad Astronomy: “The Planet X Saga: The Scientific Arguments in a Nutshell“

Sky and Telescope Magazine: “2012: The Great Scare“

Dan Brown’s New Book, 2012 – Are You Ready for the Consciousness Shift?

The 2012 Phenomenon Plus 10 Failed Doomsday Predictions

Why the World Will NOT End in 2012: NASA Scientist Debunks Conspiracy Theories

(post title stolen shamelessly from Balloon Juice category name)

I culd easily rattle off on this topic for pages, but I’ll try to keep it short. Fuck 2012. I refer to the Apocalypse-porn movie. Its plot is based loosely on a bunch of bullshit about how because the ancient Mayan calendar ends on December 21, 2012, that THE WORLD IS GOING TO END nothing will happen. I hate the End Timers who celebrate this type of Doomsday porn. I hate that Sony might make a very nice profit from promoting fear, paranoia, and general irrationality. And it’s only 2009 now. Just wait until the actual date rolls around. I predict the needless bullshit it generates will be almost as bad as Y2K.

In order to make myself seem a little more rational about all this, I should probably give at least one reason why I feel this way. The Earth has been around for billions of years, and human-like creatures have been living on it for millions. And in all that time, the world has kept on ticking. But despite that, there is a very sizeable part of the population that is convinced that they will be the ones to see the world end. And worse yet is that many of them are actively hoping for it to happen. And even worse still is that many of those people are motivated by religious reasons. But for those of us who believe that there is no afterlife, I’d prefer to ride this life out as long as I can instead of praying for the destruction of billions of people.

You remember games you used to play when you were kids?  I do…we played in “the fort”  see the fort was a giant honey suckle bush in the middle of our neighborhood.  What adds an extra layer to this game though was the fact that i lived on a military base.  So of  course even though we didn’t know what our fathers did…we knew ranks…and we thought that shit was cool…so we all had ranks for the fort.  And there were 3 brothers on the corner that were the highest ranking.  Nate of course was the highest rank…cuz he was 13 and that was fucking ancient.  He would play with us every now and then (this was through my 2nd and 3rd grade years)…and play in the fort with us….But the funny thing was…we thought he was doing us a favor..but in real life he was torturing us.  Dude could have done anything…he was 13 so he was a god.  So i remember specifically one way to try and get promoted was…He stood at the top of his hill and drove golf balls at us and his friend chucked footballs at us.  It was like hamburger mother fucking hill…well hamburger hill jr.  Me and my friends looking at each other with this sense of horror and greed.  As we dodged golf balls and got pelted in the face with footballs we were also kicking each others asses.  I got to the hill first but to my shock…Aaron that mother fucker (just so happened to be nate’s brother) he got the same rank as me!  

Now what you have to understand is how retarded this all is….I ran up a hill while Nate got out his dad golf clubs and took hacks at us….I’m not upset that i got pelted with various sports projectiles…i’m pissed because of the rank i got inside the honey suckle bush.  See this bush was gigantic.  It could fit about 10 of us inside the middle…because for whatever reason it was kind of hollow in the middle…we had chair and dug out benches and everything.  But it was a strict hierarchy….and no one could really join…well for the time being atleast.  When you saw someone that wasn’t part of the fort you either threw rocks at them or beat them up.  In fact once we found this annoying kid Bradley’s backpack…full of his toy guns and burnt the whole thing in the woods….starting a mini forest fire that i frantically stomped out with my bare feet.

See i guess playing “Fort” should have been playing anarchy…or Soviet Society.  But we kept going.  Eventually Nate and Aaron moved away and i was forced to leave the fort to someone else that was there.  I just remember my last day there as i handed him our broom…and told him all the rules…demanded he swept the floor (because nothing’s more important than making sure our dirt floor is clean)….and then left.  Thinking….its all over…can’t believe that kid’s in charge.

Other things from this period of my life…

Other games

The Creek: OH THE FUCKING CREEK!  Catching frogs, tadpoles, fish, newts, lizards and the illusive snake or turtle (who were like the gold fucking medals)

….and one time we found this bank of clay…and filled up buckets of it…we were soooo happy…guess who wasn’t so happy.  Dad…yeah Dad came out wondering how we were having suck a good time and then realized that we were having a ‘clay fight’ on the porch….the bricks…chairs…trash can…were all covered….Dad put an end to that game pretty quick…and shortly after i thought my dad was going to put an end to me…but rightly so..anyways…my tears started…i got a tongue lashing and was told to clean it up…still….i didn’t realize how much i had fucked things up until the next day when i saw how the splats of clay i missed basically turned into cement.  Seems like dad was justified…and probably wondering if his first born child was mildly retarded.

Then my mom got a doseage of my little retarded mind when i engadged in dirt fights on the play ground.  We would take a pack of our school paper and put loose dirt in a peice and then wind it up into a packet…then you would wing them at each other…and if you hit someone you watched the very satifying EXPLOSION of dirt when they got hit.  Big suprise…mom didn’t approve of this game as i came home literally covered from head to toe in dirt….and i had used up all my paper for school.  But me thinking i was sneaky would try to play dirt wars and just not get dirty…What little kid fucked up logic makes you think you’re not gonna get dirty playing dirt wars?  I still don’t know…but i threw on my MC Hammer multicolored pants and went to dirt wars round 2, 3, and 4 and every day i got home and didn’t get yelled at i felt like 00 fucking 7.  In reality my mom was probably just too tired to explain the stupidity of playing dirt wars and all the extra work i was causing her.

We caught bees in jars and then shook the jar up so they would fight each other and would bet on the winners.

I discovered mom can’t hear everything you say….and started cussing with a fury that could never be matched again.  I cuss a good amount now…but 3rd grade Rudy was on a fucking tear.  Every other word….though atleast i wasn’t the annoying kid that cussed and didn’t know how to know the words (“Oh yeah? Shut your bitch fuck” for example).  

When you played sports on base…it was awesome cuz very few people had fences…so you had HUGE fields to play on…however the gutters seemed to swallow every ball.  Nothing was worse than seeing your brand new ball bounce into the sewer drain….But…when we had heavy rains…JACKPOT…you’d hop on your bike and hit all the drains…by the end of the day you were like a 2nd grade version of a millionaire….”Yeah, thats a NERF ball….and it whistles”  

What was so great about riding bikes?  What you wanna do?  ”I dunno wanna ride bikes”  Me and Ant have both agreed that this was the greatest game/activity ever…but you never had an actual plan…you’d just ride around doing nothing…fucking great days.

One more….brilliant game my parents came up with.  ”Lets see who can pick up the most cigarette butts”  Me and my brother would be sent out to the yard with an empty coffee can each…and we got a nickle per butt.  You’d never seen two kids tear across a yard that fast…fucking thing was spotless….i was trying to count half cigarette butts as whole ones…picking up anything that resembled trash trying to pass it off as legit…the whole time thinking of the X-Men toy sitting on the rack at the mall about to be bought by a kid luckier than myself.

A game i didn’t play…”trucks” or “cars”  fuck those games…seriously…what do you do in those games…you just made car sounds and moved em back and forth over and over again.  Weak. 

I haven’t been scared this bad of new year’s since Y2K…you know why?  Because i’m figuring its my last year with hair.  I flipped the light on in the bathroom and what do i see?  It looked like the woods ouside my window….you know how a forest looks in the winter?  You see a shit load of trees but you can still see the houses or the road through it….same shit…i can see each individual hair and while there is still coverage…i that shits not gettin any buds when it gets warmer out.  So we play this same kind of game of roulette where i get my hair cut and we see what grows back…fuck!