Nov. 4, 2005
FORUM
Page 11
Greensboro. N.C.
www.guilfordian.com
Mayan calendar predicts Armageddon
tAegan Feil
Staff Writer
It's the end of the world as we
know it...
And I feel fine. How about
you? According to Robert Frost,
"Some say the world will end in
fire, Some say in ice." What do you
think?
The discussion about the infa
mous end of the world is back. It
appeared shortly
before the new millen
nium and has now
returned with, ironi
cally, more vitality.
Perhaps these predic
tions are more accu
rate than some may
think.
Recently in our
world, several devas
tating events have
occurred. Thoughts
that all of this stuff
cannot be a coinci
dence became promi
nent in everyone's
mind. First, there were
terrorist attacks, then
war, then a tsunami,
then hurricane
Katrina, what is to fol
low?
Some are saying
this obviously means
the end of the world is
near. Well you know it
is getting close to Dec.
21, 2012.
According to the
Thompson Projection,
this date is, of course,
"the last day ever
according to the
ancient Mayan calen
dar" - the day where
some believe the world
will come to an end.
The Mayans pre
dicted many things on
their calendars back in
755 A.D., and many
scientists have trans
lated these predictions to our cal
endar. Their findings can be found
at lost-civilizations.net.
The Mayans marked on their
calendar the total solar eclipse on
July 11, 1991. This of course did
happen and so did the prophecies
that came along with it: cosmic
awareness and earth changes.
That evening, 17 different people
sighted a silvery disc-shaped
object hovering over Mexico City,
and a once dormant volcano.
Mount Popocateptl, suddenly
became active.
The Mayans predicted that
Sept. 11, 2001, would represent
change in the physical and materi
al world. They said that the day
the U.S. attacked Afghanistan
would settle an imbalance.
Their calendars showed days
that empower certain energies
and diminish others. They used
these, along with their astronomi
cal knowledge, to make predic
tions far into the future.
It's amazing how these events
actually happened true to their
calculation. It makes me think that
they knew what they were talking
about and something will happen
on Dec. 21, 2012.
The question that needs to be
answered, I believe, is "What
exactly is meant by the end of the
world?" There are so many possi
bilities for how the projected
apocalypse could occur.
If we go with the Mayans, sci
entists are saying that day is a
transition of our planetary system
into a true alignment with the core
of our galaxy. Because this is an
anomaly, many changes will
occur. Nobody seems to know
exactly what though, and the end
of the world seems like a possibil
ity.
Maybe it's God
trying to tell us that we are
no longer even worthy of
Earth because we have
destroyed so much already.
Perhaps, if the previous
hypothesis is true, it could
be either the end of human
existence, as we know it, or
the beginning of a new
human existence.
Either way, it would be
"the end of the world as we
know it," just like the R.E.M.
song says. I wonder if the
Mayans predicted that
R.E.M. would write that.
Too many horrible things
have gone on recently. I
think it's a sign that these
are happening so close to
2012.
What makes this predic
tion so compelling is that
there is history, recently, of
others of their predictions
coming true.
You have to give the
Mayans credit for that; it's
not like anybody researches
the Mayan calendar for a
good day to, say, crash into
the Twin Towers. It can't
just be a coincidence
because their calendars are
too precise for that.
It's really eerie to think
that our generation will be
living right up to, and per
haps after, this astonishing
prophecy made thousands
of years ago.§€
The angry gods of capitalism: are they destroying our world?
Kyle Brebner
Staff Writer
Something is causing an increase in nat
ural disasters. It seems that over the last
several years, storms have grown more
intense, causing panic, fear, and far too
many deaths. So why is this happening
now? Could it be that humans have
brought these events upon themselves?
Everyone has heard about the looming
threat of global warming, and it is known
that warmer water temperatures cause
more hurricanes. This year's hurricane sea
son is among the worst ever recorded.
This year has seen an extremely destruc
tive tsunami in Asia, mudslides and flood
ing in Central America, melting icecaps in
the poles, wildfires in the western United
States, severe droughts and starvation in
ATfrica, and several other catastrophes.
So if global warming and environmental
destruction are in fact causing more natural
disasters, can anyone be blamed? The
answer is a resounding "Yes!" Narrow
minded, corporate, greedy, money-driven
Westerners are ruining our world in more
ways than one.
For the sake of profit (so they can gain
more material possessions for themselves),
these are the people emitting harmful tox
ins and greenhouses gases into the atmos
phere. Unfortunately, they are fighting to
maintain the current trend.
The U.S. government, to protect the
interests of politicians' corporate buddies.
continues to reject the internationally rati
fied Kyoto Protocol, which calls for a reduc
tion of emissions.
It is these folks who tear down trees,
causing deforestation, which leads to mud
slides. It is they too who are depleting the
world of its natural resources, causing peo
ple to starve, and interfering with disaster
relief aid.
These greedy western capitalists are
turning our world, the most precious asset
of humanity into an uninhabitable place.
They must be stopped.
Perhaps these natural disasters are
Nature's way of warning us to change our
ways. The entire world is in a state of panic
and fear because of this. Unfortunately,
Nature is too often going after the wrong
people. It is often the poor that are most
directly harmed by these natural disasters,
not those rich money-hungry fools.
It seems like Nature may be smarter and
more malignant then we have thought. We
have been pushing its buttons for too long
now and it's not going to sit back and while
they wreak havoc. People all over the world
need to show Nature that we are on her
side, and not on the side of capitalist
destruction.
This is not easy to do, though. It involves
adapting our way of life. We need to learn
how to consume less and think twice about
many of the things we are so accustomed to
doing. Even though people don't typically
enjoy altering their ways, if we don’t,
humans will not be here much longer.