Merry Christmas!

A Jolly Old Elf

Today we got a little coal in our stockings (going over the fiscal cliff), but we also were given one huge early present … the world does not seem to be ending as per the Mayan calendar.  Thank you Santa Claus!

The End is Near

There are three doomsday predictors now in the news.  Viz:

- This Saturday, May 21st is believed by many Evangelical Christians to be the Rapture -- or Judgement Day when good Christians will ascend directly into heaven while the rest of us will suffer, at the best, a long-lasting purgatory. See: The Rapture.  I'm hoarding lots of reading material.

- For some reason (lack of space?), the Mayan calendar ends on December 21st, 2012 (as per transposition to our calendar).  See: Mayan Terminus. This has caused additional consternation among many of the people who expect to live beyond this Saturday's Rapture.   I, myself, truly hope that this prediction only applies to Mayans.

- Many Iranians, including Ahmadinejad, expect the 12th (Shiite) Muslim Imam to emerge soon (perhaps August 22nd of this year) from a well somewhere and declare that the end of the world is at hand (what Christians call Armageddon.)  See: 12th Imam.  Does this then mean that the Iranians may have developed one or more A-bombs?

The fact that these three different apocalypse-predictor groups seem to agree that ultimate times will soon be upon us is a little disconcerting ... and don't forget, I haven't even included Al Gore's dire warnings.

The Unraveling

Do you have the uncomfortable feeling that things around here are unraveling? I do:

- Iran is preparing its people for the emergence of the twelfth Imam (see: Mahdi Is Near ) signaling the apocalypse.
- Japan is handling the nuclear catastrophe at Fukushima a little like “Brownie” handled Katrina.
- The global-warming farce has devolved into “climate charge.” Does this then mean we are now headed into the next Ice Age?
- Many American states are facing the specter of bankruptcy as opposed to more public-union coddling.
- Regarding Libya, our man-child President, Obama, has now taken both sides of the Qadaffi-must-go and our-national-vital-interest issues.
- Bahrain, Syria and Yemen are in full popular revolt with other Middle Eastern nations teetering on the brink.
- Serious earthquakes are now rumbling around the world: Japan, New Zealand and Myanmar. The one in Japan shifted the island by a full eight feet!
- The housing and employment crises in the United States seem insoluble by an administration distracted by world events and vacation planning.
- Many people are distressed by the Mayan calendar’s indicating that the end of the world may occur late next year (see: Mayan Calendar).
- Back in the United States, Democrats are playing chicken with the Republicans about a government shutdown ... seeming to prefer national insolvency rather than losing the next elections.

So, “keeping our heads when all others are loosing theirs” will become much more difficult … particularly once Shiria law is endorsed by our Obama-packed Supreme Court.

Afterthought: If, as predicted, the twelfth Imam doesn't make an appearance in a reasonable period of time, will Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and the Iranian Ayatollahs take the Heaven's-Gate way out of this embassament.  Gee, I hope so.