Armageddon..."There is Still Time"

[MissJeanavive]

This week on History Channel is Armageddon Week; perhaps it would be more correct to call it 'Our Future?'. Last night I started watching the episode 'Nostradamus: 2012' and had to tape the rest. He supposedly predicted WWI WWII and they point out as a people that 'we have a choice' and there is two paths.

Ironically right now I am watching the movie 'On the Beach' 1959 (Nevil Shute's Doomsday Novel)...what a horribly romantic tragedy that gives me chills because of the true possibility of it all...with predictions and authors from the past depicting such stories it makes one wonder...I have always had a feeling that one day I would be a survivor; of what I don't know...I will be a Sarah Connor determined to live.

Looking back at history and looking where we are today? What do you think?

 

[Slim Portly]

I think survival in any given situation is preparedness plus attitude plus a bit of luck, and the more you are prepared and the firmer your resolve, the less luck you need. If you are going to be a survivor then there is much you can be doing in the meantime. I started preparing for the worst eventuality over twenty years ago. What are the steps that others here have taken?

 

[HungaryTom]

Don't worry

Seeing the itinery of that Channel -trying hard to get attention by presenting cc. depressing stuff the guys are overdoing it a little bit.

I envision the brainstorming sessions when management board decides it should be dark and bitter as much as possible and then the production guys went out to cherry pick the horrors from the annals of written history, natural science, apocalyptic literature, fine arts, science fiction, prophecies, movies and whatnot.

All this to cross the sensibility threshold of hardboiled media consumers being bombarded with negative impulses 7/24 – and to get the viewing numbers.
The decision to air the output during the coldest and darkest period of the year…in ole times people used to relax and celebrate carnivals these days - much better and balanced way to begin the new year.

This is why I changed my media habits and rely rather on internet and books -where I can select the kind of incoming information.

 

[pigeon toe]

Personally, I'm excited for 2012, precisely because...nothing will happen! I'm an anxious person, so I keep telling myself all of this talk is nonsense. I mean, look what happened with 2000? A whole lot of nothing.

 

[LordBest]

Nostradamus was an excellent prophet, in that everything he wrote was so vague it could be interpreted a thousand different ways, and it gets even more fun when you remember there are many different translations as well. He also wrote a cookbook, which I hope is less open tp interpretation.
The 2000 stuff was a whole lot of rot, with the majority of people seeming to forget that the new milennium did not start until January 1st, 2001.
Personally I get very suspicious when people start talking about armageddon and apocalypse and whatnot. Too much puritanism, not enough rationalism, on the whole.

 

[John in Covina]

Be Prepared

Preparing for end of the world scenarios are a bit difficult but it's all possible to do with some investment of time and money.

However, it does not take the end of the world to be in deep trouble if you are not prepared for some of life's eventualities.

Here in California it's good to have some camping stuff and canned goods in case of an earthquake. We also can get really wild weather so fires, wind storms and floods are not off the list. A bugout bag and plans for moving the important stuff quick makes sense. Some supplies and equipment to get you by in the car and additional stuff at work. Save a pair of old sneakers that are serviceable and comfy at work or in the car in case you need to walk home, you be glad if those dress shoes are the least bit uncomfortable and need not get wrecked. A first aid kit is good to have.

Bizzards and Ice Storms can make life at home pretty miserable in many areas.

I have been thru Hurricanes and had to help out a bit with the aftermath.

Natural disasters come and go to all of the areas.

What about man made disasters like Bho Pal where the chemical plant went up and created toxic gas wiping out thousands, knowing what's around at home and work and even along the commute is important, plus a what to do plan. The local Nuclear plant decides to leak radiation, then there are terrorist activities - NBC Nuclear, biological, chemical. Something big comes along and there is rioting in the big city.

To quote a famous film "Speed" What do you do?! While you don't have to dwell on the problems constantly, it is always good to know where you are and how to get out. A plan is a good thing to have.

 

[KY Gentleman]

No one knows when the end will come and when it does it will be too late.
Live a life you can enjoy and be proud of.
Remember we all have had our moments, too...

 

[Mojito]

I remember watching a show on Nostrodamus when I was a little kiddie - it aired in about 1982 or so on HBO. It terrified me...apparently the world was going to be plunged into famine in 1986, which would in the following couple of years lead to a global war! Essentially, it would all be over by 2000.

These prophesies are so vague that that can only really effectively be applied in retrospect. I seem to recall that Hitler and some of his followers read them as a prediction that he would win WWII.

Something catastrophic could happen to significantly damage or even destroy our individual lives, our neighbourhood, our nations or even our world at almost any given time. So I agree with the posters above - love life and live it.

 

[Undertow]

Unfortunately for Earth, the end of the World has been foretold in countless prophecies by saints and mad men alike. Even the New Testament keeps us on our feet saying Jesus will return like a thief in the night.

Luckily, the World has not yet ended for most of us.

The fact is this; we don't know the time, the date, the place, the how, the why, etc., and no matter how mad it makes us, we're not going to know. I think its written within our very fiber to fear the end and thus many that once walked the land foretold the end.

 

[Story]

Worked in the Emergency Operations Center on New Year's Eve, 1999. Was a pretty good party after midnight. :cheers1:


www.ready.gov

 

[Dewhurst]

I have always sorta preferred the end of game scenario that details the earth passing through a "cloud" of interstellar gas, that we are unaware of or unable to detect, that eradicates all life on the planet (or at least our kind of life, the microbes might survive? Sarah Connor, the Microbe!).

I think I read that in one of Neil deGrasse Tyson's books as a sort of joke. Good stuff.

In all honesty? I'm more concerned with what I will be having for dinner tonight than I am that the world will end in 2012.

 

[MissJeanavive]

1950's Cold War Propaganda - Fallout shelter

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[MissJeanavive]

Survival Under Atomic Attack

"Face with out Panic the reality of our time; the fact that atom bombs may be dropped on our cities"

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Media has been scaring us into dizzies for years...

 

[HungaryTom]

The Day after movie has been a real straightforward film on nuke – it had some Soviet counterpart.

I remember my dad coming home as an X-Ray doctor/reserve Lietenant from the Hungarian People’s Army reherseal in the early 1980s or so where the main message was that the amassing of the arms will inevitably result in a war somewhere around 1988.

Belive or not I also had dreams that look like Nostradamus prophecy or a flashback from those nuke clips -side effect of the media I consumed? Sometimes I dreamt of events or situations that later came true – but I don’t think that I am a prophet, since there was no ticker with the exact DD/MM/YY attached.

The Bible code with the end of the world forecasts for 2000 or 2006 did not came true –still the Middle East remains a crisis herd the WMD are there, avian flu, ebola etc. exist so chances remain. I did not revert to the author to claim back the money for the bad mood I got plus the failed forecasts – I am simply glad that I am still around.

I remember the talk of a mate in elementary school about an asteroid collapsing the Earth in a few years – this was also early 1980s. Which came true but luckily in a bit different way – saw the National Geographic VHS on the Shoemaker-Lévy comet impacting the Jupiter + the Catskill meteorite hitting a Chevy.

The shower of Gamma rays coming from a close supernova caused also a wave of mass extinction in marine life some 540 million yrs ago - or was it one year later?

As it has been said before the menace coming from micro- and macrocosmos is there. Still all this talk is rather like an insurance broker technology when they appeal on the inner fear of the client in order to close the contract.

The first Hungarian King St. Stephen I. was crowned during Christmas 1000 A.D. – people awaited another End of the World for 1 Jan 1001 A.D. His personal end came in mid-August 38 years later so the world ended for him- but his legacy remains in other words he kinda survived.

 

[MrNewportCustom]

If you really want a scare, go to the Meteor Crater near Winslow, Arizona: There's a chart in the museum showing comets, meteors and asteriods that are approaching Earth (each one setting a new speed record), and whose paths may very well put one or another on a collision course with our little floating rock. Kinda makes one wonder just how important an ancient calendar can be, doesn't it? (I don't mean to disappoint anyone, but not one of those entities is expected to have it's travels interupted by Earth's gravitational pull anytime soon.)

Life is too long to be burdened by such trivialities as predictions of the end of times. If people would just stop and think for a moment, they'd realize that these guesses ("I guess the world is going to end soon.") have all been made over and over and over again, ad nauseum. With a huge emphasis on NAUSEUM. The end of times has been predicted many, many times over and for times that have already passed us by; some by years and some by centuries. Heck, the Hale Boppers predicted that the Earth would be "recycled" (wiped clean) as recently as 1997. (Granted, this prediction was not based on any calendar, but I'll bet they used one to X-out the days until the big event.) The last time I checked, we were still here.

I mean, think about it: The predictions of 2012 are based on the theory that the Mayan calendar ends on December 12, 2012 (I've read reports to the contrary). Well, sheesh! We currently use the Gregorian Calendar, and it ends every December 31. Did the world end a few days ago? Has it ever ended when any other calendar has ended? Evidence proves a huge negatory on that scenario. So with that in mind, I ask; What makes the Mayan calendar more important than any other? What makes it a predictor of anything, let alone an event as important as when we'll no longer be around to worry about such trivialities as when we'll no longer be around?

Of course if I'm wrong about the calendar, then we won't have to worry about the mess those pesky little pebbles in outer space may or may not cause, will we?

Enjoy life: It's the only one you've got.


Lee

Yep, still here.

 

[Baggers]

Media has been scaring us into dizzies for years...

I didn't see anything wrong with those two clips. They provided very practical instructions in the event of a nuclear attack. Oh, you're correct that the media has been scaring us, but the purpose was to convince us that such an event would not be survivable.

Cheers!

 

[Story]

http://www.victorysiren.com/x/index.htm

These were air raid sirens. In the 1940's they warned communities of enemy aircraft. In the 1950's and 60's they stood ready to warn of incoming enemy missiles. It's unlikely that were ever used for any other purpose. The air raid sirens Chrysler built were invented by Bell Telephone Laboratories during World War II. Three different production models of this siren design were made by Chrysler between 1942 and 1957. The Cold War model was the loudest and was built only in the six years ending in 1957.



Recording of the BigRed™ Chrysler Air Raid Siren!

Sound Clip #3 - Start & Idle [ CLICK HERE FOR SOUND ] .WAV file - 22 seconds (480KB)
http://www.victorysiren.com/x/wav/BigRed_RevOff.wav

This is a recording of BigRed™ on May 23, 2003, the first time it was started and run in Texas. The propane tank was turned on, the ignition hotwired, and the starter cranked. After cranking for only 3½ seconds and on the very first try, this giant Chrysler Siren roared to life. The engine was loud, but the growl of the siren soon drowns out the engine noise with a jet engine like roar.

 

[Rick Blaine]

oddly enough

Michel de Nostradamus was far better known in his own lifetime for his 1552 book of jam & jelly recipies Traité des fardemens et confitures. Not quite as spooky.

 

[Mike K.]

“Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It is already tomorrow in Australia.”

- Charles M. Schulz

 

[Creeping Past]

Rather than dwell on the misery and abjection of immanent Armageddon, it's better to imagine and create brighter futures, whether in novels, movies, art, or whatever other medium.

This is not just that I'm a wishful-thinking optimist, although there's a part of me that is that way.

Think of all the awful futures that were imagined in science fiction and general fiction during the 20th century, for example, including Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, Shute's On the Beach, and others. Although these were to a great extent narratives of reportage and reflection on contemporaneous conditions, people read them as predictive. Do we really want these conditions to continue? Are we so fascinated with the spiraling horror? Are we stuck in a 20th century horror-reportage mindset?

In my view, Armageddon anxiety is personal death-fear writ large.

But where are the narratives generating brighter realities in the future?