The End of the World is Nigh post of the day

Nat Geo debunks the Mayan myths.

(NASA itself recently felt compelled to issue a comprehensive 2012 fact check.)


Yes, it's nice to fantasize all our problems (along with everyone on earth) will go away nicely.

But the real bad news is a bit more mundane:

Austin Bay's worry is anarchy:

So what happens if the current doldrums get worse, producing a deep, prolonged global depression? The Greek model indicates governments weaken and angry populations get angrier. Desperation creates a political market for the hucksters who peddle quick and easy solutions....

States facing anarchic stress are not only candidates for debt default, but coups and civil war. Rash dictators or jingoist parties, seeking domestic support, may unfreeze a frozen war.

He also discusses how American defense budget cut backs could mean the end of a Pax Americana that has discouraged a lot of wars and piracy against international trade (but rarely gets mentioned in the press).

Another take on this can be read HERE.
How does the world look in an age of U.S. decline? Dangerously unstable.
BY ZBIGNIEW BRZEZINSKI

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However, Uncle Orson (Sci Fi writer Orson Scott Card) reminds us:

The next year is one in which history will be made. Elections, weddings, births and deaths, wars and times of peace and good will, graduations and birthdays, sorrows and disappointments, all will come, as they come every year.

This much we each control: How we will respond to the good and bad things that happen to us, and those that happen to others.

May we hold our tongues when tempted to criticize, and instead celebrate what we approve of.

When we see a need, let us do what is within our power to mend what's wrong or supply what's lacking.

Let our words to those who need us most be filled with love and kindness, gentleness and mercy. Let us be as courteous to our spouses and children as we are to our employers or to total strangers.

Each day is just a day -- the sun rising, the sun setting, some kind of weather -- until we make it something more, a day that lives in someone's memory, a little brighter because we made it so. That is within our power, every one of us.

Happy New Year!