Tuesday, November 24, 2009

EX-Knick, Dean Meminger Critical After Suspected Crack-Pipe Fire

Dean Meminger Critical After Suspected Crack-Pipe Fire

Dean Meminger once played in the shadows of the greatest backcourt in the history of the New York Knicks -- Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe. He almost died in the shadows earlier this week.

Meminger was still in critical condition Tuesday in the burn unit of New York's Jacobi Medical Center after being rescued from a Sunday night fire in a Bronx housing project that investigators suspect was sparked by a crack cocaine pipe, according to the New York Daily News.

Meminger was found unconscious near his bed. Several crack pipes were found inside his room of the small, run-down building. It was not clear whether the pipes belonged to Meminger, 62, but he has spoken publicly many times about his long battle with drug abuse.

Meminger, who played his high school basketball in the city, rose to prominence with the Knicks when they picked him with the 16th selection of the 1971 Draft out of Marquette University.

The Knicks won an NBA championship in his second season when he served as a backup to the much-heralded Monroe and Frazier. He was small (6-1, 175 pounds), but played big, often providing a spark off the bench in that championship season.

While Frazier and Monroe had long and illustrious careers in the NBA -- both reached the Basketball Hall of Fame -- Meminger had his playing career cut short as he battled his personal demons. He played three seasons with the Knicks, then two with Atlanta. He returned briefly to the Knicks in 1977, but was waived after 32 games.

After leaving the Knicks, he had struggled with several different jobs before becoming the basketball coach at Manhattanville College for the 2003-04 season.

Fire marshals Tuesday were still investigating whether the drug paraphernalia may have sparked the four-alarm blaze, according to Daily News sources. Meminger was suffering from both burns and smoke inhalation.

"I haven't spoken to investigators,'' his son, Dean Meminger, Jr., told the Daily News. "I'm just concerned about his safety.''
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Autism and Medical Marijuana

Autism and Medical Marijuana

Can Autistic Children Benefit From Marijuana?

By Deborah Huso

When California mom Mieko Hester-Perez appeared on "Good Morning America" Monday morning to tell the world she has been administering medical marijuana to her 10-year-old autistic son under the advisement of a doctor, controversy ignited. Her son Joey, who had long exhibited self-injurious and aggressive behavior, became so unwilling to eat that his weight had dropped to 46 pounds. It was then Hester-Perez knew she had to do something to save him. She claims that since giving him doses of marijuana in brownies, he has shown a substantial change in both his appetite and behavior.

Hester-Perez is not alone.

Rhode Island mom Marie Myung-Ok Lee gives her nine-year-old autistic son medical marijuana as well. She decided it was far less detrimental to him than the side effects of common antipsychotic drugs like Risperdal. She has been blogging about her experiences giving her son cannabis-infused tea and cookies and claims it has calmed his temperament and eased his troubles at school.

But is it safe? Various studies have been conducted, showing that patients suffering from many illnesses and disorders benefit from marijuana use. However, autism isn't one of them. Paul Armentano, Deputy Director of NORML (National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws), is skeptical and even deeply concerned that the media focus on these kids and their parents is taking away from the real medical benefits of marijuana. Instead, it's placing emphasis on a population where the effects of cannabis have not even been studied. "Adolescents are rarely included in clinical trials on marijuana," he says.

Lester Grinspoon, Ph.D., professor of psychiatry emeritus at Harvard Medical School and author of "Marijuana: The Forbidden Medicine", says he believes clinical trials in children will come in the future as the public becomes more comfortable with the medical uses of cannabis. However, he doesn’t think parents whose children are suffering from severe psychiatric disorders should necessarily be deterred by the lack of studies. “If there is a brain disorder where a lot of violence is involved, cannabis isn’t going to take this away, but it makes it more manageable,” Grinspoon says, “and it’s less toxic than Risperdal.”

“I don’t believe there are any controlled studies in children,” he adds, “but I don’t believe marijuana is going to hurt anybody as long as it’s controlled. Nobody in the world has ever died of marijuana.”

Ronald Drabman, Ph.D., retired professor, director of the University of Mississippi Medical Center Clinical Psychology Training and an expert in behavior modification as it relates to children suffering from autism, says he has never heard of using marijuana to treat autism. "I am always suspicious when science isn't consulted," Drabman says. "Until double-blind placebo tests have been done, I'd be very skeptical about this."

Drabman says there have been a lot of unusual treatments prescribed for autism over the years, and some have seemed to work anecdotally but fail once administered in clinical trials. "The placebo effect can be very strong, especially when parents want to see their children get better," he points out. "The fact that a couple of parents say it's helping their kids isn't very meaningful."
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'Armored' Sparks Debate: How Are Iraq War Vets Portrayed in Movies?

'Armored' Sparks Debate: How Are Iraq War Vets Portrayed in Movies?

Almost as long as there have been movies, war has provided the ammunition for legions of them, from Charlie Chaplin's silent 'Shoulder Arms' to 'All Quiet on the Western Front' to 'M.A.S.H.' to 'Jarhead' -- and it's not hard to see why. By its very nature, war is cinematic: There's gripping conflict, grand spectacle and moral dilemmas to test the true character of any man or woman. But it's not just what happens in the heat of battle that has interested moviegoers over the decades; it's what happens long after the gunfire has ceased, when veterans return home and begin the difficult process of reassimilation into "normal life."

The veterans of each great war in our nation's history have received a different portrayal on the big screen. Generally, WWI and WWII vets are shown receiving a heroes' welcome upon their return to the United States (see 'Flags of Our Fathers' for a recent example). Meanwhile, Vietnam vets are often depicted as an unwelcome -- and often ignored -- reminder of a war popularly thought to be ill-advised and futile. To be sure, Tom Cruise's paralyzed vet Ron Kovic got very little love in 'Born on the Fourth of July,' and Gary Sinise's Lt. Dan didn't fare much better in 'Forrest Gump.'

With the war in Iraq still raging on -- and no apparent end in sight -- more and more films are leaving the frontlines behind to focus on questions that might not occur to most Americans watching the news every day: What happens to our brave men and women when they return home? Are vets regarded as heroes and given the opportunity to prosper? Or is society giving them the shaft?

While the movies made about Iraq war vets thus far have varied wildly, they do have one thing in common: The soldiers in them are haunted things they've done or seen and, while they are recognized for their valor, society does little to aid them in transitioning back to civilian life. 'Harsh Times' (2006) paints ex-Army Ranger Christian Bale as a man whose experiences in war have caused him to become violent and a bit unhinged. Paul Haggis' 2007 flick 'In the Valley of Elah' tells the story of soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who commit an unfathomable atrocity after returning from Iraq. And 'Stop-Loss' (2008) finds Ryan Phillippe's decorated staff seargeant going AWOL when he returns home to be discharged from service only to be ordered back to active duty. Not exactly dream homecomings for any of them.

The most recent movie to meet this hot-button topic head-on is the upcoming 'Armored' (in theaters Dec. 4), a wham-bam, adrenaline-infused heist flick that also happens to depict how a decorated Iraq veteran (up-and-comer Columbus Short) reacts to the thankless hand he's dealt -- and the lack of options he's given -- upon his return home.

When Short's Ty Hackett returns to the States, he's not just grappling with the demons of the atrocities he's witnessed on the battlefield; he's also tasked with caring for a high-school-aged brother with a penchant for cutting class, paying of the gargantuan mortgage on his family's house and holding down a stressful job as an armored truck security guard. And no one will cut him the slightest break. The bank wants to foreclose on his house, social services is bent on putting his brother in foster care, and his kind-eyed boss (Fred Ward) won't give him any overtime, despite commending him for his military service.

Squeezed on all sides, Hackett is offered the chance to make all his problems go away: Join his pals, led by Matt Dillon, in faking a heist of one of the armored trucks and stashing the money. No one gets hurt; they walk away with a cool $42 million. Moral guy that he is, Hackett angrily refuses at first, but reluctantly agrees when the threat of losing his brother becomes too much to bear. But when things go wrong (and, boy, do they) and people start getting hurt, Hackett's moral compass takes over and he does what he does best: defends the innocent.

To be sure, war veterans' difficult readjustment to civilian life is interesting territory to be covered in a heist movie. Of course, the military background does come in handy -- and make for a ton of crowd-pleasing thrills -- when Hackett has to go all Rambo on his suddenly bloodthirsty pals. But there's more depth to the story than that.

'Armored' suggests that when society denies veterans the opportunity (as it so often does) to reap the prosperity for which they so nobly have fought and bled, it can drive them to do bad things ... like, say steal $42 million. But it also asks the question: Is society beholden to go above and beyond to care for its veterans and ensure that they don't flirt with the dark side? Or do veterans always have a choice, no matter how daunting their situation? According to 'Armored,' the answer is ... both.

What do you think?

'Armored' Trailer




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Monday, November 23, 2009

The 2012 phenomenon

The 2012 phenomenon comprises a range of eschatological beliefs and proposals, which posit that cataclysmic or transformative events will occur on or around December 21 in the year 2012,[1][2] which is said to be the end-date of a 5,125-year-long Mayan Long Count calendar. These beliefs may derive in part from archaeoastronomical speculation,[3] alternative interpretations of mythology,[4] numerological constructions, or alleged prophecies from extraterrestrial beings.[5]

A New Age interpretation of this transition posits that, during this time, the planet and its inhabitants may undergo a positive physical or spiritual transformation, and that 2012 may mark the beginning of a new era.[6] Conversely, some believe that the 2012 date marks the beginning of an apocalypse. Both ideas have been disseminated in numerous books and TV documentaries, and have spread around the world through websites and discussion groups.

Scholars of various stripes have disputed the idea that a catastrophe will happen in 2012, suggesting that predictions of impending doom are found neither in classic Maya accounts nor in contemporary science. Mainstream Mayanist scholars argue that the idea that the Long Count calendar "ends" in 2012 misrepresents Maya history.[2][7] To the modern Maya, 2012 is largely irrelevant, and classic Maya sources on the subject are scarce and contradictory, suggesting that there was little if any universal agreement among them about what, if anything, the date might mean.[8]

Meanwhile, astronomers and other natural scientists have rejected the apocalyptic forecasts, on the grounds that the anticipated events are precluded by astronomical observations, or are unsubstantiated by the predictions that have been generated from these findings.[9] NASA likens fears about 2012 to those about the Y2K bug in 2000, suggesting that an adequate analysis should stem fears of disaster.[9]

Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

Main article: Mesoamerican Long Count calendar

December 2012 marks the ending of the current b'ak'tun cycle of the Mesoamerican Long Count calendar, which was used in what is now Central America prior to the arrival of Europeans. Though the Long Count was most likely invented by the Olmec,[10] it has become closely associated with the Maya civilization, whose classic period lasted from 250 to 900 AD.[11] The classic Maya were literate and their writing system has been substantially deciphered, meaning that a corpus of their written and inscribed material has survived from before the European conquest.

The Long Count set its "zero date" at a point in the past marking the end of the previous world and the beginning of the current one, which corresponds to either 11 or 13 August 3114 BC in the Proleptic Gregorian calendar, depending on the formula used.[12] Unlike the 52-year calendar round still used today among the Maya, the Long Count was linear, rather than cyclical, and kept time roughly in units of 20, so 20 days made a uinal, 18 uinals, or 360 days, made a tun, 20 tuns made a k'atun, and 20 k'atuns, or 144,000 days, made up a b'ak'tun. So, for example, the Mayan date of 8.3.2.10.15 represents 8 b'ak'tuns, 3 k'atuns, 2 tuns, 10 uinals and 15 days since creation. Many Mayan inscriptions have the count shifting to a higher order after 13 b'ak'tuns.[13][14] Today, the most widely accepted correlations of the end of the thirteenth b'ak'tun, or Mayan date 13.0.0.0.0, with the Western calendar are either December 21 or December 23, 2012.[15]

In 1957, the early Mayanist and astronomer Maud Worcester Makemson wrote that "the completion of a Great Period of 13 b'ak'tuns would have been of the utmost significance to the Maya".[16] The anthropologist Munro S. Edmonson added that "there appears to be a strong likelihood that the eral calendar, like the year calendar, was motivated by a long-range astronomical prediction, one that made a correct solsticial forecast 2,367 years into the future in 355 B.C. [sic]".[17] In 1966, Michael D. Coe more ambitiously asserted in The Maya that "there is a suggestion ... that Armageddon would overtake the degenerate peoples of the world and all creation on the final day of the thirteenth [b'ak'tun]. Thus ... our present universe [would] be annihilated on December 24, AD 2011, [later revised to December 23, 2012][a] when the Great Cycle of the Long Count reaches completion."[18]

Coe's apocalyptic connotations were accepted by other scholars through the early 1990s.[19] In contrast, later researchers said that, while the end of the 13th b'ak'tun would perhaps be a cause for celebration,[2] it did not mark the end of the calendar.[20] In their seminal work of 1990, the Maya scholars Linda Schele and David Freidel, who reference Edmonson, argue that the Maya "did not conceive this to be the end of creation, as many have suggested,"[21] citing Mayan predictions of events to occur after the end of the 13th b'ak'tun. Schele and Freidel note that creation date was inscribed at Coba as 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, with twenty units above the k'atun. According to Schele and Friedel, these 13s should be treated as 0s, so the Coba number would be read as if it were 0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0, with the units of each column beyond the second (counting from right to left) equal to 20 times those of the previous one (The Maya, due to their cyclical concept of time, also wrote the date of creation, their zero date, as 13.0.0.0.0).[22] This number represented "the starting point of a huge odometer of time".[21] Schele and Freidel calculate that the date at which this odometer would run out lies some 4.134105 × 1028 years in the future,[21] or 3 quintillion times the age of the universe. The issue is complicated further by the fact that many different Maya city-states employed the Long Count in different ways. At Palenque, evidence suggests that the priest timekeepers believed the cycle would end after 20 b'ak'tuns, rather than 13. A monument commemorating the ascension of the king Pakal the Great connects his coronation with events as much as 4000 years after, indicating that those scribes did not believe the world would end on 13.0.0.0.0.[22]

Maya references to 2012

The present-day Maya, as a whole, do not attach much significance to 2012. Although the calendar round is still used by some Maya tribes in the Guatemalan highlands, the Long Count was strictly employed by the classic Maya, and was only recently rediscovered by archaeologists.[23] Mayan elder Apolinario Chile Pixtun and Mexican archaeologist Guillermo Bernal both note that "apocalypse" is a Western concept that has little or nothing to do with Mayan beliefs. Bernal believes that such ideas have been foisted on the Maya by Westerners because their own myths are "exhausted".[4][24] Mayan archaeologist Jose Huchm complains that "If I went to some Mayan-speaking communities and asked people what is going to happen in 2012, they wouldn't have any idea. That the world is going to end? They wouldn't believe you. We have real concerns these days, like rain".[4]

What significance the classic Maya gave the 2012 date is uncertain. Most classic Maya inscriptions are strictly historical and do not make any prophetic declarations.[25] Two items in the Maya historical corpus, however, mention the end of the 13th b'ak'tun: Tortuguero Monument 6 and, possibly, the Chilam Balam.

Tortuguero

The Tortuguero site, which lies in southernmost Tabasco, Mexico, dates from the 7th century AD and consists of a series of inscriptions in honor of the contemporary ruler. One inscription, known as Tortuguero Monument 6, is generally agreed among Mayanists to refer to the 2012 date. It has been partially defaced; Mayanist scholar Mark Van Stone has given the most complete translation:

Tzuhtz-(a)j-oom u(y)-uxlajuun pik
The Thirteenth [b'ak'tun] will end
(ta) Chan Ajaw ux(-te') Uniiw.
(on) 4 Ajaw, the 3rd of Uniiw [3 K'ank'in].
Uht-oom Ek'-...
Black ... will occur.
Y-em(al) ... Bolon Yookte' K'uh ta-chak-ma...
(It will be) the descent(?) of Bolon Yookte' K'uh to the great (or red?)...[22]

Very little is known about the god (or gods) Bolon Yookte' K'uh. Possible translations of his or their name include "nine support [gods]", "Many‐Strides God", "Nine‐Dog Tree", or "Many‐Root Tree".[22] He appears in other inscriptions as a god of war, conflict, and the underworld, though Markus Eberl and Christian Prager believe that the Tortuguero inscription parallels the typical Maya ruler's pronouncement of a future dedicatory celebration.[26] No illustrations of Bolon Yookte' exist, though dozens of other gods' images are known.[22] Also, the long count used at Tortuguero contains 20 b'ak'tuns in a cycle, so the end of the 13th b'ak'tun would not end the cycle according to Tortuguero astronomers.[22]

Chilam Balam

The Chilam Balam are a group of post-conquest Mayan prophetic histories transcribed in a modified form of the Spanish alphabet. Their authorship is ascribed to a chilam balam, or jaguar prophet.[27] The Chilam Balam of Tizimin has been translated twice: once by the archaeoastronomer Maud Worcester Makemson and once by the anthropologist Munro S. Edmonson. Makemson believed that one of the lines in the book (licutal oxlahun bak chem, ti u cenic u tzan a ceni ciac aba yum texe) refered to the "tremendously important event of the arrival of 13.0.0.0.0 4 Ahau 3 Kankin in the not too distant future",[28] translating it as "Presently B'ak'tun 13 shall come sailing, figuratively speaking, bringing the ornaments of which I have spoken from your ancestors." (Her version of the text continues, "Then the god will come to visit his little ones. Perhaps 'After Death' will be the subject of his discourse.") Makemson was still relying on her own dating of 13.0.0.0.0 to 1752 and therefore the "not too distant future" in her annotations meant a few years after the scribe in Tizimin recorded his Chilam Balam.[29] Edmonson's translation does not support this reading; he considers the Long Count entirely absent from the book, with a 24-round may system used instead.[30] Other Chilam Balam books contain references to the 13th b'ak'tun, but it is unclear if these are in the past or future; for example, oxhun bakam u katunil (thirteen bakam of k'atuns) in the Chilam Balam of Chumayel.[31]

New Age beliefs

Many New Age thinkers believe that the ending of this cycle will correspond to a global "consciousness shift". Established themes found in 2012 literature include "suspicion towards mainstream Western culture", the idea of spiritual evolution, and the possibility of leading the world into the New Age, by individual example or by a group's joined consciousness. The general intent of this literature is not to warn of impending doom but "to foster counter-cultural sympathies and eventually socio-political and 'spiritual' activism".[32]

The December 24, 2011 date (derived from Coe) became the subject of speculation by Frank Waters, who devotes two chapters to its interpretation, including discussion of an astrological chart for this date and its association with Hopi prophecies in his 1975 book Mexico Mystique: The Coming Sixth Age of Consciousness.[33] The significance of the year 2012 (but not a specific day) was mentioned briefly by José Argüelles in The Transformative Vision: Reflections on the Nature and History of Human Expression, also in 1975.[34] The specific date of December 21, 2012 appeared in Argüelles' book The Mayan Factor: Path Beyond Technology in 1987.[35][36] In 1975, author Terence McKenna had also arrived at a New Age prediction for the year 2012.[37] This was subsequently refined to December 21, 2012 in 1983 (the more specific date appeared in the 1993 revision of The Invisible Landscape[38]). Author Daniel Pinchbeck popularized New Age concepts about this date, linking it to beliefs about crop circles, alien abduction, and personal revelations based on the use of entheogens and mediumship in his 2006 book 2012: The Return of Quetzalcoatl.[39] Pinchbeck argues for a shift in consciousness rather than an apocalypse, suggesting that materialistic attitudes, rather than the material world, are in jeopardy.[40] Beginning in 2003, he has promoted these ideas annually in presentations at Burning Man.[39]

Semir Osmanagić, the author and metalworker responsible for promoting the Bosnian pyramids, referred to 2012 in the conclusion of his book The World of the Maya.[41] He suggests that "Advancement of DNA may raise us to a higher level" and concludes, "When the 'heavens open' and cosmic energy is allowed to flow throughout our tiny Planet, will we be raised to a higher level by the vibrations".[41]

Galactic alignment

In the mid-1990s, John Major Jenkins asserted that the ancient Maya had planned an intentional correspondence of a December 21 date with the winter solstice in 2012. This date was in line with an idea he terms the galactic alignment.[42]

In the solar system, the planets and the Sun share roughly the same plane of orbit, known as the plane of the ecliptic. From our perspective on Earth, the Zodiacal constellations move along or near the ecliptic, and over time, appear to recede counterclockwise by one degree every 72 years. This movement is attributed to a slight wobble in the Earth's axis as it spins.[43] As a result, approximately every 2160 years, the constellation visible on the early morning of the spring equinox changes. In Western astrological traditions, this signals the end of one astrological age (currently the Age of Pisces) and the beginning of another (Age of Aquarius). Over the course of 26,000 years, the precession of the equinoxes makes one full circuit around the ecliptic.[43]

Just as the spring equinox in the northern hemisphere is currently in the constellation of Pisces, so the winter solstice is currently in the constellation of Sagittarius, which happens to be the constellation intersected by the galactic equator.[44] Every year for the last 1000 years or so, on the winter solstice, the Earth, Sun and the galactic equator come into alignment, and every year, precession pushes the Sun's position a little way further through the Milky Way's band.

The Milky Way near Cygnus showing the lane of the Dark Rift, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road"

Jenkins suggests that the Maya based their calendar on observations of the Great Rift, a band of dark dust clouds in the Milky Way, which the Maya called the Xibalba be or "Black Road."[45] Jenkins claims that the Maya were aware of where the ecliptic intersected the Black Road and gave this position in the sky a special significance in their cosmology.[3] According to the hypothesis, the Sun precisely aligns with this intersection point at the winter solstice of 2012.[3] Jenkins claimed that the classical Mayans anticipated this conjunction and celebrated it as the harbinger of a profound spiritual transition for mankind.[46] New Age proponents of the galactic alignment hypothesis argue that, just as astrology uses the positions of stars and planets to make claims of future events, the Mayans plotted their calendars with the objective of preparing for significant world events.[47] Jenkins attributes the insights of ancient Maya shamans about the galactic center to their use of psilocybin mushrooms, psychoactive toads, and other psychedelics.[48] Jenkins also associates the Xibalba be with a "world tree", drawing on studies of contemporary (not ancient) Maya cosmology.[8]

The alignment in question is not exclusive to 2012 but takes place over a 36-year period, corresponding to the diameter of the Sun, with the most precise convergence having already occurred in 1998.[49] Also, Jenkins himself notes that there is no concrete evidence that the Maya were aware of precession.[42] While some Mayan scholars, such as Barbara MacLeod, have suggested that some Mayan holy dates were timed to precessional cycles, scholarly opinion on the subject is divided.[22] There is also little evidence, archaeological or historical, that the Maya placed any importance on solstices or equinoxes.[22][50]

Hunab Ku

Proponents of galactic alignment theories such as Argüelles[51] and Jenkins[52] have promoted use of a design that has come to be known as Hunab Ku (also the name of a post-Spanish Conquest Maya deity) that bears resemblance to both a yin and yang symbol and a spiral galaxy. However, this symbol is Aztec, not Maya. Its earliest known appearance is in the Codex Magliabechiano, a 16th century document from central Mexico that is known for graphic depictions of Aztec heart sacrifice.[53]

Timewave zero and the I Ching

A screenshot of the Timewave Zero software

"Timewave zero" is a numerological formula that purports to calculate the ebb and flow of "novelty", defined as increase in the universe's interconnectedness, or organised complexity,[54] over time. According to Terence McKenna, who conceived the idea over several years in the early-mid 1970s while using psilocybin mushrooms and DMT, the universe has a teleological attractor at the end of time that increases interconnectedness, eventually reaching a singularity of infinite complexity in 2012, at which point anything and everything imaginable will occur instantaneously.[54]

McKenna expressed "novelty" in a computer program, which purportedly produces a waveform known as timewave zero or the timewave. Based on McKenna's interpretation of the King Wen sequence of the I Ching,[37] the graph appears to show great periods of novelty corresponding with major shifts in humanity's biological and cultural evolution. He believed the events of any given time are recursively related to the events of other times, and chose the atomic bombing of Hiroshima as the basis for calculating his end date in November 2012. When he later discovered this date's proximity to the end of the 13th b'ak'tun on the Maya calendar, he revised his hypothesis so that the two dates matched.[55]

The first edition of The Invisible Landscape refers to 2012 (as the year, not a specific day) only twice. McKenna originally considered it an incidental observation that his and José Argüelles dates matched, a sign of the end date "being programmed into our unconscious". It was only in 1983, with the publication of Sharer's revised table of date correlations in the 4th edition of Morley's The Ancient Maya, that each became convinced that December 21, 2012 had significant meaning. McKenna subsequently peppered this specific date throughout the second, 1993 edition of The Invisible Landscape.[32]

A far more apocalyptic view of the year 2012 has also spread in various media. This view has been promulgated by History Channel which, beginning in 2006, aired "Decoding the Past: Mayan Doomsday Prophecy", based loosely on John Major Jenkins' theories but with a tone he characterized as "45 minutes of unabashed doomsday hype and the worst kind of inane sensationalism". It was co-written by a science fiction author.[56] This show proved popular and was followed by many sequels: 2012, End of Days (2006), The Last Days on Earth (2008), Seven Signs of the Apocalypse, and Nostradamus 2012 (2008).[57] Discovery Channel also aired 2012 Apocalypse in 2009, suggesting that massive solar storms, flipping of the magnetic poles, earthquakes, super volcanoes, and more may occur in 2012.[58]

Geomagnetic reversal

One idea proposed in these films involves a geomagnetic reversal (often incorrectly referred to as a polar shift by proponents of this hypothesis), which could be triggered by a massive solar flare, one with energy equal to 100 billion atomic bombs.[59] This belief is supposedly supported by observations that the Earth's magnetic field is weakening,[60] which indicates an impending reversal of the north and south magnetic poles. Scientists believe the Earth is overdue for a geomagnetic reversal, and has been for a long time, even since the time of the Mayans, because the last reversal was 780,000 years ago.[61] Critics, however, claim geomagnetic reversals take up to 5,000 years to complete, and do not start on any particular date. Also, NOAA now predicts that the solar maximum will peak in 2013, not 2012, and that it will be fairly weak, with a below-average number of sunspots.[62] In any case, there is no scientific evidence linking a solar maximum to a geomagnetic reversal.[63] A solar maximum would be mostly notable for its effects on satellite and cellular phone communications.[64]

Planet Nibiru

Proponents of a Nibiru collision claim that a planet, called Nibiru or Planet X, will collide with or pass by Earth in that year. This idea, which has been circulating since 1995 in New Age circles and initially slated the event for 2003, is based on claims of channeling from alien species and has been widely ridiculed.[5][65] Astronomers calculate that such an object so close to Earth would be visible to anyone looking up at the night sky.[66][67]

Black hole alignment

An apocalyptic reading of Jenkins's hypothesis has that, when the galactic alignment occurs, it will somehow create a combined gravitational effect between the Sun and the supermassive black hole at the center of our galaxy (known as Sgr A*), creating havoc on Earth.[68] Apart from the fact noted above that the "galactic alignment" predicted by Jenkins already happened in 1998, the Sun's apparent path through the zodiac as seen from Earth does not take it near the true galactic center, but rather several degrees above it.[69] Even if this were not the case, Sgr A* is 30,000 light years from Earth, and would have to be more than 6 million times closer to cause any gravitational disruption to our Solar System.[70][71]

Some versions of this idea associate the theory of a 2012 "galactic alignment" with that of a very different "galactic alignment" proposed by some scientists to explain a supposed periodicity in mass extinctions in the fossil record.[72] The hypothesis supposes that vertical oscillations made by the Sun as it orbits the galactic center cause it to regularly pass through the galactic plane. When the Sun's orbit takes it outside the galactic disc, the influence of the galactic tide is weaker; as it re-enters the galactic disc, as it does every 20–25 million years, it comes under the influence of the far stronger "disc tides", which, according to mathematical models, increase the flux of Oort cloud comets into the Solar System by a factor of 4, leading to a massive increase in the likelihood of a devastating comet impact.[73] However, this "alignment" takes place over tens of millions of years, and could never be timed to an exact date.[74] Evidence shows that the Sun passed through the galactic disc only three million years ago, and is now moving farther above it.[75]

Web Bot project

Main article: Web Bot

The Web Bot project is a series of automated bots that search the internet for specific keywords, looking for patterns. Its co-creator, George Ure, states that its study of "web chatter" predicted the September 11 attacks in New York, though he also suggests that the project can predict natural disasters, such as earthquakes. He now asserts that the project has predicted that the world will end on December 21, 2012.[76] Critics of these proposals argue that while the collective knowledge of humanity could possibly predict terrorist attacks, stock market crashes or other human-caused events, there is no way it could predict something like an earthquake or the end of the world.[76]

2012 film

Main article: 2012 (film)

A movie called 2012, directed by Roland Emmerich and starring the actors John Cusack, Danny Glover, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Thandie Newton, Oliver Platt and Woody Harrelson was released on November 13, 2009. On November 12, 2008, the studio released the first teaser trailer for 2012 that showed a megatsunami surging over the Himalayas and interlaced a purportedly scientific message suggesting that the world would end in 2012, and that the world's governments were not preparing its population for the event. The trailer ended with a message to viewers to "find out the truth" by searching "2012" on search engines. The Guardian criticized the marketing effectiveness as "deeply flawed" and associated it with "websites that make even more spurious claims about 2012".[77]

The studio also launched a viral marketing website operated by the fictional Institute for Human Continuity, where filmgoers could register for a lottery number to be part of a small population that would be rescued from the global destruction.[78] The fictitious website lists the Nibiru collision, a galactic alignment, and increased solar activity among its possible doomsday scenarios.[79] David Morrison of NASA has received over 1000 inquiries from people who thought the website was genuine and has condemned it, saying "I've even had cases of teenagers writing to me saying they are contemplating suicide because they don't want to see the world end. I think when you lie on the Internet and scare children in order to make a buck, that is ethically wrong."[80]

See also

Notes

^ Coe revised the date to "11 January AD 2013" in the 1980 2nd edition of his book,[81] not settling on December 23, 2012 until the 1984 3rd edition.)[82] The correlation of 13.0.0.0.0 as 21 December 2012 first appeared in Table B.2 of Robert J. Sharer's revision of the 4th edition of Sylvanus Morley's book The Ancient Maya.[83]

Citations

  1. ^ Sitler 2006, Defesche 2007
  2. ^ a b c G. Jeffrey MacDonald (March 27, 2007). "Does Maya calendar predict 2012 apocalypse?". USA Today. http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2007-03-27-maya-2012_n.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  3. ^ a b c Jenkins, John Major. "What is the Galactic Alignment?". http://alignment2012.com/whatisga.htm. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  4. ^ a b c Mark Stevenson (2009). "Next apocalypse? Mayan year 2012 stirs doomsayers". Associated Press. http://www.sltrib.com/Nation%20and%20World/ci_13534048. Retrieved 2009-10-12.
  5. ^ a b Schilling 2008, p. 111
  6. ^ For a sample of views see discussion and interviews in New York Times Magazine article (Anastas 2007).
  7. ^ David Webster (September 25, 2007). "The Uses and Abuses of the Ancient Maya" (pdf). The Emergence of the Modern World Conference, Otzenhausen, Germany: Penn State University. http://www.anthro.psu.edu/faculty_staff/docs/Webster_GermanyMaya.pdf. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  8. ^ a b Aveni 2009
  9. ^ a b "2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End?". NASA.
  10. ^ Jorge Pérez de Lara and John Justeson (2006). "Photographic Documentation of Monuments with Epi-Olmec Script/Imagery". Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies. http://www.famsi.org/reports/05084/05084PerezdeLara01.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  11. ^ Andrew K. Scherer. "Population structure of the classic period Maya". American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132 (3): 367–380. doi:10.1002/ajpa.20535.
  12. ^ Michael Finley (2003). "The Correlation Question". The Real Maya Prophecies: Astronomy in the Inscriptions and Codices. Maya Astronomy. http://members.shaw.ca/mjfinley/corr.html. Retrieved 2007-05-11.
  13. ^ Schele & Freidel 1990, p. 246
  14. ^ Vincent H. Malmström (March 19, 2003). "The Astronomical Insignificance of Maya Date 13.0.0.0.0" (pdf). Dartmouth University. http://www.dartmouth.edu/~izapa/M-32.pdf. Retrieved 2009-05-26.
  15. ^ Sitler 2006,[page needed]
  16. ^ Maud Worcester Makemson (June 1957). "The miscellaneous dates of the Dresden codex". Publications of the Vassar College Observatory 6: 4. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/full/1957PVasO...6....1M. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  17. ^ Edmonson 1988, p. 119
  18. ^ Coe 1966, p. 149
  19. ^ Carrasco 1990, p. 39; Gossen & Leventhal 1993, p. 191.
  20. ^ Milbrath 1999, p. 4
  21. ^ a b c Schele & Freidel 1990, pp. 81–82, 430–431
  22. ^ a b c d e f g h Van Stone 2008
  23. ^ David Stuart (October 11, 2009). "Q & A about 2012". Maya Decipherment. http://decipherment.wordpress.com/2009/10/11/q-a-about-2012/. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  24. ^ The end of time: Maya calendar runs out soon, but don't panic, Rory Carroll, The Guardian, 13 October 2009, retrieved 22 October 2009
  25. ^ Houston & Stuart 1996
  26. ^ Eberl & Prager 2005
  27. ^ Wright 2005, pp. 165–166
  28. ^ Makemson 1951, p. 219
  29. ^ Makemson 1951 pp. 30, 217
  30. ^ Quote: "The b'ak'tun or Long Count dating system does not appear directly in the Tizimin." See Edmonson 1982, xix, also p.195 op cit.
  31. ^ Roys, 1967 p. 111; Luxton, 1996 p. 274
  32. ^ a b Defesche 2007
  33. ^ See in particular, chapter 6 ("The Great Cycle – Its Projected Beginning"), chapter 7 ("The Great Cycle – Its Projected End") and the Appendix, in Waters 1975, pp. 256–264, 265–271, 285 et seq.
  34. ^ Argüelles 1975
  35. ^ Philip J. Hilts; Mary Battiata (1987). "Planets Won't Attend Astronomical Celebration". New York Post. http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/washingtonpost/access/73839663.html?dids=73839663:73839663&FMT=ABS&FMTS=ABS:FT&type=current&date=Aug+16,+1987&author=Philip+J.+Hilts;+Mary+Battiata&pub=The+Washington+Post+(pre-1997+Fulltext)&desc=Planets+Won't+Attend+Astronomical+Celebration&pqatl=google. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
  36. ^ Argüelles 1987
  37. ^ a b McKenna&McKenna 1975
  38. ^ McKenna&McKenna 1993
  39. ^ a b Pinchbeck 2006
  40. ^ Anastas 2007. As quoted in interview for this New York Times Magazine article, Pinchbeck claims to discern a "growing realization that materialism and the rational, empirical worldview that comes with it has reached its expiration date...[w]e're on the verge of transitioning to a dispensation of consciousness that's more intuitive, mystical and shamanic."
  41. ^ a b Osmanagich 2005
  42. ^ a b John Major Jenkins. "Introduction to Maya Cosmogenesis". http://alignment2012.com/mc-intro.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  43. ^ a b "Precession". NASA. http://www-istp.gsfc.nasa.gov/stargaze/Sprecess.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  44. ^ "Teapot of Sagittarius points to galactic center". EarthSky. http://www.earthsky.org/tonightpost/favorite-star-patterns/teapot-of-sagittarius-points-to-galactic-center. Retrieved 2009-11-03.
  45. ^ Stross, Brian. "XIBALBA OR XIBALBE". University of Texas. http://www.utexas.edu/courses/stross/papers/xibalba.rtf. Retrieved 2009-05-18.
  46. ^ John Major Jenkins (June 1999). "The True Alignment Zone". http://alignment2012.com/truezone.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  47. ^ For an in-depth look at this subject, see Coe 1992, Miller 1993, Pinchbeck 2006
  48. ^ Jenkins 1998, pp. 191–206
  49. ^ Meeus 1997, pp. 301–303
  50. ^ Aimers, J. J., and Rice, P. M. (2006). "Astronomy, ritual and the interpretation of Maya E-Group architectural assemblages". Ancient Mesoamerica 17: 79–96. doi:10.1017/S0956536106060056.
  51. ^ Argüelles 1987: 31-32
  52. ^ Jenkins 1998: 329
  53. ^ Boone and Nuttall 1982
  54. ^ a b McKenna, Terence. Interview with Art Bell. May 22, 1997. (Interview). Retrieved on 2009-09-22.
  55. ^ Ralph Abraham and Terence McKenna (June 1983). "Dynamics of Hyperspace". Santa Cruz, California: Ralph Abraham. http://www.ralph-abraham.org/talks/transcripts/hyperspace.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  56. ^ John Major Jenkins (July 28, 2006). "How Not to Make a 2012 Documentary". http://alignment2012.com/historychannel.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  57. ^ "Armageddon series". The History Channel. 2008. http://www.history.com/minisites/armageddon. Retrieved 2009-05-01.
  58. ^ "2012 Apocalypse". The Discovery Channel. 2009. http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-schedules/special.html?paid=1.403.26090.0.0. Retrieved 2009-11-08.
  59. ^ Ian O'Neill (June 21, 2008). "2012: No Killer Solar Flare 2012: No Killer Solar Flare". Universe Today. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/06/21/2012-no-killer-solar-flare/ 2012: No Killer Solar Flare. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  60. ^ "Sloshing Inside Earth Changes Protective Magnetic Field". space.com. August 18, 2008. http://www.space.com/scienceastronomy/080818-mm-earth-core.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  61. ^ Leonhardt R, Fabian K, Winklhofer M, Ferk A, Laj C, Kissel C. "Geomagnetic field evolution during the Laschamp excursion". Earth and Planetary Science Letters 278 (1–2): 87–95. http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/2009E&PSL.278...87L.
  62. ^ "New Solar Cycle Prediction". NASA. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2009/29may_noaaprediction.htm. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
  63. ^ Ian O'Neill (October 3, 2008). "2012: No Geomagnetic Reversal". Universe Today. http://www.universetoday.com/2008/10/03/2012-no-geomagnetic-reversal/. Retrieved 2009-05-27.
  64. ^ Tony Phillips (March 10, 2006). "Solar Storm Warning". NASA. http://science.nasa.gov/headlines/y2006/10mar_stormwarning.htm. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  65. ^ David Morrison (October 13, 2008). "Armageddon from Planet Nibiru in 2012? Not so fast". discovery.com. http://dsc.discovery.com/space/my-take/nibiru-armageddon-david-morrison.html. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  66. ^ Phil Plait (2003). "The Planet X Saga: Science". badastronomy.com. http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/misc/planetx/science.html#orbits. Retrieved 2009-04-02.
  67. ^ Mike Brown (February 2, 2008). "I do not ♥ pseudo-science". Mike Brown's Planets. http://www.mikebrownsplanets.com/2008/02/i-do-not-pseudo-science.html. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  68. ^ E. C. Krupp. "The Great 2012 Scare". Sky and Telescope. http://media.skyandtelescope.com/documents/Doomsday2012-lores.pdf. Retrieved 2009-11-11.
  69. ^ Geoff Gaherty (2008). "Starry Night looks at doomsday". http://www.starrynighteducation.com/sntimes/2008/06/#art1. Retrieved 2009-10-23.
  70. ^ Sherry Seethaler (2007). "Questions answered". San Diego Union Tribune. http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20071206/news_1c06sciqa.html. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  71. ^ Christopher Springob (March 28, 2003). "What would happen if a supermassive black hole came close to the Earth?". Cornell University. http://curious.astro.cornell.edu/question.php?number=511. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  72. ^ "Questions Show: Alignment with the Galactic Plane, Destruction from Venus, and the Death of the Solar System". Astronomy Cast. Universe Today. October 10, 2008. http://www.astronomycast.com/listeners/questions-shows/questions-show-alignment-with-the-galactic-plane-destruction-from-venus-and-the-death-of-the-solar-system/. Retrieved 2009-10-14.
  73. ^ Michael Szpir. "Perturbing the Oort Cloud". American Scientist. The Scientific Research Society. http://www.americanscientist.org/issues/pub/perturbing-the-oort-cloud. Retrieved 2008-03-25.
  74. ^ "Galactic Plane". Universe Today. 2009. http://www.universetoday.com/guide-to-space/galaxies/galactic-plane/. Retrieved 2009-10-29.
  75. ^ John N. Bahcall and Safi Bahcall (22 August 1985). "The Sun's motion perpendicular to the galactic plane". Nature 316: 706–708. doi:10.1038/316706a0.
  76. ^ a b Chivers, Tom (24 September 2009). "'Web-bot project' makes prophecy of 2012 apocalypse". The Daily Telegraph. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/news/6227357/Web-bot-project-makes-prophecy-of-2012-apocalypse.html. Retrieved 2009-10-04.
  77. ^ Pickard, Anna (November 25, 2008). "2012: a cautionary tale about marketing". The Guardian. http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2008/nov/25/2012-ronald-emmerich. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  78. ^ Billington, Alex (November 15, 2008). "Roland Emmerich's 2012 Viral—Institute for Human Continuity". FirstShowing.net. http://www.firstshowing.net/2008/11/15/roland-emmerichs-2012-viral-institute-for-human-continuity/. Retrieved December 10, 2008.
  79. ^ "Institute for Human Continuity". Sony Pictures Inc. http://www.instituteforhumancontinuity.org. Retrieved 2009-10-16.
  80. ^ Connor, Steve (17 October 2009). "Relax, the end isn't nigh". The Independent. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/relax-the-end-isnt-nigh-1804340.html. Retrieved 2009-10-20.
  81. ^ Coe 1980, p. 151
  82. ^ Coe 1984. This correlation, which differs two days from Sharer's, is repeated in subsequent editions of Coe's book
  83. ^ Morley 1983, Table B2, p. 603

References

Further reading

This is a sampling of the dozens of New Age books on the subject of 2012:

External links

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2012_phenomenon"
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