...2012: Beginning of the End or Why the World Won't End? 12.22.11 Scenes from the motion picture "2012." Courtesy Columbia Pictures. Remember the Y2K scare? It came and went without much of a whimper because of adequate planning and analysis of the situation. Impressive movie special effects aside, Dec. 21, 2012, won't be the end of the world as we know. It will, however, be another winter solstice. Much like Y2K, 2012 has been analyzed and the science of the end of the Earth thoroughly studied. Contrary to some of the common beliefs out there, the science behind the end of the world quickly unravels when pinned down to the 2012 timeline. Below, NASA Scientists answer several questions that we're frequently asked regarding 2012. Question (Q): Are there any threats to the Earth in 2012? Many Internet websites say the world will end in December 2012. Answer (A): Nothing bad will happen to the Earth in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012. Q: What is the origin of the prediction that the world will end in 2012? A: The story started with claims that Nibiru, a supposed planet discovered by the Sumerians, is headed toward Earth. This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012. Then these two fables were linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter...
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...Side 9 af 12 sider B Skye Brannon Fireweed I t was a remembering day for Baluta. I t began w it h laughter, or a dream o f laughter. I t was Alanso's laugh, flowing like doves out o f her bright smiling mouth. I t was Alanso's laugh, out f ro m between those cheeks that caught the sun and held i t i n a warm glow the rest o f the day. I t was Alanso's laugh, stirred f ro m the dead to wake Baluta. Sometimes remem5 bering began later i n the day, but not today. Baluta had to l if t f ro m beneath a stone o f g rief , so heavy w it h his sister's memory, to get out o f his cot. He had work today, after a ll . Baluta washed i n the shower, cold after his brother and sister-in-law had had theirs. Cold like Kpatawee Falls back home, Baluta thought. Yes. Today would be a remembering io day. He pulled a work shirt over his head. The name ' Joel ' was simply embroidered over the heart. The name had been his brother's idea. "Dese Americans," Jato said, " i f you tel l dem your Mandika name, dey look like you've given dem a riddle. You tell dem your name is Bob, and dey are all smiles." Jato grinned at his younger brother. " Bu t you can't have Bob, dat is mine" is Jato and his w ife , Sama, had already gone. Since Baluta had to have the car to go where the bus route didn't, i t was Jato and Sama who had to wake at f iv e a.m. to catch buses to work. Baluta f el t awfu l f o r this, but he had to work to get a car, and needed a car to get to work. So, here he was...
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...This film, written and directed by Noah Baumback, takes place in Park Slope Brooklyn 1986. Some critics claim that the film reflects the writer’s personal experience of his parents divorce. Both were involved in the literary field. The film was cited as a letter of hate towards the writer’s own father. While the film is ostensibly about a divorce and a family in crisis it is in principal a sensitive coming of age story primarily from the perspective of a 16-year-old adolescent. It is also a fascinating portrayal of the obstacles that a parent with narcissistic features can present in the child’s struggle for independence. The Squid and the Whale is about divisions, about clashing forces; the mother and father, the child and parent, the intellectual and the philistine, the appearance of things and their true nature. Underlying each of these conflicts and every scene in the film is the battle between cynical detachment and vulnerability. The opening lines “Me and Mom vs. You and Dad sets the stage for an excessively competitive doubles tennis. Younger son Frank sides with Mom where older brother Walter proudly joins the father who gives some questionable advice regarding her backstroke. Competitive games are repeated throughout the film’ boxing, ping-pong. The fiercest competition is the literary competition to publish that both parents are engaged in. In this area the father condescendingly tries to give advise for his wife to improve her writing. Characters ...
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...First Critical essay about Google According to the article, "Googled: The End of the World As We Know It" which was written by Ken Auletta, Google became influences on peoples' to use it instead of the traditional media such as newspapers, television in information and advertising. Recently, they have become afraid of Google since it reduces the number of people who were acclimatized for a long time and it affects their achievements that succeeded from long years ago. The internet made people's lives easier by awarding them the opportunity to obtain the information while Google assists them to access to it (Hal Varian). If you are trying to find an answer for any question or looking for a new job, you can just type it in the search box that...
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...Cri du Chat Cri du chat syndrome is a rare genetic disorder which approximately affects 1 in 20,000 to 50,000 live births. The disease does not depend on ethnic backgrounds, but is most common in the case of women. The disorder gets its name from the typical cry of babies born with this syndrome. The baby sounds like a kitten, because of problems with the nervous system and larynx. The good news is that about 1/3 of kids recover by the age of 2. Negative aspects of this disease may be: * Feeding problems, because they can't suck and swallow well * Low weight at birth and poor evolution * Motor, cognitive, and speech delays * Behavioral problems such as aggression, hyperactivity, and repetitive movements * Uncommon facial traits that can change in time * What is Cri-du-Chat syndrome? The name of this syndrome is French for "cry of the cat," referring to the distinctive cry of children with this disorder. The cry is caused by abnormal larynx development, one of the many symptoms associated with this disorder. It usually becomes less noticeable as the baby gets older, making it difficult for doctors to diagnose cri-du-chat after age two. Cri-du-chat is caused by a deletion (the length of which may vary) on the short arm of chromosome 5. Multiple genes are missing as a result of this deletion, and each may contribute to the symptoms of the disorder. One of the deleted genes known to be involved is TERT (telomerase reverse transcriptase). This gene is...
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...The End Of The World As I See It When I started to form tiny fractions of memories, China’s booming economy, its open-door policy, and big social reforms began taking places as it leaped into the 2000 millennial. All these changes lead to a more vivid and intermixing culture where novel lifestyle, alternative thoughts, and "non-traditional" religions like Christianity can thrive. I was lucky to be standing at the crossroad where China started to embrace different cultures and various religions. Thanks to the opened-up culture atmosphere, I was exposed to the clash of cultures between western ideology and traditional Confucianism thoughts. The word “apocalypse” was not even in my dictionary previously until Hollywood introduced it to me in the most dramatic ways I could possibly imagine, and ever since my speculation of the Apocalypse never stopped evolving. From more unrealistic predictions involving in zombies, Godzilla, and DNA-modified prehistoric killer dinosaurs, to more practical speculations like nuclear war and ozone depletion, I was constantly updating my Apocalypse view. With my increasing understanding of the mechanism of how the world functions as a whole, I realized that a global hot war is imminently possible since politics can exert a strong influence on the global situation. In a sense, the transformation China experienced was a direct result from the power of politics. In this essay, I will establish the following hypothesis: The world is going to end with...
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...death of a person is very terrifying, the end of humanity and universe is not imaginable. Humankind has been wondering how and when the Earth ends for thousands of years. The reasons of wondering may be for different topics such as; to be prepared spiritually or religiously or to spend all the money that a person has or enjoy the life more. Related to how the Earth is going to end, the concepts of exemptionalist, environmentalist, universe and judgment day should be known. Initially, exemptionalists are the people who see the humankind that can handle every problem, so they claim that the problems which occur do not require worrying about. On the other hand, environmentalists are the people who see humankind as a part of a nature so they point out that humankind is related to environment directly, hence humankind is affected all the problems about environment. Universe is the place where everything stays and occurs in. Universe was created from nothing with Big Bang. This place applies physical laws. Judgment day is the time many religions accept that God will end the life which we live. Mainly theories about end of the world can be separated into three groups which are the end because of human based problems, physical destruction of universe and the order of God. Although the human based damages on the Earth are getting more and more serious and physical collapse of universe makes sense scientifically, the decision of end of the world only depends on the owner of everything, the...
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...The Day the World Almost Came To An End - Literature Notes Picture Pearl Crayton is a graduate of the University of the Pacific. She was born on September 26, 1932 and died on May 22, 2010. She published ten short stories, one of which is 'The Day the World Almost Came to An End'. http://www.writers.net/writers/57061 http://www.thetowntalk.com/article/20100530/OBITUARIES/100529001/Pearl-Garrett-Crayton?nclick_check=1 SUMMARY This short story was told from the perspective of an adult and chronicles the events behind a child’s (the adult narrator) belief that the world was about to end. The story is set on a plantation in Louisiana in 1936, where the church was the axis around which plantation life revolved. Despite this fact, the narrator was holding on to being a sinner because she believed that she could not ‘live upright’. One day, while she was playing, her cousin Rena informed her that the world was coming to an end. This was based on a conversation that Rena overheard, and misunderstood, about the eclipse. The hellfire sermons in church did not help to stem the narrator's mounting panic and she worried herself into a frazzle as a result. She had a conversation with her father about this issue and he tried to quell her fears, but unfortunately, he only managed to increase it with his statement that the world could come to an end at any time. The narrator spent the night conjuring images of dooms day, which led to her overreaction to hearing the rumblings of an old...
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...Chapter 6 starts off by discussing the language used by writers in the 1st century, in particular the language of the New Testament. Wright talks about the use of the “end of the world” language, and how that is typically misconstrued by people of our day as literally being the end of the world. However, in their time they were using this language to describe political events. He then goes on to describe the “doctrine of progress.” This is essentially that humans, especially the Western world, have put their faith in the fact that history progresses. We are constantly moving towards a better world. This flies in the face of God saying he will bring his new kingdom to earth. It is not us as humans who progress, but rather God who does...
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...One of the most prominent issues being discussed in postmodern literature is the concept of self-identity. Many of the texts in this genre feature characters that are on a quest of self-discovery. Two such examples of this are Haruki Murakami's Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, and Paul Auster’s memoir, The Invention of Solitude. Both of these texts explore the meaning of self, but address the issue in different ways. Murakami’s novel suggests that solipsism gives rise to the loss of identity, while Auster argues the opposite, suggesting that within the confines of enclosure, the individual discovers his/her identity. This article will entail a discussion of Murakami’s text, and the second installment will entail Auster’s memoir. Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World thrives on the idea that individuality does exist, but attaining a sense of self in this novel is a difficult goal that most people never achieve. This is largely because objects and possessions replace the self and the characters become synonymous not with personality traits, but with physical objects. The narrator in this novel is a nameless, faceless person, and Murakami ensures that readers get minimal physical description of all the characters in the text. The narrator describes people by the objects they possess, and tries to define people through these objects. For example, the granddaughter is known as “the everything pink girl” because she wears only pink clothes (164). Her attire...
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...“The day the world could end…in a book” HUMA 1780 Jasarat Ali Bhat 209362369 The source text for this proposed adaptation is the recently released Hollywood action/adventure movie, 2012. This movie's plot is rather simple: As presumed by the Mayan Civilization in the past, a unique alignment of our solar system's planets on December 21st, 2012 will bear catastrophic effects within the earth's core causing massive earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanoes, and etc that will eventually wipe out all life from the face of the earth. In the movie, the audience witnesses these events primarily from the perspective of small-time novelist Jackson Curtis (played by John Cusack) and politician Adrian Helmsley (Chiwetel Ejiofor). Although the two characters are in vastly different social classes, both become fatefully connected in a secret government conspiracy to enable the world's most 'genetically fit' (and/or financially fit) to survive through the calamity. Ultimately as the movie comes towards its end, it becomes apparent that rather than the world ending, the earth is simply going through a re-boot process and it is up to the human race to try and ensure its own survival. This story can effectively be adapted into a new medium because frankly put, only some of its merits are captured within the film. Having the potential and foundation for a much deeper storyline, the film simply capitalizes on its visual accomplishments. Despite the grave nature of the calamities it portrays, the movie...
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...“To Be Like the World; The Beginning of the End of the Monarchy.” Why do we read of Israel’s intense struggles throughout the Old Testament? What could have caused such turmoil within the chosen people of God? This essay will show how the monarchy was formed and discuss the core reason why the monarchy failed. Before looking into the monarchy, it is important to understand the criteria by which the monarchy is to be viewed or judged. House and Mitchell state that “without question the biblical writers judged Israel’s leaders and people by the covenant principles in Deuteronomy.”[1] Without a working knowledge and understanding of the writings of Deuteronomy it becomes difficult to understand the context behind the blessings and the curses in which we see the Israelites endure. It is here in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 that we read of the standards by which the Israelite kings will be measured. This passage is the backdrop to the immanent failure of the monarchy. Time and time again we read of how the kings would stray from one or more of the standards found Deuteronomy 17. So, we see that Deuteronomy is foundational for our understanding of the monarchy and how the kings are to behave and govern. One area of importance to notice in Deuteronomy 17:14-20 is that this section deals with the standards of kings. Why would Moses be discussing the standards of kings when the people are not being led by a king? According to James E. Smith, “Moses predicted that...
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...Ghetto Nerd at the End of the World, 1974 – 1987 Oscar was not your average Dominican male, mainly because he had bad luck with females in general. It was only when he was seven that he was ever a “Casanova”, when he danced the merengue and the perrito, two openly sexual dances. He relatives more than encourage his behavior. Oscar falls in love with a girl from his sat prep class named Ana. Although ana thought of it as being sweet, she does not admit to loving him back. Wildwood 1982 –1985 The narrator in this chapter is now Lola (Oscars sister) Lola cuts her hair off entirely and is a punk style kid at the age of fourteen. Her mother teases her and calls her ugly; this type of treatment was normal. She states her mother as always being the harsh type, equally with her insults to her children as well as with the physical harshness with her hands. Lola revolts in running away with a boy named Aldo, He lives in new jersey.by the end of this chapter Lola is sent to live in Santo Domingo to live with her grandmother....
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...respect to the Great War among historians. First, the victorious nations gained much more attention than the vanquished countries in general. Germany was an exception. As the only Western European Empire that assumed the leading role in the Central Powers, Germany commanded the same level of concern as its Entente counterparts. Even so, it was portrayed negatively as the sole war producer and therefore needed to be responsible for all the enormous losses and destruction that were caused by the war. Second, considering the far-reaching impacts the Great War exerted on the later historical process, it was regarded as a watershed moment. However, the Great War failed to solve unfinished contradictions among diverse empires and to become the war to end all wars. The postwar era witnessed a large scale of violence and tensions that continued to drain newborn nations, which included much of central, eastern and southern Europe that ascended from previous collapsed empires after the nearly-one-decade warfare and hostilities....
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...The organic food movement has gradually increased world hunger. Organic agriculture is a lot more expensive than inorganic food, and yields a much smaller and inferior quality type of crop. The world already has a shortage of food, causing starvation. If all agriculture were organic, the world would starve. Only-organic farming does not seem like a realistic idea because of the world’s large population; there would be limited supply of food. Of course, if half the population were to die off, it may seem a little more practical, but that is not the case. Four percent of Europe is currently using organic ways of growing which is a bigger percentage than America (one percent). However, Africa and most of the Western hemisphere happen to be 100 percent organic, which may be why a lot of those countries are poor. Those countries may have the food, but they do not have the money to purchase such resources. Organic farming is not cheap, and neither are the costs at the grocery store. Economically, a wholly organic agricultural system would cause a collapse in much of this developing planet. "A wholly organic world agricultural system would quickly lead to mass starvation” not to mention "economic and political collapse in much of the developing world (Ngin)." It would burn a hole through people’s pockets, especially with the economy not being at its best at the moment. Research has shown how organic farming may significantly increase yields for poor farmers and consumers...
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