Ramblings #10

Ooops, wrong again!

It seems that Harold Camping's prediction that Doomsday would come last Saturday didn't come to pass. As 6pm approached on Saturday, we were at Costco. Surprisingly, it wasn't very busy in the store. It's usually always busy whenever we go, but this time it only seemed to be at 50% of its normal capacity.

I thought to myself: This is not a holiday weekend. Why is this store so dead today? Could people really be that stupid that they think The Rapture is really going to happen at 6pm??

I really hope that wasn't the reason. I always thought that Austinites are a bit smarter than that.

So anyway, now the guy says that October 21st will be the end of the world. Jeez, dude, give it a break. It didn't happen on May 21st, and it's not going to happen on October 21st. If anybody out there really believes this, then please write me a check and post-date it for October 22nd. You have nothing to lose, right?

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The hardcore liberals out there are going a bit too far over the Osama Bin Laden execution. There seems to be some anger directed towards Obama for killing an apparently unarmed man. As a liberal myself, I have no problem with with the Seal team did. Sure, it would have been nice to bring Osama back here for a trial, which would have undoubtedly lead to his execution anyway. But this way saved us time and money, not to mention all the fanatics that would be kidnapping Americans demanding Osama's release. Obama made the right choice. Osama Bin Laden is now just becoming a small footnote in history.

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As an update to my ACL post, it seems like we'll be going after all. Christy informed me, too my surprise, that she is a Stevie Wonder fan, and wants to see him Saturday night at the festival. It seems that Stevie Wonder is very popular in Taiwan. I never knew this, nor did I realize she liked him. Oh well, you learn something every day. So, with Coldplay on Friday night (a band that I actually like), and Stevie on Saturday, it seems the show won't be a total washout.

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Christy also found a new job last week. A job where she can finally utilize her Mandarin abilities. I always felt her previous job was a bit beneath what she was capable of. So now she will finally be making a decent salary. With China pretty much owning the United States these days, I think knowing how to speak Mandarin will be pretty essential in the future.

Doomsday is Here!!! (tomorrow)

I was planning to write this tomorrow, on the actual "Doomsday" that everyone is talking about, but figured I better do it now. I don't think I will have time tomorrow, as I will most likely be running for my life, trying to escape from being dragged into the pits of hell.

I really love all these doomsday prophecies, just to get the reactions from the people who actually believe it when it doesn't happen.

A famous fortune teller in Taiwan predicted a major earthquake on May 11th with a magnitude of 14.0 on the Richter scale. Taiwanese people ran out and bought expensive earthquake shelters. Obviously it didn't happen, and the fortune teller later said "Ah...I was just drunk when I made that prediction."

This time, some evangelical Christian broadcaster (and nutjob) named Harold Camping has got everyone stirred up about the supposed upcoming apocalypse on May 21st. I even read a story about some fool who spent his entire life savings of $140,000 to place advertisements all over town, warning people about "Judgment Day." The guy could have just gave me that money, and I could have placed his warning on my blog!

Camping has made this prediction before, claiming the end of the world would be in 1994. When that didn't happen, he said his "calculations were wrong." So, what will he say this time? I guess they will just keep pushing it back, like the Jehovah's Witnesses keep doing with their Armageddon predictions. I think the Jehovah's Witnesses have the lead on the number of failed predictions, as they mention specific dates in 1875, 1914, 1915, 1918, 1920, 1925, 1941, and 1975. I guess they finally gave up their prophecies when they realized how ridiculous they looked.

As for me, being an agnostic, I don't believe any of it. I believe that the world as we know it will end eventually, but not because of God's "Judgment Day." It will be because of what man has done to this planet. The drilling, the cutting down of the trees and rainforests, the pollutants going into the air every day, our overpopulation. All of these are contributing to global warming, and will someday cause a major catastrophe. Maybe not in my lifetime, or even my children's lifetime, but it can't go on like this forever.

So...let's say that wacky ol' Harold Camping is correct, and tomorrow is indeed our last day on earth. How will I spend it? Thankfully, it's a Saturday, and I'll be at home with my family. It would suck to be stuck at work when the world ends.