By The Way: The World is Not Ending

In about a month's time, or on December 21, 2012, to be exact, the world is supposed to end.  I just wanted to remind everyone again that this may be a slight exaggeration.  Hence, commence with your Christmas shopping. 

The story of the Mayan calendar that supposedly foretold this disaster was updated earlier this year based on findings in Xultún, Guatemala.  The wall paintings, some of the few remaining writings from a period almost obliterated by the book-burning Spanish, tells a story of time being recycled rather than ending.  As the New York Times wrote:

Rest assured, however, that nothing written on those walls foretells the world coming to an end on Dec. 21, 2012, as some have feared through a misinterpretation of the Maya Long Count calendar. That date is simply when one cycle of the Maya calendar ends and a new one begin...A change in the Long Count cycle, said Dr. Aveni, an astroarchaeologist, is like the odometer of a car rolling over from 120,000 to 130,000. “The car gets a step closer to the junkyard as the numbers turn over,” he said. “The Maya just start over.”

Amazon.com did well last holiday when everyone was buying books about the coming disaster, just like they will now do well with more books debunking this story.  Never underestimate the profitability of gullibility.