Another Asteroid Misses Earth, Cancel Apocalypse

Damn, I hate it when Apocalypse passes by.

The problem however is that this little asteroid that folks are talking about isn't going to cause Apocalypse. Well, at least not according to some false reports the referenced asteroid was of an Armageddon-scale. The problem is that a lot of folks hear asteroid and Earth and do some very poor math to scare the poop out of people. 

At 60 meters, this asteroid is not a killer, just a mass murderer of inconvenience. If it hit far out in the ocean it may not even ripple a wave on a beach. If it hit a small town, maybe wipe it out. Largish cities would just have a day of horrible traffic. It wouldn't be a slow news day, but the next day would be really slow except for reporters interviewing astronomers and disappointed end-of-the-world freaks waiting for something bigger.

The worst issue is the obvious misunderstanding of the reporter of the actual size of Armageddon. Armageddon, or Mount Megiddo as its friends and souvenir shops call it, is located in Israel. 

This asteroid doesn't even register on that scale. At 60 meters the asteroid is less than 1% on the Armageddon-scale. Disappointing in both reporting accuracy and that there is no apocalypse coming, even if this asteroid is circling back for another shot at us.

Megiddo A.K.A. Armageddon isn't 60 meters. Megiddo is a smallish hill that is at least 500 by 1,000 meters based on my reckoning using Google maps. If such a Megiddo hill came from outer space, and then hit us, that would be on Armageddon-scale. In fact, you could call it a "One" on the Armageddon-scale. 

Megiddo is really just a short pile of rubble (as are many asteroids which is a scary coincidence) that has thousands of years of history. Through a process of multiple wars and cities built on destroyed cities, Megiddo has become a hill.

  

They say this is where the last battle of good and evil will take place. Maybe. Maybe that was a typo or misunderstanding. Maybe it will be a Armageddon-scale asteroid. Sadly it will take a rock a bit bigger than Megiddo to take out everyone of the non-Christians heathens of the specific church that is not properly genuflecting at the moment of impact. 

Maybe we will be hit by a rubble type asteroid that breaks apart into little bits of rubble and there will be a little chunk of stone for each heathen? Hard to imagine as that is a lot of effort, even for a vengeful god.

I'll say it again, disappointing...

Twenty percent chance of Armageddon and three inches of snow on Monday

The end of the world news gets stranger every day. Here is another article of doom that I found via Google News:

20% chance of Armageddon - Mott

Chris Salih - 26-Feb-2009

http://www.moneymarketing.co.uk/cgi-bin/item.cgi?id=181645&d=340&h=341&f=342

I'm not sure who this Mott guy is, but he in in the UK and and seems to have studied Armageddon. I wonder though. Armageddon is a place, not an event. Apocalypse is the event, not the place. So either this guy has his wires crossed and his analysis is screwy or those folks giving tours of  Mount of Megiddo are piddling into the wind because they are on a hill that only has 20% chance of actually existing. One day you are standing on possibly very historical real estate and the next you are a pile of broken bones on the plains of the valley below. 

Reminds me of a physics professor I had at university (Cal Poly Pomona). He was one of the odd ones that always wore wool gloves without the fingertips. Not terribly odd, those gloves, but it was Southern California. Yep, he was somewhat odd. Anyway he spent a lot of time talking about atoms, quantum froth and how we could just disappear because our atoms wanted to be someplace down the street. Yep he was very odd. 

Anyhow, perhaps that is what is up with this place the scholars think may be Armageddon. If Armageddon has only 20% chance, maybe its atoms will just decide to be someplace else? Or they may just cease to exist. The problem is that either is possible. If Schrodenger's cat can die or not die at the same time, Armageddon can decide to disappear of it really want to.

You might ask how the logic of this makes sense. Well, it makes more sense than the Texas Rangers not making it to the World Series every year. Makes even more sense than the fact that the World Series does not include the 'world', just the US and Canada. It makes tons and tons of sense more than Paris Hilton being famous. 

Mott is an economist, so whatever he said was quite a load of incoherent nonsense. Sort of sounded like, "blah, blah, 20%  chance of Armageddon, blah, blah." But it is interesting for that little moment when he said something while I was actually listening. 

Maybe we need to introduce Paris Hilton to quantum froth and see what happens...

Link of the day: Self-fulfilling Prophecy

Today's link is Self-fulfilling Prophecy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Self-fulfilling_prophecy

This notion of Self-fulfilling Prophecy is  like mixing a needle factory and a balloon factory. I'm sure it doen't sound apocolyptic, but it is to the balloons. If balloons had souls... If they believed in the end times... Why not have a field trip to the needle factory and fight the evil pins?

See where I am going with this? Ok, maybe that's a bad example. 

In California, they have politicians labeled Armageddon Republicans (please don't get me started on why there're no Armageddon Democrats). There is an article in the editorial section of the LA Times that is blaming these guys for the financial mess there. The author's opinion is that   Republicans are causing this. Here is a quote from the piece:

A steadfast belief in Armageddon may be self-fulfilling, and California is now witnessing the beginning of the end -- an avoidable economic collapse, as construction projects to build things we need and to inject money into the economy come to a halt, and as Sacramento's ineptitude and Republican intransigence obliterate confidence and dissuade investment.

In other words, why pay for changes, help people, be humanitarians, and be fiscally responsible when we are all going to snuff it at any moment anyway? It is also implied that this is somehow a fight against evil in the final battle. Democrat is synonymous with the devil of course. 

I am apauled that there is even a hint of Armageddon Republicanism. It is just plain wrong headed. It is like suicide and I hear that's a sin. Anything short of going to Mount Megiddo (Armageddon) and only battling those that are clearly marked by their pointy tails, red skin and horns is jumping the gun. 

I hear the end times will be obvious. A world-wide financial crises is not enough to even hint at the return of the Antichrist or any other sign in any other religion or cult. The seas havn't even turned to blood yet! Give me a break! You just as well be Democrats for all the good it would do. Literally! Shame on you!