The predictions range from the benign — that this will be a year of spiritual breakthrough, the beginning of a new era of nonviolence and sustainability — to the worst sort of disaster movie cataclysm. And the Maya calendar is just the start. A hodgepodge of other theories has sprung up around the same date.

 

There are groups who claim that an uncharted, unseen planet called Nibiru will strike Earth or nearly hit it; that the Earth’s polarity will reverse (so that north is south and south is north), wreaking widespread havoc; or that solar storms will destroy civilization by disrupting power grids. Most of the predictions are timed to coincide with the “end” of the Maya calendar on Dec. 21, the winter solstice.

The reason the whole Mayan nonsense resonates, of course, is that we all have a sneaking suspicion we really are at a fin-de-siècle. That we really are approaching the end of the world. That we’re all going to die, undoubtedly in some horrible, purely painful and torturous fashion, and there’s nothing we can do about it.

Global warming is real and we may be past the tipping point. Mussolini had a term for governments run by corporations. We’ve had nine years of the Bush tax cuts and all of those job creators have given us a 9% unemployment rate. (And, as my Dad used to say about Hollywood stars and their reputed ages, that number is what they’re admitting to. And didja notice the unemployment rates back in 2001? Good times.) And let’s not even talk about health care.

On the other hand…what this means is that there’s no better time to try new things. Because if things are only going to get worse, this is the time to do that thing you’ve always wanted to do, people.

A really great quotation I like to reflect on from time to time comes from Dr. Howard Thurman:

“Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive.”

Which means whatever you choose to do this year, do it because it makes you feel great. Because it puts you in the moment. Don’t do things that you have to hide or that you’re ashamed of.

It’s also important to recognize that each of us cannot solve all of the world’s ills. Whenever I start to think about the magnitude of the problems out there, I get completely paralyzed. I can really only make changes in how I behave, and hopefully if I feel strongly enough about the problem and possible solutions I can inspire other people to do something about what they care about.

Like Peak Oil. Worried about Peak Oil? Want to stop participating in so many fossil fuels being used? You don’t need to buy a Prius (not much of a solution, actually, given that it takes fossil fuels to make a car), although I will never speak against riding a bicycle everywhere. The first thing you have to realize is how much fossil fuel production goes into food production. Solution: buy local and eat vegan. Most people won’t do these things, of course, because that would mean they were suffering in comparison to the abundance they have now. (Fresh tomatoes and strawberries in December!)

But even if something like Peak Oil works your mind too hard (I certainly get depressed at the idea), you’re better off spending a little time every day doing something, anything, that makes you feel more alive, more connected, more creative is a good idea. That sort of thing will resonate more than spending one more damn minute worrying about something you’re not able — or willing — to do anything about.

And that’s my main resolution for 2012.

At stake are two images of coffee; one is a cup of black coffee in a white cup viewed from above.

The other is an image of a red coffee mug, viewed from the front.

If Nestle is successful coffee roasters, sellers and even cafes risk breaching copyright if they use images similar to Nestle’s.

And you just wanna say, Are you kidding? Of course they are not: companies are not screwing around with this stuff, because every tiny victory they win pushes the envelope for exactly how far they can go in owning every image, word, thought. Copyrighting a particular instance of coffee in a mug? Hey, have at it. (Although, that would be a trademark, wouldn’t it? Damn, I can never remember this stuff.) But to own the actual concept of coffee in a white or red mug?

Ye Gods. The sheer gall.

Casting Call For Reality TV Show Contestants…

“At Last, You Could Become America’s Next Best Selling Author and Reality Show TV Celebrity!”

The newest reality TV show, Book Millionaire, is providing applications and holding casting calls for people who want to become published authors or those who are published and want to achieve best selling status.

Eight people with dreams of seeing their book ideas become published and being the next author launched to best selling and celebrity status will meet Book Millionaire‘s Publishing Committee during July 2005 to start filming of Book Millionaire Reality TV Show.

Here’s your chance to finally become America’s next Best Selling Author and Reality Show TV Celebrity! We are scouting for the next group of candidates for America’s hottest new reality show. Act now. Picture yourself featured on national television sharing your story, writing, book-to-be or book with millions of people showing you have what it takes to be America’s next Best Selling Author and Book Millionaire.

At last…

Why do I find myself hoping this is some kind of Internet scam and not an actual show?

Update: Lee Goldberg has a longer analysis of this.

t was an e-mail we weren’t meant to see. Not for our eyes were the notes that showed White House staffers taking two-hour meetings with Christian fundamentalists, where they passed off bogus social science on gay marriage as if it were holy writ and issued fiery warnings that “the Presidents [sic] Administration and current Government is engaged in cultural, economical, and social struggle on every level”葉his to a group whose representative in Israel believed herself to have been attacked by witchcraft unleashed by proximity to a volume of Harry Potter. Most of all, apparently, we’re not supposed to know the National Security Council’s top Middle East aide consults with apocalyptic Christians eager to ensure American policy on Israel conforms with their sectarian doomsday scenarios.

But now we know.

(Via Atrios. Like you need a link to find Atrios.)

• Since The Passion of the Christ can be abbreviated to POTC, can we call it The Passion of the Christ: Curse of the Black Pearl?
• My friend Rob suggests: The Last Action Savior.
• I also liked the guy who does reviews on Slate and “Fresh Air”: the Jesus Chainsaw Massacre.
• But my question is: will this be Mel’s Battlefield: Jesus?
• In case you can’t tell, I have no plans to see POTC. Darin stayed home yesterday (mental health day) and I told him to tell everyone at the office that he stayed home in order to be first in line at the movie.
• TBOGG is running a Bush/Cheney slogan contest.
• Best Bush/Cheney slogan I’ve heard so far (on the Well, I think): “Don’t change horsemen mid-Apocalypse!”
• In case you can’t tell, I have no plans to vote for Bush.
• I told my sister that things have changed so much that for the first time I’m thinking of donating money to a presidential candidate. “Which one?” she asked. “It doesn’t matter,” I said. I’m pretty sure she knew that I was not, in fact, open to donating to Bush/Cheney.
• I have yet to read one reasonable defense of keeping marriage heterosexual. Which is really kind of amazing, given that most people seem to be against it. You’d think someone would be able to state why they’re so desperately opposed. Well, at least, be able to state why that doesn’t rely on religious reasons. Or on a call to “tradition,” which is as…um…ignorant a path as you can go down and still have autonomic functions.
• I have, as of yet, no plans to marry gay.

Where the hell are my keys????

Now, probably you watch MTV and you were already aware of this. I only have two words for you: Get TiVo. Save yourself.