http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/9730618/Mayan-apocalypse-panic-spreads-as-December-21-nears.html
http://www.businessinsider.com/candle-sales-show-that-china-is-planning-for-the-apocalypse-dec-21-2012-12
and....
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45561
http://beforeitsnews.com/2012/2012/12/cern-lhc-largest-ever-experiment-coincides-with-mayan-end-date-2440756.html
Mayan apocalypse: panic spreads as December 21 nears
Fears that the end of the world is nigh have spread across the world with only days until the end of the Mayan calendar, with doomsday-mongers predicting a cataclysmic end to the history of Earth.
Ahead of December 21, which marks the conclusion of the 5,125-year "Long Count" Mayan calendar, panic buying of candles and essentials has been reported in China and Russia, along with an explosion in sales of survival shelters in America. In France believers were preparing to converge on a mountain where they believe aliens will rescue them.
The precise manner of Armageddon remains vague, ranging from a catastrophic celestial collision between Earth and the mythical planet Nibiru, also known as Planet X, a disastrous crash with a comet, or the annihilation of civilisation by a giant solar storm.
In America Ron Hubbard, a manufacturer of hi-tech underground survival shelters, has seen his business explode.
"We've gone from one a month to one a day," he said. "I don't have an opinion on the Mayan calendar but, when astrophysicists come to me, buy my shelters and tell me to be prepared for solar flares, radiation, EMPs (electromagnetic pulses) ... I'm going underground on the 19th and coming out on the 23rd. It's just in case anybody's right."
In the French Pyrenees the mayor of Bugarach, population 179, has attempted to prevent pandemonium by banning UFO watchers and light aircraft from the flat topped mount Pic de Bugarach.
According to New Age lore it as an "alien garage" where extraterrestrials are waiting to abandon Earth, taking a lucky few humans with them.
Russia saw people in Omutninsk, in Kirov region, rushing to buy kerosene and supplies after a newspaper article, supposedly written by a Tibetan monk, confirmed the end of the world.
The city of Novokuznetsk faced a run on salt. In Barnaul, close to the Altai Mountains, panic-buyers snapped up all the torches and Thermos flasks.
Dmitry Medvedev, the Russian prime minister, even addressed the situation.
"I don't believe in the end of the world," before adding somewhat disconcertingly: "At least, not this year."
In China, which has no history of preoccupation with the end of the world, a wave of paranoia about the apocalypse can be traced to the 2009 Hollywood blockbuster "2012".
The film, starring John Cusack, was a smash hit in China, as viewers were seduced by a plot that saw the Chinese military building arks to save humanity.
Some in China are taking the prospect of Armageddon seriously with panic buying of candles reported in Sichuan province.
The source of the panic was traced to a post on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, predicting that there will be three days of darkness when the apocalypse arrives.
One grocery store owner said: "At first, we had no idea why. But then we heard someone muttering about the continuous darkness."
Shanghai police said scam artists had been convincing pensioners to hand over savings in a last act of charity.
Meanwhile in Mexico, where the ancient Mayan civilisation flourished, the end time has been seen as an opportunity. The country has organised hundreds of Maya-themed events, and tourism is expected to have doubled this year.
Nasa has been aggressively seeking to dispel doomsday fears. It says there is no evidence Nibiru exists, and rumours it could be hiding behind the sun are unfounded.
"It can't hide behind the sun forever, and we would've seen it years ago," a Nasa scientist said.
The space agency also rejected apocalyptic theories about unusual alignments of the planets, or that the Earth's magnetic poles could suddenly "flip."
Conspiracy theorists contend that the space agency is involved in an elaborate cover up to prevent panic.
But David Morrison, an astronomer at Nasa, said: "At least once a week I get a message from a young person, as young as 11, who says they are ill and/or contemplating suicide because of the coming doomsday. I think it's evil for people to propagate rumours on the internet to frighten children."
Mayans themselves reject any notion that the world will end. Pedro Celestino Yac Noj, a Mayan sage, burned seeds and fruits to mark the end of the old calender at a ceremony in Cuba. He said: "The 21st is for giving thanks and gratitude and the 22nd welcomes the new cycle, a new dawn."
http://www.businessinsider.com/candle-sales-show-that-china-is-planning-for-the-apocalypse-dec-21-2012-12
Candle Sales Show That China Is Planning For The Apocalypse Dec. 21
China's most famous book of prophecies, the 7th century Tui Bei Tu, makes no direct mention of the end of the world.
But in Sichuan province, panic buying of candles has swept through two counties in the fear that an ancient Mayan prediction that the world will end on December 21 proves to be true.
"Candles are selling by the hundreds, with buyers constantly coming to the market. Many stores have run out," said Huang Zhaoli, a shopper at the Neijing Wholesale Market, to the West China City Daily newspaper.
Mr Li, the owner of the Guangfa grocery store in Chengdu, added: "Lots of people have been buying candles recently. At first, we had no idea why. But then we heard someone muttering about the continuous darkness".
The source of the panic was traced to a post on Sina Weibo, China's version of Twitter, predicting that there will be three days of darkness when the apocalypse arrives.
Since the beginning of December, the word "Mayans" has trended on Weibo as millions of normally phlegmatic Chinese speculate that the end is nigh. "If the Mayans are right, I won’t pay my credit card bill," was one popular post.
In Shanghai, the police have had to issue a public warning about doomsday. "The end of the world is a rumour," the police said, in an internet post. "Do not believe it and do not be swindled".
A spokesman said they had handled 25 apocalypse-related cases in one 24-hour stretch. Most of the scam artists took advantage of credulous pensioners, encouraging them to hand over their savings for one last act of charity.
In Nanjing, a 54-year-old university professor's wife took out a £100,000 mortgage on her £300,000 home, saying she would donate the money to underprivileged children, saying she hoped to "do something meaningful before the world ended".
Last month, a man in the far west province of Xinjiang made news when he spent his life savings of £100,000 to build an ark for 20 people.
Lu Zhenghai began building the 65ft ship in 2010. "When the time comes, everyone can take refuge in it." However, as the deadline approaches, Mr Lu has reportedly run out of cash to finish the boat.
He said if the apocalypse failed to materialise, he would use the boat to take tourists on sightseeing tours.
In Chengdu, a web company has given its workers a tongue-in-cheek two-day break on Dec 19 and 20. "We suggest you take advantage of this 'final' time to spend more time with your closest family. We wish everyone a meaningful doomsday," it said.
China has no history of preoccupation with the apocalypse, and the current wave of paranoia can be traced to the 2009 Hollywood disaster film "2012". While the movie received a tepid welcome elsewhere, it was a smash hit in China, as viewers were seduced by a plot that saw the Chinese military build arks to save humanity.
Lu Jiehua, a professor with the Department of Sociology at Peking University, told the Global Times, meanwhile, that the paranoia reflects a general anxiety running through Chinese society.
"This panic buying [in Sichuan] not only shows people's fear of an upcoming apocalypse, but also reflects their sense of uncertainty toward life and society," he said.
and....
http://www.ethiopianreview.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=45561
Is the end of the world really nigh? Authorities reassure Russians over Mayan Armageddon prophecy
http://beforeitsnews.com/2012/2012/12/cern-lhc-largest-ever-experiment-coincides-with-mayan-end-date-2440756.html
Mayan End Date for CERN Largest Experiment Ever
Wednesday, December 5, 2012 22:59
This year, CERN is beginning another set of experiments in hopes to getting that much closer to completing the Standard Model. Scientists at CERN have announced test dates for the rest of the year, as well as some curious dates can be found in the upcoming schedule. Starting Monday, December 17, 2012 and going through Friday, December 21, 2012, CERN will be launching and running a series of collisions, which are predicted to break records in high voltage collisions already set by the LHC. With these experiments, the scientists are hoping to create atomic reactions that would provide further information about anti-matter, and the big bang.
The test set for the week of December 17-21, 2012 is the final test before the LHC will shutdown operations for upgrades and will resume operation in 2014, assuming something doesn’t go wrong, in the minds of some of the scientists, terribly right, which causes the end of the world. I guess we will just have to see what happens. Let us know what you think, is CERN guilty of a self-fulfilling prophecy of destruction here?