Apocalypse Tourism: Where To Celebrate Doomsday? 233
PolygamousRanchKid writes "December 21, 2012 marks the end of the current cycle of the Mayan 'Long Count' calendar. And while this has had some fearful types preparing for the end of the world, others have been preparing to travel. The Mexican government is expecting 52 million tourists as part of their "Mundo Maya 2012," campaign to visit the five regions — Chiapas, Yucatan, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and Campeche, over the next 12 months. So, if you're wondering where to spend the last tourist dollars you'll have as a breathing human being or just want to see the looks on those faces when December 21 comes and goes uneventfully, President Felipe Calderon hopes you'll choose Mexico."
Already prepared (Score:5, Funny)
I'll spend it in the Y2K vault I built the last time the world ended.
Re:Already prepared (Score:5, Insightful)
A Y2K bunker, Cuban Missile Crisis bunker, or hole in the ground would be safer.
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I was thinking the place of origin of a doomsday prophecy would be exactly where you would not want to be.
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It would be the luck of those 52 million tourists to visit the same mountain peak at the same time, only to have it suddenly explode as a volcano.
Re:Already prepared (Score:5, Funny)
It would be the luck of those 52 million tourists to visit the same mountain peak at the same time, only to have it suddenly explode as a volcano.
Oh - think of the engrams!
Re:Already prepared (Score:5, Insightful)
... the place of origin of a doomsday prophecy would be exactly where you would not want to be.
Do we know where this "doomsday prophecy" actually originated? I'd think it wasn't likely in Mexico, because there are lots of people there who understand the Mayan calendar). And they understand that all that'll happen next December 21 is that the first digit of the year will increase by 1 (and the rest of the digits will reset to 0). That is, it'll be about as big a doomsday as Y2K was.
It seems more likely that this "doomsday" was generated by someone with no understanding at all of the Mayan calendar. Either that, or they were your typical charlatan trying to scare people for personal profit. (Actually, that sort of person is easy enough to find in Mexico. ;-)
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Either that, or they were your typical charlatan trying to scare people for personal profit. (Actually, that sort of person is easy enough to find in Mexico. ;-)
Yeah, I know. Mexico is a heavily Catholic country. You can't walk two blocks without bumping into a priest.
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Yeah, I know. Mexico is a heavily Catholic country. You can't walk two blocks without bumping into a priest.
They hang out at Starbucks?
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Yeah, the Chicxulub crater is an interesting discovery. But what does it have to do with the Mayan calendar stuff?
The Maya lived in the Yucatan. Their miners or diviners may have discovered something troubling.
Were there dinosaurs around before the impact who had a calendar whose low-order digits went to zero on the Big Day?
Probably they ignored the warnings that God hates Phagosaurs, and got punished for their tolerance.
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Yucatan's nowhere near the US Border (Score:4, Informative)
Yes, if you go up to Juarez or some other border town, start flashing around lots of cash, and tell people you're trying to get into the wholesale import/export business, there are many people who will consider you to be a target and others who will consider you to be DEA bait because nobody'd be that stupid otherwise.
But the Maya region is the far other end of the country, there's very little gang activity, and the Zapatista rebellion has been quiet for years as well. Sure, there are pickpockets and corrupt cops*, so you'll have to think about which pocket to carry your cash in (:-), but basically you'll be fine. Chichen Itza is stunning, and you want to go there, as well as Tulum or some of the sites farther south. Merida and some of the other colonial towns are really cool, though I'd recommend not planning a trip for mid-summer (too hot) or hurricane season. Cancun has endless supplies of beaches, margaritas, and tourist traps if you want that kind of vacation, but there's also some Mexican or Mayan culture around there if you look for it.
* ( A friend of mine went there back in the late 90s, and drove into Merida about 4am. The bad part of having cops pull him over to extort a bribe was having to pay them $40; the good part was having them give him a lights-blinking escort through town because it was easier than explaining the directions to his hotel.)
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Hell, I'll move there. Not because I'm a junkie, but because in the absence of drug prohibition, it will be one of the safest countries on earth.
Really? [guardian.co.uk] You bet the drug gangs will disappear instead of diversify?
Re:End drug prohibition and I'll visit (Score:4, Interesting)
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When's the last time you had to buy booze from a gangster?
Hmmm... post-prohibition [wikipedia.org], took like... ah, no, apologies... they are still active [wikipedia.org].
But, by all means, don't let this stop going in Mexico for the end of the world party.
Re:End drug prohibition and I'll visit (Score:5, Informative)
I laughed :-) we just changed that btw: http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2016720231_elexliquor09m.html [nwsource.com]
Re:gangs (Score:2)
Hi c0lo
Can we get a playing of Coolio's Gangster's Paradise here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFK6H_CcuX8 [youtube.com]
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Right, because places like Amsterdam are known for being so safe.
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With all those Twinkies - still Fresh!
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lol I just found out a few days ago that they are banned in Australia due to their benzene content :)
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lol I just found out a few days ago that they are banned in Australia due to their benzene content :)
That's too bad. Otherwise Mad Max could squeeze them for fuel after the apocalypse.
Do as the government tells you to (Score:2)
Smart tourist move (Score:3)
Sounds like a perfect one off opportunity for Mexico to take advantage and make some wonderful tourist dollars off an event they are not going to have again. I wouldn't have ever thought of using this event as a way to get tourists into a country, but hey, with all the TV shows about it constantly being shown, I guess it was only a matter of time before ads started screening during them saying "Hey, come to this place for when the nworld ends!".
Smart marketing if you ask me.
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They will have it again, but as the Mayans added an extra digit every time the clock reset, it won't be for a very long time.
Re:event they are not going to have again (Score:2)
Well, I "could have predicted" this, it is indeed savvy to fix a few holes in the economy with a few tourist (Your Currency Here.)
I am a quiet fan of New Age. These books were coming out in 2006. So here we are.
Trouble is, it "jut might be" the end if all the bad trends explode!
Far as I can tell, there's no subsequent compelling meme AFTER this when (not if!) we all survive with the same dullness as Y2K. Sux o be a new age writer then!!
My travel buddy (Score:2)
How? (Score:5, Funny)
How in the heck to you expect me to celebrate an apocalypse while I'm working so hard to arrange it?
Working holidays can suck, but this one will be well worth it.
Are you still accepting volunteers? (Score:2)
I've always wanted to get into the apocalypse-business and figured that if I'll miss this one, I might not get another chance. I've dabbled a bit and can present my mediocre Evil Genius [wikipedia.org] skills as a proof of my hobbyism. I've also caused the demise of many promising heroes, through activity known as "Dungeon Mastering".
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I've always wanted to get into the apocalypse-business and figured that if I'll miss this one, I might not get another chance.
Don't be silly; there will always be another apocalypse. I think we've had two from the same profit^w prophet this year.
Like I've been saying... (Score:4, Funny)
1060 West Addison (Score:2)
after the cubs win the party may just last all of NOV.
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after the cubs win the party may just last all of NOV.
Although not as apocalyptic as a Cubs world series win, Van Halen announced they would be touring in 2012 with David Lee Roth.
Watching the Hobbit for the 10th time? (Score:5, Interesting)
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the end of the world is a week after it's release. It's only fair that I'll be watching it when the world ends.
I'll already have seen that I'll be watching Judd Atapows movie which comes out the night of the apocalypse.
The scary thing is (Score:4, Interesting)
I remember when 1999 turned the clock to 2000. At the time there was a bunch of Christian fundamentalists arrested in Israel, who were of the mindset that it was the time of the apocalypse, and if it didn't happen "naturally", then they were sure going to help it along.
This is the sort of thinking that scares me.
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There have been such sects throughout history, but the extreme religious radicalization and right-wing shifts globally make this a particularly dangerous apocalyptic prediction. I don't think that any will succeed in causing global mayhem, but I don't recommend hanging out with any fundamentalists that particular day - regardless of religion. (Mind you, I don't recommend hanging out with fundamentalists at all, but if there's a day they're likely to be dangerous on then that will be it.)
More realistically,
Re:The scary thing is (Score:4, Insightful)
You are aware that Mayan religious belief and Fundamentalist Christian belief are two entirely unrelated worldviews, and neither would take the other's predictions as authoritative, right?
I'm just wondering how you would arrive at the notion that Fundamentalists are going to think 2012 is the end because Mayan "paganism" says so.
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You're laboring under the misimpression that fundies are necessarily rational. Not all fundies (probably a large majority won't) will go crazy over this 2012 doomsday prediction, but I guarantee you there will be some more mentally disordered ones who /will/, and who will be citing their Bibles the whole way.
It's not like we've never had some Christian fundies get into a mass hysteria and decide that the world would end at a certain date; it's happened many times in the USA since it was founded (at least 3
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Awww, your first "there are potentially-murderous nutjobs out there." That is so cute!
That's why I like the SubGeniuses (Score:2)
Their end of the world day, X-Day, was July 5, 1998. So what do they do since that came and went? Why do it again every year of course! X-Day XIV happened this year.
No reason you can't have an end of the world celebration every year... At least if you are willing to have some fun with it :).
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Re:The scary thing is (Score:5, Informative)
Care to cite? I can't find shit about this. I think you're a fucking troll.
Yeah I'm a fucking troll I admit it .. and here is a citation that I just whipped up in Wikipedia in order to support my trolling (I especially like the inserting articles into the BBC). Note that I prepared this ahead of time and did not just find it after googling for say 2 minutes.
Concerned Christians [wikipedia.org]
Now all you people modding me down can just go and suck it.
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Fundamentalist != fanatical. Please learn the difference or it's very hard to have a serious conversation on these matters. If you're just going to dump them all in one big bin don't act like you care what you're talking about, just come out and admit that you hate everything about religion and all followers are the same in your eyes.
The group in question is fanatical. A fundamentalist group likely wouldn't use the Bible's prophecy as an instrument for violent reaction since "But about that day and
Re:The scary thing is (Score:4, Insightful)
Re:The scary thing is (Score:4)
Useless fact: One of those Concerned Christians was the very first girl I kissed, way back in kindergarten, Anne Marie Biondo. I guess nobody expects their first crush to join a cult that tries to end the world...
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Asking for a citation is reasonable, calling him a "fucking troll" because he didn't provide one originally is not reasonable. It would seem that some people can't even politely request a citation these days before resorting to insults to try and make their point.
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Seriously, attacks on innocents are prohibited in Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Hinduism, but when has that prohibition ever stopped anyone? The ability of theists to extract reasons for whatever nastiness they may want to commit has shown no limits so far. In the case of the Torah/Bible/Koran it's such a convoluted mess of contradictions that pretty much anything that is prohibited in one section is mandatory in another. Just pick
Re:The scary thing is (Score:5, Insightful)
The ability of theists to extract reasons for whatever nastiness they may want to commit has shown no limits so far.
This ability is not limited to the religious; it is a universal human affliction. An overwhelming majority of mass murders in the 20th century were justified by long-standing ethnic grievances, pseudo-scientific claims of racial superiority, pseudo-scientific claims of historical inevitability, pure revanchist nationalism, and sheer paranoia. Arguably the most egregious example was the attempted elimination of an ancient religious group by followers of a very modern ideology that never took on overtly religious trappings. (Granted, the Christian churches in Germany could have done more to stop the Nazis, but they were hardly the instigators, and at worst allowed themselves to be co-opted.) Probably the largest single pool of victims were killed by governments that actively suppressed religion (and in many cases continue to do so today), but which themselves espoused a messianic ideology. Historically speaking, the heyday of religiously-motivated massacres was the millennium between approximately 650 AD and 1650 AD, and one need look no further than the campaigns of the Mongols (~500,000 killed in the sack of Baghdad) or Timur (pyramids of skulls) to see that religion was frequently unimportant.
The sad fact is that some people simply enjoy brutalizing their fellow humans, and will latch onto any justification they can find for cold-blooded murder of innocents. The perpetrators of the killings of last century all believed that history was on their side, and that violence was essential to usher in the perfect society. There is no shortage of delusional belief systems that the violent elements can abuse to gain popular support for their actions. It would be folly to believe that only religion is to blame for this, or that atheism is any indicator of a reduced propensity for murder and mayhem.
And before you ask, I'm an atheist, and militant secularist.
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Other than that, I agree completely. There have always been people claiming that the world would be perfect if there just weren't any Hutus/Gypsies/Tamils/Jews/Shiia/Templars/Cherokees/Whoever in it. Religion is simply o
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And that's just the thing. For you sections A, C and F from book M are the most valid and important, for the aforementioned end-timers sections L, F and W from book Z are the most important. For the woman across the ocean who is putting on a suicide vest section P from book N is the only important consideration. For the group in the mountains contemplating committing genocide, their justification is found in sections F, Q and W
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Okay, and your worldview has signed-up for being 100% eliminated en masse by Natural Selection--which permutation of interpretation leads to something worse for you?
In reality, you can indeed look at the overall statistical behavior of the group to determine which are likely decisions based on considered analysis of that group, much like how for -any worldview whatsoever- a similar process of rationalization can take place. That it can occur does not mean it is accurate or unquestionable by more reasonable
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Duh. Every species since the origin of life has either gone extinct, or will go extinct. Or are you under the impression that your 'worldview' will somehow survive the extinction of humans?
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Not "impression", rather certainty.
That your reality is the subset of reality specified by Naturalism, doesn't make it what reality actually is.
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But here, cusco has a valid point. Christians, as a whole, can be very selective about what parts of the Bible they wish to adhere to and which parts they don't. Here's one example: Jesus told his apostles that a rich man has about as much chance of entering heaven as a camel h
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Yes, probably they should have bothered to read the Revelation they presumed they were acting upon, and that at least 186,000 Jews would be given a "leadership position" for these very events, making their scenario rather inane--and avoided this rather-foreseeable outcome provided by the Turks.
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I've always gone with the more plausible notion that atheists simply entirely make up that any theists say any such thing, are so motivated, or act in such a way, even for the statistically insignificant percentage one hears this about as a biased estimate.
Yeah, atheists have to make up scary stories about religious nutters, because real ones are impossible to find.
And besides, atheists would feel obligated to join some cult if they couldn't find any disreputable poop on it.
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Well, yes, "real" in the sense of a) actually reflecting the content of the religion, rather than proposing that acts opposite from what the religion says to do are what the religion says to do--and b) being statistically significant considering the size of the demographic, which, handily for you, you have none specifiable for yourself for any useful relative comparison of outcomes.
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Tha thu 'nad fhaighean, gun itheadh an cat thu agus gun itheadh an diabhal an cat.
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The exception is the Canadian Scottish regiments where Canadians join even at that many of them learn the guide of Gaidheal tongue.
you though sound like, albeit this may not be the case, a silly unionist/sassainach 'nad fhaighean with an axe to grind with a fine and soon to be independent wee country
As an ex-serviceman myself i can only but laugh at your craptasticness. albeit the queens Own and my Regim
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Elazar Shach, the Rosh Yeshiva of the Ponevezh yeshiva and a leader of Lithuanian Judaism, objected to the call for "forcing" the Messiah's appearance, an idea advocated by the Lubavitcher Rebbe.[77]
This statement itself contains multiple links to the individuals and their respective authority within Judaism, as well as the specific citation.
Quote is from here [wikipedia.org], should you wish to follow up on this particular argument--though it is not difficult to find in many other such positions.
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Based on your own evidence, it would seem that this actually a point of contention rather than an absolute, agreed upon rule.
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Show me something in any human endeavor (any political party, any philosophy, any ethical system, any economics model, any science other than the subset of a subset of hard physics, etc., etc.) and we'll talk.
Just kidding, your expectation isn't even the case in hard physics.
Until then, it seems clearly the preponderant view, and the one supported by reference to the respective religions' defining document. If you want to argue otherwise, feel free to... actually argue otherwise. This would mean your own
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And... "document" should be plural in that post, and...
"people disagree" != "nobody's right"
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Sure, I understand based on your entirely wrong views of the text, how that could be unclear.
Given they were not "made up", however, and that there is a clear and discernable progression in Judaism and Christianity, with the means of application extensively presented, one can actually apply a methodology to it. This is why, in fact, there are qualifications for various roles in the religion based upon learning the history and content of the religion and it's text, which, typically, requires years of formal
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Based on his own evidence, not even that. The question is about accelerating the end in the context of starting the apocalypse--in other words, violence and killing. Someone who is "accelerating the end" by praying for the Messiah to come faster is not really what is being discussed, even though technically he is trying to get the end to come faster.
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"Violence and killing" is precisely what's being discussed, as the reason for objection in the example given of this group's actions in Israel.
That I addressed on the grounds of the specific mandates to not be killing people without justification.
The equivocation of this narrow event including violence to the general notion of "accelerating the end", to suggest the former entails the latter (erroneously), and to suggest moral blame for the former is equivalent to the latter (erroneously) is addressed by the
Perfect place (Score:5, Funny)
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Clearly, the Mayans didn't think this through. Of course, the fact that their civilization cratered is good evidence tha
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I'm planning to go to the US... (Score:3)
I'm planning to go to the US. But my trip is scheduled to after the world ends, so if I don't go, have a nice ending you all.
Christchurch (Score:2)
You are pretty much guaranteed an earthquake there.
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I dunno. I was there for a year and there wasn't one.
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Local government should have you on the payroll.
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Not sure where your link was going...
Speaking of Chiapas... (Score:2)
How's that indigenous post-modern anti neo-liberal revolution by the Zapatistas in Chiapas coming along?
Haven't heard much in the news lately and the site(s?) seems to be completely in Spanish.
http://www.ezln.org.mx/ [ezln.org.mx]
It was all a big joke. Get over it! (Score:5, Informative)
The whole 2012 thing all started as a joke. Michael Coe (one of the world's top Mayanists) noticed that the calander ran out in 2012. In one of his papers, he put s footnote to the effect of: "Perhaps it is the end of the world." That is where this whole thing started from.
I get to work with a number of Mayan groups for my chocolate factory (Amano Artisan Chocolate) who grow some of our cocoa beans. Every group that I have had the opportunity to work with has told me that they see life and the calander as cycles. Given that, they don't see it as the end of the world so much as the beginning of a new cycle. They don't see it as the end of the world at all. It is really humorous to see folks in the "modern" world taking this end of the world thing far more seriously than the Mayan groups I work with.
Just a point of note, these native Mayan groups are composed of some really wonderful people. If you ever get a chance to go down to Mayan territory and are able to get away from the tourist haunts and into the more remote areas, I highly recommend it.
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The whole 2012 thing all started as a joke. Michael Coe (one of the world's top Mayanists) noticed that the calander ran out in 2012. In one of his papers, he put s footnote to the effect of: "Perhaps it is the end of the world." That is where this whole thing started from...
Yeah, and oddly enough, Scientology started out as a science fiction novel...ain't it amazing what people will believe when you wrap organized religion around damn near anything?
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Drivel.
um... (Score:5, Insightful)
http://science.slashdot.org/story/09/10/26/1517242/2012-a-miscalculation-actual-calendar-ends-2220 [slashdot.org]
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Yes, but that does not make either of them (the whole "end-of-the-world-due-to-calendar" or the "end-of-the-world-due-to-mayan-calendar") less ridiculous.
Well, duh. (Score:5, Funny)
I'm going to spend it the same way I spent the last eight apocalypses - standing near the eastern edge of my time zone to see what happens on the other side. Then I'll have 59 minutes to decide whether to head for a church or a whorehouse.
21 December 2012 (Score:2)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quetzalcoatl [wikipedia.org]
The ISS would be my pick (Score:3)
Well, I WISH I could be there for the end. Seriously, they've gotta have the best seats in the house for a global (but not universe wide) apocalypse. I wonder if NASA (or the Ruskies) have arranged for at least one of the astronauts to be a young fertile female. That way, the earth can be repopulated!
Anyway, since I'm going to be earthbound the bar "Apocalypse" in Saigon is good place to meet some (very!) bad girls for my last night on earth. Or perhaps even more dangerous would be the "Heart of Darkness" (the Joseph Conrad book which Apocalypse Now was based on) bar in Phnom Penh. Its close proximity to the "Killing Fields" (4 million dead Cambodians) would mean you'd be very quickly overrun if the apocalypse included the undead coming back.
I've always wondered (Score:5, Interesting)
True believers? (Score:2)
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fake life insurance
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Porta Potties
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Sell Mayan calendar countdown apps for phones, offer an end-of-the-world insurance policy to those escaping to that village in France, produce a filter that kills links to any web page with references to the Mayan calendar -- lots of ways.
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Just need to buy that island lair in a non-extradition country.
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Open a nationwide chain of stores that sell cheap crap made in China. Put old people in red vests at the door to greet them.
Be sure to sell lethal weapons. Be sure to provide little electric scooters for all the customers that are too fat to walk from eating the plus-size bags of fried corn syrup you sell. Oh, and don't forget to pay your employees starvation wages. They won't squawk because you'll put every other retail shop in town out of business, so there's no p
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William Hill, in the UK, will take a bet on anything. So will most other bookies in the UK. If they can calculate the odds, they'll wager on it. However, I suspect that you'd need to make an astronomical bet before your winnings would even cover the commission.
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Does anywhere know where I can place a bet that the world won't end?
No, but you can bet me any amount of money that it will, because I won't have to pay if you're right.
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Music with pan pipes? Are you serious?
That's so that, rather than regretting the end of the world, he'll be eager for it.