Top

2012 End Of The World

December 27, 2011 by · Comments Off on 2012 End Of The World 

2012 End Of The World2012 End Of The World, SOME people say the world will end in the coming year. There’s actually a certain truth in that. Even if the apocalyptic Mayan predictions and Nostradamus prophecy do not occur, it is going to be the end of the world just the same for some people here.

The death knell, one way or the other, will come with the 13th general election, which, as has been widely anticipated and figured out, is most likely to take place next year — sooner rather than later. So for many, the world will end just before or just after this watershed event.

For one, the “winnable candidate” buzz could just veer off to give the death blow. The obsession with this tag has certainly added a horrendous twist to the molten political landscape that had taken shape after the bruising elections the last time around in 2008.

The fact is that many are anticipating 2012 to be a year of political showdowns. This plus the preoccupation with the winnable candidate formula gives it just the right recipe for the end of the world stuff.

Central to this issue is what, or who, is a winnable candidate? I think this overused expression is as redundant as the grossly irritating “repeat again one more time”.

When you field a candidate, of course, he is considered (at least to the party pitting him) a winnable candidate. Who would want to put up a “losable candidate”?

But the tricky and often amusing part about the sweet-sounding term is that it brings forth many hopefuls who regard themselves as winnable on all counts, even if it is only by their own reckoning. And this is where the problem lies, because the world will virtually end for these people if they don’t get selected as candidates. Or, in cases where they do, they get beaten.

There was, for instance, this old chap the other day who openly declared without the slightest hesitation.

The veteran said he had based the self-assessment on feedback from people around him and then boldly maintained that “this is not what I say but what the people say”. Yeah right. Such smugness from a schmuck.

It is the same person who has been going around undermining some of his counterparts. It is also the same person who has not much to show from running a major sport association he heads. And he wants to be picked as a winnable candidate in politics.

Just watch, he will make all kinds of threats to everyone if he is not picked.

There are many people like him. It is understood that intense lobbying and so many petitions and self-pitching reports have gone out to Barisan Nasional party leaders in the promotion of certain so-called winnable candidates.

According to an aide to a minister, there had been numerous occasions when, during official functions or visits, envelopes and files containing lengthy resumes of certain candidates were willy-nilly passed on to top party leaders in the hope of consideration.

Even personalities linked to non-governmental organisations and elected representatives who are in the parliamentary independent group are in the list lobbying to be winnable candidates.

This is where the end of the world will come for some of them because what perhaps they do not realise is that in the BN scheme of things, the party chairman already has his evaluation methods to determine the candidates to be fielded. And much of these comes from intelligence reports he is privy to.

The same goes for prospective candidates from parties on the other side of the fence. The election outcome in 2008 made many sit up, and suddenly, now everyone wants to be a candidate, thinking that he can be a winner.

This explains the internal squabbles afflicting the parties.

Pas and DAP have some of their top leaders engaged in open confrontation which would inevitably affect candidacy. Parti Keadilan Rakyat is losing more disillusioned campaigners.

The odd thing about these parties and their supporters is that when abrasive statements are made from within or by one of their own officials, they are always the same — the culprit has been paid off to become a turncoat. If it is the other way around and the criticisms come from within BN, the critic is instantly tagged as “a man with principles”.

It is a bit like their perception of court cases and the media. Things are only fair if they are to their advantage.

On this note, there is a crucial court decision due soon. This could spell the end of the world as well, one way or the other.

2012 End Of The World

December 21, 2011 by · Comments Off on 2012 End Of The World 

2012 End Of The World2012 End Of The World, The predictions of doom and gloom have been coming quickly for some time. Hollywood blockbusters, History Channel documentaries, and a plethora of websites and books of all tell us of dire things that might happen on December 21, 2012.

The day is considered astrologically significant for two reasons. First, it is the winter solstice when the sun appears at its lowest point in the southern sky. The solar nadir is it expected to align the Earth and Sun with the center of the Milky Way galaxy. It also roughly coincides with the solar maximum — a period of peak activity on the sun.

Second, it is the most popular and accepted date for the end of the Mayan Long Count calendar. Many people involved in astrology, numerology, and other such practices believe that the Maya were possessed of a secret knowledge that foretold when the end times would be.

Of course, astronomers explain that all this is nonsense.

First, there is no secret cosmic energy which radiates any differently between the center of the galaxy, the Sun and Earth, when they appear to be in some sort of alignment. In fact, the very alignment itself is an optical illusion caused by the orientation of the planet, (axial tilt) and the ultra-slow wobble of the Earth on its axis, a phenomenon known as “procession.”

As for the solar maximum, the Sun appears to have a natural 11 year cycle of activity during which sunspots and solar flares become common, then virtually nonexistent.

Interestingly, the Sun’s average activity is now substantially less than what scientists believe it has been in the past. Some even believe that the sun is experiencing what is known as a “minimum” in its cycles. Such minimums have happened before, and they may last decades or even hundreds of years. They are perfectly natural. So in 2012, the Sun isn’t even expected to be as active as it has been in decades past; no need to worry about solar flares engulfing the Earth (they cannot do so anyway–Earth is much too far away).

Bottom