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Friday, October 21, 2011

Not dead yet

The end of the world, or the end of Harold Camping?
By Will Collette

Well, it's pretty close to the close of business on a beautiful blustery Friday.

With some optimism, I planted bulbs for spring blooming, but watched the skies for a sign whether evangelist Harold Camping's end-of-the-world prediction would come true.




You could say it's a pretty gutsy career move to go all-in on a Doomsday prediction, not once but now twice. But then again, Harold is in his 80's and his career is the family religious radio network.

But he can also take solace in some history. After all, two failed doomsday predictions worked out pretty well for William Miller in the 1800s. Actually, not so much for him as for the churches (Seventh Day Adventists and Jehovah's Witnesses) that his disappointed followed formed.

But we haven't dodged the doomsday bullet yet. We still get to play German Roulette this weekend. The 2.7 ton German ROSAT satellite is due to crash somewhere on earth sometime this weekend. Scientists estimate that about 30 large chunks should survive re-entry. I have more bulbs to plant this weekend. I think I'll wear a hard hat.