Extreme Reactions to Bible Predictions of Doomsday 2011

Some Christians think that the beginning of the end of the world is going to start on May 21, 2011. Yes! if these christian organizations were to be believed there will be a large earthquake two days from now and that will mark the beginning of the end of world.

When faith gets into someone they can go to bizarre levels to propagate it. I read about this man in New York who spent his life savings of $140,000 to advertise this prediction in various parts of the city. He has also written a book titled The Doomsday Code about this destruction of the world.

This is definitely hilarious, the extent to which people take their faiths seriously. Here is a 60 yr old man who spends all his savings advertising this prophesy that doesn't have any scientific basis. I wonder what he is going to do few years down the line when he has to retire. Granted that he will be eligible for health benefits under Medicare and Medicaid that has been paid for by taxpaying citizens like himself.

Life in this country is not easy when one is old and poor. This precisely what this guy will be a few years down the line, if the world doesn't end day after tomorrow :)

Predict your life span with a blood test!

Every life form on this planet will fight to the end with any greater force for existence... i.e. to preserve its life, to thrive, to live longer. Human beings are the smartest of all life forms and have devised ways and means to combat common diseases and live longer.

I remember one Hindi saying on this subject: "Jaan Hai to Jahan Hai" meaning if life is there then the whole world is there. I heard this quote in the film the Mummy: "Live today to fight tomorrow". Life is celebrated and death is feared in almost all cultures across the world.

In this quest there are hoary sciences such as astrology, palmistry, tarot, etc, whose practitioners claim to accurately predict the future. Unfortunately most of them fall short sometime or the other. To this list of paranormal/ occult/ predictive sciences we can add biology/ medicine. A new test devised by scientists in Europe is said to effectively predict how many years one is going to live.

I read about the test online on Washington Post. According to the article the Telomere test, a simple blood test like the can predict the lifespan quite effectively.

Now wouldn't that put a spanner in the works of astrologers who have hitherto held sway over people who have been trying to unravel the mysteries of their future. It would also create a great catastrophe like the author points out if Insurance companies were to come to know about your test results, or even if your employer were to know your test results.

I think this is a great test and should be made accessible to everyone, making the results public could be left to the discretion of the individual.

A Working Summer

For students in the US summer break is not a time to enjoy holidays. Rather everyone does something productive such as taking up a job, volunteering, enrolling for summer classes, traveling to another country, etc. This trend is catching up in upcoming economies such as India but it is not enough to sustain the large population of youth in that country.

Coming back to what I am doing. This is one period of the year when I get unbroken time to work and pick up overtime hours. Overtime pays (1½ times) and when there is opportunity to earn overtime it is the best thing to do. Moreover with summer heat melting the muscle and vaporizing blood it is better to remain indoors in the comfort of the air-conditioning.

I hope I can blog occasionally....