Lights... Camera... Apocalypse

From Book of Matthew 24: 35-36."Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words shall not pass away. But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father alone." Matthew 24: 35-36.

Ever since they have been organized religion, they have been end of the world predictions. This website (a religious based one) lists end of the world predictions dating back to 44 A.D. Predictions that obviously did not come true. One of the more prominent ones was by William Miller who predicted that the end would come in 1843 or 1844. Some of his followers predicted a more exact date: October 22, 1844. When that date came and went, not only did Miller's followers (known as he Millerites) have to deal with disappointment. They also had to deal with grief and in case cases, violence from the public.

More recently we had to deal with a series of end of the world predictions from the years 1999-2000. American Evangelist Hal Lindsey was among many who predicted the end would come in 2000 (it should be noted he also predicted Christ's would return in 1988. Many other religious and New Age personalities echoed Lindsey's belief. Well It's 2011, I'm writing this and you're reading this. So I don't think I'm saying anything shocking by saying none of those predictions came true.

Now, with the Mayan calender due to end in 2012, we are once again being deluded with end of the world predictions. How the end of an ancient calender has to do with apocalypse I don't know. But a lot of people believe in it. But before we deal with 2012, we have to deal with this year, since there's some people who believe the end will come in 2011.

The most prominent of the 2011 apocalypse preachers come from Family Radio, a Christian radio network lead by Harold Camping. Camping is predicting that the Rapture will occur on May 21, 2011. Following the Rapture will be the apocalypse which will occur on October 21, 2011. It should be noted that Camping also predicted the end of the world would come in 1994. Of course, 1994 came and went without the apocalypse, but Camping's ministry lives on. His miss on 1994 has not discouraged him from making more predictions. If anything, Camping has become more bolder. In the past he said that the end might come in 1994. According to the Family Radio website Judgment Day will come on May 21, 2011 saying that the Bible guarantees it.

In the likely event that Camping's 2011 predictions are wrong, we'll have to deal with 2012. They are various beliefs on what will happen in 2012. The most common belief: a series of cataclysmic events will happen during the year. It will all lead to the apocalypse. The date that most are predicting: December 21, 2012. The date that the Mayan calender ends.

I was confident that the would wouldn't end in 1999 and 2000. I'm also confident that the world will not end in 2011 or 2012. Why? First of all, a vast history of missed predictions. Secondly, the Bible itself. The Bible clearly states that no one will know the exact day and hour. That leaves very little wiggle room.

Will the world end? Yes, when the sun die dies some 5 billion years from now. Is a apocalypse described in the Book of Revelations possible? Despite my skepticism of people like Camping, i do believe in God and the Bible. But a series of events has to happen before the end comes. Most predominately, the rise of the anti-Christ, who will claim to be God and demand people got "the Mark of the Beast as an oath of loyalty to him. Many of the world leaders and politicians may have god sized egos, but as far as I know, none of them have claimed to be God. As far is I know, neither Barack Obama, Vladimir Putin or Sarah Palin has plans to have the number 666 affixed to our foreheads.

I'm confident that we'll all be around on January 1, 2013. I'll probably be at the gym dealing with the New Year's resolution crowd. In the mean time, they'll be a lot of people left to explain why their predictions did not come true.

Winter of My Discontent

I know that part of living in New England is the cold and snowy winters. But this winter has been particularly bad with one snowstorm after another. Storms that are not measuring in inches but in feet. Since about the start of January, southern New England has been stuck in a pattern in which we get hit by a storm every three or four days.

It's to a point in which most of the city and towns have exhausted their snow removal budgets. Another problem is where to put the snow. With temperatures rarely rising above freezing, not much of the snow is melting.So when we get hit with another storm (many places around here in yesterday's storm got another foot) it only adds to what's already on the ground.

Such is the case with my hometown of Fall River Massachusetts. They are literally running out of places to put the snow. In the old days, they would put it in the Taunton River. Which is already polluted. Thanks to the Al Gore green crowd, that option is out the window. They were putting the snow in closed down school yards. But many of them are full. So instead, they have been dumping it onto the runways of a closed down airport. So now they are talking about another major storm next week. More on that later.

On a personal level, this winter has just plain sucked. I'm an outdoors warm weather person. I don't mind an occasional snowstorm. But one after another is just driving me up the wall. Running on a treadmill loses it's charm after a while. Three major snowstorms within a span of a month and now one is coming possibly next week. This one already has a name:the Groundhog Day Storm. Yet another possible major dumping of snow. Here's hoping the Groundhog Day Storm is the biggest much ado about nothing since the Y2K bug. But with the way this winter has gone, you can never count out any forecast of major snow.

Like everything else, this too will pass. Spring will be here soon. But for now, this is the winter of my discontent.

The Biggest Loser in a NFL Work Stoppage

A while back I was listening to sports talk radio. The hosts were doing an interview with former Baltimore Ravens head coach Brian Billick. He had a most interesting take. When asked about who'll be the biggest loser in a NFL work stoppage, he did not mention the owners or the players. He said that the biggest losers would be those who work at games.

When you think about it, Billick's answer made a lot of sense. Those who would be most affected by a NFL work stoppage is those who can't least afford to lose the money they earn by working at NFL games. Billionaire owners and millionaire players will take a hit. But nothing compared to those who work at NFL games.

A perfect view of the NFL economy can be found on Route 1 in Foxboro, MA, the long time home of the New England Patriots. It was their home when they played in Foxboro Stadium, a glorified high school stadium. It's still their home in the new state of the art Gillette Stadium. When you enter the stadium, you will see people taking the tickets from the fans. Inside the stadium, you will see people working the concession stands. Throughout the game, you will see ushers and security guards as they deal with rowdy and drunk fans. Long after the game, there's a crew, cleaning up the stadium and the parking lots. Up and down Route 1, you see many restaurants and bars. Businesses that prosper on NFL Sundays. All across America, there's numerous other bars and restaurants who make a lot of money and NFL Sundays. Including bartenders and wait staff who use the money they make on Sundays to pay their bills This is the working class of the NFL economy. They make a fraction of what the players and owners make.

Some of them might be a factory worker who takes a second job on Sundays. Others might be a single mother pouring beers for football fans. Perhaps some might be a laid off factory worker who's just glad he found a job picking up litter in the stadium parking lot. Across America, there's 31 other Route 1's in places like Green Bay and Pittsburgh. 31 other towns full of people who will be drastically affected if there's a NFL lock out later this year.

Of course, if there's a NFL work stoppage, it'll won't be the first time a major sports league was shut down because of a work stoppage. The World Series was able to play through two world wars and the Great Depression. But a World Series was canceled because of a player's strike. The NHL lost an entire season because of a lock out by the owners. Now this. I'll spare you the boring details. Basically, the NFL owners have long been unhappy with this current collective bargaining agreement which is due to expire in March. They want to reduce the percentage of revenue they reserve for players salaries. The player's union of course object to this. So there is a general belief the the owners will lock out the players if a new CBA is not agreed to.

No one wants to hear billionaire owners and millionaire players fighting over money. Especially in this grim economy. I also find no credibility in either side crying poverty. I'm not an expert in business or economics. But if pro sports was a money losing venture, you wouldn't be seeing business tycoons spending millions of dollars to buy franchises. You wouldn't be seeing the networks bid barrels of money for the rights to broadcast games. The players would be working the the fields in which they went to college for. They wouldn't be playing football if they weren't getting paid well.

Either way, both sides are going to make a lot of money. So please spare us the crying poverty propaganda. Meet somewhere in the middle and sign a new CBA. While your driving around in your Bentleys and charging people $50 to park in the stadium lot, think about the working class of the NFL. The coming lock out will hurt them much more than it'll hurt you.

The Milk and Bread Brigade

They don't come out often. Only during the winter months. How often they come out depends on the severity of the winter. If it's a snowy winter, they come out a lot. If it's a mild one, not nearly as often. The timing of when they come out is predictable. When there's a snowstorm in the forecast. When that happens, they leave the safety of their homes to invade supermarkets. Who are they? There are the Milk and Bread Brigade.

They are a paranoid bunch. They don't believe the world will end in 2012. They think Armageddon will come with the next snowstorm. They are more fearful of old man winter than they are of the coming of the Anti-Christ. When snow comes, they most go to the supermarket to get some milk and bread. It's wasn't always that way.

Here in New England, the Milk and Bread Brigade was formed on February 6, 1978. If that date sounds familiar, it's the date of the Blizzard of '78, a once in a lifetime snow event. The Boston-Providence areas was buried in over two feet of snow. Yours truly spent a good portion of that day stranded in a school bus. The region was crippled for days.

The only thing that the Milk and Bread Brigade seem to believe that every major snowstorm is a potential Blizzard of '78 Part II. I got my first experience with the Brigade as an employee for the Valueland Supermarket in Fall River, MA. When one day I showed up to work and dealt with a seemingly endless line of customers. As a said, the Blizzard of '78 is a once in a lifetime occurrence. We've had other blizzards since then. Life usually returned back to normal within 24 hours.

One thing, if the world is coming to an end, there's a good chance we'll lose electrical power at some point. Which means no more refrigeration. Wouldn't you be better off buying bottled water instead of milk, which goes bad? Why only bread? How about some rice, potatoes and other non-perishables? Just making a suggestion in case of my skepticism of the coming Apocalypse is wrong. Either way, it's still only January. Chances are they'll be forecasts of a few more snowstorms. Maybe even another blizzard. When that happens, expect the Milk and Bread Brigade to make their return trip to a supermarket near you. Don't say I didn't warn you.