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The Doomsday / Apocalypse Thread

I recently renewed my subscription to Newspapers.com for another six months, and need to look up more articles on the Doomsday Prophetess of 1964-1965, who predicted The End of The World on March 15 or March 16 of 1965(for those who didn't follow her group with plans to survive The End in a coal mine), but Life and Above All Else, Money Matters get in the way of doing things I don't get paid for, but maybe I'll find some time to further study this story.

Was her surname, Coomer? The thing that interested me about her, was, that surviving whatever disaster she thought would briing about the End of the World, by staying underground in a coal mine, would seem like she was expecting nuclear warfare, although in the reports I have read so far, she was not exactly sure what kind of disaster was going to bring about The End, and did not specifically state it would be brought about by nuclear warfare.

I also need to do a newspaper search on whether the report on her and her followers on CBS News with Walter Kronkite, was covered in the newspapers. I just wonder if any filmed interviews with this woman, shown on TV or elsewhere, might survive today?

I have, on one other message board, read a post from a member who did remember the CBS News report, by a man who at the time was still a youngster, and when a storm came up during the night Ms. Coomer had predicted for The End, he did wonder if she could have been correct, although the storm was not all that bad, and he had hopes that possibly he could get out of going to school because of the storm.
 
Thanks for the like, ramonmercado, and for posting the link, EnolaGaia, which I clicked on and read again.

It is a bit strange to me, that Juanita Coomer is not well remembered today, and I have never found her on any lists of Doomsday Prophets and Prophetesses that I have done.

I am glad we can keep the memory of her Doomsday Prophecy alive.
 
How Humanity Came To Contemplate Its Possible Extinction: A Timeline
It is only in the last couple of centuries that we have begun to grasp that our existence might one day cease to exist forever.

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/how-humanity-discovered-its-possible-extinction-timeline/

Of course, we humans have probably been prophesying the end of the world since we began talking and telling stories. However, the modern idea of human extinction distinguishes itself from the tradition of apocalypse as it is found across cultures and throughout history.
 
An interesting tweet from my favorite Iranian philosopher:

One may think that an evenly distributed future of warfare-a la William Gibson’s vision of the future not distributed evenly at present-will bring about a more stable balance of power across the globe, ...

... but it can only lead to the invention of a new hell scrapped together from both the ambitions of independence and suppression.

The prospects of a reverse engineered low-tech inferno--as the relatively inexpensive drone wars of Azerbaijan vs Artsakh have shown--are now far more promising than the those prospects often associated with an expensive nuclear hell.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1334261493810999299
 
"Peak Oil is Suddenly Upon Us"

As a once-in-a-century pandemic played out, British oil giant BP Plc in September made an extraordinary call: Humanity’s thirst for oil may never again return to prior levels. That would make 2019 the high-water mark in oil history.

BP wasn’t the only one sounding an alarm. While none of the prominent forecasters were quite as bearish, predictions for peak oil started popping up everywhere. Even OPEC, the unflappably bullish cartel of major oil exporters, suddenly acknowledged an end in sight—albeit still two decades away. Taken together these forecasts mark an emerging view that this year’s drop in oil demand isn’t just another crash-and-grow event as seen throughout history. Covid-19 has accelerated long-term trends that are transforming where our energy comes from. Some of those changes will be permanent.
Click to expand...

There's just a few little catches: the electric cars and solar power that's supposed to replace oil require significant amount of oil, especially in mining, manufacturing, and shipping. Second, much of the world is developing, which means it likely needs not only more oil than can be produced but more minerals as well. Third, in order to transition to "green" energy, we will need a growing and stable economy and additional oil and resources to be used as a buffer.

That means the global economy now gets hammered in multiple ways. In 2005, the International Energy Agency (IEA) predicted that the world would need 115 million barrels of oil (Mbd) by 2015 because of increasing prosperity worldwide. In 2008, the economy crashed because of soaring debt and led to weak economic growth, and in turn lower oil demand (that's why oil consumption today is less than 100 Mbd, a lot lower than what was predicted). During that same time, the IEA did a survey of world oil supplies, and concluded in 2010 that the world had reached a peak in conventional oil production back in 2006, and that producers were making up for the shortfall using non-conventional production, which led to higher debts.

Now, it's argued that demand would fall because of more economic crashes due to the pandemic, which leads to more poverty, less oil produced, which means we can't recover because when we do need more oil there will be fewer producers because they already we bankrupt, and it's very difficult to put refineries and oil wells back online--they're not like appliances that can be turned on and off with a simple switch . The debts of those who went bankrupt have to be paid, and that will have to be passed on to consumers, which means even higher prices--which they can't afford because the economy remains weak, remember?

Meanwhile, it turns out that oil production per capita has been in a plateau since 1979:

"Peak oil? What peak oil?"

laherrereGraph.JPG


To recap:

1. The world economy is still developing, which means we will actually need increasing oil production and demand to avert poverty.

2. More energy will have to come from renewables, but that still requires oil, and much more because they have lower returns and a transition phase requires additional resources used as a buffer.

3. The economy crashed because of increasing debts, and it is crashing again now. That means more poverty, lower income, and lower oil demand, but also more oil producers in trouble because they need to sell more oil each time and at a higher price to cover their debts.

That means even without a peak in oil production or the effects of lack of oil due to higher demand, the world economy is already getting clobbered by a combination of soaring debts and pandemics. Throw in lack of oil production as a result of that plus long-term effects of climate change because we can't do a transition to green energy, not to mention a multi-fold increase in arms production and deployment worldwide, and it looks like we're in for some exciting times.
 
uair01 said:
An interesting tweet from my favorite Iranian philosopher:

One may think that an evenly distributed future of warfare-a la William Gibson’s vision of the future not distributed evenly at present-will bring about a more stable balance of power across the globe, ...

... but it can only lead to the invention of a new hell scrapped together from both the ambitions of independence and suppression.

The prospects of a reverse engineered low-tech inferno--as the relatively inexpensive drone wars of Azerbaijan vs Artsakh have shown--are now far more promising than the those prospects often associated with an expensive nuclear hell.

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1334261493810999299
Click to expand...

Imagine if the rest of the World bought as much useless shit as we do?
 
On the first day of winter December 21st, Saturn and Jupiter will join not since May 4, 1226.

Some call this the star of Bethlehem or Christmas star of hope.

Some call it a sign of bad to come.
 
charliebrown said:
On the first day of winter December 21st, Saturn and Jupiter will join not since May 4, 1226.

Some call this the star of Bethlehem or Christmas star of hope.

Some call it a sign of bad to come.
Click to expand...
Kind of like seeing a black cat. It's a bad omen or a good one, depending on your beliefs about omens. I'd hazard a $20 bet that most of us here see a black cat and think, Oh, there's a black cat.
 
Austin Popper said:
Kind of like seeing a black cat. It's a bad omen or a good one, depending on your beliefs about omens. I'd hazard a $20 bet that most of us here see a black cat and think, Oh, there's a black cat.
Click to expand...

Whenever I see a black cat crossing in front of me, I always think "is that supposed to be good luck or bad luck?"

I can never remember. It's probably neither, but I still have the same question in my head each time it happens.
 
Schrodinger's Zebra said:
Whenever I see a black cat crossing in front of me, I always think "is that supposed to be good luck or bad luck?"

I can never remember. It's probably neither, but I still have the same question in my head each time it happens.
Click to expand...
Historically I think it was good luck in the U.K. and bad luck in the States, but like everything else Americanisms are taking over and it seems universally to be bad luck now.
 
Newly announced research suggests the earth's oxygen-rich atmosphere will revert to an oxygen-deprived state in about a billion years.
Enjoy It While It Lasts: Dropping Oxygen Will Eventually Suffocate Most Life on Earth

For now life is flourishing on our oxygen-rich planet, but Earth wasn't always that way – and scientists have predicted that, in the future, the atmosphere will revert back to one that's rich in methane and low in oxygen.

This probably won't happen for another billion years or so. But when the change comes, it's going to happen fairly rapidly, the study suggests.

This shift will take the planet back to something like the state it was in before what's known as the Great Oxidation Event (GOE) around 2.4 billion years ago.

What's more, the researchers behind the new study say that atmospheric oxygen is unlikely to be a permanent feature of habitable worlds in general, which has implications for our efforts to detect signs of life further out in the Universe. ...
Click to expand...

FULL STORY:
https://www.sciencealert.com/earth-...ich-low-oxygen-state-in-a-billion-years-or-so

BIBLIOGRAPHIC DATA & ABSTRACT For The Published Research:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-021-00693-5
 

The Stock Market Is One Black Swan Away From a Great Reset​

How a hidden stock market crash exposed the illusion of stability​


March 26th, 2021, was yet another typical day in the latest bull market. Stocks barely moved, inching up 0.21%, and the VIX index, the go-to measure of market volatility, remained calm throughout the trading session. But while the S&P500 was in a lull, a mini-crash had arisen in various, seemingly unconnected stocks of big-name companies. Viacom, Discovery, and Shopify, to name a few, had plunged over 20% with no apparent news or catalyst to explain the sudden move.

It was only hours later, however, that we find out these stocks had something in common. These companies made up the portfolio of trader Bill Hwang who, according to the financial media, was a highly respected Wall Street veteran, “the greatest trader you’d never heard of”, said Bloomberg.

But how did this superstar trader go from a 20 billion dollar fortune to zero in just a few hours?
...

Right now, we recognize the various situations that could bring down the financial system, but if we’re realistic, we have no idea what black or white swan event will create the crisis that everyone has been anticipating for a decade or more. But what we do know is that to have any chance of crushing the cheap money status quo, this event must be colossal in magnitude, rivaling and surpassing the effects of a global pandemic and a following civilian lockdown. A situation that, right now, no one can really comprehend, let alone foretell.

https://concoda.substack.com/p/the-...mpaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=twitter
 
uair01 said:

The Stock Market Is One Black Swan Away From a Great Reset​

How a hidden stock market crash exposed the illusion of stability​


March 26th, 2021, was yet another typical day in the latest bull market. Stocks barely moved, inching up 0.21%, and the VIX index, the go-to measure of market volatility, remained calm throughout the trading session. But while the S&P500 was in a lull, a mini-crash had arisen in various, seemingly unconnected stocks of big-name companies. Viacom, Discovery, and Shopify, to name a few, had plunged over 20% with no apparent news or catalyst to explain the sudden move.

It was only hours later, however, that we find out these stocks had something in common. These companies made up the portfolio of trader Bill Hwang who, according to the financial media, was a highly respected Wall Street veteran, “the greatest trader you’d never heard of”, said Bloomberg.

But how did this superstar trader go from a 20 billion dollar fortune to zero in just a few hours?
...

Right now, we recognize the various situations that could bring down the financial system, but if we’re realistic, we have no idea what black or white swan event will create the crisis that everyone has been anticipating for a decade or more. But what we do know is that to have any chance of crushing the cheap money status quo, this event must be colossal in magnitude, rivaling and surpassing the effects of a global pandemic and a following civilian lockdown. A situation that, right now, no one can really comprehend, let alone foretell.

https://concoda.substack.com/p/the-...mpaign=post&utm_medium=web&utm_source=twitter
Click to expand...
And another one:

AMC and GameStop Frenzy Goes Beyond Casino Mentality​

It would be a mistake to dismiss this phenomenon as nothing more than a mob of young irresponsible gamblers.

First, what we are seeing is a realignment of the investment landscape at its outer edges, at least for now. It is powered by the ability to coordinate effectively and smartly through Reddit. Indeed, its dynamics have some similarities to what surprisingly toppled political regimes in some developing countries, particularly during the Arab spring a decade ago.

By submitting my information, I agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Service and to receive offers and promotions from Bloomberg.

Second, it is yet another illustration of how ultra-loose policies have enabled more risk-taking. The enablers include large cash handouts and the ability to lever easily that’s afforded by incredibly loose financial conditions — themselves a function of the prolonged pursuit by central banks of unconventional policies involving, first, very low policy interest rates and, second, huge and predictable injections of liquidity. And the impact is not limited to retail investors. It is the same combination that has fueled the SPAC and cryptocurrency phenomena that are causing belated indigestion for a growing number of governments and central banks.

Third, it is yet another episode of market regulators and supervisors being late to the game. The difficult questions for which there is no broad agreement on answers, let alone effective guidance from the authorities, range from investor suitability and protection and possible market manipulation to larger issues of market stability and contagion.

https://www.bloomberg.com/opinion/a...-gamestop-frenzy-goes-beyond-casino-mentality
 
gordonrutter said:
Historically I think it was good luck in the U.K. and bad luck in the States, but like everything else Americanisms are taking over and it seems universally to be bad luck now.
Click to expand...
Unless it's your own black cat, in which case it just means that the cat is hungry.
 
Satellite debris will stop space travel:

How the Kessler Syndrome can end all space exploration and destroy modern life​

An increasingly likely catastrophe can cause major disruptions in space flight and our daily lives.​

https://bigthink.com/paul-ratner/ho...all-space-exploration-and-destroy-modern-life

A 2009 incident dubbed the Cosmos-Iridium collision featured a space collision between Russian and American communication satellites that provided a preview of potential attractions in the massive debris field it created. The accident resulted in more than 2,000 pieces of relatively large space junk.
 
I do not know if The Doomsday Clock is know outside of the U.S.

For years the Chicago Atomic Scientists Association with the University of Chicago have counted down to earth’s destruction and the clock is at a scary 90 seconds to Midnight destruction.

Now the Maya 2012 doomsday prophecy thankfully was a bust.

So, I don’t hold much to prophecies.

Party on and have fun. !
 
Everyday we wake up there are always things to destroy the earth, so have fun.

I suspect an unknown meteor will sneak through one day, just like the dinosaurs.
 
I didn't see the "eye of fire" news show up. So here it is...

Gas leak responsible for 'eye of fire' in Mexican waters, says oil company​

https://www.cnn.com/2021/07/03/americas/gulf-of-mexico-fire-intl/index.html

Not to be outdone... Caspian sea fireball.

Explosion, fire reported near oil field in Caspian Sea​

https://www.jpost.com/middle-east/explosion-fire-reported-near-oil-field-in-caspian-sea-672881

I suspect these may have very similar causes. The latter cause was suggested by the energy company to the Russian news agency that is was a "mud volcano". Yeah..... sure. That's sounding like bullshit. This is a gas explosion. Not sure what caused it, maybe a methane bubble burst. But to blame it on nature, I think, could be wishful thinking and is definately premature. [Edit: This looks possible. The Caspian Sea "mud volcanoes" emit flammable gas and can ignite; they have done so before.]

I don't know about you but I'm a bit nervous about humanity right now. Things don't look so great. We've really f***ed things up here.

[Is there a thread for "Huge-ass fires and explosions"? There probably should be.]
 
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Right now monkey pox, ebola, and deadly fungus Candida Auris are causing problems as we speak.
 
No need to go to NZ, RoI and the UK are good bets for survival.

Ireland is one of the world’s five places best suited to survive a global collapse of society, according to a new study. The others are Iceland, Tasmania, the UK and, topping the list, New Zealand.

The researchers say human civilisation is “in a perilous state” because of the highly interconnected and energy-intensive society that has developed and the environmental damage this has caused.

A collapse could arise from shocks such as a severe financial crisis, the effects of the climate crisis, destruction of nature, an even worse pandemic than Covid-19 or a combination of these, the scientists says.

To assess which nations would be most resilient to such a collapse, countries were ranked according to their ability to grow food for their population, protect their borders from unwanted mass migration, and maintain an electrical grid and some manufacturing ability. Islands in temperate regions and mostly with low population densities have come out on top.

The researchers say their study highlights the factors that nations must improve to increase resilience. They say that a globalised society that prizes economic efficiency has damaged resilience, and that spare capacity needs to exist in food and other vital sectors. ...

https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and...to-survive-global-societal-collapse-1.4633726
 
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