I'm looking forward to December 21, 2012 (12/21/12) when the world is supposed to come to an end several different ways. Nostradamus uttered some incoherent mumblings a few hundred years back (even his mother didn't know what he was talking about), the Mayan calendar runs out on that date (when my calendars run out, I just hang up a new one), and if you very carefully select the right Biblical verses and combine that with random pages in the I Ching, you come up with the predictions that

The geographic poles will change places, causing the earth to flip 180 degrees, resulting in tidal waves, earthquakes, volcanoes, and things too fierce to mention. Not just the magnetic poles, which do that every few thousand years or so, and no one notices except magnetic compasses and migratory birds. What could cause something like that, is a mystery.

A planet-sized comet, asteroid, cream pie will hit the earth. That could probably do it, I guess.

An ionized asteroid will pass close to the earth and set the atmosphere on fire (can someone explain the physics involved to me?).

The earth will pass through the galactic equator and this will cause all manner of mayhem (possibly have something to do with the earth flipping end over end). This is going to be a good trick for a couple of reasons:   A) astronomers are not in agreement as to just where the galactic equator is, but the majority of opinion is that it's about 110 light years "south" of our present position;   B) the solar system is moving more or less parallel to this arbitrary line at a speed of about 9 miles per second, so if we're going to cross that line in 12/21/12, we'd better get a move on!

A black hole will pass through the solar system and slurp everything into it.

A gamma-ray burster will implode and hose us all down deadly gamma rays.

And most dreadful prediction of all:   Ersel Hickey will come out of retirement and make a comeback!

Don Firth