Gamma- ah yes physics. Loved that Astronomy class. ;)  Excuse me since I am having increased shrinkage of mind as of late.  I've heard about the theory that an asteroid could hit the Earth. Now I thought that the atmosphere protected us from Gamma Rays, broke down into secondary or reflected like good ol tin foil.  Some gets through but what we know is not as bad, it is watered down.   Now if the burst were closer to the Earth that would pose another problem.  In 2012 are we going to be inline to get these? Now I am curious to go and read some more about it.  I only had this class for one college semester.  Unfortantly they didn't go into that much detail about these bursts.  If it turns out to be true, I'm glad I had my fun.  Agreed nothing will be able to stop evolution. How we adapt will be another story.  The only way to stop the evolution of mankind would be to eradicate the species. Then those cockroaches will rule the Earth.  As far as stocking up on the sultury mates...lol, that is funny. I will be on the look out for more.  

Everyone can toss out their flashlights since we will be glowing in the dark anyways. Basicly the Earth is a fly buzzing around in the shooting range, sooner or later it is going to get hit. (My partner's input.  And I thought I was strange!)

Hi Crow-

I like the idea of humans providing their own light...lol...you know gamma rays caused the Incredible Hulk, so maybe we will all become Hulks...From what I have seen I think the probability of this 2012 event is low.. looks like the galactic center is about 26,000 LY away, and the scientific opinion seems to be that we would have to be at least within 3,000 LY for the effects to be dangerous. Oh well..of course it could come from a nearby star totally without warning but our metal rich galaxy is apparently nor conducive to GRBs anyway.. so maybe it is better to forget about this and the unexpected asteroids...That is how the dinosaurs kidded themselves too...

Now there is a star close enough, but you know that if this happens it will be lights out for everyone.  Since no one knows the expiration date of the Sun, might as well enjoy the time we have now.  

edtamplin.com/articles/predictionss_2008.htm


MONEY AND THE MARKETS

Last year I pointed to the period between March and May as a good period for the stock market. The Dow Jones rose 1500 points, or a clear 15% in this time, and in Australia the All Ordinaries cleared 6,000 for the first time ever. But there is only so far that you can blow the balloon up.

Market volatility and the US sub-prime mortgage crisis has sparked deep financial concern for the world’s largest economy. The Dow Jones Index, which topped 14,000 points in mid-July, had dropped to 13,000 - a 7% tumble - by mid August. When it rose again to above 14,200 in mid-October, another correction by late November saw another 1,000 points wiped off the board.

The Euro which was worth 83 US cents when George W. Bush was elected was buying close to $1.50 at the end of 2007. Oil prices have been gradually going up, and despite record market peaks, most of the US population are living in substantial debt, with not a great deal of liquidity. A time of unprecedented market growth is coming to an end, although the full ramifications of that may not be evident until after the Presidential election in November.

The United States economy has regularly had an adverse reaction to the Moon’s North Node moving through Aquarius. This fact was first pointed out by financial astrologer Louise McWhirter, in her 1938 classic “Astrology and Stock Market Forecasting”. The research was later backed up by David Williams the astrological forecaster who wrote for Dell Horoscope who boasted an accuracy of around 75%, well above traditional market analysts. However the opposite applies when the North Node is in Leo. It was in Leo from October 1998 until April of 2000. During this time the index jumped phenomenally from 8,000 to almost 12,000 points. The Node entered Aquarius on December 19 2007, and will remain there until August 2009. Time to start looking at the opposite effect - a dramatic correction.

That’s the first astro-clue, the second is that hard aspects between the outer planets generally signal downturn. For example, during the 1930’s Depression Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto were all in difficult aspect to each other at one stage. By the end of October 2009 both Saturn and Uranus will begin an opposition phase that continues until August 2010.

This same planetary opposition was coincident with the 1873 New York Stock Market collapse and closure for ten days, triggering a severe nationwide economic depression. Unregulated speculative credit was a root cause then, as it appears to be now. And when the outers of Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto all went into hard aspect by the end of 1875 unemployment rose to 14% of the labour force. This period is commonly referred to as the Long Depression.

While the latter period of 2008 will bring the greatest difficulty this year, we are witnessing the beginning of a downward trend. Handbraking this is the positive Jupiter Saturn trine, which doesn't leave until November 2008. And for that reason it could be more of a slow motion derailment to begin with. However by the end of 2009, and especially mid 2010 when Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus and Pluto all come within hard aspect to each other we may witness the very serious ramifications of blowing up the economy balloon too far and too fast. The volatile times to watch this year may be around March 7, July 8-11, the first week of both September and November, plus second one of December.