“The Ancient Mayan calendar speaks of 12-12-2012 as the end of times as we know it, and the beginning of a new cycle of evolution for planet earth, humanity and the cosmos. Mayan elders say that the Ancients were informing the modern world to be ready for a giant transformation for the human race…December 2012 is being looked upon as a significant spiritual event and a momentous shift in the collective consciousness of the planet.”
– Diomira D’Agostino noted channel, faery-crystal light-healer, energy-healer, breath-worker and intuitive. She holds a BA in Modern Language.

My eyes flashed open early and would not close, regardless of how I willed them to shut. The list floated up like that Star Wars thing in the darkness. So much to worry about, so little time. The list would go like this, according to the murmur of the BBC World Service in the background:

1. The End of the World
2. The North Korean Rocket Launch
3. The three mile wide asteroid which will zoom within 4.3 million miles of Arlington early Wednesday morning (Dec. 12).
4. The death of Sitarist Ravi Shankar
5. The imminent death of bantam dictator Hugo Chavez
6. Michigan goes “Right to Work” -24th State to do so
7. Detroit slides into receivership
8 The Budget Cliff
9. Doha Whimpers out on Climate Change
10. Egypt embraces a constitution of one.

“Fuck me,” I thought.

First thing I did, after making the coffee, was to check and see if the world had ended. Midnight brought us to the end of the ancient Mayan calendar, and many commentators expected things to fall upward into the sky, dogs and cats to lie down together, Boehner talking to Obama, that sort of thing.

I clicked onto the dashboard pane on Snow Leopard OS and checked the international time on the other side of the globe to confirm that nothing of the sort had actually happened. I was stymied. It was just after dinnertime on the 12th there, maybe some sashimi or a plate of eba and teka-maki in a bustling sushi bar? There are just a few hours of earnest drinking time until the clock clicks over to the unknown in Asia.

Hence, I will not know if the world ends until sometime after lunch.
That affects planning. Should I anticipate a salad, in case I need to move quickly, or something more substantial in case it is the last meal?

There are those who are more optimistic about the day. This is the last time in this century- thus the last I will see- when the digits line up in symmetrical union: was a surge in marriages on 07-07-07, 10-10-10 and 11-11-11.

Apparently it aids the memory, and forgotten anniversaries are a bad thing in my experience. But we run out of months for this century today, nothing available after the even-dozen is passed, and we will not see this again until the 22nd century, unless the Mayans were right.

So, no surprise that the plucky North Koreans shot a rocket over Japanese territory, scattering boost-phase rocket parts as they successfully- maybe- put a lump of metal into low earth orbit.

That means that this team of launch specialists probably will live into 2013, though I am not sure the previous group did. They only got two minutes of flight time- not enough to celebrate the centennial of the Great Leader himself, Comrade Kim Il-Sung.

(Vigilance by the DPRK’s Liberation Army, with rocket. Photo KCNA).

The North’s house organ, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) released the following report on what was Wednesday over there: “Scientists and technicians of the DPRK successfully launched the second version of satellite Kwangmyongsong-3 into its orbit by carrier rocket Unha-3, true to the last instructions of Dear Leader Kim Jong Il”.

Nine and a half minutes after the lift-off, the DPRK joined the Space Club.

Regardless of the significance of the day, I am not sure this development is the end of the world. Another chunk of metal in polar orbit is not going to change much, though I recall we used to call it a “national security orbit,” since it enabled a glimpse into places in the northern latitudes one might not otherwise be able to monitor.

Our national security launch site was normally Vanderburg in California, since we could shoot unobstructed south toward the Pole. That is not the only place we do spooky stuff- sometimes it happens at Cape Canaveral, as it did at just about the same time.

I suppose it is comforting that as we watch the North lob a little package of instruments into orbit, the US Air Force launched the third X-37B into an east-west orbit atop an Atlas 5 booster. There are several interesting wrinkles. The booster is made by a private concern, not the National Reconnaissance Office, and the X-37 is a Black Program mini-shuttle, unmanned. The USAF Rapid Capabilities Office chartered the mission, and it is way cool.

(Infra-red shot of the X-37B after recovery from a year+ mission last June. Photo USAF.)

It is comforting, here on the brink of a new Golden Age that we can still routinely launch things away from the planet. It is too bad the planet did not come equipped with life boats, you know? I applaud the Air Force for keeping us in the game.

Now, as to that Golden Age…what makes your top ten?

Copyright 2012 Vic Socotra
www.vicscotra.com