It's...

As we know it... (Part II!)

Now, the thrilling conclusion to the...

"Shit's about to get real" List!


We've already covered the two most likely culprits, Plague and Nuclear War, now it's on to the last two...suckafish!



3. Doomsday Meteor
Odds.......1000 to 1
It's happened a few times before. The Gulf of Mexico? It's hiding the crater from the meteor strike that killed off the dinosaurs. Ever heard of the Tunguska Event? Can you imagine the effect of something like that happening to Paris, London, New York, Chicago, or Beijing? Bad news bears, and that was a small meteor strike. There are a number of vacillating estimates of the number of NEO's, or Near-Earth Objects, but most are around 5000, 700 of these considered "large." That's a lot of hunks of space crap floating around, waiting to cause trouble. (Thanks, NASA, for the info!)



4. Alien Invasion
Odds.......1,000,000 to 1.
Odds Hollywood would have you believe.......5 to 2
Don't get me wrong, it's probably the most awesome of all the Doomsday Scenarios. It is, however, also HIGHLY unlikely. The SETI program has been scanning the night sky for some time now, and they've found bupkis. Sorry to burst your bubble, suckas!

Up next, Global Warming Special!

It's...

As we know it...and I feel fine...

So I went to see I Am Legend the other day, largely because I have a fascination with all things dealing with the end of the world. The whole genre of Post-apocalyptic fiction fascinates me. It got me thinking, though. What are the odds of it actually happening in my lifetime? I have narrowed down the four most likely culprits, ordered them from most to least, and given you reasons for the odds in the first annual...

"Shit's about to get real" List!

We'll start with the most likely (in my estimation) culprit and work our way down the list. These odds have been checked by a Las Vegas odds-maker, and he said they are the slam-bam-diggity... Lets get to it!


1. Plague
Odds.......15 to 1
Now, by the world "ending," I mean Black Death-like statistics. Fully 1/4 of the world's population died. Any numbers including and past that will throw a pretty big monkey wrench in the machine we call "society." I placed the odds at 15 to 1 because every 100 years or so, there is a pandemic. Be it Bubonic Plague, Cholera, Spanish Flu, TB, or any number of others, something comes along to cull the herd in a pretty major way. There are a number of possible culprits out there right now. TB is making a comeback...and this time, it's drug-resistant! (Hooray!...no, wait...) The flu mutates every year. That flu shot you got? it's for last year's bug. The new kid on the block has free-range. We've got a stockpile of supposedly dead diseases (Smallpox, Polio) which I feel pretty secure about. It's the ones the Russians have (and are, I'm sure, willing to sell to the highest bidder) that make me nervous. As air travel makes the world smaller every day, it becomes more likely. Recently, a study was done in which scientsts marked a benign bacteria, seeing how quickly it would make it around the world. The answer? 24 hours. Next up, it's our old friend...



2. Nuclear War
Odds.......20 to 1
That's right kiddies, just when you thought it was safe to go back in the pool. Here's a list of countries with nuclear weapons (Thanks, wikipedia!)...

1. United States
2. Russia
3. United Kingdom
4. France
5. China
6. India
7. Pakistan
8. North Korea (Isn't that one reassuring...)
9. Israel (suspected)

The countries that are likely to use them (and against whom) is a shorter list...
in order of likelihood, they are...
1. North Korea (USA, South Korea, Japan, pretty much every one...)
2. Pakistan (India)
3. Israel (Anyone who tries to invade...again. I'm looking at you Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt!)
4. India (Pakistan)
5. China (Taiwan, USA by proxy since we told the Chinese we'd respond in kind if they did so...)

Kim Il Jong is certifiably insane. You never know what that wacky little bastard is going to do next. Pakistan and India have been up each other's butts over Kashmir since around '47. Pakistan is higher on the list because their political situation is...dicey, shall we say. Israel has been willing to lob 'em since they got 'em, which is probably why they still exist as a country right now. The China-Taiwan thing has cooled in recent years, but is ALWAYS on the verge of another flare-up. I took us, the Russians, the French, and the British off the list because I just don't see one of those four pulling that ugly little trigger. If you disagree, tell me why in the comments section! There are two more, which I'll post about on Monday! Stay Tuned!

Hap-Hap-Happy...

Merry Christmas from those of us here at Before There Was...suckas!

Hey Hey Hey...

Help is on the way!
I'm going to update soon! It's gonna be about the end of the world...so...that'll be fun. I've been brainstorming about this post for about a week, so it'll be long and awesome...

Finals, Schminals!

It's finals week officially, which is why postings have been few and far between over the past few weeks...

Ohio State is, once again, the #1 team in the country (bitches). The leader in the clubhouse to play the Buckeyes in New Orleans is LSU, since they are #2 in the AP and Coaches poll. That blows, because it'll be like a home game for LSU. On the other hand, OSU fans travel EXTREMELY well. We went to the Fiesta Bowl against Kansas State a few years ago because the organizers sited "economic concerns" for selecting the Buckeyes. They basically said that no one from Kansas State was going to show up, so they needed a draw. Damn, did it work. They filled the arena. I think the Sugar Bowl will wind up about 50/50, much to the chagrin of LSU. Take that, fatty!
More to come...

So...

I got to watch the Blue Jackets game last night at work (ssshh, don't tell anyone). It was a doozy. 3-2 Shootout win over the Red Wings at home. That's the kind of game that can turn a season around. It took the Jackets out of the cellar and into a playoff spot. Good times...

In other news...

Ohio State jumps to #3 in the BCS. Should Missouri lose to Oklahoma in the Big XII Championship Game (VERY likely) or West Virginia lose to Pitt (not very likely), Ohio State will go to the championship game in New Orleans. Should BOTH of these happen, we'll play Georgia. Ohio State-Missouri = Ohio State Win, BIG

Ohio State-West Virginia = Crapshoot, could go either way. WVU is like Illinois, but better...

Ohio State-Georgia = Ohio State win, but it'd be close...

Why I'm an odd duck...

Well, one reason anyway...
Most people tend to kill time at work on any number of random websites, most commonly news or sports webpages. I, on the other hand, go wiki-tripping.
For those of you who have never spent a significant amount of time at Wikipedia, each entry has a series of hyperlinked words that will take you to another entry (like the one above, for Wikipedia! Ironical...). I'll jump on there, pick a topic, and start the journey.
Example: I started with the main page, which had a little blurb about the Space Shuttle Discovery. I checked it out, and went to the spacecraft entry, scrolled down to the "furthest spacecraft from earth" entry, hit up Voyager (or V-ger, for you Star Trek nerds out there), checked out the Golden Record (totally different from the "Golden Ticket," you dirtball), saw photos of most of the planets in the galaxy, found out what the heliosphere is, read about solid rocket boosters, the Prandtl-Glauert Singularity (too cool), explosive bolts, Soviet/Chinese/European spacecraft, NASA, the ESA, and on and on and on. I didn't even know I was interested in space tonight! I do this for HOURS. Were it not for the fact that I had to sleep/eat/raise a kid/go to school/etc., I'd embark on a wiki-trip that would last for eternity. I recommend it. Click on either of the hyperlinks above and start reading. THe most important part of it all is to move on as SOON as anything peaks your interest.

Enjoy your trip...Wavy Gravy is here for ground control if things get too intense...