End Of The World

Inasmuch, however, as the kingdom of Gyges did not extend to the areas of Meshech and Tubal, as is implied by Ezekiel 38:2 with respect to the kingdom of Gog, there is a problem with assuming that Gog is identical with Gyges, the similarity of the names notwithstanding.

This is a tale of Japanese survival in another tsunami, a riptide of social intolerance that took out a San Pedro neighborhood two generations ago. The story begins in the 1860s when the first Japanese settled in Northern California. Relatives and friends followed from Hawaii. At the turn of the century, a Japanese fisherman discovered abalone in L.A. waters. He and his community drove deals with white cannery owners to build a life fishing and living in Santa Monica and San Pedro.

For thousands of years, prophets have predicted the end of the world. Today, various religious groups, using the latest technology, are trying to hasten it. Their endgame is to speed the promised arrival of a messiah. For some Christians this means laying the groundwork for Armageddon.

Mike Scioscia is a strong proponent of expanding the division series from five to seven games and of finishing the World Series in October, when there is a better chance of decent weather in the Northeast and Midwest than there is in November. The 162-game regular-season schedule would have to be condensed so the postseason could start about Oct. 1, and that could be accomplished by playing more doubleheaders. But on Sunday, the Angels manager proposed something more radical: reducing the number of games, not necessarily to the pre-expansion, 154-game schedule teams played before 1961 but something in the 158-game range.

Ever since Jesus Christ said that only God knows the hour or day of the Second Coming, preachers and self-appointed doomsayers have been trying to predict when it will happen -- and watching the sun rise on yet another generation. Even those who chastise date-setters often say, "God's final judgment is coming soon -- probably in our lifetime -- so get ready." In recent weeks, prophecy interpreters have been citing a new reason they believe the end is coming: the impending U.S. war against Iraq.

The Jehovah's Witnesses have quietly abandoned a prediction that people alive in 1914 would live to see Christ's kingdom on earth--a major doctrine that lent urgency to the sect's door-to-door warnings that a bloody end of the world is imminent. Some ex-Witnesses predict the change will hurt the "sky-is-falling preaching" of the 4.

Connie Roberson and her husband, Jimmy, don't save for retirement or their children's college educations. Victor Jackson, a senior at Cleveland State University, doesn't worry about the job market. That's because they know something you probably don't. By 1996, the world is going to end in an instant. Jackson and the Robersons were among about 1,000 people who attended the Institute of Divine Metaphysical Research's conference, which ended here Sunday.

For those evangelical Christians who believe the end is near, last week's terrorist attacks offered fresh evidence that the ultimate confrontation between good and evil will soon be played out. They are also finding a fresh audience for their message. Chuck Smith, the founder of the nationwide Calvary Chapel movement, warned overflow church crowds in Santa Ana to come forward and accept Jesus Christ as their savior "because it might be your last opportunity to do so."

Give author Tim LaHaye credit for being a shrewd businessman ("Writing for Godot," by Nancy Shepherdson, April 25). In cosmic time and space, planet Earth is a speck of dust and the entire era of human existence is a nano-blip. Prophets of doom have been predicting the end of the world for thousands of years, but millions of gullible people hearing it for the first time will believe anything that enables them to rationalize the finality of death. LaHaye has turned their ignorance into profit and will enjoy its benefits until he dies of old age. Forrest G. Wood Bakersfield I congratulate the end-of-the-world "Left Behind" people for publishing their books in hardcover.

Our trip to the Parowan Prophet began with a letter to the St. George Spectrum. It was set among missives proposing that oil companies bail out Detroit automakers, that county inmates be forced to winter in tents, that lawyers be barred from public office. A rough crowd. This particular letter to the editor in the St.

If you've been having vaguely foreboding feelings lately, they may not just be coming from all that reality TV you've been watching. It could be because end-of-the-world movies have been out in force all year. Filmmakers have always gloried in doomsday scenarios, whether from humanity's own making ("The Day After Tomorrow"), biblical battles ("The Omen") or wayward celestial bodies ("Armageddon," "Deep Impact"). But this year they've really been pouring on the mayhem in ways both fun and frightening, making us think a lot these days about the end of days.

America has a bad case of the doomsday jitters. You don't have to be a Glenn Beck follower to know that whenever things go wrong in this country, you can always find all the anger, bitterness and fear-mongering bubbling up and over into our popular culture. With Wall Street fat cats still cashing in while the rest of the country suffers from double-digit unemployment, with partisan bickering at an all-time high and a war in Afghanistan threatening to suck up 40,000 more troops, the country is in a sour mood, full of nasty, dark suspicions about the future.

It doesn't take a paranoid mind to fret over our state of hyper-marketing. Every Gatorade we buy at Vons, every Bed Bath & Beyond card we've registered for, every pop-up ad we've accidentally clicked on (only to be infested with spyware) is fed into some mass accounting of our habits, pleasures and vices. Right now, a hungry publishing marketer might be scanning this, hoping to spur a little casual consumerism, the "impulse buy" that's actually deeply plotted at the Barnes & Noble counter.

Our trip to the Parowan Prophet began with a letter to the St. George Spectrum. It was set among missives proposing that oil companies bail out Detroit automakers, that county inmates be forced to winter in tents, that lawyers be barred from public office. A rough crowd. This particular letter to the editor in the St.

Not all Google Inc. endeavors turn into gold. Lively, a virtual world the Internet giant launched less than five months ago, will be shut down at the end of the year so Google can focus on its bread-and-butter search business. The Mountain View, Calif., company said late Wednesday that it supported experimentation but "we've always accepted that when you take these kinds of risks, not every bet is going to pay off."

Hundreds of people gathered near the Golden Gate Bridge over the weekend to ponder the enigmatic date of Dec. 21, 2012, the last day of the ancient Maya calendar and the focus of many end-of-the-world predictions.

Judgment day caught up with the largest of the South Korean churches predicting the impending end of the world. The Dami Mission disbanded and apologized to the nation. The "doomsday" churches had predicted that last Wednesday would bring the Rapture--the faithful's ascension to heaven. Possibly thousands of believers sold property, left families, and quit schools and jobs. A newspaper said the disbanding was approved by the church's founder, in jail on charges of swindling parishioners.

If you've been having vaguely foreboding feelings lately, they may not just be coming from all that reality TV you've been watching. It could be because end-of-the-world movies have been out in force all year. Filmmakers have always gloried in doomsday scenarios, whether from humanity's own making ("The Day After Tomorrow"), biblical battles ("The Omen") or wayward celestial bodies ("Armageddon," "Deep Impact"). But this year they've really been pouring on the mayhem in ways both fun and frightening, making us think a lot these days about the end of days.

What would it really cost to end global hunger? The United Nations estimates that it would take at least $30 billion per year to solve the food crisis, mainly by boosting agricultural productivity in the developing world. Over the decade that it would take to make sustainable improvements in the lives of the 862 million undernourished people, that amounts to $300 billion. Three hundred billion dollars is a lot of money, and the U.S. government won't foot the bill alone.

The Security Council on Wednesday ended its attempt to resolve the status of Kosovo because of Russian objections, leaving it to the European Union and NATO to foster the breakaway province's move toward independence without sparking new conflict in the Balkans. Kosovo's ethnic Albanian majority plans to declare independence from Serbia early next year, with the backing of the United States and most European nations.