End of world preacher suffers stroke - Harold Camping rushed to hospital

Harold Camping, the preacher who predicted the world would end on May 21 and then October 21, has suffered a stroke.

The 89-year-old pastor was rushed to hospital from his Alameda, California home.

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End of the world is now October 21 - US preacher explains his mistake

The American preacher who said that the end of the world, and day of Rapture, was on May 21, 2011, has now explained why it didn't happen.

And, he says, it has been postponed until October 21, because God didn't want mankind to suffer for five months.

Harold Camping, 89, said he was "astounded" that the world didn't end on May 21.

But he has examined new theories and says a great earthquake was supposed to usher in five months of the day of judgement. God, he says, is being merciful and will now make it happen all at once on the last day - hence October 21.

That's all very comforting - I now have five months to sort out my garden.

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Iceland volcano erupted on end of the world day, May 21 - ash cloud heading for UK

The Grimsvotn volcano, in Iceland, began erupting on Saturday - the very day (May 21, 2011) that Harold Camping, President of Family Radio, predicted the end of the world.

It apparently showed clear signs of unrest at 6pm GMT (Camping's predicted time). That's spooky - and the soothsayers are all stirred up, although there's no sign of anyone being whisked off to heaven, unless they were on the volcano summit at the time.

The doom-mongers are going to be really disappointed again. Geophysicist Pall Einarsson, of the University of Iceland, says the eruption was much smaller than the one last year: "It is not likely to be anything on the scale that was produced when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted."

An ash cloud from the volcano is expected to reach the UK early tomorrow, but experts believe it will not cause the same disruption to air traffic as last year.

Grimsvotn is beneath the Vatnajokull glacier in an uninhabited part of south-east Iceland. This eruption is the most powerful in 100 years. Since records began in 1920, it has erupted nine times, the last in 2004. Most lasted at least a week, but the 2004 eruption was only four days.

Iceland is a young land and, on average, volcanic eruptions are experienced somewhere on the island once every five years.

PICTURES OF ICELAND

VOLCANIC ASH CLOUD EXPECTED TO REACH UK - BBC

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The whole sooth and nothing but the sooth - anyone know a good prophet?

Flowers around Caesar's statue in Rome (UKpix.com)




THERE WAS a time when you could rely on the odd soothsayer or two to give you a head start, but the prophets of doom ain’t what they used to be.

As poor old Julius Caesar found out to his cost, it doesn’t always pay to ignore an advance warning. Every year on March 15 flowers are still laid at the foot of his statue outside the forum in Rome because he didn’t “Beware the Ides of March.”

Ancient Romans were keen on reading the signs and they had legions of religious officials - augurs - who foretold events by observing and interpreting signs and omens.

Even today, Romans are a bit stressed out because of so-called predictions. If you believe the interpretations, Raffaele Bendani, a seismologist, forecast in 1915 that a big earthquake would hit Rome on May 11, 2011. Not a murmur in Italy on the day, but an unusual quake in Lorca, Spain, kept the idea alive among the Twitterati - even though the quake was closer to Madrid than Rome.

Predicting the future has been a popular pastime since man emerged from the swamps. And, of course, if the soothsayer is vague enough, someone will interpret their visions as uncanny. Bendani forecast other earthquakes in Italy, but, as the country is in a quake zone, even I could do that.

If you actually believe in your own predictions, you might want to be a bit more specific - but throwing them a few hundred years into the future helps. US Christian broadcaster Harold Camping, 89, predicted that May 21, 2011 (ah, yes, today!) was the end of the world and his credibility has been shot to hell (if I make it beyond midnight, that is).

One of the most famous prophets of doom and gloom was Michel de Nostredame, or Nostradamus to you and me. The French apothecary and reputed seer published a book in 1555 called Les Propheties (The Prophecies) and is credited with predicting many major world events. Yet academics say his work is misinterpreted or mistranslated, often deliberately.

Nostradamus (left) was a happy soul who wrote about plagues, earthquakes, wars, floods, invasions, murders, droughts, battles, everything to cheer you up during your last day on Earth.

Enthusiasts say he predicted the Great Fire of London, and the rise of Napoleon and Adolf Hitler, the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and many other things. But they only ever cite the events AFTER they have happened.

I, for one, like a bit of advance warning. A correct weather forecast wouldn’t go amiss now and then (especially if you are the Iranian President and say Europe is stealing your ‘rain’ just before it starts raining).

But I don’t really want to know if it is positively, absolutely the end of the world. So, if you spot a seagull flying in the wrong direction to negotiate a huge chunk of rock heading for Earth, keep it to yourself.

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Tomorrow is the end of the world - or today if you live in Australia!

It will all start with a giant earthquake... and then the world will end, on May 21, 2011 - that's tomorrow here in England and a bit later in America (but it's already today in Australia, so farewell Oz).

The apocalypse is forecast by US Christian broadcaster Harold Camping, 89. But don't worry too much, he's made similar predictions in the past. He said Jesus would return to Earth in 1994.

I suppose it's safe to say that Harold's a bit wayward. If I'm wrong, and he's right, it won't really matter anyway.

Good night all from England...

READ MORE IN THE SUN

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