Australia PM Julia Gillard jokes: Mayans were right, end of the world is coming

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard barely breaks a smile in this spoof video made for a TV program that agrees with the Mayan calendar and predicts the end of the world on December 21. NBCNews.com's Dara Brown reports.

Australia's Prime Minister Julia Gillard has warned that predictions of the end of the world by ancient Mayans were correct and that the final days are coming -- in a deadpan ad for a lighthearted breakfast radio show.

"Whether the final blow comes from flesh-eating zombies, demonic hell-beasts or the total triumph of K-Pop, if you know one thing about me, it is this: I will always fight for you to the very end," Gillard said in a message to the "dear remaining fellow Australians."

She concluded her message by saying "Good luck to you all."

Australia's Herald Sun newspaper contacted Gillard's office seeking further information.

"What Australian doesn't mind a laugh from time to time? Anyway, the world's going to end tomorrow so shouldn't you be writing about that?" a spokesperson for the prime minister said.

NASA: It's not true
Such has been the hype about the supposed Mayan prediction for the end of the world on Dec. 21, 2012, that NASA was moved to issue a denial in a statement on its website.

"The world will not end in 2012. Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012," NASA said.

TODAYshow.com's Dara Brown talks with author and professor Gerardo Aldana about his theory that the Mayan calendar, which many believe indicates that the world will end in 2012, is wrong.

2012 and Maya prophecies: What were they thinking?

The statement said the "story" started with claims by the ancient Sumerian civilization that a "supposed planet" called Nibiru was headed toward Earth.

"This catastrophe was initially predicted for May 2003, but when nothing happened the doomsday date was moved forward to December 2012 and linked to the end of one of the cycles in the ancient Mayan calendar at the winter solstice in 2012 -- hence the predicted doomsday date of December 21, 2012," NASA said.

Maya text cites 2012 as end of calendar cycle, not end of world

"Just as the calendar you have on your kitchen wall does not cease to exist after December 31, the Mayan calendar does not cease to exist on December 21, 2012," it added. "This date is the end of the Mayan long-count period but then -- just as your calendar begins again on January 1 -- another long-count period begins for the Mayan calendar."

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Ah shucks...I thought it was a way to avoid the fiscal cliff....oh well...party on Wayne! party on Garth!

    Reply#58 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:25 AM EST

    I can t keep up with all these dates the world will end

      Reply#59 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:28 AM EST

      Dammit...a front row seat to the end of the world is on my bucket list. lol

        Reply#60 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:28 AM EST

        I just hope it holds off untill i get all my Christmas shopping done!!

        • 1 vote
        Reply#61 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:29 AM EST

        Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012," NASA said.

        Really? Asteroid extinction event that killed off the Dinosaurs, Ice Age, etc.

          Reply#62 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:30 AM EST

          They refer to the planet, not its inhabitants at any particular time.

            #62.1 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 11:13 AM EST
            Reply

            A zombie here, a zombie there, whatever... wipe your feet before you come in the house. BTW, I'm enjoying a brand new car that I may not have to pay for! How sweet is that!

            • 1 vote
            Reply#63 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:36 AM EST

            Either way,,it is a pretty good excuse to go and eat all the ice cream in the freezer,, then is it doesnt end ,well we can just go to the store and get more ice cream.

            • 1 vote
            Reply#64 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:37 AM EST

            LET'S GET ART-SY!!!! According to Joseph Campbell, Maya is a "projective" power as opposed to a "revealing" power (of perspective) in the radiance of the "object", whatever that may be. "Are you going to look at the object or eat it?" Consume? As in "have your cake and eat it, too" and what that really means and why it manifestly can't be done. (CITIZENS UNITED, anyone? FAA, Federal Arbitration Act, anyone? Off the Fiscal Cliff or off "the Fiscal Pyramid", anyone? Distinctions, anyone?) The end of "the Projecting Power of Maya" for the switch to the ever-present "Revealing Power", that coincidentally begins on the shortest day of the year, (ANY YEAR), from whereafter "the amount of light shone into the darkness, TO REVEAL", increases.

            "It's very important to make a clear distinction between the two. If you're concerned with prospering or failing with the object, eating or not eating it, your perspective involves desire and loathing, the temptations of the Bhudda, the projecting power of Maya". (Reflections on the Art of Living; A Joseph Campbell Companion, page 252)

            December 21st (ANY YEAR) is also the first day of "Raven Energy". The Blackbird that can fly into the darkest crevices of the void. Just sayin', WHATEVER!

              Reply#65 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:37 AM EST

              I've always liked the Aussies sense of humor. Their politicians are certainly less arrogant than ours.

              • 1 vote
              Reply#66 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:41 AM EST

              Let's just suppose people in the future developed a Time Machine to go back to the past and warn us about what lies ahead,even going back and helping to inspire people to write the Bible as a warning of what lies ahead for the world.Many scientists believe a Time Machine is possible,because it is possible,in a limited way,to travel into the future:it's been proven that as man travels at or near the speed of light,time slows down,so man travelling on a rocket at or near such speed,time would slow down for him on that rocket,but back on earth time would be as it was,so when man comes back to earth from his rocket trip,he will have gone into the future being that time for him slowed down on the rocket,but back on earth time would remain the same.One year on the rocket would translate to many more years back on earth,so he would have travelled into the future.This has already been proven true.

                Reply#67 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:41 AM EST

                Al-3017247, #67- Cool! H G Wells "Time Machine" was GREAT, as it so "dynamically" captured what you're saying about having visited "future" time, like that, but only in the reverse. But, "conceptually", it also showed more "affect" to the altering of and by tangibles of "past" time than the unknowns, or as-yet-non-happenings of "future" time. As if "substance" can only exist as "matter" in the past or present, not the future; at least "conceptually". Is that why it's been siad that "Time is a concept"?

                  #67.1 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:13 AM EST
                  Reply

                  You know, if we were smart we would pitch this end of days thing is as real as it gets.

                  A good number of the "believers" would go right out and spend like a drunken sailor

                  with no worries about future bills. The holiday retail sales could use the boost.

                    Reply#68 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:44 AM EST

                    Nasa also said there was no water any ware else in this solar system. Then just this week we find out that mercury has ice caps. The world may not be ending but nasa has been feeding us b.s for awhile now.

                      Reply#69 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:45 AM EST

                      The end of fall and the beginning of winter.

                      • 1 vote
                      Reply#70 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:46 AM EST

                      Guys must see this World will end in 2012

                        Reply#71 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:48 AM EST

                        It would appear not many people understand the Mayan calender, which says the end of the world starts on Dec 20/21 2012 and actually hits Feb 14 2013.................when the planet Nibiru which is mostly iron comes out from behind the sun, the gravitational pull will be so great it will throw the earth off it's axis, it will create tsunami's with 6.5 mile high waves, yellowstone for one will go and the earths crust will start to roll. Supposedly, according to my buddy Dan this happens every 3- 4 thousand years and what life is left, if any , will restart the world, as when this happens all memory is wiped clean and you remember nothing. Look at some of the Mayan wall carvings, where people are holding lamps over others who are working, did they have lamps all those years ago who knows?????????? was it close to the end of civilization as they knew it, were they trying to help us know what was happening before civilization restarted..............who knows????

                        • 1 vote
                        Reply#72 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:51 AM EST

                        POLE SHIFT CATACYLISM: the forbidden church sermon.
                        Job 38:22-23
                        Have you entered the storehouses of the snow, or have you seen the storehouses of the hail, which I have reserved for the time of distress, for the day of war and battle?
                        Ecclesiastes 1:9-11
                        That which has been is that which will be, and that which has been done is that which will be done. So there is nothing new under the sun. Is there anything of which one might say, "See this, it is new "? Already it has existed for ages which were before us. There is no remembrance of earlier things; and also of the later things which will occur. There will be for them no remembrance among those who will come later still.
                        Daniel 12:4
                        But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time ; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.
                        Haggai 2:6-7
                        For thus says the LORD of hosts, once more in a little while, I am going to shake the heavens and the earth, the sea also and the dry land. I will shake all the nations; and they will come with the wealth of all nations, and I will fill this house with glory, says the LORD of hosts.
                        Luke 17: 26-30
                        And just as it happened in the days of Noah, so it will be also in the days of the Son of Man : they were eating, they were drinking, they were marrying, they were being given in marriage, until the day that Noah entered the ark, and the flood came and destroyed them all. It was the same as happened in the days of Lot : they were eating, they were drinking, they were buying, they were selling, they were planting, they were building ; but on the day that Lot went out from Sodom it rained fire and brimstone from heaven and destroyed them all. It will be just the same on the day that the Son of Man is revealed.
                        Revelation 6:12-14
                        I looked when He broke the sixth seal, and there was a great earthquake ; and the sun became black as sackcloth made of hair, and the whole moon became like blood ; and the stars of the sky fell to the earth, as a fig tree casts its unripe figs when shaken by a great wind. The sky was split apart like a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island were moved out of their places.
                        Revelation 8:12
                        The fourth angel sounded, and a third of the sun and a third of the moon and a third of the stars were struck, so that a third of them would be darkened and the day would not shine for a third of it, and the night in the same way.
                        Revelation 16:18-21
                        And there were flashes of lightning and sounds and peals of thunder ; and there was a great earthquake, such as there had not been since man came to be upon the earth, so great an earthquake was it, and so mighty. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell. Babylon the great was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of His fierce wrath. And every island fled away, and the mountains were not found. And huge hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, came down from heaven upon men ; and men blasphemed God because of the plague of the hail, because its plague was extremely severe.

                        • 1 vote
                        Reply#73 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 8:55 AM EST

                        Ever hear of Pangaea. That is what the World was like 200 million years ago. There were great earth quakes and land and mountains split apart like never seen before. Since Man was not alive he himself did not witness this and the great floods and Tectonic Plates rip apart from one another until what is seen today by Man. Kind of hard for a star that's 10,000 light years away to fall to the Earth. I've seen golf ball sized hail before but 100 pounds each? Did you go outside and weigh them? Wow. Hope you didn't get hit by one. I'm not blaspheming anyone, just putting holes into your story. Great reading though. Some will actually believe it. Thanks for the message.

                          #73.1 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 10:48 AM EST
                          Reply

                          Looooove it!!!! It doesn't matter what the story is about, the comments NEVER change. 26% always find the humor (my absolute favorite), 40% always refer to politics and the nation, 20% religious, 10% religious basher's and 4% hateful and prejudice..somehow it NEVER gets old. LOL:)

                          • 2 votes
                          Reply#74 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:01 AM EST

                          I don't believe the world is going to end. But that the world of man is going to have different things occur. The poles could shift which would explain such mild winter so far, and the major hurricanes and such. Plus I think there will be enlightenment of some sort to the human race, but I'm not sure what. But the world will not end.

                            Reply#75 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:03 AM EST

                            America is moving rapidly toward 17 trillion in national debt and that about sums up the end of the world as we know it. The bubble of borrowing 1.2 trillion a year will burst when the lenders see the futility in it. When the American economy bubble bursts it will take the rest of the economic world with it. The end may not physically come this month or year but soon. The smoke and mirrors the fed is using will dissipate and shatter and the fall will be terrible; you think France and Greece are bad, as "they" say, "It ain't the half of it, Brother."

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#76 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:08 AM EST

                            My birthday this year falls on 12/12/12, which adds up to 36, the reverse of my age, 63. I hope that means that I will start growing younger again, but I will be satisfied if some coincidence happens, that I can point to with pride and say, "I did that!" I suspect it will be just another day in the chain of days since my launching.

                            Happy Holidays everyone! ("Holidays" means everything from Halloween to New Years Eve; I start over on January 1st.)

                            • 1 vote
                            Reply#77 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:13 AM EST

                            What does it matter? The Earth is evil. Nobody is going to miss it.

                              Reply#78 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:15 AM EST

                              The end is near if you just read the bible and you will see about all the natural disasters, country against country, starvation etc. But of course all the atheiist and non believers will say I'm nuts but I don't care. It says that when all these things happen, look up! All the Christians and children will disappear and the "Antichrist" will tell everyone else, look at the peace we have now that the Christians are gone. He will bring false peace for 3 1/2 years and then all hell will break loose. So be warned all non believers. But!, the one thing about the end of the world is that no one knows the month, day, or the hour. No one! So keep predicting the month, day, and year and we know that it will not happen on that day. The Lord will come as a theif in the night. AMEN! It will be in our generation.

                              • 1 vote
                              Reply#79 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:16 AM EST

                              no one knows the month, day, or the hour. No one! So keep predicting the month, day, and year and we know that it will not happen on that day.

                              I wouldn't be so sure if I were you! What if they just make a lucky guess?

                                #79.1 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:41 AM EST

                                No one here is predicting it. Just some say the Mayan's predicted it over 1000 years ago. The natural disasters you state and country vs country, man vs man have been going on since Mankind over 10,000 years ago. I would just like to see Peace for 3 1/2 years. When has that ever happened. I don't know when, You don't know when and no one you actually know does either. It's all speculation. It ends when it ends. If it ends 5,000 years from now everyone you have warned will long be dead. What's the point?

                                  #79.2 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 11:20 AM EST
                                  Reply

                                  Jesus says in the Bible,fear not,when you hear of wars,and rumors of wars,it must happen this way-to rid the world of those who cause such things,and contribute to it.

                                  • 1 vote
                                  Reply#80 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:19 AM EST

                                  I wonder if we haven't had too much "scientific learning" and technological input that scares so many. I rather like Nostradamus's perdictions for the world. A great many of his predictions have come true. Maybe he was just a lucky nut case, who knows? At least we can sort of believe what he said based on past history. Then again, maybe I'm a nut case LOL

                                  • 1 vote
                                  Reply#81 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:19 AM EST

                                  I was in Mexico last year and the locals laugh about this remour. They told me that there is actually three different calendars and yes the first one is ending, but the second one will then start up. According to the Mexicans we have several thousand years left.

                                  • 1 vote
                                  Reply#82 - Thu Dec 6, 2012 9:19 AM EST
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