Mayan Madness

So Mel Gibson has a movie coming out this summer about the Maya and the beginnings of the end of their civilization. It's called Apocalypto, and you can see the trailer here. Looks pretty cool. Hope there is lots of carving-still-beating-sacrificial-hearts-out-of-chests action.

Meanwhile, a scientist asserts that New Age Dec. 21, 2012 doom and gloomers have bogusly appropriated the Mayan calendar:

"According to the ancient Mayan Long Count calendar, a cycle of more than 5,000 years will come to fruition on the winter solstice of 2012. While this date is largely unknown among contemporary Maya, some participants in the New Age movement believe it will mark an apocalyptic global transformation. Hundreds of books and Internet sites speculate wildly about the 2012 date, but little of this conjecture has a factual basis in Mayan culture. This paper provides an overview of the primary currents in the 2012 phenomenon, examines their sources, and speculates about developments as this highly anticipated date approaches." (This is the abstract from the paper, which is on line but you gotta pay.)

You can read a news article here about the scientist and his assertion.