Man builds ark to survive December apocalypse

I’ve always wondered what sort of person really believes the world is going to end on 21 December just because it’s the end of an arbitrary cycle on an obscure and academically disputed Mesoamerican calendar, and now I know – it’s the same sort of person who spends his entire life savings building a huge boat to try and escape it.

Although the 2012 “prediction” isn’t exactly specific about events, Lu Zhenghai of Urumqi, China, is apparently banking on a global flood and has reportedly sunk ¥1 million (R15 million) into his apocalypse-proof ark, measuring 21.2m long, 15.5m wide, and 5.6m high.

What if there’s a fireball inferno or a megavolcano or just, you know, nothing much out of the ordinary at all? I guess Lu is out of luck (and money) then. Man, he’s going to feel so stupid on 22 December, I’m almost hoping there’s at least a bit of a drizzle or something.