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Three Reasons the World Won’t End In 2012

We’ve all heard it at one point or another, and, chances are, either you or someone you know believes it: Something catastrophic will happen to the human race on December 21, 2012.

My dad has been researching this misconception for a long time, and even started his own website about why the 2012 apocalypse is a myth. I've also become interested in this, and I have three major problems with the popular belief that the world will end in 2012:

1. People are talking about the apocalypse to make money. These people are trying to scare the cash out of you. People are getting rich from selling 2012 survival guides and shelters that don’t exist. If that’s not enough, think about the boatload of money that the movie 2012 brought in.

2. The Mayan calendar does not end in 2012. The Mayans had a 260-day religious calendar (the Tzolkin) and a 365-day civil calendar (the Haab). Every 52 years, the two calendars would share the same New Year’s Day. For anything that was further than 52 years away, the Mayans used the Long Count calendar, which was a count of days starting from the day of creation in the Mayans’ religion. The date of the alleged apocalypse written in the Long Count calendar format is 13.0.0.0.0. This calendar does not actually end until 13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.13.0.0.0.0, which is 41,341,049,999,999,999,999,999,994,879 years in the future!

3. “Planet X” or “Nibiru” does not exist. A woman named Nancy Lieder claims to have telepathic communication with aliens she calls Zetas. Nancy says the Zetas want to warn us about Planet X, which she describes as "4 times the size of earth" and "23 times the mass of earth." Actually, Planet X was supposed to hit earth in 2003. Clearly, we are all still alive. If a planet were four times the size of the earth, and was heading in a path that would hit us in a few years, it would be clearly visible. After many astronomers explained this, conspiracy theorists came up with the best excuse ever: “NASA is hiding it.”

Okay, two questions. How does one attempt to hide a planet? Also, since NASA is an American administration, how would they get all the other countries to comply?

What do you think about 2012? A little nervous? Or do you think it's a bunch of hooey?