Comments on: Comments on 10685

Post number 10685

waxpancake — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 15:43:47 -0800

The Rapture Ready index is a numerical assessment of signs that indicate the end times are here. Maintained by USAF supply sergeant Todd Strandberg, he says the Index isn't meant to show when the Rapture will come, but how quickly we are moving towards it. It's a speedometer; not a clock. (More inside.)

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 15:47:27 -0800

"Fine," you say. "Some nut with a web page likes to keep track of how quickly we're moving towards an event I don't even believe in. What's that got to do with me?" Well, his site is interesting in that it serves as a sort of global anxiety meter, a measure of our collective angst. Wars and rumors of war, economic indicators, unrest in the middle east, it's all there. Unsurprisingly, we're at an all-time high (beating the previous high of May of '99) since Todd began counting. (The above link and comment were written by Mat Honan, who would've posted it himself, but doesn't have posting privileges just yet.)

By: waxpancake

waxpancake — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 15:48:58 -0800

Oh, and here's a second interview with Todd posted on Open Letters last year. He's a strange guy.

By: skallas

skallas — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:08:08 -0800

I don't know what's creepier his index or that he speaks of himself in the third person. "I figured God and Todd had somehow failed to make that final connection. "

By: betaray

betaray — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:10:42 -0800

When I first found it, I wrote a perl script game to play the rapture index like the stock market. Unfortunately I didn't realize that it's updated rather infrequently so it's not much fun. If only he'd update it on a weekly/monthly basis, then we'd all be talking about how we wish we would've bought civil rights low.

By: betaray

betaray — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:10:47 -0800

By: bragadocchio

bragadocchio — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:16:30 -0800

Speaking of clocks, this has me wondering if the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists is going to move the minute hand on its Doomsday Clock soon. The clock has been appearing on the cover of the Bulletin since 1947, and the minute hand has moved 16 times. It last moved on June 11, 1998 when it went from 14 minutes till midnight to 9 minutes. The present situation plays out their 1998 rationale for moving the clock close to nuclear midnight.

By: dopamine

dopamine — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 16:33:36 -0800

A Rapture Index. How f-ing awesome is that?! I love stupid crap like this. Bring on Rev. 23!

By: davidmsc

davidmsc — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 17:37:26 -0800

Sample from the Mother Jones interview, in case you didn't read that portion of the link: Todd: "Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Bernard Shaw--are all people of a liberal slant whom one would consider agnostic." Interviewer: "Why do you think that is?" Todd: "Well, I believe that they're put there by the devil himself. " Interviewer: "You think Peter Jennings is actually doing the work of the devil?" Todd: "Most definitely." Hmmm...maybe he moonlights as a writer for the Weekly World News...(caution: 2 pop-unders...but worth the click!)...?

By: rushmc

rushmc — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 18:08:30 -0800

More Nostrildumbass...where's Matt??

By: mkn

mkn — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 18:52:10 -0800

I'm a little confused. Where exactly in Revelations does it say that Oil Prices, Inflation, and Interest Rates play a key role in the Rapture?

By: Dean King

Dean King — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 19:01:21 -0800

"In 1987 I bought my first computer.... an Apple II clone made by the Franklin Computer Company.... In 1989 I purchased a 286 PC, and I had to switch all my Basic files over to DOS." I'm pretty sure this falls under Rapture Category 13: Apostasy.

By: glenwood

glenwood — Fri, 21 Sep 2001 20:44:58 -0800

Where exactly in Revelations does it say that Oil Prices, Inflation, and Interest Rates play a key role in the Rapture? Or "civil rights", for that matter.