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There may be no one
left on Earth to say
TGIF this week.
Some believe the world
iscoming to an end
Friday -- on 12/21/12 --
which is when an
important phase on the
ancient calendar of the
Mayan people
terminates.

Mayans don't buy it.
At least the ones living
in the city of Merida,
Mexico, don't. Neither
does anyone in the
Mayan village of
Yaxuna. They know the
calendar their ancestors
leftthem is about to
absolve a key phase --
the end of an era and
the heralding of a new
one -- but they don't
think we're all gonna
die.

Read more: Be honest,
apocalypse seems kind
of exciting
"It'san era. We are
lucky to see how it
ends," said wood
carver Santos Esteban
in Yaxuna, a sleepy
village of fewer than
700 Mayans, located in
a territory that once
belonged to the ancient
kingdom founded
around 2000 B.C.

He feels it is a
momentous occasion
and is looking forward
to the start of the new
age. He is not afraid.

"Lots of people say it's
the end of the world,
but we don't believe
that," he said.

Readmore: China
cracks down on
'Doomsday cult'
People inhis village will
keep living much as
they have, preferring
hand-built, palm-thatch
hutsto concrete
buildings and baking
tortillas on an open
flame.

For those less
optimistic than the
Mayans, an "official"
website in the United
States has collected
links to all the
doomsday articles and
videos Internet users
can consume.
December212012.com
alsooffers tips on
survival and
advertisements for the
needed gear -- from
gas masks to first aid
kits and hand-crank
radios. Comments are
welcome on its
Facebook page, which
has more than 14,000
likes, and website
owner "John" from
near Louisville,
Kentucky, sends out
tweets under the
handle
@December212012.

On the doomsday
Facebook page -- in
between gloomy
superstitious links and
user comments -- John
hasconfessed that he
does not really believe
the world will end on
Friday but thinks that a
new era could dawn
that may include some
improvements for the
world.

That new era,
however, might
require a good bit of
destruction as well.
Johnasked posters not
to take the whole thing
too seriously.

"PLEASE PEOPLE. . .
I'm begging you. Do
not overreact or make
any rash decisions
regarding Dec 21st.
Anyone who knows
anything about the
2012 prophecies,
including myself, does
not believes that the
world is going to end,"
the Facebook page
says.
Opinion: The Maya
collapsed - could we?
Gunmaker Ryan Croft
in Asheville, North
Carolina, does take the
prediction seriously. He
is building a special
assault rifle to deal with
any signs of doom
lurking around the
corner.

He doesn't think life on
Earth will come to a
complete end Friday.
"I'm not planning for
the world to go away,"
Croft told CNN affiliate
WHNS.

However, he thinks the
day could mark the
beginning of
cataclysmic times
introduced by a
disaster. That may call
for drastic measures,
Croft said.

His new rifle, a hybrid
of an AR-15 and an
AK-47, is designed to
be easy to use, the Gulf
War veteran said.

Trouble in the United
States could ensue in
the wake of an
economic catastrophe,
he thinks.
"I taught about
economic collapse and
how it actually looks on
theground," he said.
"People want to act like
it can't happen or
doesn't happen, and it
happens around the
world. There are places
on fire right now."