As we're navigating through the recession, wading through global warming, dealing with massive unemployment and coming up short before the holiday season, some in the entertainment industry are reaping millions by playing on people's insecurities.

Take the new '2012' movie for example. The 158-minute global disaster flick began it's holiday run last week on Friday, Nov. 13 at the Fortuna Threatre and elsewhere. Directed by Roland Emmerich, the $200 million film was inspired by a theoretical global doomsday event coinciding with the end of the Mayan Calendar's cycle on or around Dec. 21, 2012, based on the utterings of Mayan deity, Bolon Yokte. Critics of the modern interpretation of the obscure text say the doomsday theory sprang from Western ideas, not Mayan. Furthermore, some experts in the field note that other inscriptions at Mayan sites go far beyond 2012. Also be reminded that the Harmonic Convergence of 1987 had its origin with the Mayan calendar. Y2K wasn't Mayan, but it could have been.

According to an unconfirmed report, the director said he wasn't interested in doing any more disaster movies, (he directed Independance Day and The Day After Tommorrow); but when he Googled '2012,' he got nearly 50 million hits. Seeing the potential for big bucks, another disaster flick was thrown into the mill. Making dollars from playing off of people's fears isn't anything new, but since these films are so commonplace, now with the advent of computer-generated mayhem, there's no sense in getting all riled up.

On the official NASA website, experts respond to Frequently Asked Questions, and the 2012 phenomena is quickly dismissed, saying, “Our planet has been getting along just fine for more than 4 billion years, and credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012...where is the science? Where is the evidence? There is none, and for all the fictional assertions, whether they are made in books, movies, documentaries or over the Internet, we cannot change that simple fact.”

Acccording to Canadian researchers, the worst thing that could happen in or around 2012 would be an outbreak of influenza, spotting a correlation between flu pandemics and the peaks of the 11-year sunspot cycle. The researchers say they have evidence that flus are four times more likely to spread when the sun develops spots and sends its excess energy barreling to Earth. NASA says that solar flare-ups will extend from 2012 to 2014.

So the smartest thing to do about 2012 may be to stay healthy and not waste too much time over doomsday prophecies. Also, give thought to how less sophisticated people like young children might be processing all of this talk of the world falling apart at the seams and just be content to get through the holiday seasons.