China arrests doomsday enthusiasts

China has reportedly arrested some 500 fringe-group Christians for spreading rumors about the end of the world ... due on Friday, Dec. 21 by some reckonings.

Those detained are reported to be members of the group Almighty God, which is also called Eastern Lightning, after a phrase from the Bible's Book of Matthew. Widely regarded as a heretical Christian sect, the group preaches that Jesus has reappeared as a woman in central China. It has been accused of targeting Christians, kidnapping and beating them to force conversions.

My question is, in a country of something like 1.4 billion people, how can the authorities hope to round of all of those espousing similar doomsday convictions by Friday?