It often is a nice enough set – a big, wide-screen HDTV with a picture so
vivid it feels as if you could step right inside and join the cast.
But these naked sets have a huge amount of unrealized potential. And by
playing a little dress-up with your TV well find ways to add to the
enjoyment they furnish. Well also add in an insurance policy that may
someday keep you from missing a must-watch event.
Get the settings right
Before we start changing the wardrobe, we should make sure the set is in prime
condition, otherwise the accessories wont have the full impact.
That means adjusting and tweaking the set to get the best possible picture. If
you havent touched the adjustments since purchasing the set, or if you did
a poor job of things, you can make a huge improvement in the picture by
following through an easy adjustment process.
Many TV sets come out of the box with settings designed to provide a picture
with colors more suitable for a Disney cartoon. Even if that isnt so, the
default settings dont take into account the lighting in your TV room. There
are ways to adjust it for the best performance in your unique setting.
Youll find the full procedure for adjusting the set here: http://www.cnet.com
under the how to menu . Itll just take a few moments to tweak
your set for maximum performance. Once youve done that dont change a thing
for a week or two. Since your eyes have become accustomed to the way the old
settings looked, it may take a little time to get used to the changes.
Of course, if you dont like the way it looks after a week, change it to suit
your own tastes – its your set and your decision. Theres no law that says
your tastes must fit the mainstream.
Good sound, little money
I see a lot of sets that are not connected to an external sound system. Thats
like buying a Ferrari but deciding to save a little money by running it on
regular grade gasoline instead of premium. I once read the manufacturers
cost for the speakers that go into an ordinary HDTV. As I recall, the
average wholesale cost of those speakers is 79 cents.
The good news here is that for everyone but a purist, even the least expensive
sound systems are plenty good enough. The stores are full of reasonably
priced systems that include everything you need in one package. Youll get
the receiver, speakers and subwoofer for deep basses. And since these are
matched systems, the speakers will be selected to complement the wattage and
characteristics of the receivers amplifier.
Im going to paste in a link to a system that works just fine and is priced at
a reasonable $329. Im doing this to show you what I mean, not to steer you
toward that specific system or that merchant.
In fact, the best way to go is to spend some time learning about sound systems
before opening your wallet. Heres a website that can help with the basics: www.geek.com/hdtv-buyers-guide/external-audio
.
The beauty of Boxee
Even when your HDTV is performing at its peak there is a problem that has
nothing to do with your set. The key here is the old computing adage: Trash
in, trash out. Anyone who has clicked through hundreds of channels and yet
found that the most acceptable program is one about the mating habits of
bears knows what I mean. Folks, it really is a vast wasteland out there.
Thats why you need to be able to take advantage of streaming video. You
probably know what that is by now, but just to be sure were on the same
wavelength, its the ability to connect your set to the vast amount of
movies, documentaries and old TV shows that reside on the Internet.
There is an easy way to sample whats out there – many BluRay players already
have that ability. If you dont have one, there are plenty of options for
one at $200 and less.
But if you want to widen the amount of programming available to you, I
recommend that you take a look at a wonderful little gadget called the
Boxee. You can read about it here: www.boxee.tv/buy .
The Boxee offers the same features, such as the ability to stream programming
from Netflix, as the BluRay players. But it also can connect directly to
websites that offer less well-known content. The Boxee stands apart from the
crowd because it comes with a Web browser and, with a few exceptions, can
reach any video you can watch using a regular computer and Web browsers.
Your insurance policy
Have you ever spent weeks waiting for some special program, maybe a football
or basketball game, and just as youve settled in with a bowl of popcorn
found that your cable or satellite provider is out?
Or, even worse, there may be times when bad weather disrupts the signal.
Thats why, if you are in range of a TV broadcasting station, you should have
an antenna capable of receiving an over-the-air signal. Im close enough to
a few transmitting sites to use a small rabbit ear antenna that is hidden
behind the set. Others may not be so lucky and need an outside antenna.
An antenna is worth the effort. Over-the-air broadcasts arent compressed as
severely as the signal you get from cable or satellite, so the picture can
be markedly better.
OK. Thats the naked truth about HDTV.
Have a little decency and dress up that nude TV in your den.
In Greek mythology, the prophetess Cassandra was doomed both to tell the truth and to be ignored. Our modern version is a bankrupt Greece that we seem to discount.
News accounts abound now of impoverished Athens residents scrounging pharmacies for scarce aspirin as Greece is squeezed to make interest payments to the supposedly euro-pinching German banks.
Such accounts may be exaggerations, but they should warn us that yearly progress is never assured. Instead, history offers plenty of examples of life becoming far worse than it had been centuries earlier. The biographer Plutarch, writing 500 years after the glories of classical Greece, lamented that in his time, weeds grew amid the empty colonnades of the once-impressive Greek city-states. In America, most would prefer to live in the Detroit of 1941 than the Detroit of 2012. The quality of todays air travel has regressed to the climate of yesterdays bus service.
In 2000, Greeks apparently assumed that they had struck it rich with their newfound money-laden European Union lenders even though they certainly had not earned their new riches through increased productivity, the discovery of more natural resources or greater collective investment and savings.
The brief euro mirage has vanished. Life in Athens is zooming backward to the pre-EU days of the 1970s. Then, most imported goods were too expensive to buy, medical care was often pre-modern and the city resembled more a Turkish Istanbul than a European Munich.
The United States should pay heed to the modern Greek Cassandra, since our own rendezvous with reality is rapidly approaching. The costs of servicing a growing national debt of more than $15 trillion are starting to squeeze out other budget expenditures. Americans are no longer affluent enough to borrow hundreds of billions of dollars to import oil, while we snub our noses at vast new oil and gas finds beneath our own soil and seas.
In my state, Californians for 40 years have hiked taxes; grown their government; vastly expanded entitlements; put farmland, timberland and oil and gas lands off limits; and opened their borders to millions of illegal aliens. They apparently assumed that they had inherited so much wealth from prior generations and that their state was so naturally rich, that a continually better life was their natural birthright.
It wasnt. Now, as in Greece, the veneer of civilization is proving pretty thin in California. Hospitals no longer have the money to offer sophisticated long-term medical care to the indigent. Cities no longer have the funds to self-insure themselves from the accustomed barrage of monthly lawsuits. When thieves rip copper wire out of street lights, the streets stay dark. Most state residents would rather go to the dentist these days than queue up and take a number at the Department of Motor Vehicles. Hospital emergency rooms neither have room nor act as if theres much of an emergency.
Traffic flows no better on most of the states freeways than it did 40 years ago and often much worse, given the crumbling infrastructure and increased traffic. Once-excellent kindergarten-12th-grade public schools now score near the bottom in nationwide tests. The California state university system keeps adding administrators to the point where they have almost matched the number of faculty, although half of the students who enter CSU need remedial reading and math. Despite millions of dollars in tutoring, half the students still dont graduate. The taxpayer is blamed in constant harangues for not ponying up more money, rather than administrators being faulted for a lack of reform.
In 1960 there were far fewer government officials, far fewer prisons, far fewer laws and far fewer lawyers and yet the state was a far safer place than it is a half-century later. Technological progress whether iPhones or Xboxes can often accompany moral regress. There are not yet weeds in our cities, but those, too, may be coming.
The average Californian, like the average Greek, forgot that civilization is fragile. Its continuance requires respect for the law, tough-minded education, collective thrift, private investment, individual self-reliance and common codes of behavior and civility and exempts no one from those rules. Such knowledge and patterns of civilized behavior, slowly accrued over centuries, can be lost in a single generation.
A keen visitor to Athens or Los Angeles during the last decade not only could have seen that things were not quite right but also could have concluded that they could not go on as they were. And so they are not.
Washington, please take heed.
Tribune Media Services
Victor Davis Hanson is a historian at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.
OAKLAND, Calif., Jan 20, 2012 (BUSINESS WIRE) –
The UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team announced today that Aegis Sports
Testing Services, part of Aegis Sciences Corporation, located in
Nashville, Tennessee, has become a significant corporate sponsor of the
U.S.-based pro continental team. This sponsorship marks the first time
that a pro cycling team and a sports drug-testing lab have partnered.
“Aegis is proud to sponsor the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team,” said
Dr. David Black, founder, president and CEO of Aegis. “As partners, we
have a unique opportunity to spread a message about the benefits of
competing drug free and contribute to our nation’s conversation about
lifelong wellness for athletes of all ages and abilities.”
Members of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team are among the fittest
and most competitive athletes in the world. In connection with its
sponsorship of the Team, Aegis will provide drug testing for Team
members above and beyond what is required by race officials and pro
cycling’s governing bodies.
Team UnitedHealthcare’s General Manager and Director, Mike Tamayo said,
“Competing in professional cycling means training long and training hard
— without the aid of drugs or performance-enhancing substances. The
additional drug testing our Team will receive from Aegis will help us
provide an extra layer of protection for our athletes, ensuring their
health and fitness and clean competition.”
For more than 20 years, Aegis has been committed to research, testing
and consultation that promote the wellness benefits and integrity of
sports free from performance-enhancing substances. The company provides
comprehensive drug testing and consultation services to amateur and
professional sports organizations worldwide. Aegis Sports Testing
Services, the testing arm of Aegis, conducts sophisticated testing
procedures for a variety of anabolic steroids, stimulants and other
performance-enhancing substances, protecting athletes and their sports
at all levels from substance abuse.
“This is an unprecedented partnership that we hope will set a great
example for all professional cyclists and teams worldwide,” said Gregory
Raifman, Chairman and CEO of Momentum Sports Group, the owner and
operator of the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team. “Together, Aegis
Sports Testing Services and the UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team seek
to enjoy the benefits of clean competition and share those benefits with
others in the cycling community and beyond.”
Pro cycling is a fast-growing sport in the United States that reaches
more than 70 million fans nationwide with stage races such as the Amgen
Tour of California, the Larry H. Miller Tour of Utah, and the USA Pro
Cycling Challenge in Colorado.
The Team heads to Argentina to kick off its 2012 campaign at the Tour de
San Luis (January 23 — 29), before heading to Spain for the Volta ao
Algarve (February 15 — 19), and then to Malaysia’s Tour of Langkawi
(February 24 — March 4). The early season racing calendar will see the
Team in Europe, South America and Asia before returning stateside for
its first U.S. race, the Tampa Twilight Criterium (March 31).
About Momentum Sports Group, LLC
Based in Oakland, Calif., the Momentum Sports Group, LLC is an
organization dedicated to the growth and management of sports and
entertainment assets worldwide. Momentum Sports Group owns and operates
one of the most successful professional cycling teams in the sport, the
UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team. The Team raced as “Health Net Pro
Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis” from 2003-2008 and “OUCH! Pro Cycling
Team Presented by Maxxis” in 2009. In 2010, UnitedHealthcare assumed
title sponsorship of the Team and they raced as the “UnitedHealthcare
Pro Cycling Team Presented by Maxxis.” In 2011, the Team raced as the
“UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team” and will continue to do so through
the 2014 season.
Fans can follow the team at
www.uhcprocycling.com ,
http://twitter.com/UHCprocycling ,
and
http://facebook.com/UHCprocycling .
About UnitedHealthcare
UnitedHealthcare is dedicated to helping people nationwide live
healthier lives by simplifying the health care experience, meeting
consumer health and wellness needs, and sustaining trusted relationships
with care providers. The company offers the full spectrum of health
benefit programs for individuals, employers and Medicare and Medicaid
beneficiaries, and contracts directly with more than 650,000 physicians
and care professionals and 5,000 hospitals nationwide. UnitedHealthcare
serves more than 38 million people and is one of the businesses of
UnitedHealth Group
/quotes/zigman/258846/quotes/nls/unhUNH +0.47%
, a diversified Fortune 50 health and
well-being company.
About Aegis Sports Testing Services
Aegis Sports Testing Services provides comprehensive drug testing and
consultation to a diverse range of amateur and professional sports
organizations in the United States and worldwide. The company is
committed to protecting athletes at all levels from the harmful effects
of drugs and other performance-enhancing substances. Aegis Sports
Testing Services is part of Aegis Sciences Corporation, a leading
forensic sciences company providing toxicology services to more than
1,500 clients including pain management physicians, professional sports
associations, colleges and universities, medical examiner offices, state
and local government agencies, courts of law, and Fortune 500
corporations. For more information about Aegis, visit
www.aegislabs.com .
SOURCE: UnitedHealthcare and Aegis Sciences Corporation
For UnitedHealthcare Pro Cycling Team:
Wesley Mallette, 310.562.2821 (mobile)
wesley@mosportsgroup.com
www.uhcprocycling.com or
For Aegis:
Nicole Cottrill, 615-327-7999
ncottrill@seigenthaler.com
Learning to enjoy reading at an early age gives your child a jump-start on education, but schoolwork should not be the only reason to raise an eager reader. Enjoyment of reading is an important puzzle piece to a fulfilled life. Here are some strategies to get your children interested in the written word:
» Set aside time for reading every day. If your child is reading picture books, you can likely fit in a minimum of three and as many as nine easy ones per day (spread out through waking, nap and bedtimes). Connect the illustrations to the words in the book by running your finger under each word as you pronounce it. Exaggerate your expression and intonation and use your hands to give emphasis to the story.
» Encourage your child to make up stories about the illustrations on the pages. Ask questions about characters, settings and plot. What does your child think will happen next? And next? These prompts will get your child to think ahead as well as think through feasible plot twists.
» Research shows that children who are most prepared for school are read to at least three times a week; even older children who can read to themselves benefit when a parent or other loved one reads to them. (Note: dont overlook your preteens and teens think Harry Potter and share family reading time with them, as well).
» Check your local librarys calendar for story times and attend as frequently as possible.
» As you travel through your day look for environmental print wherever you go: the Stop in the stop sign, the Exit sign in the restaurant or the name of your childs favorite bookstore are part of so-called environmental reading. Words are everywhere.
» Get your child a library card. Allow children to borrow as many books as you can carry.
» Start a library for your child at home. Keep your childs books accessible at eye level so he can look through them whenever he pleases. Teach your child to close books when done and how to put them back on the bookshelf.
Tip from the parenting trenches:
Cooking together is a fun way to incorporate reading and bonding with your child. Have your child follow along with the written recipe. Point to an ingredient on the list and have your child match it with the actual ingredient or utensil. After dinner, read about food or cooking together.
In the public space, no one has any money, so the more we can find mechanisms that can help them with investment, the better, he said. One example is street lighting. We have four PFI street lighting contracts, but now we are starting to look at energy-saving measures we can bring in through LED lights or greater control over lights.
One of the ideas is to look at how an initial project could save pound;200,000 or pound;300,000 a year in energy costs. Those savings could then be redirected to the capital works required to replace the next wave of street lights that need upgrading.
He added that long-term contracts running over two decades will allow E.ON to cover the upfront investment required to deliver such energy efficiency improvements, on the understanding that it, too, would benefit from the resulting savings.
If we got into a 20-year contract with an authority where they are spending pound;5m a year on energy, we could say that well guarantee that annual cost and invest in new technology to bring energy use down, he explained. You are arguably better off because we are reducing your exposure to potential energy price hikes. Meanwhile, there is an incentive for us to make those investments to bring costs down.
Speaking as part of a wide-ranging interview on E.ONs expansion plans for its Sustainable Energy division, Woodhead said that similar financing models are already being deployed in the form of the companys Energy Performance Contracts, which guarantee corporate and public sector customers energy efficiency savings over time.
Financing is at the heart of everything, he said. It shouldnt be people should be doing this anyway but financing is crucial to making these models work. What we have to do is identify where the risks are, and apportion those risks to the people who can do the work.
The Super Bowl is always a major spectacle. Besides the game itself, there are a ton of performers doing what they do best and other things going for fans to get enjoyment out of the event.
The 2012 Super Bowl in Indianapolis is no different.
The week will feature a number of top artists in the world showcasing their skills for everyone and two of the best football teams in the world doing battle.
What more could you ask for?
We are going to see either the Patriots vs. Giants, Patriots vs. 49ers, Giants vs. Ravens or Ravens vs. 49ers, and regardless of which matchup happens, a great game is surely bound to happen.
Lets take a look at some Super Bowl XLVI events and how to catch them.
February 2
In the days leading up the big game, anticipation will be at its highest and everyone is going to be excited in Indianapolis.
CPV Completes Project Financing for the Cimarron Wind Energy Project.CPV Renewable Energy Company (CPV Renewable Energy) announced that it closed financing for the construction of its 165.6 MW Cimarron Wind Power Project in Gray County, Kansas.
Cimarron Wind Energy Project in Gray County, Kansas. CPV Renewable Energy Company (CPV Renewable Energy) announced that it closed financing for the construction of its 165.6 MW Cimarron Wind Farm in Gray County, Kansas, with 72 Siemens 2.3 megawatt wind turbines.
The company began construction of the renewable energy facility in early December 2011 and expects that the Cimarron wind power project will achieve commercial operation in November 2012.
The projects 72 Siemens 2.3 megawatt wind turbines will supply Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) customers with renewable energy under a 20-year power purchase agreement. CPV Renewable Energy was awarded the power purchase agreement as part of TVAs 2009 Request for Proposals for renewable generation. The project is managed by a CPV affiliate, is being constructed by Wanzak Construction, a MasTec Company, and will be operated by North American Energy Services.
Coordinating Lead Arrangers Bank of Tokyo Mitsubishi UFJ and Union Bank of California were joined by Mandated Lead Arrangers Helaba, Siemens Financial Services and Lloyds in providing $262.8 million of senior credit facilities.
CPV is pleased to once again bring clean renewable wind powered generation to southwest Kansas, said Sean Finnerty, CPV REC Sr. Vice President. The Cimarron project adds to CPVs growing asset base and will provide low cost, reliable wind power generation to the Tennessee Valley Authority for years to come.
This milestone caps a year during which CPVs 800 MW gas-fired Sentinel Energy Center, which supports the expansion of wind energy and reliability in Southern California, was heralded by Project Finance International as Power Deal of the Year for the Americas. In December 2010, CPV commissioned its Kennan II wind farm in Oklahoma.
With its unique, diversified clean energy approach to development, CPV is succeeding in the most challenging environments.
CPVs portfolio of over 1,100 MW of clean, reliable generation in construction or operation shows the value of a diversified approach to power generation, said Doug Egan, CPV Chairman and CEO. We are happy to add the Cimarron project to the growing list of projects CPV has in operation and construction.
Competitive Power Ventures, LLC (CPV) is dedicated to increasing North Americas sustainability; both economically and environmentally. Using domestically available energy sources, like wind power and natural gas, and partnering with host communities to support their tax base and school districts, CPV works to stabilize and improve local and state economies. CPVs corporate mission is built around a belief that progressive companies can be powerful agents of change for a better world and a cleaner environment. To this end, we have focused our core activities around developing and operating energy facilities that can make a significant difference in improving the environments and economic circumstances of the regions in which they are located.
Headquartered in Silver Spring, Md., with offices in Braintree, Mass., San Francisco, Calif., and Toronto, Ontario, the company currently has 6,000 MW of conventional generation projects in various stages of development. The companys Asset Management division has ramped up to nearly 5,000MW of natural gas generation under management. CPV Renewable Energy Company (REC) is currently developing 4,300 MW of wind power projects across North America.
Blackouts have long frustrated sports fans, but never have they had a better chance to actually do something to end blackouts. Last week, the Federal Communications Commission took a major step that could have huge implications for sports fans around the country. The agency is asking for public comments on a petition filed by Sports Fans Coalition and other public interest groups asking for the FCC to eliminate its sports blackout rule, which has been on the books since the mid-1970s. In essence, the FCC is opening up a conversation about sports blackout rules.
Before proceeding, it’s important to draw a distinction between league blackout rules and the FCC’s blackout rule. Basically, professional sports leagues have their own blackout rules that determine what games local broadcasters can show. The most obvious example of league rules are the NFL’s policy that games have to be sold out within 72 hours of kickoff or the game will be blacked out in the local market. (The most convoluted example of league rules are those of Major League Baseball.)
The FCC’s blackout rule props up these league blackout rules by also prohibiting cable and satellite carriers from carrying a game if local broadcasters are prohibited from doing so. This is why a fan in Cincinnati who cannot see the game on local television still cannot see the game even if he has DirecTV’s Sunday Ticket, which is supposed to carry every NFL game.
The FCC’s rule was written nearly four decades ago, when the media landscape was far different and when leagues were far more dependent upon gate receipts. In comments Thursday, FCC Commissioner Robert McDowell acknowledged these factors in a written statement:
Taking a fresh look at this 36-year-old rule could be constructive as we look for rules to streamline and modernize. Over almost four decades, the economics and structure of both the sports and communications industries have experienced dramatic evolutions. We now live in a world with not only local broadcast stations, but also cable, satellite, the Internet and wireless, and where television and merchandizing revenues exceed ticket sales. It is appropriate for us to re-examine the rule in light of marketplace changes.
Bingo.
McDowell is exactly right when he says that the “sports and communications industries have experienced dramatic evolutions” since the agency adopted its blackout rule. Simply consider the fact that ESPN did not even exist at the time the agency last carefully considered blackouts. Crazy!
The FCC’s last comprehensive review of sports blackouts took place in 1976, following a three-year federal law stating that games could not be blacked out unless the stadium wasn’t sold out. Prior to the 1973 law, all NFL games were blacked out, regardless of attendance. This frustrated the nation’s First Fan, President Richard Nixon, who pushed Congress to end the blackouts. The result was a three-year ban, during which time the FCC closely monitored the effect on game attendance. Here’s how Stephen Lowe, author of The Kid on the Sandlot: Congress and Professional Sports, 1910-1992, describes the results of the FCC’s study:
The FCC’s 1976 report declared that the law was not harmful in any way to professional football. On the contrary, greater television exposure had spawned greater fan interest, which had actually led to higher attendance at the stadium, not an increase in the number of no-shows. The report concluded that the antiblackout law had been “beneficial” not only to the fans, but to professional sports as well.
It should come as no surprise to anyone (but an NFL owner) that the best way to build a loyal fan base is to (treat them with respect and) allow them to actually see their local team. Less visible team, less interest.
Regardless of what action the FCC ultimately takes, their interest in opening a conversation will also have several other important benefits. First, the leagues are going to have to spell out and justify their own blackout policies. Second, if the NFL or any other league really needs every last dollar from gate receipts, they are going to have to provide financial data to prove it, which they will not want to do. Third, even if the leagues refuse to provide internal figures, the economics of professional sports in America will be clearer to everyone. That means discussing how ticket prices, personal seat licenses, stadium subsidies, antitrust-exempted television contracts, etc, all contribute to the leagues’ profits while costing fans and taxpayers billions.
Of course, sports fans would rather that the leagues just changed their own blackout policies, but they steadfastly refuse to do so. And it should be noted that in this case, it’s the sports leagues who are asking for special treatment from the government to black out fans. Fans are simply asking why the government needs to enforce blackouts.
So the FCC’s actions last week are a major victory for sports fans, but the war against blackouts is far from over. For the next month, fans will have the opportunity to speak up about blackouts and actually be heard. (You can do so here.) But it’s going to continue to be a tough fight. The NFL and the other leagues will likely spend lots of money trying to keep the FCC’s rule on the books. They want to continue the same old blackout rules of the 1970s. Back then, the leagues and media companies were the only ones in the room when the rules were written. But now, fans have an organization with some teeth fighting for them.
Brian Frederick is the Executive Director of Sports Fans Coalition. He holds a PhD in Communication and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University. Email him at brian@sportsfans.org and follow him on Twitter here.
Brayden Spurlock, 3, of Ennis, Tx pulls in a catfish to the enjoyment of others in line for the fishing pond at Kids Gone Wild at the Fort Worth Stock Show and Rodeo on Sunday Jan. 22, 2012.
n>(Reuters) – When Patty Tegeler looks out the window of her home overlooking the Appalachian Mountains in southwestern Virginia, she sees trouble on the horizon.
In an instant, anything can happen, she told Reuters. And I firmly believe that you have to be prepared.
Tegeler is among a growing subculture of Americans who refer to themselves informally as preppers. Some are driven by a fear of imminent societal collapse, others are worried about terrorism, and many have a vague concern that an escalating series of natural disasters is leading to some type of environmental cataclysm.
They are following in the footsteps of hippies in the 1960s who set up communes to separate themselves from what they saw as a materialistic society, and the survivalists in the 1990s who were hoping to escape the dictates of what they perceived as an increasingly secular and oppressive government.
Preppers, though are, worried about no government.
Tegeler, 57, has turned her home in rural Virginia into a survival center, complete with a large generator, portable heaters, water tanks, and a two-year supply of freeze-dried food that her sister recently gave her as a birthday present. She says that in case of emergency, she could survive indefinitely in her home. And she thinks that emergency could come soon.
I think this economy is about to fall apart, she said.
A wide range of vendors market products to preppers, mainly online. They sell everything from water tanks to guns to survival skills.
Conservative talk radio host Glenn Beck seems to preach preppers message when he tells listeners: Its never too late to prepare for the end of the world as we know it.
Unfortunately, given the increasing complexity and fragility of our modern technological society, the chances of a societal collapse are increasing year after year, said author James Wesley Rawles, whose Survival Blog is considered the guiding light of the prepper movement.
A former Army intelligence officer, Rawles has written fiction and non-fiction books on end-of-civilization topics, including How to Survive the End of the World as We Know It, which is also known as the preppers Bible.
We could see a cascade of higher interest rates, margin calls, stock market collapses, bank runs, currency revaluations, mass street protests, and riots, he told Reuters. The worst-case end result would be a Third World War, mass inflation, currency collapses, and long term power grid failures.
A sense of suffering and being afraid is usually at the root of this kind of thinking, according to Cathy Gutierrez, an expert on end-times beliefs at Sweet Briar College in Virginia. Such feelings are not unnatural in a time of economic recession and concerns about a growing national debt, she said.
With our current dependence on things from the electric grid to the Internet, things that people have absolutely no control over, there is a feeling that a collapse scenario can easily emerge, with a belief that the end is coming, and it is all out of the individuals control, she told Reuters.
She compared the major technological developments of the past decade to the Industrial Revolution of the 1830s and 1840s, which led to the growth of the Millerites, the 19th-Century equivalent of the preppers. Followers of charismatic preacher Joseph Miller, many sold everything and gathered in 1844 for what they believed would be the second coming of Jesus Christ.
Many of todays preppers receive inspiration from the Internet, devouring information posted on websites like that run by attorney Michael T. Snider, who writes The Economic Collapse blog out of his home in northern Idaho.
Modern preppers are much different from the survivalists of the old days, he said. You could be living next door to a prepper and never even know it. Many suburbanites are turning spare rooms into food pantries and are going for survival training on the weekends.
Like other preppers, Snider is worried about the end of a functioning US economy. He points out that tens of millions of Americans are on food stamps and that many US children are living in poverty.
Most people have a gut feeling that something has gone terribly wrong, but that doesnt mean that they understand what is happening, he said. A lot of Americans sense that a massive economic storm is coming and they want to be prepared for it.
So, assuming there is no collapse of society — which the preppers call uncivilization — what is the future of the preppers?
Gutierrez said that unlike the Millerites — or followers of radio preacher Harold Camping, who predicted the world would end last year — preppers are not setting a date for the coming destruction. The Mayan Calendar predicts doom this December.
The minute you set a date, you are courting disconfirmation, she said.
Tegeler, who recalls being hit by tornadoes and floods in her southwestern Virginia home, said that none of her survival center products will go to waste.
I think its silly not to be prepared, she said. After all, anything can happen.
(Reporting by Jim Forsyth in San Antonio; Editing by Corrie MacLaggan and Greg McCune)