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Subscribe to RSSDec. 21 has arrived and the Mayans' prediction of the end of the world has proven false. TODAY's Jenna Wolfe asks people who believed the prophecy how they plan to move forward, now that we're all still here.
This morning's report on TODAY recaps the no-show for the apocalypse, and the segment raises an interesting question: What about all those folks who were preparing for the sort of doomsday portrayed in the movie "2012"?
"Doomsday Preppers" is the top-rated show on the National Geographic Channel, and the show will stay on the air even though the Maya apocalypse was canceled. I'm betting that the preppers will keep prepping as well. In fact, the devastation caused by Superstorm Sandy demonstrates that it's wise to stock up on emergency gear and extra supplies even if you see absolutely no deeper meaning in a centuries-old calendar.
Most of the people concerned about the end times are not motivated by the Maya myth, but rather by biblical reference to the end times — or just a general sense that things are going to go south sometime soon. That came through clearly when Zap2it's Jacqueline Cutter chatted with some of the National Geographic Channel's preppers.
Braxton Southwick, a mechanic living in a Salt Lake City suburb, told Cutter that he was inspired by the 9/11 crisis.
"I don't want to see my kids go though horrible crap or gangs or starve," he says. "If you were told you were going to be in a concentration camp, you would say 'I am going to die.' But they fought to live. So I look at it that way. Human nature is to fight to live."
Do you know of anyone who's making preparations for a future doomsday? Are you a doomsday prepper yourself? Feel free to get your point across in the comment section below.
More about coping with disaster:
- PhotoBlog: Survivalists prepare for the end
- Ready.gov: How to build an emergency kit
- Are you prepared for the worst?
- Cosmic Log archive about 2012 and doomsday
Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with Cosmic Log as well as NBCNews.com's other stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.
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Seriously, they need to do a "Where are they now" episode for this, and all previous doomsday preppers. For example, what happened to Harold Camping, and all those people who sent him their money? I'd like to know.
That'd be easy for the heavens gate idiots
All I know is that tomorrow the malls will be packed with disappointed Mayas looking for last minute xmas gifts. ;)
Malls should have a Post Apocalypse Sale. lol
Harold Camping has gone into virtual hermitage, but last I'd heard he was not giving money back to the people he suckered into believing he was right. There was a family who was well-off, nice house, car, etc, two kids, who believed camping and sold all they had, packed their kids in the car, and went around the US telling everyone about Camping's May predictions.
Then May came and nothing happened.
Camping revised his predictions and said it would be October. October came and nothing happened.
Last I heard the family was homeless and on welfare, living on food stamps and temporary assistance, trying to get back the money they gave to Camping's church--bank accounts and sale of their house and material possessions.
It's a steep price for the children to have to pay for their parents' gullibility.
Earlier this year I read a post from someone who said he was going to send a note to the IRS with his blank tax forms and say that there was no need to pay taxes because the world was going to end December 21.
I betcha the IRS will be on his doorstep tomorrow morning saying 'Pay up!'
My company's CEO is a Seventh-Day Adventist. Their belief system taught that the Second Coming of Christ would begin the new Millenium:
The Second Coming of Jesus Christ marks the beginning of the Millenium, according to Adventist teaching. At the second coming, the righteous dead will be resurrected (the "first resurrection", Revelation 20:5), and both they and the righteous living will be taken to heaven to reign with Christ for 1000 years. The rest of mankind (the wicked, or unrighteous) will be killed at the second coming, leaving the earth devoid of human life.
During the millennium, Satan and his angels will occupy the desolate earth; this is how Adventists interpret the "binding" of Satan described in chapter 20 of the Book of Revelation. The millennium will also be the time when the wicked will be judged. Satan and his angels will be loosed at the end of the millennium when the wicked, or unrighteous are brought back to life to face judgement.
At the close of the Millennium, Adventists believe that Christ will again return to earth together with the righteous and the "Holy City" (the New Jerusalem, Revelation 21:10). He will then raise the wicked (the "second resurrection"), who will surround the New Jerusalem along with Satan. At this point Satan, his angels, and wicked humanity will suffer annihilation in the Lake of Fire ("the second death", Revelation 20:8). Adventists disagree with the traditional doctrine of hell as a place of conscious eternal punishment.
Finally, God will create a new earth where the redeemed will enjoy eternal life free of sin and suffering.
As the new millenium (2000) came and went without the second coming, I believe their teaching is plainly erroneous, but as my boss tried to explain to me, "Jesus delayed his second coming because not everyone in the world has heard the Gospel of Christ. When every person in the world has heard the Gospel of Christ and has made a personal choice to accept Jesus as their Savior (or not) that's when Jesus will come back. If we want the Second Coming to happen, we have to increase our efforts to get the Word of God out to every person on earth."
(Being an openly practicing pagan working in this company has been interesting, but I can say with absolute certainty that while the invitation has been made to attend various Christian churches, I have largely been left alone in proselytizing efforts.They respect me,I respect them, and apart from mandatory prayer before business meeting and company events, they ignore the pentagram I wear and the crystals on my desk are okay, the excuse being that said crystals serve as good paperweights when large architectural drawing need to be unrolled and held down.)
A la Julius Caesar's scorning of the warning from the prophet on the day of his assassination.... " Yes Caesar, the Ides of March have come, but they are not yet passed".
You can't call it a failed interpretation of the Mayan "doomsday" prophecy until the last place in the world has changed to 22 December or it's equivalent. In other words, you can't just declare victory early and hold that position to be legitimate. You have to see it through to the end of the proscribed time. AND NO CHEATING!!!!
What about them? They are bunkers.
I'm a prepper and as the name sates I am a white middle class women. I am well educated, worked at the same professional job for 35 years. I am Christian but I am not a radical. I am not preparing for Zombies. I look at it this way, I don't buy insurance hoping I get into a wreck or that my house blows away, the same applies to prepping, I personally hope I never have to use it. Its insurance to know that if something happens I can take care of my family which consists of 2 sets of parents, my husband, myself 3 sons, daughter in law and 2 grandkids. I have seen the effects of natural disasters and that the govt. cannot be there for everyone. If we are off the rolls of people who do not need assistance then it helps other people and I don't have to depend on anyone else. In the old days Grandma had a big pantry and all kinds of canned goods in the cellar. Not all preppers are crazy those are just the ones the media shows.
That, followed by your very next line,
and your choice in handle, leaves a lot to wonder about you and your decisions.. LOL
As a rule I don't grammar check people but claiming to be well educated generally means you can spell and form a correctly structured sentence. Next time you comment about your intelligence you may want to use the spell check feature.
"White middle class"? trollolololol
You guys just don't get it, all you do is attack, I was just making a statement that not all preppers are crackpots and you jump on my grammar? Really?? All I was telling you is that I am a normal person who works hard and has for a very long time, I go about my business. What a bunch of nasty bullies. When did being white middle class female become a crime, talk about beating the shi* of of someone. It's no wonder this world is like it is.
Somehow the fact that you had to point out you were white and middle class removes some of your credibility. Did those facts matter to your "prepping" or your argument for it?
That opening, plus the grammar left too much open not to point out. Not even going to mention the fact that no has asked you what in the world you are "prepping" for. The term itself sounds unstable.
I just went and read your page TFNJ and you really shouldn't be throwing rocks, talk about unstable. At least you know who I am when you read my name, maybe you should change yours to mental midget and that would be close to who you are but would still be lacking.
BTW go get a job then MAYBE someday you too can be middle class but you will have to stop being dependent on the government and that might be hard for you.
Wow! I never thought I would find myself in a position to stand up for somebody as obviously "right leaning" as WMC but here goes..
WMC is absolutely correct in her motivation and approach to prepping. In addition to being prepared for an emergency, my stores are regularly used by my children to supplement their pantries and help to feed my grandchildren. We are a middle class and mixed race family, not that it has anything to do with one's credibility (TFNJ is an idiot). I replenish the stores that we have as I can afford. We donate older unused stores to foodbanks before they get too close to expiration so they don't go to waste.
We have a system that provides for our own and donates to charity. We save money and store supplies for hard times. We also maintain the means to defend them.
Please tell me what is wrong with that.
White Middle Class,
You claim to be educated and then you make a statement like "BTW go get a job then MAYBE someday you too can be middle class but you will have to stop being dependent on the government and that might be hard for you."?
So in your "educated" mind anyone who disagrees with you is not working, and dependent on the government? You may be "educated" but you're obviously ignorant.
Well you say you are a Christian however there is only one person that knows when the world will end. GOD. Thats the answer no one else. Not sure what religion you are?
When I lived in Los Angeles it was an earthquake prepardness kit, when I moved the NV it was a snow emergency kit, and now that I live in the South it is a Tornado kit. Many emergency drills by local government has shown that help will not come within a few hours, and sometimes the estimate is into the weeks. Everyone should have a prepardness kit for 10-14 days and you can sleep better at night Its just common sense.
Maybe you guys need to get an obama preparedness kit. He and his ilk can be credited for the society we live in today, to think otherwise is foolishness. This world is turned upside down, what is right is wrong and what is wrong is right. Too much liberalism is a nasty habit. Just look around for all the proof you need.
I may not be into prepping as the folks on these shows are, but I have been preparing for a while to be ready for whatever may come, short of a nuclear blast, but that too, I am working on at this time. To see society as it is now, the collapse of the economy would be about the biggest threat IMO. So, for those who think that you will always be able to run down to the local grocer or gas station or building supply store to pick up whatever your heart desires, keep thinking that, you will be in for a surprise. I lived through one crisis and it wasn't all that peachy, even the ever present cell phones was of no use whatsoever. We were fortunate tho, after five days we finally got in touch with family in another state who helped out with supplies that got us through to when the water and power was restored. I know what the people are going through who rode hurricane sandy out, it's not pretty.
One word of caution, should the unexpected happen and your thirsty and hungry and you don't know what to do, and you think you will help yourself to your neighbors goods, just be careful, because they may be a prepper who is armed and will protect themselves, their family, their possessions with deadly force and rightfully so.
So go ahead and have a good laugh at those preparing for the unknown, if it makes you feel any better. Keep thinking nothing will ever happen. I just wouldn't want to be in your shoes if/when it does occur.
I prep not for the end of the world because there would be no point to that. If the world ends I won't be here to enjoy all my prepping anyway. I prep in case a crisis occurs that requires time for resources to get to our tiny community. I don't have a bunker with 10 years of food stores. Instead I have a closet with a well stocked first aid kit, emergency lighting, cooking supplies and about a weeks worth of food. If you combine that with what is generally in your house already you should be good to last at least two weeks without any assistance.
I agree with Tara...Your statement "white middle class" is full of bad grammar, punctuation, etc, etc...fail!
The world doesn't end today but it does need to be recalibrated.
As for as the movie 2012, all I could afford was a life vest!!!Help!
it doesn't hurt to have a few items for just in case,.The idea of closing ones self out from the world makes no sense,get to know your neighbor's,form a community contingency plan,figure the best way to utilize your resources or talents if need be.
I agree theree should be post end of world sales.......
Maybe not the End of the World, but during the late hours of Dec. 20th and continuing through Dec. 21st, the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) has recorded a series of CMEs flying over the solar limb. The source of the clouds appears to be multiple blast sites on the farside of the sun. This means Earth is not in the line of fire. The increasing pace of farside activity, however, suggests that the Earthside might not be far behind. Stay tuned for changes - http://www.spaceweather.com/
Remember; Today is not over yet!
Natural disasters happen. They do not discriminate. They simply happen. Regardless of your social situation, there are steps everyone can and should take to enhance their chances of survival in a disaster. Having a stash of first aid, food, water, hygiene supplies, medications, etc for 2-4 weeks is just plain smart. Rotate your supplies by consuming and replacing them over time so they dont get stale.
This isn't crazy, class, race or religion oreinted. It is simple common sense.
IT"S OFFICIAL: I SURVIVED DECEMBER 21, 2012!! (I created this design a few months ago knowing there will be those among us destined to survive!!! ;) Our SOULar System passed the Galactic Equator at around 10:36am UTC, as witnessed by the Hubble Telescope and the International Space Station marking a New Cosmic Cycle. Happy HOLY-DAYS (Holidays) everyone!!
link to design: bit.ly/ThjWeN
After reading the other posts, I guess I'm a prepper. I have a two week supply of food, water and back up energy in case of a natural or manmade disaster. Preping isn't new, it isn't crazy, for most of us. When I was eleven and twelve, I was a boy scout. The scout masters taught wilderness survival skills, self reliance, and to plan for the future. They told us to always 'Be Prepared'. Its just common sense to be prepared for the kinds of disasters that are likely, such as power outages, storms etc. It is not common sense to prepare for a Mayan Apocalypse, an alien invasion or the planet Nibiru...
I think preparation is something everyone should do. I just don't think that there will be a specific incidents that will come about. On the show they profile people preparing for specific events. It won't be specific events, but a slide into chaos.
what a bunch of clowns all those doomsday preppers are.especially on that dopey show!! they need to get a life,then start enjoying it instead of trying to scare the @!$%# out of everyone & spending all there money on something no one could possibly no about exept god!!
Preppers often are - shall we say, a bit "Overly Enthusiastic"?
Nevertheless, it is true that one should be prepared for such things as Natural Disasters, Power Outages, etc. - Whether or not you thing the Apocalypse is next Thursday, some preparedness is prudent.
It’s not only after a major disaster that people should "Pre"-pare… what are you doing to prepare for the next one?
The best source I have found for Survival Gear, and a place for some really unique Survival Tips (practical “I Shoulda Thunk That” tips that nobody ever wrote out) is here:
They have some really good Winter preparedness info from Severe Weather Kits and Winter Emergency packs to Winter Safety Training and Body warmers, too - plus a section on Hypothermia & Frostbite!
Best of all, they have some really well-built and thorough Auto and Roadside Emergency Kits - - As this site points out, as Americans, our cars are usually where we are - have a good Emergency kit in your car, and you'll have a great preparedness kit with you!
Wouldn't you like to be a Prepper too? Check out first aid product dot com!
Even the .GOV web site states that you should have supplies for at least 3 days and preferred for two weeks. If our own government things this can you imagine how bad a emergency responsecould be. It took Government/fema three days to even enter the city of New Orleans after it Had a hurricane. The delay? why they were arguing on who had jurisdiction of what efforts.So laugh and poke fun but forbade anything bad happen I would not want to be in your shoes when your child comes up and says "Daddy I am hungry we havent eaten in two days.
| ...I am a white middle class women. I am well educated...
A person who writes that she is a women(!!!), and that after writes she is(are?) well educated, tells everything about you.