MASS PRODUCED SANCTUARY FROM THE MASS PRODUCED NIGHTMARE

After a half century, the bloody shelters and the cowering bunker cult are back. Not this time for nuclear fallout but for terrorism, 2010, and more nebulous apocalypse. Our pal Faux Smoke sends this story of the extent to which the unbridled venality of one section of the population will prey on the fearful stupidity of another. Cowboy up you timorous wannabe troglodytes. The planet can still be saved. Maybe.

"I would hate to give all this up and live in a bunker," said Kramer, glancing at sailboats out on the Pacific with his feet roosted on a glass coffee table. "I'm not trying to perpetuate doom and gloom, but you have to be prepared." Legions of Americans dug backyard fallout shelters to ride out atomic Armageddon during the Cold War. Now, with heightened concerns about terrorist attacks in the post- 9/11 world, a new generation is looking underground. "In some ways, our political climate is similar," said Jeffrey Knopf, associate professor of national security affairs at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, Calif. "There's a lot of free-floating anxiety out there about the dangers that terrorists will get nuclear weapons … and it multiplies." Cue the entrepreneurs. Come-ons for doomsday products, from survival classes to earthquake kits, abound on the Internet. Demand is fueled by natural disasters, terrorist activity and websites dedicated to exploring such topics as what will happen Dec. 21, 2012, the last day of the ancient Maya calendar and the date that, some people believe, the world will end. Larry Hall is recruiting rich clients for what he calls an underground survival condo — in Kansas. He envisions a building that goes 15 floors beneath the ground, with units selling for $1.75 million. "After the earthquakes and volcanic explosions, they're calling up, saying everything they said was going to start happening is happening," said Hall, an engineer who lives in Florida. "It's making people nervous." Michael Wagner is peddling a personal "survival pod" for people to take refuge from tidal waves. The Oregon man says he's been getting a lot more nibbles since the recent earthquakes in Haiti and Chile. (Click here for more)

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