Latest news with #Huddleston
Business Insider
2 days ago
- Politics
- Business Insider
Americans are looking to stock up on gas masks, emergency meal kits, and power banks as anxiety builds
When the going gets tough, Americans go shopping. Following the US bombing of Iran last weekend, Google search interest for topics including "Survival kit" and "Nuclear fallout" spiked in the US to levels not seen since the early days of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February 2022, data through Thursday shows. On Amazon, data from marketplace analytics company Jungle Scout shows searches and sales for products like gas masks, first aid kits, and solar-powered flashlights have ticked up notably in the past 30 days. The data also show increased searches for "riot gear" and "hurricane preparedness kit" during the same period, which suggests US shoppers have a lot more on their minds than nuclear war alone. The product with the largest increase in search interest in the Jungle Scout data was a Uvex Bionic Face Shield that went viral earlier this month in connection with the anti-ICE protests in Los Angeles. The search terms offer a lens into customer concerns this summer, though actual demand is affected by multiple factors, said Jungle Scout's chief operating officer Tom Werle. While the prospect of World War III may have loomed large last weekend, it seems Americans might also be anxious about a host of domestic concerns: a trade war possibly interfering with essential supplies; civil unrest surrounding arrests and deportations; or increasingly hot and violent wildfires, tornadoes, and hurricanes. The military uses the acronym OBE, or "overcome by events," when circumstances spiral out of control and beyond the scope of a mission's plan and preparation. Chad Huddleston, an anthropology professor at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville who has studied prepper communities for more than a decade, said that may describe how Americans are feeling about recent events. "People are looking in their immediate area to see what's going on with that to determine, 'Well, what should I be worried about?'" he said. Huddleston started following preppers back in 2008 when the phenomenon was becoming more mainstream. He found that the events that motivated people to start prepping then weren't the 9/11 attacks or subsequent wars in the Middle East — it was something closer to home. "They all said Katrina," he said. "When Katrina happened, they could watch on TV all these people suffering." "They're like, 'Oh no, that could happen here,'" he added. Among the TikTokers posting about a possible World War III this week, one user shared a video showing how to build a survival kit for less than $20 at Dollar Tree. Her items included a headlamp, some paracord, batteries, a can of beans, body wash, and a bottle of water. A bit of retail therapy in the form of off-the-shelf solutions can offer people the illusion of preparedness. "I think for a lot of people — and people that I probably would not call preppers — it is a first and only step," Huddleston said. "They go and buy the Costco food bucket, and then a bag off Amazon, and they throw it in the closet, like, 'Cool, we're done.'" He said true preppers are more focused on skills and planning than on gear: "The more you know, the less you need." For some (who can afford it), that sense of comfort has taken the form of investing in safe rooms, underground bunkers, or survival condos advertised as able to withstand threats ranging from weather to war. Two such companies told BI they typically receive a spike in new customer interest following incidents like the Iran bombing, but calls to several other builders did not indicate a significant uptick in inquiries in the past week. Of course, a five- or six-figure underground shelter is likely less of an impulse buy than a ready-made bug-out bag from Amazon. "I think that more immediate stuff is much more prominent in people's minds and maybe in their algorithms," Huddleston said. If doomsday comes to the US, it's BYOB: Bring Your Own Bomb Shelter America's retail-first approach to disaster prep also stands in stark contrast to other nations' civil defense strategies. In some countries like Switzerland or Finland (which have seen invasions and ground wars on their doorsteps in the past 100 years), there is a more communitarian attitude toward preparedness. When warning signals go off, entire towns can seek cover in well-provisioned, blast-proof shelters under soccer fields and parking garages nearby. "America doesn't know what a real bomb shelter looks like," said Paul Seyfried, a disaster preparedness consultant in Utah. Seyfried has designed and built bunkers for several clients in the US based on principles from nuclear science and European practice. He said he's skeptical of the efficacy of many of the more heavily promoted doomsday survival concepts on the market today. Unlike other nations that invest heavily in hardened civil defense infrastructure and detailed emergency planning, Seyfried said the US does far less than it did during the height of the Cold War. He said the main messaging now is "stay inside and listen to your radio." In the US, individuals typically bear responsibility for building, supplying, and maintaining their own families' disaster response options. Americans also generally have high levels of mistrust toward the government. Public trust in the federal government remains at historic lows, according to Pew Research. A 2024 FEMA survey found that about half of Americans expect any level of government to provide help in the event of a disaster or emergency, though health and financial worries far outranked disaster concerns in the survey. "It follows our general American ideal of individualism and bootstrap mentality," Huddleston said. "I filled my bunker with Kirkland stuff. If you didn't do that, then too bad. That's your fault." That could speak to the ultimate driving force behind any surge in sales of disaster supplies: if people see that their friends and neighbors have a stockpile of survival supplies, they may want their own as well.
Bloomberg
20-06-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Texas Oil Dynasty Targets Payout With $8 Billion Mitsubishi Deal
By and Pui Gwen Yeung Save Albert and Gordon Huddleston are on the cusp of cementing their place in a gilded lineage of Texas oil tycoons who amassed fortunes drilling across the world. The father and son — part of the H.L. Hunt family — are in advanced talks to sell the assets of Aethon Energy Management to Mitsubishi Corp. for nearly $8 billion, people familiar with the matter say.
Yahoo
29-05-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Boston Police ID suspect in connection with hospital lobby stabbing
The Boston Police Department has identified the suspect arrested in connection with the stabbing of a person in Massachusetts General Hospital's lobby. John Huddleston, 56, of Boston, was arrested on Thursday and is expected to be arraigned in Boston Municipal Court on the charges of mayhem and assault and battery with a dangerous weapon, according to a Boston Police Department spokesperson. At about 8:32 a.m., officers responded to a radio call for a person with a knife, the spokesperson said. While traveling to the hospital, the call was upgraded to a report of a stabbing. The officers were also provided with a description of the suspect. When they arrived, the police located and apprehended the suspect, who was identified as Huddleston. Additional members of the department entered the hospital and found an adult male victim receiving treatment for non-life-threatening stab wounds. A crime scene was set up in the vestibule of the hospital's lobby, which is where the stabbing took place, the spokesperson told MassLive. The victim's name was not given. In a statement provided to MassLive, the hospital confirmed that the victim was treated and released. 'The hospital is safe, open, and operating normally,' the statement reads. 'We are grateful to our staff and Boston Police for their quick response in bringing this incident to a close.' Stabbing takes place in Mass. General Hospital lobby in Boston Giggity, giggity: 'Family Guy'-themed pop-up coming to Boston this summer New outdoor restaurant brings modern Asian creations, cocktails to Somerville Boston woman sentenced for identity theft in drug trafficking scheme Boston shooting suspect didn't get a court-appointed attorney — and you might not either Read the original article on MassLive.
Daily Mirror
15-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mirror
BBC Question Time audience in hysterics as Fiona Bruce skewers Tory MP
The audience on BBC Question Time erupted in laughter as Fiona Bruce shot down a Tory MP during a discussion about immigration. Nigel Huddleston's claims the Labour Party had failed to build on the Conservative government's work on immigration were slammed by the presenter of the programme. Ms Bruce pointed out the Tories "didn't actually get anyone to Rwanda," in a nod to the long-running policy which cost the British taxpayer £700million and was hit by multiple snags. The audience in Aldershot, Hampshire, applauded and laughed as Ms Bruce interrupted Mr Huddleston to state: "Just one minute, just one minute... Nigel, even when you were in government, you didn't actually get anyone to Rwanda. I think it's worth pointing that out." Mr Huddleston, co-chairman of the Conservative Party, tried to continue his bluster but Ms Bruce allowed other panelists to chip in, including author and broadcaster Sonia Sodha. She also took aim at Mr Huddleston, blaming the state of immigration on his party after their long tenure. Keir Starmer outlined the country's immigration stance this week, a delivery which has divided opinion. Speaking at a major press conference in Albania on Thursday, he said the UK is in talks to send failed asylum seekers to "return hubs" in other countries. It led to the exchange on Question Time, which Ms Bruce had to end as tensions became heated. Mr Huddleston, MP for Droitwich and Evesham, had said: "The reality is that Labour had virtually no plans for anything. They spent 14 years in opposition and came into power and didn't have a clue what they wanted to do, whether it was on immigration, or the economy or a whole host of other things. "I think it a bit reach for Peter (Peter Kyle, Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, also on the panel) to talk about empathy for care homes and everything else... In terms of what has changed over the last few weeks, I think what has changed for the Labour Party is quite simple - they lost the Runcorn by-election. That's the reason for the change in policy. "They failed to support all (our) measures... The first thing they did when they came into government was scrap the disincentive, scrap any deterrent (for migrants)." It was at this point when Ms Bruce, presenter of the show since 2019, raised her hands - and voice - to silence the politician and remind him of the failed Rwanda scheme, which Mr Starmer quickly axed after taking power last year. It is thought some £700million of taxpayers' money went into the Tories' plan, including £290million in payments to Rwanda, as well as the costs of chartering flights that never left the ground. It also cost the taxpayer to detain hundreds of people and then release them, and to pay for more than 1,000 civil servants to work on the scheme.
Sky News
08-04-2025
- Sky News
Graduated driving licences for young people 'could have saved my daughter', says bereaved mother
A mother whose daughter was killed in a car crash has said tougher laws for new drivers could have saved the teenager's life. Speaking on The UK Tonight With Sarah-Jane Mee, Sharon Huddleston called on the government to bring in new laws to "help save young lives [and] give teenagers a future". Caitlin Huddleston, 18, was a passenger in a vehicle which collided with a van in July 2017. The crash killed both Caitlin and the driver, her friend Skye Mitchell, also 18. A backseat passenger and the van driver were left with severe injuries. Skye had passed her test just four months before the crash, which occurred after she "entered a bend slightly too fast for her experience and lost control", Ms Huddleston said. The car then spun on to the opposite carriageway and in front of a van travelling in the opposite direction. Ms Huddleston later "found out about a law called a graduated driving licence which could have saved my daughter's life". In 2023, around a fifth of people killed or seriously injured in Great Britain in car collisions involved a young driver. Graduated Driving Licences (GDLs) have been introduced in a number of other countries including Canada, where it takes at least 20 months for a new driver to gain a full driving licence by earning in stages. Young drivers working towards their full licence face extra rules such as not being allowed on the roads between midnight and 5am, and a limit on the number of under 19-year-old passengers. 2:18 As reported by Sky News' Dan Whitehead, evidence shows deaths among 16 to 19-year-old drivers in Canada have fallen by 83%. But the government has previously stated it has no plans to introduce GDLs, saying they could "unfairly" penalise young drivers. "Our children have been penalised from living their lives," Ms Huddleston said in response. "We want this implemented to help save young lives, to give teenagers a future. Our children's futures were taken from them. "These children who are killed on the roads, they're being penalised from living their lives, we shouldn't have to bury our children," she continued. Ms Huddleston was joined on The UK Tonight by Dr Ian Greenwood, whose daughter Alice died at the age of 12 after a speeding, young driver crashed into a car she was travelling in with her mother and sister. Dr Greenwood said: "They were speeding, they were distracted, it's a rural road. "It's almost like doing a bingo for the risk factors of a graduated driving licence - other than alcohol, they were all present in that crash." The driver of the car and his passenger also died, he said. 1:57 A Department for Transport spokesperson told Sky News: "Every death on our roads is a tragedy and our thoughts remain with the families of everyone who has lost a loved one in this way. "Whilst we are not considering Graduated Driving Licences, we absolutely recognise that young people are disproportionately victims of tragic incidents on our roads, and we are exploring options to tackle the root causes of this without unfairly penalising young drivers."
