Emergency Preparedness and fear

[TicklingDuo]

This past week, some gov't ninny suggested that folks purchase duct tape and plastic sheeting as part of an emergency kit in the event of a terrorist attack. This same ninny suggested that people wait until it's necessary to seal things up. I'd like to respond to this and the general attitude of fear that's taken over things for a moment.

First off, if there was any real concentration of bio, chemical or radiation hazard in the air, this wouldn't prove much help. It's not a 100% fix and would only act to slow some of the seepage of harmful air into the sealed area. Second, if you wait until an attack has occurred and the stuff is in the air, it's already too late to seal things up. It would get in before you're half finished.

We have a guy locally who has wrapped his entire home in plastic sheeting and duct tape. You may have seen him in the national news. Besides the fact that it looks like hell, it's silly. Is this guy going to stay inside and not open the doors or windows until the threat level is clear? If so, I hope he has a good supply of oxygen tanks to replace the stale air that will build continually. If not and he's not at home when an attack occurs, what's he going to do? *shrug*

There is also another rush on gas masks and haz-mat suits. I have to wonder if those buying them carry them with them at every moment and sleep in them at night. Do they even know how to wear them? Do they have the correct filters for the masks? Will it do them any good?

All of this is simply giving people a false sense of security. Let's face what most of the rest of the world already faces on a daily basis. We're going to die some day. That's right. You and I will one day die. It may be peacefully in our sleep. It may be from a prolonged illness. It may be from an act of violence, such as a terrorist attack. But, it IS going to happen. And we'll likely be surprised when the time comes.

The best thing we can do is live every day to its fullest and not get hung up about death. If we're so busy trying to avoid death, we can't truly live anyway. So, why even bother? Live your life. Express your love for those to whom it extends. Be yourself. But, DON'T sit in fear of what's to come. Every life lived well is a full one. Every love expressed fills that life with joy and fulfillment.

I spit in the face of fear and choose to live. How about you?

Ann

 

[luv2bt&tickled]

This is sad but true 🙁

Duct tape!!!!!!!! I mean c'mon!!!!! Thanks for posting this Ann, I know I saw on the news where Home Depot was being flooded with shoppers over reacting....buying out the duct tape and plastic

 

[luv2bt&tickled]

I am with you Alex, you know that is what they want us to do, to fear them! They want to have control over our lives and how we live them. To live in fear is no life, and I want let them subject me and my family to their scare tactics!

 

[maverick83]

Agreed

I believe my recent AIM profile update will make a sufficient reply here...

*Annoyed groan* So what's all this terrorism talk? Do any of you honestly believe duct tape is going to protect you? The poison gasses will never penetrate it? This is like when they told people to duck and cover in the event of a nuclear attack. Such a clear sign of the progress we've made since then...

 

[Shem the Penman]

Twenty years ago, an idiot in the Reagan administration (of which there were many, but that's a whole other issue) commented that people could survive a nuclear attack by digging a hole, putting a door over it, and piling dirt on top of the door -- "Everybody's going to make it if there are enough shovels to go around ... " Fast-forward to today, and we have an idiot in the Bush administration (of which, again, there are many) telling us that we can protect ourselves with duct tape and plastic. Plus ca change, plus c'est meme chose.

Isn't it interesting, incidentally, that the latest scare apparently came about as a result of bad information from a prisoner? Much like the recent scare about five men who supposedly slipped over the Canadian border, which turned out to have been entirely the invention of a guy picked up for making false passports. The administration can cry wolf only so many times before people stop taking them seriously, with potentially dangerous results.

 

[TickledToDeath]

Ok, this is coming from ex Military experience and knowledge.

Seran wrap and duct tape will be as effective as putting a bandaid on a third degree burn!
Even common knowledge of people who have NOT been in the military could figure that one out!

Damn I could go on and on here and make this post into a short story but I will just give a re-cap version.

Why the hell would anyone even want to survive a catostrophic event?
To do what? Hunt and scrounge through rubble,investations and dead bodies or even having to possibly kill or hurt others for a Can of Beans or loaf of bread or water?

The government are the only ones who are guaranteed saftey and survival, by themselves!
As far as having people go out and purchase plastic and duct tape is just a smoke screen of which the only purpose is to keep the "public" busy.

The government could have and should have ENDED all this BS a long time ago and chose NOT to.
They seem to have a vested interest on doing NOTHING.

Think about it.


TTD

 

[Deleted member 2452]

can we say asphixiation?

if you completely wrap your house in plastic wrap, and seal it with duct tape, you'll die when the air runs out! what lump thinks of this crap?
steve

 

[JoBelle]

Duuuuck and COVER~!
Duuuuck and COVER~!

🙄


Sitting under your desk with a book on your head will also save you in case of a nuclear blast! I remember seeing those little projector films in grade school. There is a big mushroom cloud over the top of the school, and all the kids make it out alive because there were following the rules. Talk about brainwashing!

The reality of death is a hard one to swallow. We all know it's goin' t'happen. For some of us, it's reared its ugly head right at us and we've punched square in the face. That fact makes times like these much more irritating. I've lived through too damn much to face my demise wrapped up like a piece of frozen fish!

Go to the White House's website and pull up the threat level info. You'll find a whole sordid mess about "not looking directly into the blast as this might blind you." Really? Mr. President? 🙄 I know this type of crap serves a purpose, as there are so many alarmists in the world that fond solace in having a guide. The problem is...it's an ineffective guide to survival.

The ONLY means of survival at this point is to eliminate the threat to the best of our ability. A necessary evil.

So, go on...buy your duct tape...buy your bottle water....buy your anitibiotics! And each time you do it....hand a little mroe control to the terrorists whose job it is to put fear into your life! That's what it's all about!

Joby

 

[tickled_a_lot]

My life hasn't changed at all -- with the exception of watching the news or checkign CNN's website a few more times each day. Still have to go to work, still have to go to school, still have to live life. Going to need to do those things whether something happens or not and wrapping my house in plastic isn't going to help any.

 

[Stephen]

The proper use of duct tape to make America and the world safer would be to put it over the mouths of Daddy Bush, his son Shrub, Richard "I'm a Dick" Cheney, Rumsfeld, Powell and Rice, and every bloated right-wing gasbag on radio and Fox News (an oxymoron). Duct and cover? Yeah, that'll work.