First, the government warns people to be on guard. Some people complain that this is not specific enough.
Next, the government creates a color system to indicate the level of threat. Some people complain that they are not being told what they should do about the current level.
Finally, the government offers some specific suggestions as to things people can do in the face of the heightened alert status. The same people now seem to be complaining that they don't like the suggestions.
OK, Trespassers, I admit I haven't read all the guidelines. So, are we supposed to coat our windows with plastic and tape now, or wait until we know there's a poison gas attack? I'd better get busy, if it's the former. There's three-day weekend coming up, so I have no excuse!
was it not in "The Graduate" where the line "Plastics, the future is Plastics" came from?
D'art - not just windows, the entire room is to be sheeted, if you're doing the entire house - better take Tuesday off also!
I will give it to you in the words of the mayor of NYC
"Sealing windows is preposterous." To which I would add asinine. In today's paper there a picture of an individual in Conn warping the lower level of his house in plastic sheeting and duct tape. That to me is paranoid behavior. All I can say is Bin Laden has succeeded beyond his wildest dreams.
the sky is falling, the sky is falling
Ah poor, maligned Chicken Little--prophets are never heeded in their own times and nations . . .
I feel the unPresident is in glee also!
On the other hand, covering the windows with plastic would save me the trouble of washing those windows. It's a chore I've neglected for years now. If I can contribute to national security at the same time, what the heck!
But what happens if Osama attacks in the summer? It might get uncomfortably warm inside!
trespassers will wrote:First, the government warns people to be on guard. Some people complain that this is not specific enough.
Next, the government creates a color system to indicate the level of threat. Some people complain that they are not being told what they should do about the current level.
Finally, the government offers some specific suggestions as to things people can do in the face of the heightened alert status. The same people now seem to be complaining that they don't like the suggestions.
That one made me stop and say "whoa". We should all think carefully about trespasser's post.
I think Bush and his entourage have never heard the story of the boy who cried wolf. He likely never got through Dick and Jane.
LW, he got to Dick and stopped.
BillW wrote:LW, he got to Dick and stopped.
I think you're thinking of another president. :wink:
Chat, (and Tres), I have NO problem with the standard disaster-readiness kit. Everyone should have it. Excellent. I DO have a problem with the duct tape and plastic sheeting part. That someone who would know (my earlier quote) would tell his own mother not to bother means something to me. Some letters to the editor in the NYT today (red highlights mine):
Quote:Re "Duck and Cover" (editorial, Feb. 12):
While the public must be prepared for possible terrorist attacks, the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Emergency Management Agency may be misguided in their methods. The color-coded terrorism alert system, suggestions to stock up on duct tape, food and water, and constant news reports of "likely attacks" only raise the level of anxiety.
While the element of surprise does contribute to the "trauma" of traumatic events, attempts to prepare for uncertainty, in the absence of definite threats and without the provision of logical information (for example, the scope or lethalness of "dirty" nuclear bombs and chemical and biological agents), only fuel the sense of helplessness, doom and the potential for panic should a terrorist attack take place.
Such mass communications without clear warnings or clarification of risks may paradoxically thwart our efforts to adapt and to cope with day-to-day life in this new era.
JOSEPH A. CANCELMO
New York, Feb. 12, 2003
To the Editor:
Re "Duck and Cover" (editorial, Feb. 12): The high hopes I had for Tom Ridge and the Department of Homeland Security have been eroded by his association with colored flags, plastic sheeting and duct tape when serious concerns remain un-addressed. Our communities might ask some specific questions, including these:
Are the nuclear power plants in major metropolitan areas safe and secure from all forms of attack? What security measures have been put into place to guard our bridges, tunnels, public water supplies and fiber-optic networks?
If something happens in any of our cities, under what circumstances and by what routes should we evacuate? What civil defense work should be assisted by able-bodied volunteers and how might they report for duty? Whose responsibility is it to prepare our communities and administer emergency procedures, how will the plans become known and how will these activities be financed?
The prospect of entering a new war before we have answered these and other basic questions and have distributed the recommendations is not only frightening, but also irresponsible.
D. C. MONTAGUE
Chattanooga, Tenn., Feb. 12, 2003
To the Editor:
Re "Duck and Cover" (editorial, Feb. 12): I was 12 years old in 1955 when the Soviet Union was our enemy in the cold war. The teacher would say the words "take cover" in mid-sentence and as a drill we would go under our desks and cover our faces.
In hindsight, how ridiculous was that, hiding under a desk during a nuclear attack? Now duct tape and plastic sheeting are our new "take cover." How ridiculous is this?
CELIA TAWIL
Brooklyn, Feb. 12, 2003
To the Editor:
Re "Duck and Cover" (editorial, Feb. 12): A serious unintended consequence of the fearfulness promoted by the Bush administration these days is to support would-be terrorists by encouraging them to believe that they are much more powerful, and hence much more significant, than they can ever be.
GEORGE ANASTAPLO
Chicago, Feb. 13, 2003
To the Editor:
Re "Responses to Warning on Terror Fall Between Fear and Fatalism" (news article, Feb. 13):
My own response was neither fear nor fatalism, but a mixture of repugnance, cynicism, anger and sadness.
The Bush administration effectively uses quasi information and ill-defined "threats" to promote and sustain widespread anxiety. I feel compassion for those who lose perspective, whether in the direction of duct-tape buying or despair. How could anyone be entirely immune?
In the larger picture, the Oval Office's fear campaign makes possible less personal but no less frightening irrationalities: acquiescence to curtailment of civil rights at home (the U.S.A. Patriot Act and coming extensions) and misguided bloodthirstiness abroad (Iraqi lives as sacrificial surrogates for Osama bin Laden).
I wonder: Why do so many of us so willingly and uncritically play along with the script? Where is the government I once did not wince to acknowledge as mine?
STEVE PROCTER
Brattleboro, Vt., Feb. 13, 2003
To the Editor:
Re "Duct Tape and Plastic Sheeting Can Offer Solace, if Not Real Security" (news article, Feb. 13):
If the preferred precaution against chemical or biological attack is duct tape and plastic sheeting, why isn't the National Guard distributing these goods on every corner? Instead, people are facing long lines and empty shelves.
And what should we expect to happen if we need a smallpox vaccination at a moment's notice?
We deserve better from our leaders.
SETH SALTZMAN
New York, Feb. 13, 2003
To the Editor:
Re "Duct Tape and Plastic Sheeting Can Offer Solace, if Not Real Security" (news article, Feb. 13):
It is just a matter of logic. If a room is sealed well enough to be airtight, then eventually the oxygen in the room will become depleted and the occupants will suffocate.
Or, if the room is not airtight, airborne germs or chemicals will be able to enter the room with the fresh air and the plastic sheeting and duct-tape work will have been futile.
It is to be sincerely hoped that the administration that promulgates the illogical suggestion of using this ineffective method is better at planning the logistics of the impending war.
BOB PATTERSON
Los Angeles, Feb. 13, 2003
sozobe - I am not the least bit swayed by letters to the editor. I will not be purchasing duct tape or plastic sheeting, but I do not begrudge the government giving people advice and options when they have asked for same.
I'm not "swayed" by Letters to the Editor, either. I find Randall J. Larsen, director of the Anser Institute for Homeland Security, for example, far more persuasive.
I do think there are some good points in those letters, though.
Again, blankets -- check. Water -- check. Supplies of non-perishable food -- check. Duct tape and plastic sheeting -- give me a break. You are apparently of the same mind. VIABLE advice and options are my preference.
Communities near chemical processing plants and oil refineries have adopted the "stay indoors, and seal off your room with plastic sheeting and tape" strategy in the event of a hazardous release of toxic chemicals These continguency plans, along with warning systems, have been in place for years. Municipal authorities have been trained to deal with air-born toxic releases, and the systems are normally tested at least once a year. Residents in those communities are urged to maintain plastic sheeting and tape, along with a complete "survival kit" to be used once a warning is issued.
The development and implementation of these plans often resulted from the public demand for some sort of protection from the accidental release of toxins from their neighborhood chemical processor. There have always been some who have no faith in plans designed to reduce casualties, but others (myself included) believe that its better to make preparations than to surrender themselves up entirely to fate.
Can someone explain to me how this is supposed to work? We hear about some sort of attack, then race around taping plastic on all the windows before the gas arrives? Scramble up ladders and so forth? Man, sounds like a recipe for all sorts of problems...
