How paranoid have you become?

[KillarneyRose]

Military installations are currently at "Thread Condition Charlie", which is the second highest security status. That means that a trip to the base commissary that normally takes me an hour takes double that now because I have to wait in line for about 45 minutes at the gate. Immediately inside the gate, I drive through a maze of cement blocades to the guard shack. Once I get there, two MPs (wearing M-16's strapped onto their backs and sidearms in a holster) approach my car, check for my Department of Defense sticker and I show them my military ID. They also do random checks of some vehicles where the driver turns off the car, steps out and the MPs go through to make sure nothing is being transported onto base that shouldn't be.

It's inconvenient, sure, but I understand why it's being done and I don't mind. It's just really sad that it has to be this way!

[lifesaver]

If I do get worried, THEY WIN. Anthrax isnt that bad. Actually, give it to me, I'll take the antibiotics, and I wont have to worry about it anymore. Strep throat can kill if left untreated. THE FLU kills in many populations (including the 19 million in 1917-1918) and for that there is NO cure. Remember the craze a few years back about the flesh eating bacteria (Strep A)? Then think about this 4 years ago there was an outbreak of EBOLA at a monkey research facility about 2 hours from here. They contained it, but how the hell did it get into the US?? Remember the incident at the research facility in Reston VA about 10 years ago? How many of us GC'ers live near there? Miami1839? Billy O? Point is, when compared to some of the other stuff, small pox, serin gas, Ebola...makes Anthrax look like a cold. Come on, 1 died outta how many exposed? Gimme some of that. Plus, if we all get on Cipro, guess how many cases of undetected cases of ghonnorhea and clammydia and syphyliss it'd eliminate from the dating scene. Come on, who hasnt been on an antibiotic in their lifetime. Not gonna kill ya. Remember before all this the TV reporters were talking about how many it'd kill before we figured out it was Anthrax? Well the answer turns out to be 1. Pretty good odds. And I'd place my money on the CDC ANY DAY. Call me foolish, but I am one of those rubes who still has faith in his governemnt. Ya wanna know why? 'Cause they all accountable to us. They screw this up, and they all going back to practicing law in their hillbilly home town.

Also I am sick of the alleged hoaxes. Since when the HELL did a crushed piece of wintergreen lifesavers cause a need to shut down an entire building. Did it EVER cross these peoples mind that yes, it just might be a piece of chalk on the steps. It is a school afterall. Yes, that is not anthrax, but non-dairy creamer goofball. ITS NEXT TO THE COFFEE MAKER! PS to the fools out there. Anthrax when ground is brown, not white. And lets look at the recieptients of the anthrax (confirmed); Tom Brokaw, ABC Studios, Senator Daschle, The Sun Newspaper, and yeah, youre next, Mr John Q. Public. To infect you through the mail, the terrorists would have to have a distrubution system rivaling that of Ed McMahon. Two things I dont expect, one to win the Publishers Clearing House Sweepstakes, and two to get a big ole box of anthrax. 'Cause the odds are about the same.

I am going to step off my soapbox. You have every right to feel threatened by the attacks. I am just choosing to go on living my life.

[StrokerTKE]

Well said. The whole point of terrorism is to make people scared. Yes, fear is gonna happen, but when it lingers, and people start thinking that it might happen to them, then they stop doing things they normally wouldn't think twice about. Essentially, it disrupts everyday life, which is EXACTLY what the terrorists hope will happen. What everyone is doing by being afraid/paranoid and changing their everyday routine is giving the terrorists what they want.

I refuse to give this to them. I would encourage everyone else to do the same, but I can't live anyone's life but my own.

[curiouss]

Not that much. Ooohh, the wonders of medication!

[Jeff OTMG]

Something for you paranoid people to consider from someone who knows:



Words of Wisdom From An Armor Master

Since the media has decided to scare everyone with predictions of
chemical, biological, or nuclear warfare on our turf I decided to write
a paper and keep things in their proper perspective. I am a retired
military weapons, munitions, and training expert..

Lesson number one: In the mid 1990s there were a series of nerve gas
attacks on crowded Japanese subway stations. Given perfect conditions
for an attack less than 10% of the people there were injured (the
injured were better in a few hours) and only one percent of the injured
died. 60 Minutes once had a fellow telling us that one drop of nerve
gas could kill a thousand people, well he didn't tell you the thousand
dead people per drop was theoretical. Drill Sergeants exaggerate how
terrible this stuff was to keep the recruits awake in class (I know this
because I was a Drill Sergeant too).

Forget everything you've ever seen on TV, in the movies, or read in a
novel about this stuff, it was all a lie (read this sentence again out
loud!). These weapons are about terror, if you remain calm, you will
probably not die..

This is far less scary than the media and their "Experts," make it
sound. Chemical weapons are categorized as Nerve, Blood, Blister, and
Incapacitating agents Contrary to the hype of reporters and politicians
they are not weapons of mass destruction they are "Area denial," and
terror weapons that don't destroy anything. When you leave the area you
almost always leave the risk. That's the difference; you can leave the
area and the risk; soldiers may have to stay put and sit through it and
that's why they need all that spiffy gear..

These are not gasses, they are vapors and/or air borne particles. The
agent must be delivered in sufficient quantity to kill/injure, and that
defines when/how it's used. Every day we have a morning and evening
inversion where "stuff," suspended in the air gets pushed down. This
inversion is why allergies (pollen) and air pollution are worst at these
times of the day. So, a chemical attack will have it's best effect an
hour of so either side of sunrise/sunset. Also, being vapors and
airborne particles they are heavier than air so they will seek low
places like ditches, basements and underground garages. This stuff won't
work when it's freezing, it doesn't last when it's hot, and wind spreads
it too thin too fast. They've got to get this stuff on you, or, get you
to inhale it for it to work. They also have to get the concentration of
chemicals high enough to kill or wound you. Too little and it's nothing,
too much and it's wasted.

What I hope you've gathered by this point is that a chemical weapons
attack that kills a lot of people is incredibly hard to do with military
grade agents and equipment so you can imagine how hard it will be for
terrorists. The more you know about this stuff the more you realize how
hard it is to use..

We'll start by talking about nerve agents. You have these in your
house, plain old bug killer (like Raid) is nerve agent. All nerve
agents work the same way; they are cholinesterase inhibitors that mess
up the signals your nervous system uses to make your body function. It
can harm you if you get it on your skin but it works best if they can
get you to inhale it. If you don't die in the first minute and you can
leave the area you're probably gonna live. The military's antidote for
all nerve agents is atropine and pralidoxime chloride. Neither one of
these does anything to cure the nerve agent, they send your body into
overdrive to keep you alive for five minutes, after that the agent is
used up. Your best protection is fresh air and staying calm. Listed
below are the symptoms for nerve agent poisoning..

Sudden headache, Dimness of vision (someone you're looking at will
have pinpointed pupils), Runny nose, Excessive saliva or drooling,
Difficulty breathing, Tightness in chest, Nausea, Stomach cramps,
Twitching of exposed skin where a liquid just got on you..

If you are in public and you start experiencing these symptoms, first
ask yourself, did anything out of the ordinary just happen, a loud pop,
did someone spray something on the crowd?

Are other people getting sick too? Is there an odor of new mown hay,
green corn, something fruity, or camphor where it shouldn't be?

If the answer is yes, then calmly (if you panic you breathe faster and
inhale more air/poison) leave the area and head up wind, or, outside.
Fresh air is the best "right now antidote."

If you have a blob of liquid that looks like molasses or Karo syrup on
you; blot it or scrape it off and away from yourself with anything
disposable. This stuff works based on your body weight, what a crop
duster uses to kill bugs won't hurt you unless you stand there and
breathe it in real deep, then lick the residue off the ground for
while. Remember they have to do all the work, they have to get the
concentration up and keep it up for several minutes while all you have
to do is quit getting it on you/quit breathing it by putting space
between you and the attack. Blood agents are cyanide or arsine which
effect your blood's ability to provide oxygen to your tissue..

The scenario for attack would be the same as nerve agent. Look for a
pop or someone splashing/spraying something and folks around there
getting woozy/falling down. The telltale smells are bitter almonds or
garlic where it shouldn't be. The symptoms are blue lips, blue under
the fingernails rapid breathing. The military's antidote is amyl
nitride and just like nerve agent antidote it just keeps your body
working for five minutes till the toxins are used up. Fresh air is the
your best individual chance..

Blister agents (distilled mustard) are so nasty that nobody wants to
even handle it let alone use it. It's almost impossible to handle
safely and may have delayed effect of up to 12 hours. The attack
scenario is also limited to the things you'd see from other chemicals.
If you do get large, painful blisters for no apparent reason, don't pop
them, if you must, don't let the liquid from the blister get on any
other area, the stuff just keeps on spreading. It's just as likely to
harm the user as the target. Soap, water, sunshine, and fresh air are
this stuff's enemy..

Bottom line on chemical weapons (it's the same if they use industrial
chemical spills); they are intended to make you panic, to terrorize you,
to heard you like sheep to the wolves. If there is an attack, leave the
area and go upwind, or to the sides of the wind stream. They have to get
the stuff to you, and on you. You're more likely to be hurt by a drunk
driver on any given day than be hurt by one of these attacks. Your odds
get better if you leave the area. Soap, water, time, and fresh air
really deal this stuff a knock-out-punch. Don't let fear of an isolated
attack rule your life. The odds are really on your side..

Nuclear bombs. These are the only weapons of mass destruction on
earth. The effects of a nuclear bomb are heat, blast, EMP, and
radiation. If you see a bright flash of light like the sun, where the
sun isn't, fall to the ground! The heat will be over a second. Then
there will be two blast waves, one out going, and one on it's way back.
Don't stand up to see what happened after the first wave; anything
that's going to happen will have happened in two full minutes..

These will be low yield devices and will not level whole cities. If
you live through the heat, blast, and initial burst of radiation, you'll
probably live for a very very long time. Radiation will not create
fifty foot tall women, or giant ants and grass hoppers the size of
tanks. These will be at the most 1 kiloton bombs; that's the equivalent
of 1,000 tons of TNT. Here's the real deal, flying debris and radiation
will kill a lot of exposed (not all)! people within a half mile of the
blast. Under perfect conditions this is about a half mile circle of
death and destruction, but, when it's done it's done. EMP stands for
Electro Magnetic Pulse and it will fry every electronic device for a
good distance, it's impossible to say what and how far but probably not
over a couple of miles from ground zero is a good guess. Cars, cell
phones, computers, ATMs, you name it, all will be out of order. There
are lots of kinds of radiation, you only need to worry about three, the
others you have lived with for years. You need to worry about "Ionizing
radiation," these are little sub atomic particles that go whizzing along
at the speed of light. They hit individual cells in your body, kill the
nucleus and keep on going..

That's how you get radiation poisoning, you have so many dead cells in
your body that the decaying cells poison you. It's the same as people
getting radiation treatments for cancer, only a bigger area gets
radiated. The good news is you don't have to just sit there and take
it, and there's lots you can do rather than panic. First; your skin
will stop alpha particles, a page of a news paper or your clothing will
stop beta particles, you just gotta try and avoid inhaling dust that's
contaminated with atoms that are emitting these things and you'll be
generally safe from them. Gamma rays are particles that travel like
rays (quantum physics makes my brain hurt) and they create the same
damage as alpha and beta particles only they keep going and kill lots of
cells as they go all the way through your body. It takes a lot to stop
these things, lots of dense material, on the other hand it takes a lot
of this to kill you. Your defense is as always to not panic. Basic
hygiene and normal preparation are your friends..

All canned or frozen food is safe to eat. The radiation poisoning
will not effect plants so fruits and vegetables are OK if there's no
dust on em (rinse em off if there is). If you don't have running water
and you need to collect rain water or use water from wherever, just let
it sit for thirty minutes and skim off the water gently from the top.
The dust with the bad stuff in it will settle and the remaining water
can be used for the toilet which will still work if you have a bucket of
water to pour in the tank. Finally there's biological warfare. There's
not much to cover here. Basic personal hygiene and sanitation will take
you further than a million doctors. Wash your hands often, don't share
drinks, food, sloppy kisses, etc., ... with strangers. Keep your garbage
can with a tight lid on it, don't have standing water (like old buckets,
ditches, or kiddy pools) laying around to allow mosquitoes breeding
room. This stuff is carried by vectors, that is bugs, rodents, and
contaminated material. If biological warfare is as easy as the TV makes
it sound, why has Saddam Hussein spent twenty years, millions, and
millions of dollars trying to get it right? If you're clean of person
and home you eat well and are active you're gonna live..

Overall preparation for any terrorist attack is the same as you'd take
for a big storm. If you want a gas mask, fine, go get one. I know this
stuff and I'm not getting one and I told my Mom not to bother with one
either (how's that for confidence). We have a week's worth of cash,
several days worth of canned goods and plenty of soap and water. We
don't leave stuff out to attract bugs or rodents so we don't have them..

These people can't conceive a nation this big with this much
resources..

These weapons are made to cause panic, terror, and to demoralize. If
we don't run around like sheep they won't use this stuff after they find
out it's no fun. The government is going nuts over this stuff because
they have to protect every inch of America. You've only gotta protect
yourself, and by doing that, you help the country..

Finally, there are millions of caveats to everything I wrote here and
you can think up specific scenarios where my advice isn't the best..
This letter is supposed to help the greatest number of people under
the greatest number of situations. If you don't like my work, don't nit
pick, just sit down and explain chemical, nuclear, and biological
warfare in a document around three pages long yourself. This is how we
the people of the United States can rob these people of their most
desired goal, your terror..

PLANETNEWS broadcast...
SFC Red Thomas (Ret)
Armor Master Gunner
Mesa, AZ

Reproduction and distribution is authorized and encouraged..

Just give me credit for my work..

[moe.ron]

I'm more concerned about being mugged then being poisoned.

[mrblonde]

Ive gotten a chain email which Im sure most of youve gotten by now. It was about a woman and her Middle Eastern boyfriend who left in the middle of the night, warning her not to get on any commercial airplanes on September 11, or to go to any malls on Halloween. Its probably BS, but I dont see the harm in just not going to the mall on one day. Am I being paranoid?

[DeltAlum]

I'm not paranoid. I just worry about all of those idiots who are following me around.

But seriously...

I can't be bothered with being worried about everything. I have a much greater chance, statistically, of being run over by a dump truck tomorrow than being on a hyjacked airliner or contracting Anthrax from a piece of postage due junk mail.

In fact, I was supposed to fly on the afternoon of September 11 -- and would have if the flight hadn't been cancelled. I was supposed to fly to Chicago and New York the following two weeks -- but my meetings were cancelled by people on the other end. I flew last week. I'm flying tomorrow. I'm flying next week. And I'm flying the week after.

I'll be careful. I'll be more aware of my surroundings, but I have no intention of being scared out of things I want or need to do.

Sorry Mr. bin Laden, your act just doesn't bother me. I don't have time for it.