What is this about urging people in the US to get 3 days' worth of supplies ready in case of terrorist attacks? (**editorial note: I originally thought these preparations were in case military action against Iraq. I have since read they were about a terrorist threat) My mom emailed me and mentioned something about there being no duct tape available in stores anymore, 'cause everybody has gone out and bought them for their windows. Could the Americans that are on American soil please inform me of what's going on...the present climate, the preparations, etc? I'm really curious.
I'm wondering if this is like Y2K or if people are really taking it seriously. Granted, in the drugged-out hippie town I was living in right before Y2K, there were probably more wackos taking that whole thing seriously than people that weren't. But I just thought they were paranoid, northern Californian freaks. This time, I'm actually sort of bugged out by the idea of everyday people stocking up for war throughout the States.
So is this just my mom freaking out about something that's not really taking place (very, very unlike her...hence my concern) or are people actually stocking up and taking precautions? How real to people feel this threat is? And how certain do people feel about the upcoming war, and how afraid are they of a possible attack on American territory (assuming that's what these preventative measures are for)?
As if three days of canned food, a flashlight, and some duct tape can save you from nuclear, chemical, or biological weapons anyway.
I am ass backwards today. I posted this, in error, under the grocery store post as well-
http://money.cnn.com/2003/02/12/pf/yourhome/disasterplan/
Hi Lee--
Our government over here is trying to keep Americans in a perpetual state of anxiety so that we'll go along with its war plans. So they raised the terror alert level to "code orange" and told everyone that duct tape and plastic sheets are good things to have around in the event of a bio/chem attack. Americans stormed the Home Depot, stripped the shelves bare of duct tape...then a few days later, our president told us that we shouldn't panic. How comforting.
So the process goes like this:
1. Raise terror alert status
2. Recommend that we buy duct tape, canned food, and plastic sheets
3. Watch us panic for a few days
4. Tell us not to panic
I keep waiting for some enterprising journalist to uncover the links between Bush and the CEOs of the duct tape companies.
This whole duct-tape-and-plastic-sheeting thing is driving me up the wall! Even experts agree that it will do nothing against nuclear, ballistic, or biological strikes, and will most likely do nothing against chemical strikes.
And then the news media, of course, can't NOT sensationalize (or sensationalise) the whole thing. Like one night, I see one of those news ads witha guy standing in front of a small neighborhood church, and says directly into the camera, "Why THIS CHURCH is a terrorist target, and what YOU NEED TO KNOW to protect yourself, at 10." What the...?
Yeah...so why the hell were they telling people to go out and get the duct tape? I'm just picturing a (God forbid) nuclear, biological, or chemical attack on the US and everybody duct taping their windows. Don't we all remembering laughing at the in-case-of-nuclear-strike videos of yesteryear? I remember one where the voiceover says something like, "Tina and Timmy are coming home from school. Uh-oh, are those sirens? They sure are. But luckily, Tina and Timmy know what to do" and then you literally see them run up to a wall and crouch. The CROUCH. Is THAT what's gonna save them? I'm with Jonathon...I think there's some duct tape CEO connection going on there....