What possible good news could there ever be about nuclear destruction coming to America, whether it is dirty bombs, terrorist nukes or ICBMs from afar?
It could land on top of the Project for the New American Century...?
This is from: The Good News About Nuclear Destruction, by Shane Connor in WorldNetDaily.com.
In a word, they are all survivable for the vast majority of American families, if they know what to do beforehand and have made even the most modest preparations.
Tragically, though, most Americans today won't give much credence to this good news, much less seek out such vital life-saving instruction, as they have been jaded by our culture's pervasive myths of nuclear un-survivability.
Shane Connor is quite the piece of work. Well yes, I guess you can survive a nuclear blast. But Mr. Connor’s plans are as dangerous as being in the bomb blast itself. His ideas all hearken back to life in the 1950s. Remember those wonderful days when everything was easier and more innocent? When a man was a man, a woman knew her place was in the kitchen, and the only good commie was a dead commie?
This defeatist attitude was born as the disarmament movement ridiculed any alternatives to their agenda. The sound Civil Defense strategies of the '60s have been derided as being largely ineffective, or at worst a cruel joke. With the supposed end of the Cold War in the '80s, most Americans neither saw a need to prepare, nor believed that preparation would do any good. Today, with growing prospects of nuclear terrorism, we see emerging among the public either paralyzing fear or irrational denial. People can no longer envision effective preparations for surviving a nuclear attack.
That's because you would probably either, a) bake; b) broil; or c) roast.
"With the supposed end of the Cold War..." We often poo-poo such statements as the “supposed end of the Cold War.” But admittedly, we must admit the existence of the “New Cold War” that Connor knows of, and we ignore – the one between Oceana, Eastasia and Eurasia.
When I read this article my main thought is that this guy must have guns, ammo, canned goods, and pairs of underwear to last 20 years.
The National Planning Scenario No. 1, an originally confidential internal 2004 study by the Department of Homeland Security, demonstrated the above survival odds when they examined the effects of a terrorist nuke going off in Washington, D.C. They discovered that a 10 kiloton nuke, about two-thirds the size of the Hiroshima bomb, detonated at ground level, would result in about 15,000 immediate deaths and another 15,000 casualties from the initial blast, thermal flash and radiation release. As horrific as that is, the surprising revelation here is that over 99 percent of the residents in the D.C. area will have just witnessed and survived their first nuclear explosion. Clearly, the good news is most people will survive the initial blast.
"...Over 99 percent of the residents in the D.C. area will have just witnessed and survived their first nuclear explosion." I’m sure that upon hearing that the citizens of D.C. will be very relieved. And I bet they just can't wait for the second and third.
The study also determined that another 250,000 people would soon be at risk from lethal doses of radiation from the fallout drifting downwind toward them after the blast. These much larger casualty numbers are avoidable, and that's more good news, but only for those pre-trained by a Civil Defense program in what to do before it arrives.
Okay, 15,000 immediate deaths, plus another 15,000 casualties from the initial blast, and 250,000 at risk from lethal doses of radiation… carry the one... divide that by the number of 4 lane highways away from downwind... multiply that by the amount of panic squared… And that is the equation for complete ignorance that can only be born from millennialists and survivalists.
It was what he said later in the article that boggles my mind.
They need to know when promptly evacuating, doing so perpendicular to the coming downwind drift of the fallout would be their best strategy. They must also be taught how to effectively shelter in place for a brief time while the radioactive fallout loses 90 percent of it's lethal intensity in the first seven hours and 99 percent of it in two days. For those requiring sheltering from fallout, the majority would only need a couple or three days of hunkering down, not weeks on end.
This good news is within easy grasp of most people because an effective improvised family fallout shelter can be put together at home both cheaply and quickly, but only if the public is trained beforehand, as was begun in the '60s with our national Civil Defense program.
Now I’m confused. Do we move perpendicular downwind? Do I hunker down into my homemade fallout shelter? And which way is perpendicular to downwind? Do I just lick my finger and stick it in the air, and what if the roads are blocked to get away?
The federal government must launch a national mass media, business-supported and even school-based effort, superseding our most ambitious public awareness campaigns like for AIDS, drug abuse, drunk driving, seat belts, anti-smoking and smoke detectors.
AIDS, drug abuse, drunk driving, seat belts, anti-smoking, smoke detectors, nuclear blast and fallout - Which one of these is not like the others? Wait, did he actually say it should supersede AIDS, drug abuse, etc...?
Okay - In all seriousness now, Homeland Security does have some reasonable ideas, albeit slightly futile in terms of nuclear blast. Aside from the terrorism color codes, and the duct tape ridiculousness, Homeland Security went the right route on this issue. They push for people to put together "emergency kits" and plans in the case of an emergency - emphasizing three days of provisions and staying inside.
As a matter of fact, the Depeartment of Homeland Security and FEMA give the same information on what to do in case of a nuclear threat, and how to set up an emergency kit that Mr. Connor is using as a fear factor.
Why is Homeland Security's way of dealing with this situation better than what Mr. Connor is promoting? Because it prevents public panic. We saw how people were wildly irrational early on over the color codes, and how duct tape and plastic linings flew off the shelves in a panic over a possible biological attack. If Mr. Connor pushed for a stronger promotion of a general emergency preparation kit he might actually gain some ground. Instead, he is pushing a bogie-man mentality. Not to mention he is running a business that sells products and thrives off the fear of nuclear attack. But as a right-wing, wing-nut, nut-ball what can you expect?
Now, pass the goddamn duct tape!?