Critics unglued by government's advice to buy duct tape

Everyone knows that for the last week, American's have been urged to stock up on emergency supplies, such as bottled water, batteries and food. And everyone knows that in addition to the emergency kit supplies, the government has been suggesting that we buy plastic and duct tape to seal our homes in the case of a chemical attack. Mind you, I've been one of the first to laugh about everyone rushing out to buy duct tape and plastic, mostly because I live in the middle of Iowa and the idea that there would be an attack here in the middle of the country seems a little far fetched to me. None the less, there have been higher than usual sales of duct tape and plastic in and around Cedar Rapids and Iowa City. At the same time, I've also wondered whether or not said plastic would really cut the mustard in the face of a serious chemical or radiological attack, and the answer is probably not.

However, despite my own criticisms, I think it's ok that the government is encouraging us to at least do this much preparation. In the end there is probably very little that we can do to protect ourselves from the rumored attacks, so why not do what we can that will make us feel at least a little better about the situation. The amount of preparations people have to do to feel comfortable are going to be different for everyone. For instance, Jeff and I haven't done anything. However, if we lived in a bigger city we probably would have at least bought batteries for the radio and a little extra food. (even though our friends think our fridge is ready for a nuclear winter every day of the week.) On the other hand, a coworker of mine received a phone call this morning from her ex-husband in Salt Lake City. He wanted to make sure they had spoken and were on civil terms should the world end this weekend.

What's irritating me is that there are so many experts running to the media discounting the governments advice because they believe it's not going to be effective. As Harold Schaitberger, general president of the International Association of Fire Fighters said : "I mean, duct tape and plastic? Where's the good air coming from? How's it going to be recirculated? Beyond the fact that we already know, for nerve gas and other elements, the plastic is totally ineffective. I think it was done just to give people a sense of `Everything will be OK,' and to give them a sense of confidence." Seriously folks, We all know that the whole buying plastic thing really isn't going to save your life in a major attack. But isn't peace of mind worth something?

Other than buying plastic and duct tape there really isn't anything that most American's can do to protect themselves, so what's the issue with the government at least encouraging an action that could make you feel a little more comfortable, maybe allow you to sleep a little better at night.

North Korea

The Onion, the satirical newspaper, published the following headline in their latest issue:

"N. Korea Wondering What It Has To Do To Attract U.S. Military Attention."

The Onion is not known for the journalistic accuracy, however this headline seems to ring frighteningly true. Given that yesterday CIA director George Tenet and Defense Intelligence Agency Director Vice Adm. Lowell Jacoby reported to Congress that a still-untested North Korean missile could carry a small nuclear warhead to the West Coast. In addition to that report, The United Nations' nuclear watchdog agency officially found North Korea in breach of its nonproliferation commitments on Wednesday.

To calm fears the Chicago Tribune included these statements in their report on the directors' testimony:

"Some experts on nuclear proliferation said the missiles are rudimentary and highly inaccurate, adding that the officials' statements Wednesday make their capability appear far greater than it may actually be. The intelligence officials "were putting out the worst-case scenario," said Jon Wolfsthal, a proliferation expert at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace in Washington. He said the missiles were so inaccurate that "if they aimed for the United States, they might hit South America."

Either way. I have a hard time finding comfort with the fact that even if they launch a strike against us they have a large chance of hitting South America instead. They still would have launched a nuclear warhead at the United States. That's more than a little unsettling to me. I also have to wonder, if North Korea was crazy enough to send their Nuclear Warheads in our direction, what would the United States do? The knee jerk response is that we'd bomb them back to the stone age. While we might want that to be the response, it probably won't be. But what will? It's an interesting question to ponder.

Enough Already!

A certain someone filed a complaint last night about my lack of blogging this week. To which I responded "bite me" and she was forced to recind from her attack.

Seriously, I have been under a load of stress this week at work because of an impending deadline, that I am now well past and still not close to meeting. Thus my blog has fallen off my radar almost completely. However, I have a couple things on my mind this morning that I hope to get up here at somepoint today.

So, friends and foes, stay tuned...hopefully by lunchtime I'll be able to compose a few sentences about something other than the piles of medical codes that are all over my desk.

My Newest Brain Child

I have an idea. (well, I actually have lots of ideas, but I have this one that is on my mind a lot lately...so bear with me) This specific idea is to start a local charity. I am always looking for ways to help other people and ways to serve my community, and this idea I have for a charity is one that I believe could not only help people but it could also, in a small way, make a difference in a few people's lives.

My idea for a charity is to create an organization that collects the gently used prom and bridesmaid dresses that are hanging in every woman's closet and makes them available to underprivileged girls whose families cannot afford to buy them a new dress to wear to their high school prom.

My idea is not an original one by any means, there are organizations like this all over the country (for example the one in Chicago is The Glass Slipper Project, on the east coast a lot of them are called Fairy Godmothers, in Florida there's Sequin Dreams and on the west coast there's Cinderella's Closet...to name a few), but as far as I can tell, there isn't an organization like this in Iowa. (If anyone knows of one...please tell me!)

Obviously this is still an idea in my head and I haven't ironed out all of the details. The essential idea is that women will donate their used dresses/formalwear and a girl would be given a prom dress, shoes, accessories and makeup (sample sizes) for free from the donated items. I haven't decided on the distribution specifics, there are two ways the items can be distributed. The first option is to help girls on a case by case basis (school guidance counselors and social workers would call and request the service for a specific student). The other popular distribution process is to set up a boutique and the girls can come "shop" for their dress on specific days. Which ever way we do it, I will certainly limit the participants to underprivileged high school junior and senior girl.(Maybe eventually we can work in a program for guys...that'll come down the road.)

The inital setup of this project is going to take a lot of time and work, but I am more than willing to invest myself in it. However, since it's February, I think this year's program will be limited in size, with the hopes that by next prom season I can have this thing off the ground and flying. I am currently researching how to organize the charity such that it's a "recognized charity" for tax purposes (I know nothing about doing this, I think it has something to do with becoming a 501(c) organization, but I need to do more research...if anyone knows about this and can save me the research time please speak up!).

I blog about this today because I need your help! A big key in the set up of this organization will be naming it, and thus I'm seeking the input of my fellow bloggers. Any ideas? Obviously the names I've mentioned above are taken, but they are all very catchy and appropriate, so basically I'm looking for something along the same lines as those other names without directly stealing a name from another organization. Please use my comment button to leave your name ideas or thoughts on the project. (Don't hesitate to tell me if this is a crazy idea, sometimes I need to hear that before I go head first into something!) Thanks for your help!

Busy Day

Today, being a Monday in the middle of flu season, is going to be a crazy day for me so my blogging will be slow until later this afternoon or this evening. I did want to share this link with you that I found via Vodka Pundit. This story is one that should be shared with everyone you know. Stories like this one are the reason why I get teary eyed when I hear patriotic songs. This is one amazing country we live in.