This is to ease your worries re: various attacks on your home turf. If you're not scared, then don't read it! - D
> LONG ARTICLE FOLLOWS-WORTH READING: > > 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 its 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 > ride > 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 Kayo 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 a 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 affect your blood's ability to > provide oxygen to your tissues... > 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 mylnitride, and > just like nerve agent antidote it just keeps your body working for five > minutes till the toxins are used up. Fresh air is 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 a 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 herd 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 (electro magnetic pulse), > 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 in a > second. Then there will be two blast waves, one outgoing, 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 subatomic 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 newspaper or your clothing will stop beta particles. You just > gotta try to 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 affect plants so fruits and vegetables are OK if there's no dust on them > (rinse them 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 to the bottom, and the remaining water can be > used for the toilet, which will still work if you have a bucket of water to > pour into 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)lying around to allow mosquitoes breeding room. This > stuff is carried by vectors, that means bugs, rodents, and contaminated > material. If biological warfare is as easy as the TV makes it sound, why > has Saddam Hussein spent twenty years 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 of a nation this big with this many > resources... > > These weapons are made to cause panic and 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 nitpick, > 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 these United States can rob these people of their most > desired goal, your terror... > > SFC Red Thomas (Ret) > Armor Master Gunner > Mesa, Arizona > > Reproduction and distribution is authorized and encouraged. Just give me > credit for my work. ___________________________________________________________________ The D mailing list http://www.djdenise.com/ Check out the new forum! http://www.djdenise.com/forum/
