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"Be prepared, not scared."

Good Information.

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 1990's 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 Kayro 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 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, 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 grasshoppers 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 kiddie 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 so 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.

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

* * *

I received an e-mail today from a prominent business man and his wife, concerned that a Klingerman Virus was being sent out in the U.S.Postal Service infecting 23 people and Killing 7. I took this very seriously as he did and forwarded it on to all I care about as a good person would. I received a response from my brother that it was a Hoax and sent out apology e-mails to all the people I scared and thought how can I help spread the word that this is a bad thing to send out.We have to share with as many people as we can that this is going on now when we as Americans are vulnerable to horrific scenarios. I agree that Bush has got to go in after Bin Laden strong hit him hard and take all the small factions out. Simultaneously and Completely.

If anyone receives e-mails that sound horrific, check them out with the CDC and any agency that may provide validation to the claim. We are intelligent enough to be able to check these
awful things out and should.
Speechless Erin

* * *

Biological warfare

I think Terry has a point!

I have a BS degree in microbiology, so I am keenly aware of the potential dangers of biological warfare. However, as I watch the news and the constant reporting of a death from Anthrax I wonder why the news does not report the most successful chemical attacks that have been plaguing the world for years. Afghanistan is the major supplier of heroin, and perhaps the single largest source of terrorist funding comes from heroin trafficking. So, why isn't the news reporting the deaths, pain and suffering that results from heroin use? It doesn't make sense to ignore these facts. It seems that Britain's Prime Minister Tony Blair is the only person who has mentioned this connection.

I did some research on the net and found that almost 1 in 10 Americans have tried heroin in their life and OVER 1/4 million Americans are current users. About 1,000 Australians DIE each year from heroin use. In the state of Delaware alone about 500 people per year DIE from heroin overdose. Many are teenagers 14 and 15 years old.

If these deaths are not bad enough, consider the increase in crime caused by users supporting their expensive habit. Also, consider the spread of AIDS and other diseases and the strain on health facilities
to care for the dying.

When you add up the death and misery over the last 20 or 30 years that has been caused by this heroin chemical attack, it is probably hundreds of times more catastrophic than the Sept.11 attacks.

Terry Blount, Editor

* * *

"Senator Frist" <senatorfrist2@nrsc.org>

Update on anthrax found on Capitol Hill
Date: Wed, 17 Oct 2001 16:58:16 -0400

During the past thirty-six hours, numerous questions and concerns have been raised in response to the anthrax discovered in the Hart Senate office Building. At the time of this writing, we know that thirty-one members of Senator Tom Daschle's staff and Capitol police have tested positive for anthrax exposure. These individuals are strong, dedicated public servants. I know I speak for all of my colleagues when I say we stand with them one hundred percent.

Over the next few hours and days we will learn much more about the nature ofthis particular anthrax exposure. In the meantime, we are taking every possible step to protect staff and visitors. What has happened in the United States Senate could happen in your community, in your place of business. It's vitally important to understand one thing: Knowledge is our most powerful weapon against anthrax fear and exposures. I hope you will take a few minutes to read over the information provided at: <http://www.nrsc.org/cgi-data/nd_item/files/321.shtml>

I want to make sure you get the best information possible in these times when things are moving so rapidly. On our site, you will find the most reputable government and private
websites. Please visit <http://www.nrsc.org/cgi-data/nd_item/files/323.shtml>
to find protocols on opening mail and to learning about the appearance of skin lesions (100% curable!). Again, knowledge is power in our war against terrorism. Stay in touch with our site to stay up to date. I have great faith in our public health system. It is working beautifully right now. We do need to invest more in it and make it stronger than ever, and we will do that. I also have great confidence in our law enforcement and intelligence systems.

They will bring the perpetrators to justice. I am very optimistic -- we will all be okay.

Sincerely,
Bill Frist, MD

* * *

ANTHRAX SAFETY PROCEDURES

First I am a former member of the 838th Military Police unit in Youngstown, Ohio. Trained in basic Nuclear, Biological, and Chemical weapons procedures. I, along with my unit spent 9 months in Saudi Arabia during desert storm. I am also the mother of a beautiful little girl that I would die for if needed.

I do NOT claim to be an expert, but I do know the American people need more advice than washing their hands. We NEED to know if bleach, ammonia, alcohol, or Lysol or any household product will help destroy this bacteria.

I will be forwarding this letter to everyone I know and every news team and newspaper and CDC and government office to try to get an answer for us. Please do the same. Anthrax can show up anywherealong with other bacteria and viruses.

1. If you suspect a contaminated piece of mail. STOP. Don't move and look around. Make a mental note of every step from your mail box to your present location. Everything that was touched and the path it was carried. (keys, doorknobs, light switches)

2. Do NOT touch your children, pets or yourself.

3. Do NOT panic.

4. Put he mail down and wash your hands well. Wash hands with a downward and outward movement towards your fingertips first. If you think your wrists or arms may be contaminated also, then move to the highest suspect area with your clean hands and work downward and outward towards your fingertips again. Washing movements in an upward direction could possibly cause spores to imbed in your pores. Dry with paper towels that you retrieved AFTER washing your hands.

5. Get a sealable plastic bag and put the contaminated mail into it, handling the bag and the mail as little as possible. Object being to not contaminate the outside of the bag. Doing this about a foot away from the mails origional location should accomplish this.

6. Place the bag in a safe location to await pick up by local authorities.

7. Go back to the sink and wash well. Dry with paper towels.

8. If you think your clothes may be contaminated take them off and bag them also.

9. I would now feel reasonably safe about leaving the location to phone the police.

10. USE SEPARATE PAPER TOWELS FOR EACH THING CLEANED TO AVOID FURTHER CONTAMINATION!

11. Now, tracing your steps backward, clean all contaminated areas with the household product you assume to be the best suited to cleaning the type of area with the greatest potential for killing germs.

12. Carry a bag with you as you go to deposit dirty paper towels to avoid excess walking around.

13. Remember keep anyone else away from you and the contaminated areas until you are done. Hopefully it will be a false alarm. At least there is a fair chance the contaminant will not be spread and the further movement will not pose so much risk.

14. Pray.

I am not an expert. I am only trying to fill a void in information, maybe helping someone in the meantime. If you feel these procedures will help please forward them to everyone you know and every news organization until we get some better answers.

God bless you and may he keep us safe.

* * *

I happened to catch your show on Monday and heard you discussing the Anthrax"scare". I agree with you that the objective of the terrorists is to make us fearful and cause us to panic. At the back of my mind I was thinking that it seemed like a children's story I had once read. After some thought it came to me, this is exactly like The Grinch who Stole Christmas !!! Bin Laden is the "Grinch" and we are the "Whos down in Whoville". If you remember, the Grinch came and removed all the trappings of Christmas and took them to his secret mountain lair (sounds familiar). On Christmas morning, from down in the valley, comes the sound of the Whos singing Christmas carols and the Grinch realizes he has not succeeded in stealing Christmas after all. We need to have a "Who-like" response to the Grinch in Afghanistan so he cannot steal our joy! From Leslie - Washington

* * *

Here's one way of allaying everybody's fears regarding opening their mail. How about just passing all the mail through a microwave and "nuking" it for the appropriate amount of time as indicated by their level of liberal paranoia (between one and 30 minutes!). I would think that this would work in killing anything alive within.

Secondly, is it absolutely necessary for CNN to have a doctor report during prime time that should America be terrorized with smallpox that there not only is not enough vaccine for the population but it would take us two years to get enough. If I was a terrorist and heard this, I would get to work on my smallpox terrorist plans at once.

Thanks for keeping everything in perspective. We're devoted listeners.

Sincerely,

Wayne & Jenny

* * *

It seems that it would be much easier to call Al Qaeda the A.Q. for short, as it would eliminate the debate over pronunciation.

With regards to Cipro, there is a much easier way to discourage people from taking Cipro unnecessarily. Have you ever taken Cipro? It was prescribed to me for a urinary tract infection in 1998. Because it is a systemic antibiotic, it kills bacteria all over one's body. This means that it kills the "good" bacteria as well as the infection-causing varieties. This can happen when taking the drug for a period of a week, but would be especially potent over the course of sixty days. "Good" bacteria have important functions in our bodies, aiding in digestion as well as keeping yeast in check in the mouth and genital areas. A yeast infection may not scare a man, but it can occur in men and be most unpleasant. It is painful, whether it occurs in the mouth or the nether regions. Newborns with yeast infections in their mouths are said to have Thrush; it can create pain severe enough to make an infant stop eating properly.

It is not a happy experience for an adult, either. More unpleasant is the effect of a strong systemic antibiotic on the gastrointestinal tract. It kills lactobacillus, a bacterium that aids in digestion. When this is killed, diarrhea results. Even Penicillin can cause these problems. Perhaps the prospect of two months of diarrhea would discourage the abuse of antibiotics. By the way, I am not a medical professional. I am the mother of three young children who are frequently ill.
God bless you, Rush.

Kathy

* * *

A few years ago there was an uproar within the military because troops that had the possibility of deploying to the Middle east were being required to get an anthrax vaccine. My nephew was in the Navy, and he called home just to get our opinion (was it safe? had we heard of any side effects? etc).My question is, if it is available, and safe, why do we not just vaccinate everyone and end the fear?

Kayla

* * *

Do you fear more bio-terrorism attacks?

Subject: Do you fear more bio-terrorism attacks? America, land of the free and home of the chickens ?
NO. America IS the land of the free and the home of the brave. Let's act like it! These people going out and hording anti-biotics, gas masks and such must have Bin Laden rolling around in his cave laughing his jalava off.

Get A Grip! Stay angry America ! No, make that STAY OUTRAGED AMERICA!.. then use
that emotion to shore up your resolve and to drive you to do what is right, bury the funsters. Fear is a luxury we cannot afford now. You can be afraid later if you must.

Regards,

Wayne

* * *

biological terrorism

Rush, date: october 1, 2001 1110 hrs: pst

I am very upset at Tommy Thompsons claim "that america is fully prepared for biological terrorist attack", claiming that hospitals are ready and stocked with vaccines and over 7500 trained specialists are ready as well as being stocked with supplies and gas masks. RE: CNN ticker 9-30-01 & 10-1-01

Last week I contacted my doctor to get a tetnus booster shot as well a booster shot for small pox ( an expert on MSNBC stated that small pox vaccinations were good for 7-10 years and required a booster shot). I was told that there was no vaccine available nation wide for small pox except for very limited supplies at the .C.D.C. for very exceptional cases. When I asked about my tetnus booster, I was told that there would be none available until late January to February of 2002, citing that there was only one manufacturer in the USA. The preceding hardly sounds prepared to me, and I feel the American puplic has a right to know.

Small pox vaccines were stopped being given in 1983 and we now have our whole young generation at risk of a terrible hideous desease.

A further comment; vaccines are pro-active in their use, not re-active. I.E. it does no good to give a person Polio vaccine after they have it. The same obviously goes for gas masks.
Respectfully, Frederick
Gardnerville, Nevada

* * *

Anthrax

Anyway..... being a cattle rancher in SD, I know that Anthrax lives in the soil, and that there are periodic outbreaks when it "surfaces" so to speak. Believe that it follows soil disturbance such as a flood, drought (which opens great cracks in some soils). Usually, it is just cattle that are affected. Occasionaly, a person contracts the disease. I'm quite sure it is not transferred from person to person, and I don't believe it is transferred, or at least not easily so, from cattle to humans. Therefore, it is usually farmers, or other "outdoorsmen" who get really "down and dirty" thoroughly involved in the soil who contract the disease. It is very rare.

I am 61 years old, know literally hundreds and hundreds of ranchers/farmers in many states and know no one who has had the disease. As far as getting "down and dirty" my family does it all the time taking care of our cattle. My husband just last week got tromped into the very green "muck" by a young bull he was trying to load through a narrow chute. There was both soil and manure involved, some of both likely getting into his mouth, and into the abrasions on his hands which occured when the bull literally ran over him. The worst my husband got was some nasty bruises, cuts, and scrapes, and thorough embarrassment that the lady veterinarian and her three female helpers witnessed his stupidity in putting himself in position for that to happen.

The ladies did clean the injuries and wrap them up before he took the bull home. This sort of thing happens very frequently on the nation's ranches. The media always reports the incidence of Anthrax and they are very infrequent. Suppose if it were some way distributed by a terrorist, there could be a serious consequence, but I fear other things worse. Foot and Mouth Disease, for one. Or serious flu viruses for another.

Sincerely, Maxine

* * *

ABC Town Hall Meeting Friday 10/05/01

We hope you had the opportunity to hear about or, better yet, see the Nightline sensationalized depiction of a possible terrorist attack in which biological weapons were used in a US subway system. It was totally irresponsible. Ted Koeppel and his producers went out of their way in their
Town Hall Meeting format to bring forth "experts" who expressed their dismay at America's lack of preparedness for this type of attack. Even if all of their allegations were absolutely true, this was the type of presentation that fosters overt acts by kooks and evil minded America haters.

Please talk about this atrocity on your program Monday. You will be doing the American people a great service.Thanks so much for your program.

Sincerely, Jane / St. Louis, MO

* * *

What to do about WMD
Date: Sun, Mar 09 04:53 PM

Try this instead of fear-mongering: One thing the guy below does not mention is that when washing you should use lukewarm water. Hot water opens the skin pores and lets agents and radiation get further in, cold water closes them and locks the stuff in. Aside from that I agree with basically everything he has to say. I worked with Nuclear Weapons for 12 years in the Army and was NBC NCO in my Tank Platoon in the Army.

A Soldier's Viewpoint on Surviving Nuclear, Chemical and Biological Attacks- by SFC Red Thomas (Ret) Armor Master Gunner, Mesa, AZ / http://www.sightm1911.com/lib/other/nbc.htm

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

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 but 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 havepinpointed 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 Kayro 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 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 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 Weapons

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.

Biological Weapons

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 kiddie 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 so 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.
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Unlimited reproduction and distribution is authorized. Just give me credit for my work, and, keep in context.
SFC Red Thomas (Ret) / Armor Master Gunner
If it wasn't for Heisenberg, I wouldn't have no luck at all.

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