Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Politics : Politics for Pros- moderated -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Snowshoe who wrote (85246)	11/10/2004 5:15:13 AM
From: unclewest	Respond to of 793770

Wind direction and speed at high altitude are often quite different than local surface wind conditions. Nuclear explosions, volcanic eruptions, and astroid strikes send material up into the jet stream, so I'm not sure I know enough to predict a fallout pattern. I agree. And typical wind forecasts are for surface winds. Knowing the location of ground zero and current surface winds is good enough for initial observations and predictions. That is enough to get us out of and to stay away from the fallout cone near the release point. We don't need to be able to make predictions on where the fallout will be in three days or next week. Eventually, the authorities will have the information (wind at various altitudes, type of weapon, altitude it was dispersed at etc.) to do that. At their website, Homeland Security states FIVE TIMES that we should not initially, in the event of a CBR attack, depend on the authorities to tell us what to do. We have two choices: do nothing but wait or learn to evaluate the data available. This is where a little knowledge becomes a good thing. Add a bit of timely initiative to that knowledge and you have a recipe for survival. The authorities have a larger task. Gathering all of this information takes time. Calculating the danger area and escape routes takes more time. Preparing authorities to manage an evacuation takes time. Disseminating the information to folks in the danger area takes time. Yet time is a critical component for a successful evacuation. Simply put, we can reduce our personal risk to deadly substances by reducing the time of our exposure. We as individuals will not have the equipment or the other information necessary to do a precise fallout zone calculation. That does not mean we have to wait for authorities to inform us. My method is neither an exact nor a precise way to calculate zones. It is a field-expedient method, quickly and easily learned, that we can all use to get a good idea of the likely danger areas. Armed with that information you can quickly calculate your own escape route.

To: Snowshoe who wrote (85246)	11/10/2004 6:20:39 AM
From: unclewest	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 793770

Below is a letter I wrote to Homeland Security officials last year. I handed a copy, along with supporting documents, to the Under-Secretery for Science and Technology. A friend handed a copy to Tom Ridge in his office. I also mailed copies of the package to other officials. Some changes have been made to the www.ready.gov website. The admonitions to not depend on the authorities remain and a coupla errors have not yet been corrected. In the best govt fashion, some recent new advice and guidance for families regarding the color code has been posted here... dhs.gov But since Homeland Security spent a fortune telling us to find answers at www.ready.gov and this info is not posted there, I wonder who besides me even knows about it. If it was not all so pathetic, I could laugh at the ineptness. Here is the letter. Have fun at the websites. I have been wading through this stuff since 9/11 and will be happy to work with anybody who wants to look at it in detail. The 4 unfortunate statements, the 2 conflicting statements, and the 5 critical errors in advice being given to the public at www.ready.gov May 27, 2003 In April, I attended the 2003 Techno-Security Conference in South Carolina. Last week, I attended and lectured at The National Security Agency’s, Annual National Operations Security Conference in San Diego. The latter was attended by 700 of the top security specialists in America. The day before my presentation, an NSA speaker asked the audience, “What are you going to do when we go to red alert status?” I was shocked when no one responded. The speaker continued and told the audience the thing to do is turn on your TV and radio and listen for guidance from the local authorities. I immediately recognized the problem. Knowing I had a better answer, I spent that evening adding a detailed explanation to my presentation for the following day. At www.ready.gov, Homeland Security talks, in clear terms, about what advice we should expect from the authorities during nuclear, chemical and biological attacks. Here are some quotes from the website: Biological Threat “In the event of a biological attack, public health officials may not immediately be able to provide information on what you should do.” Radiation Threat “As with any emergency, local authorities may not be able to immediately provide information on what is happening and what you should do.” Chemical Threat “Quickly try to define the impacted area or where the chemical is coming from if possible.” “Take immediate action to get away.” Though not inspiring or reassuring, the Homeland Security website messages are clear enough. They tell us, in the event of a biological or nuclear attack, to NOT depend on the authorities and during a chemical attack, you must decide what to do. America has the best security available anywhere on earth, yet Americans have the worst attitude about security. Americans want Tom Ridge and his boys to solve every problem immediately. They do not want to be involved. We want to be totally dependent on our government agencies and look to them for an answer to every issue. The reason 700 of the top security specialists in the country cannot answer the question about what to do when we go to red alert is because they have no plan of their own. They still refuse to accept Homeland Defense’s message that we are on our own, at least initially, and they have yet to prepare a plan. I fear that the first series of attacks was not the wake-up call Pearl Harbor was. I fear a second round of devastating attacks may be necessary to wake up most Americans to the personal threat. Many of my Green Beret buddies and I expect round two to be even more punishing than 9/11. From a tactical and psychological point of view, a weaker attack will be perceived as a weakening of the terrorist organizations and will negatively impact their recruiting and fund raising efforts. As I thought this out, I suddenly understood why NSA had given every conference attendee a copy of my book and why I had been asked to speak for a full 90 minutes. Changing the federal government’s response to terrorism may be way above my pay grade, but I can do something. I want my family to have a first-mover’s advantage. Providing my family with a sound, tested, written plan to survive a terrorist attack, along with the tools and skills to implement that plan, is well within my capabilities and I have done it. I believe those who wait for the authorities to tell them what to do will be sitting on interstate highway parking lots. The world has changed. Our top 4-star generals predict the war against terrorism will last at least 25-35 years. Americans need new skills. The question of the day is where do they get the information needed to develop these skills? Let’s look at that. Homeland Security prepared a color-coded system that was initially, widely proclaimed to be a key part of the nation’s solution to the terrorist problem. So why was it joked about, laughed at and ridiculed? Because the color-coded system is meaningless to America’s families. Parents were provided with zero planning guidance about what actions to take at each alert level. Teachers had nothing to teach their students. If this color alert system was not intended for families, as we are now being told, why were so many top officials using the media for so long to tell us what a gigantic step forward it was? Homeland Security apparently recognized the problem and later prepared the website www.ready.gov to provide the guidance Americans were becoming desperate for. The widely touted website (I read that $45 million was spent advertising it.) is known to nearly all Americans by now. Yet Americans are still not planning. They do not get deep into the website. It has not become the family planning document Homeland Security hoped for. A study of the website reveals the problems. I have found four unfortunate statements that specifically tell folks there will be no help from local authorities in the event of a nuclear, chemical or biological attack. Those statements are hardly inspirational. The fact that they are dispersed throughout the document is a total turn-off. I found one paragraph that is completely confusing, AND it conflicts directly with advice given elsewhere on the website. I have found five critical mistakes in the graphics being used by Homeland Security to teach emergency actions and procedures during a nuclear, chemical or biological situation. This is most troubling, because this bad advice is now being used by schools to prepare emergency plans and it is being taught to the kids in some schools now. The website www.ready.gov has been revised several times. It still needs a lot of work. I believe the errors are so serious that the website should be shut down until Homeland Security can resolve them. No advice is better than bad advice. My family has an effective and comprehensive plan. I have explained Homeland Security’s errors to my family and provided proper guidance. I realize that change cannot be implemented at the bottom of a bureaucracy. Two clerks may see the problem, but they never have the authority to change the system. Effective, wide-ranging and lasting change must always come from the top. I am willing to discuss the errors I found at www.ready.gov with any US Government official who has the authority to correct them.