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U.S. rethinks strategy for an unthinkable attack
MSNBC ^ | 12/16/2010 | WILLIAM J. BROAD

Posted on 12/17/2010 8:44:20 AM PST by FromLori

Administration's problem: How to spread advice without causing alarm?

Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do? The government has a surprising new message: Do not flee. Get inside any stable building and don’t come out till officials say it’s safe.

The advice is based on recent scientific analyses indicating that a nuclear attack is much more survivable if you immediately shield yourself from the lethal radiation that follows a blast, a simple tactic seen as saving hundreds of thousands of lives. Even staying in a car, the studies show, would reduce casualties by more than 50 percent; hunkering down in a basement would be better by far.

But a problem for the Obama administration is how to spread the word without seeming alarmist about a subject that few politicians care to consider, let alone discuss. So officials are proceeding gingerly in a campaign to educate the public.

(Excerpt) Read more at msnbc.msn.com ...


TOPICS: Government; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: nuke
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To: FromLori

Or better yet leave obvious targets now and move to flyover country. Why live like a lemming?


21 posted on 12/17/2010 9:03:51 AM PST by Seruzawa (If you agree with the French raise your hand - If you are French raise both hands.)
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To: Turbo Pig

Well stated. Just like I learned in the Navy. The reality of physics trumps random opinions every time.


22 posted on 12/17/2010 9:05:09 AM PST by Pecos (Liberty and Honor will not die on my watch.)
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To: Seruzawa

and the meek shall inherit...


23 posted on 12/17/2010 9:05:38 AM PST by maine-iac7 (We Stand Together of We Fall Apart)
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To: reagan_fanatic
I hope I never live to see that happen.

You already have. It was called "Katrina". A buddy of mine was manning the central office for Bell in NO during Katrina. From his vantage point in the Bell building in NO he had a more or less unobstructed view of a good portion of the city, especially the downtown area. The first looters he saw were city cops. They hit pawn shops, gun stores, jewelry stores, etc. and took all the good stuff. Most of that stuff has never been recovered. Keep that in mind when TSHTF in the future and you wonder who is on your side......

24 posted on 12/17/2010 9:06:27 AM PST by Thermalseeker (If I print money it's counterfeiting. If the Fed prints money it's quantitative easing?)
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To: Seruzawa

Yup got my doom stead already whether it’s the coming economic collapse or the Nuke we will fare better now.


25 posted on 12/17/2010 9:08:40 AM PST by FromLori (FromLori)
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To: Turbo Pig
You breath it in and it poisons you from the inside out. Staying put, and making your area as airtight, or even better positive pressurized with filtered air, increases short term survival rates dramatically.

I don't imagine any homeowner has the knowledge or resources to pressurize their home with filtered air. It seems to me that a face mask would be the most practical protection. What is the smallest particle size of radioactive fallout? Is there any public information regarding approved masks and where to buy them?

26 posted on 12/17/2010 9:09:04 AM PST by TexasRepublic (Socialism is the gospel of envy and the religion of thieves)
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To: FromLori
Administration's problem: How to spread advice without causing alarm? Suppose the unthinkable happened, and terrorists struck New York or another big city with an atom bomb. What should people there do?

The ones that don't die outright can start repenting for voting Democrat and thus enabling the attack.

27 posted on 12/17/2010 9:09:08 AM PST by SampleMan (If all of the people currently oppressed shared a common geography, bullets would already be flying.)
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To: FromLori

The History Channel had a long program (I think it was 3 hours long—I taped it) about a hypothetical nuclear attack on DC. Except for the headache-inducing quick-editing for morons, it was a pretty good program.

The analysis offered that the chaos caused by such an event would be unmanageable, and that everyone could only do their best. The effects of multiple attacks are best left unimagined.


28 posted on 12/17/2010 9:10:32 AM PST by warchild9
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To: Pecos
The reality of physics trumps random opinions every time.

Good one! Goes along well with the saying:

"Age and treachery always overcomes youth and enthusiasm"

29 posted on 12/17/2010 9:11:00 AM PST by Thermalseeker (If I print money it's counterfeiting. If the Fed prints money it's quantitative easing?)
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To: Turbo Pig
Along that line, another thing to take from the Hiroshima/Nagasaki
bombings is that you do not drink water (apparently, being
irradiated dehydrates the body, causing a great thirst) from
sources that could collect the fallout particles, for at least the first
36 hours.
30 posted on 12/17/2010 9:11:29 AM PST by Calvin Locke
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To: Grunthor

Well, ya see, that’s the thing: most people WOULD survive a nuclear attack. Sure, those within a certain range are certain goners, but cities are much bigger than the effective range of a small nuke. Detonation on the ground instead of airborne limits the effect further.

Nukes make a huge bang, but they’re not the TEOTWAKI doomsday super weapon we’ve been programmed to think of them as.


31 posted on 12/17/2010 9:12:17 AM PST by ctdonath2 (+)
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To: FromLori
Yup got my doom stead already whether it’s the coming economic collapse or the Nuke we will fare better now.

Me too. I moved to the sticks 20 years ago. Bought a farm 10 years ago and been working on my produce and meat section ever since. And I like that "Bank of Mason" more and more with every passing day.....

32 posted on 12/17/2010 9:13:26 AM PST by Thermalseeker (If I print money it's counterfeiting. If the Fed prints money it's quantitative easing?)
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To: TexasRepublic
What is the smallest particle size of radioactive fallout? Is there any public information regarding approved masks and where to buy them?

Normal surgical masks are good, if not perfect. Normal pollen, dust, etc. will be radioactive and it is these particles, when taken into the body, that do the most harm. Also, I'd cease eating for as long as possible until well clear of the area.

33 posted on 12/17/2010 9:14:21 AM PST by SampleMan (If all of the people currently oppressed shared a common geography, bullets would already be flying.)
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To: FromLori

Perhaps those advisng Dear Leader are beginning to realize that our national security measures have been crippled by political correctness. Dear Leader says we can “absorb” an attack, which means he’d rather see a city bombed than risking alienating his far left base, so that’s what he’s preparing us for.


34 posted on 12/17/2010 9:16:20 AM PST by Spok (Obama: clueless, classless, clown.)
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To: FromLori

‘Administration’s problem: How to spread advice without causing alarm?’

Give me break already! They could care less about the Little People. This has everything to do w/ saving face and keeping (and increasing) control. The fed govt is failing and no one wants to say it out loud. So what do they do for an encore to failure? They tell use the next ‘fix’ is in the works and trust them b/c it’ll all be better. I’m just not buying it anymore.


35 posted on 12/17/2010 9:17:03 AM PST by 556x45
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To: Turbo Pig
Just pull out your radiac and see if you will be OK
Hate it when I'm in the red.

36 posted on 12/17/2010 9:19:13 AM PST by Waverunner (I'd like to welcome our new overlords, say hello to my little friend)
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To: Thermalseeker
"The first thing I would do is talk to Americans like they are adults instead of talking down to them like they are a bunch of helpless children. Tell it like it is. We can handle it."

Unfortunately for us, many Americans (read: Liberals) think on the level of adolescents. This precludes a possibility of addressing our nation as "adults".

37 posted on 12/17/2010 9:24:54 AM PST by EnigmaticAnomaly ("Mantra of the left: 'It's only okay when WE do it.'")
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To: FromLori

I’m going to crawl under my desk for safety like the public schools taught me in 6th grade back in 1972. My alternative plan is to look for the fall out shelter signs and go there for safety.


38 posted on 12/17/2010 9:25:45 AM PST by weef
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To: FromLori

didn’t Obama say we could absorb a nuke attack on a city??

If that is true, it must be a very very liberal city. /sarc


39 posted on 12/17/2010 9:30:16 AM PST by GeronL (#7 top poster at CC, friend to all, nicest guy ever, +96/-14, ignored by 1 sockpuppet.. oh & BANNED)
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To: FromLori

So, “duck and cover” may not have been such bad advice after all!


40 posted on 12/17/2010 9:38:26 AM PST by sjmjax (Politicans are like bananas - they start green, turn yellow, then rot.)
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