Taking Responsibility For Ourselves

To the Editor:

This is in response to Kim Danziger’s open letter to Congresswoman Nancy Johnson. We should not be expecting our government to be totally responsible for our well-being. We need to take responsibility for ourselves. Being elected to office does not make one all seeing and all-knowing. Our government has more information than we citizens do, but some of it may need to be withheld for security reasons. They are using “terror alerts” as a means to inform us of the likelihood or probability that something major will happen within a certain period of time. They use logic, statistical probabilities, and judgment, which is not infallible. It is up to us to respond to the alerts in an intelligent and informed manner based on our location, and personal needs.

If they do not raise an alert, and an attack comes, people will scream, “Why didn’t you warn us?” If they do raise an alert and no attack comes, complaints such as yours will be heard. For the government, it’s a no-win situation.

 We live in or around Newtown Connecticut. A location not likely to be high on Osama’s or Saddam’s list of strategic targets. Based on that, I have personally decided not to plastic and duct tape my home, nor put in a supply of food and water beyond my usual quantity. If I lived in Manhattan or Boston, I would surely not be typing this letter until finishing my duct taping.

Addressing your concerns of how to seal off your house, while still operating the furnace, using the bathroom, and running a generator, I suggest you consider the following. The “Sealed Room” technique, which is common in Israeli cities, is to prevent exposure to airborne biological or chemical agents. These agents would not stay in the area very long, so a single room, not the whole house, is set up for short term use, perhaps six hours. I would tape plastic over the windows, heat/AC ducts, baseboard and doors, tape over other openings in the sheetrock, such as electric outlets, switches and all the joints at walls, ceilings, and floors. I know we Americans like our comforts, but we should be able to survive in a room for a few hours, without heat, toilet facilities, or electricity. Obviously your generator and boiler are unaffected by biological or chemical agents.

While these suggestions are only my opinion, and based on my personal knowledge, I strongly suggest you research the subject thoroughly, and then make your own informed decisions. It’s unreasonable to expect the government to know the personal situation for all Americans. Being self-reliant is the best technical position and personal place-to-be.

Frank Viola

320 Great Quarter Road, Sandy Hook                        March 3, 2003