A business-partner of my brother lives in Dearborn (near Detroit) which has a huge population of people of mid-Eastern descent. Today there was a gas leak near his office, and 10 blocks were evacuated. (I don't think any thought THIS was an attack, but it sure heightened the tension.)

When speaking with the police, he was told to get plastic, duct tape, and at least a 3-day supply of drinking water and food for his home--immediately. Apparently impressed upon him that they were totally serious.

What's happening with the rest of you? So many of you live nearer to a major metropolitan area than I do ... are you preparing to seal your homes? Have you stashed away food and water?

I have heard that the president wants us all to have a supply of duct tape and plastic in case of attack..there is even a run on duct tape,,but let me ask you this,,being a stupid unedumecated country boy,,,if you seal out all the bad stuff then what happens when you run out of air?

Save your duct tape for the bedroom where it belongs.......Am I the only American thinking more then ten minutes agead?

I was wondering about that air thing, too. And, really, how very secure can you tape up your own house? I mean we have a walk-out basement and an attic, etc. Does poison gas or bioweapons or whatever really go away or would it be absorbed by the attic insulation and leak into the house anyway as soon as we untaped everything? Too many questions, too few answers.

I can't imagine duct tape is gonna save anyone from anything. Most houses have ventilation sufficient to allow air passage. I think its a ridiculous premise.

If one is that concerned about a gas attack, I think a gas masks would be more worth the expense.

Duct tape comes in colors too.

There is a special tape of duct tape for hikers, it is very useful in a emercency such as torn clothes, broken straps or even a broken body part, I strongly recommend it for those who hike, the roll is only about 5 yds longs so it is small and compact and it comes in reflective colors....I got mine as a free sample when I was at a hiking convention in Virginia, also got some smart wool socks, they are really great but they cost $15 a pair, I recommend them but again I got mine for free.....

here in the mountains of Tennessee, we make the weapons that can make the whole world glow, so any attack in this area is going to be atomic, the only bio-hazard we get is the acid rain from the north.

I do have plastic and tape but I am not going to worry my little brain with some so-called terror alert that I think is but another way of saying the goverment does not know what is going on but they want to cover their own asses, I will pay $10 for the first picture I see of the Oval Office being duct taped.

I either saw this on the news or either someone told me. But it said if you tyape up your homne with the plastic & duct tape you would run out of air after 5 hours. Yikes...

We have food & water that would last a little while...usually do. But I don't know; this plastic and duct tape thing kind of reminds me of duck and cover...isn't it just saying 'we aren't prepared to protect our civilian population, so kiss your ass goodbye' in a new-millineum, kinkier kind of way?

Almost 2 years ago, we did the duct-tape and plastic thing when we took out a drooping ceiling in our living room. We plastic'd off the stairway, as well as the dining room. Regardless of all the precautions, it didn't help keep dust down, even small chunks of plaster managed to migrate.

I agree with Ceashell... duck and cover. Like curling up under a school desk and covering our heads with our hands is really going to protect us from fallout?

Actually, I laughed when I heard that on the news... told Lance right then! How utterly ridiculous. That's exactly what it reminded me of.

so the theme now is:
DUCT and cover!

I see no point in getting crazy... it's kinda like the Y2K thing... people going out and buying up all the supplies, to take care of "me, me, me"... more important now to take care of US... meaning the world's people... by saying NO WAR!

Sending peaceful vibes to Dubya and all his friends... and to the Iraqi people... and to Saddam Hussein... and Osama bin Laden... and everyone in this world.

When I was a kid in the 60's, they taught us to "duck and cover", so now it's "duct and cover"? Both will do about as much good if the shit hits the fan.

perhaps we were misunderstanding the use of duct tape and plastic, we thought it was to make ourselves a safe place when in truth it was intended to be used to make nice cheap body bags, so keep it handy, with bush in office we may still need it.

100,000 body bags are on hand in Italy for the use of our troops in Irag, however if "Weapons of Mass Destruction" are used, the bodies will be burnt on the battle field,

did someone say War is Hell?

I actually heard on the news that they were telling male reservists and military personnel to save some sperm in advance, because if biowarfare is used, there is a chance they will be genetically screwed up after the war. Is that AWFUL or what?

I'm out of duct tape. I always have some around. I don't know how anyone gets along without it. Now, I'm too embarassed to go buy a new roll cause the cashier will assume we're home wrapping our house in plastic.

Pat, awful yes! But a good idea.