True, so does the air we breathe, the water we drink, and the food we eat. Your statement is factual; so what is your point?

"Everybody gotta die sometime, Red."(Tom Berenger as Seargent Barnes in the movie Platoon)

People die everyday from voluntary activities. Heck, my doctor refers to grapes as "little sacks of poison". What are you gonna do, stop breathing, or walk around with an air purifier on your back 24/7?

It is quite easy, sitting here in Baghdad, to make the statement that "you do what you gotta do" to get by in this life. A vast majority of the people on this planet do not have the luxury of worrying about the long term health risks of something that otherwise makes them feel a little better. You are going to have a hard time convincing me to give up my weekly beer ration when mortars are falling around me.

However, if you feel the conviction to deprive yourself of one of life's basic pleasures, by all means. That will just leave more for the rest of us, and in 80 years or so none of us will be here to know the difference, right? Who wants to live forever?

Ironraven: "Keep your door open". O.K. you keep your door open. In my town,even in the affluent neighborhoods, there are a significant number of "push-in" home invasions. Sorry guys. I say keep your door closed and locked.

Blast: I like your ideas. I live in small subdivision (around a dozen neighbors in a private cove). There were one or two who thought my preparedness ideas (conservative by this Forum's standards!!) and the fact that I have firearms (Oh My Goodness!!) indicated that I was over the top on this ETS concept. So when they were kidding me I took out a notebook and said:
"Let me make a note. You don't own/believe in firearms.. right?"
"O.K., what kind of stuff DO you have in your house right now?"

.... made a show of writing down what they keep around, and that they don't believe in guns. Then I tore off the page and gave it to my wife. "Honey, put this with the lists of where we'll go to "shop" if the SHTF for real"
...amazing how that converted the unbelievers. Now we have a real neighborhood association.

Hmmm, I am starting to like the "neighborhood arrangement I have here. 3 foot deep concrete footers, 12 foot tall reinforced concrete walls topped with razor wire, with security patrols and dogs. There could be nothing inside of the walls, but no one outside would ever know, and looking at that wall, no one is gonna be very motivated to come over and take a look anyhow.

Baghdad, the ultimate gated community.

I was thinking that in some neighborhoods, you probably want to go with someone else. Of course, decking yourself out in the necessary para-military gear might make people think you're law enforcement. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

Or insane. Or both. Either one might not be bad.

I'm talking about in a college dormitory, NAro. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> It is a little different.

No formal block parties, but if I'm at the BBQ, and my neighbors are walking in/out of the house, they get offered a beer/wine/soda/juice as appropriate, and they do the same - I probably spend as much time sitting at the table in my neighbors yard watching my son and his daughter, as I do in mine. No excuse for an informal party needed other than "The weather is nice, and we are outdoors". Everyone will stop and at least wave hello

Now - here is the kicker... I live in New York City!!! No, not Manhattan, but Queens

Heh. So I'm reading about the construction thinking "Dang. Now _that's_ how you build for hurricanes." <img src="/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

PM sent.

Well, you might want to exclude the razor wire in the hurricane. I could just see someone rolling down the street tangled up in a bunch of coils like a tumbleweed, not pretty.

Funny maybe, but not pretty.