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Comment by mahmud | Hacker News Reader

Yes, and in the 50s, school desks where "recommended" as safety bunkers for kids in case of a soviet nuclear attack.

Government safety prescriptions are often panaceas, but they serve the purpose of making the masses feel like everything is under control be calm.

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You realize that it was more for the ostensible situation that the school was in the blast zone but not in the immediate kill zone? And that by hiding under a desk, children might prevent themselves from being struck by falling debris?

They knew perfectly well what they were saying. There's no point in making a kid hysterical about getting killed by the intense heat and pressure of an atomic bomb every time there's an air raid drill.

Ugh. I don't see how this is even that controversial a point. Would you believe NPR instead? http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1037897... - I don't take it to be a foolproof method by any means, but I suspect it's more effective than hiding under a desk in a nuclear attack as per your analogy. Besides, with the outbreaks of SARS, H1N1, scares over avian flu, the cost/risk ratio isn't exactly high given the options (which are few for most airborne viruses other than hide out until the risk has passed).

Do you have a better recommendation?

Certainly no better recommendation, but I know for certain that governments tend to manipulate instances of mass-spread fear, either to gain advantage over the public, or to cover up their incompetence.

Ductape wont save me from a suicide bomber, just as a piece of napkin with a rubber strap wont stand between me and a mass epidemic.

I thought that we were meant to lie down or put a paper bag over our head or something.

HHGTG references go ungotten around here it seems.

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