from: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/local/articles/0413clay13.html
You guys worry too much
Clay Thompson
VALLEY 101
Apr. 13, 2003 12:00 AM
Today's question has come in three or four times in the past few weeks, and I wondered about that until it finally occurred to me, being a little slow on the uptake, that it must have something to do with the war in Iraq.
You guys really shouldn't worry so much. I worry about how much you worry. I worry so much that it's starting to put me off my feed. I think I'm losing weight. Relax a bit. Life is too short to spend your time being scared all the time. We live in a beautiful universe full of wonderful and amazing things. Enjoy it.
But I digress. The question, kind of in composite form, is this:
It used to be that at noon on the first Saturday of every month they tested the air-raid sirens. Why don't we hear them any more?
Those first few paragraphs were kind of thoughtful and caring, and like, insightful or something, don't you think? Let's switch gears here and try to answer the question more directly. To wit:
Well, duh.
Remember the Cold War? Remember duck-and-cover, and remember when we were pretty sure Russian bombers could be headed our way any time, but thanks to Civil Defense air-raid sirens we'd have enough time to . . . . Well, I don't know what exactly they thought we'd have enough time to do if we were about to be hit with nuclear weapons. I did once come across plans for how to build a bomb shelter out of old copies of the National Geographic. Really.
Yes, there used to be about 40 or so Civil Defense sirens around Maricopa County, and they were tested for a minute or so once every month, mostly to see if they worked and partly, I suspect, to annoy dogs in the area.
According to the county's emergency planning folks, the sirens have been phased out for several years now, ever since we realized sirens weren't going to help much against missiles, and more so, since the end of the Cold War.
You could still hoard old copies of National Geographic if you wanted to, but I wouldn't worry about it so much if I were you. It isn't good for your appetite.
Reach Thompson at clay.thompson@arizonarepublic.com.