Terror warnings have become an everyday event in America since the September 11 attack. The great fear is that the next mass assault will involve the use of lethal biological agents, poisonous chemicals or radioactive material. Government offi-cials have recently begun to recommend that, in such an emergency, Americans quickly seal windows and air vents with plastic sheeting and duct tape. In some parts of the nation people are taking the warnings seriously; elsewhere Americans are generally ignoring the recom-mendations or making fun of them. Why the mockery?

　　The warnings remind many people of the nuclear attack drills that were run in US schools at the height of the Cold War. If a nuclear exchange began, children were to crouch beneath their desks. In fact this would have saved few lives. Many people now think the main point of the drills was to pacify the population - to give them the illusion that they had a chance of survival in a nuclear war. Others believe that the drills were meant to keep citizens focused on cooperating with the prepara-tions for war rather than opposing the very notion of nuclear combat.

　　Cartoonist Stuart Carlson shows us "duck and [take] cover" as the watchword of 1955. He puns on the word "duck" to produce a new slogan for 2003: "[use] duct [tape] and cover [your windows with plastic]." "Duct tape" is often pronounced "duck tape" - indeed, it comes as a surprise to many Americans to discover what the correct term is for this common household item.