The Many Moods of Blake Ashby

Drafting the developmentally disabled in the fight against terrorism: God bless St. Louis.

Unreal: Doesn't more terrorism equal more business for Daehn Enterprises and EaglePax?

Jean Evans: Um, I guess. That's sort of the unfortunate side of it. However, the kits are for disasters. Here, locally, that usually means tornadoes, but not necessarily. I was watching Meet the Press and one of the Senators said, "It's not a question of if, it's a question of when."

One of the pearls of wisdom dispensed in the "Four Pillars of Preparedness" portion of the EaglePax.us Web site is: "In a high-rise building, plan for the possibility." Say you're standing in the top floor of a building downtown and you see a cargo plane headed straight for your window. Whaddya do?

[Laughs] That's a good question. I think the most important thing you could do is call someone. Call 911 on your cell phone while you're making your way to the exit.

Glow sticks and whistles are two products included in each EaglePax kit. These are also items commonly found at raves. Does this mean that EaglePax is pro-electronic music?

We don't have a position on electronic music. I like the music, but I personally don't like going to raves.

Also included are the Pledge of Allegiance, the Constitution, the Declaration of Independence and a copy of the national anthem. How do these documents contribute to surviving a terror attack?

After 9/11, you saw this sense of community for the whole country. We are trying to contribute to that sense of community in the event that something happens. If something happens, people have something to cling to.

By subcontracting with Alpha Industries, a prominent employer of the retarded, and shamelessly pimping this partnership on your press release, aren't you exploiting retarded people for profit?

First of all, I resent that you used that term ["retarded"].

How should I refer to them, then?

They're disabled -- they're mentally disabled. Alpha also employs people who are re-entering the workforce after they've been incarcerated.

Frankly, it's not too reassuring for me, the consumer, that retarded people and ex-cons are solely responsible for packaging EaglePax.

We do have quality control. If you check the history of these disabled workshops, they have a long history of doing quality work.