Thurs. May 3

How prepared is Massachuseets for disaster? Well, let's see, with most of the National Guard off working the international beat in Iran (soon to come: Iraq!), we'd probably wager that we're not prepared very well at all. We all know what happened when Katrina hit - a perfect storm of governmental ineptitude and overwhelming devastation. What about those LNG tanks? Thought about the avian flu recently? Honestly, we block much of this out because it has a potentially crippling effect: If we really knew how bad off we could be, how would we go on day-to-day? The answer to that, maybe, is just live one day at a time - and hope that those in charge are taking these potential threats seriously for a change. (And we don't just mean cutting back on civil rights.) On Thursday May 3, the Ford Hall Forum presents Dr. Paul D. Biddinger, (in photo)  chairman of the Mass. Medical Society Committee on Preparedness and Dr. Lisa Stone, Hospital Preparedness Coordinator of the Mass. Dept of Public Health in a discussion moderated by the Globe's public health writer Stephen Smith. You'll be invited to weight in as well. It's at the Old South Meeting House at 6:30 and is free.

310 Washington St., 617-373-5800 fordhallforum.org