Tuesday, August 31, 2010

America's Achilles' Heel

Verbatim, from article at http://www.wnd.com/?pageId=30000 :

      Last month, the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Terrorism, Technology and Homeland Security chaired by Kyl, held a hearing on the electromagnetic pulse, or EMP, threat.
"An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attack on the American homeland, said one of the distinguished scientists who testified at the hearing, is one of only a few ways that the United States could be defeated by its enemies – terrorist or otherwise," wrote Kyl "And it is probably the easiest. A single Scud missile, carrying a single nuclear weapon, detonated at the appropriate altitude, would interact with the Earth's atmosphere, producing an electromagnetic pulse radiating down to the surface at the speed of light. Depending on the location and size of the blast, the effect would be to knock out already stressed power grids and other electrical systems across much or even all of the continental United States, for months if not years." 

      What would we do? With all of America's progress with emerging media and communications, could it all just be wiped away in one instant? Imagine America, blown back to the 19th Century. All of us are pampered by technology, and what do you suppose would happen if all of a sudden it was yanked out from under us? Total chaos, that's what. Also verbatim from the article:

      "American society has grown so dependent on computer and other electrical systems that we have created our own Achilles' heel of vulnerability, ironically much greater than those of other, less developed nations," the senator wrote. "When deprived of power, we are in many ways helpless, as the New York City blackout made clear. In that case, power was restored quickly because adjacent areas could provide help. But a large-scale burnout caused by a broad EMP attack would create a much more difficult situation. Not only would there be nobody nearby to help, it could take years to replace destroyed equipment."

      Again, as I was saying, total chaos. Could anyone even imagine an America without cell phones, printers, televisions, Xbox 360s and everything else electronic? It would be the apocalypse at best. Personally, if I couldn't find a horse to jump on and make way to the country, I'd make plans for the afterlife. My big question is, WHY DON'T WE DO SOMETHING ABOUT THIS? Oh, that's right, because there is so much political correctness in the world that people can't even have enough common sense to do something about a country that could possibly ruin the whole world's infrastructure, not just America's. Does anyone see something wrong with that? I mean, honestly, technology triples every day, but it hasn't always been that way. America has been working long and hard on the advancement of technology and people are just beginning to see where emerging media will take us in the future. If you love anything media, and this doesn't get a rise out of you or make you a little uneasy, then you should consider a different course of study.
      People, wake up! It doesn't matter what you do for a living, I can guarantee it involves technology somewhere. This is something that should seriously be thought about and considered by every American or our welcomed guests residing here. You know, I'm a little off my rocker sometimes, and I'll be the first to tell you I'm not politically correct, but I will tell you this, I bet you I am not alone in thinking Iran is a serious problem that needs to be taken care of. I'll just let everyone sit on this, verbatim from the article:

      Kyl concluded in his report: "The Sept. 11 commission report stated that our biggest failure was one of 'imagination.' No one imagined that terrorists would do what they did on Sept. 11. Today few Americans can conceive of the possibility that terrorists could bring our society to its knees by destroying everything we rely on that runs on electricity. But this time we've been warned, and we'd better be prepared to respond."