Posted on 08/24/2006 4:37:54 PM PDT by shanec
The good news about nuclear destruction
By Shane Connor
What possible good news could there ever be about nuclear destruction coming to America, whether it is dirty bombs, terrorist nukes or ICBMs from afar?
In a word, they are all survivable for the vast majority of American families, if they know what to do beforehand and have made even the most modest preparations.
Tragically, though, most Americans today won't give much credence to this good news, much less seek out such vital life-saving instruction, as they have been jaded by our culture's pervasive myths of nuclear un-survivability.
Most people think that if nukes go off, then everybody is going to die, or will wish they had. That's why you hear such absurd comments as: "If it happens, I hope I'm at ground zero and go quickly."
This defeatist attitude was born as the disarmament movement ridiculed any alternatives to their agenda. The sound Civil Defense strategies of the '60s have been derided as being largely ineffective, or at worst a cruel joke. With the supposed end of the Cold War in the '80s, most Americans neither saw a need to prepare, nor believed that preparation would do any good. Today, with growing prospects of nuclear terrorism, we see emerging among the public either paralyzing fear or irrational denial. People can no longer envision effective preparations for surviving a nuclear attack.
In fact, though, the biggest surprise for most Americans, if nukes are really unleashed, is that they will still be here!
Most will survive the initial blasts because they won't be close enough to any "ground zero," and that is very good news. Unfortunately, few people will be prepared to survive the coming radioactive fallout, which will eventually kill many times more than the blast. However, there is still more good news: Well over 90 percent of the potential casualties from fallout can be avoided if the public is pre-trained through an aggressive national Civil Defense educational program. Simple measures taken immediately after a nuclear blast, by a trained public, can prevent agonizing death and injury from radiation.
The National Planning Scenario No. 1, an originally confidential internal 2004 study by the Department of Homeland Security, demonstrated the above survival odds when they examined the effects of a terrorist nuke going off in Washington, D.C. They discovered that a 10 kiloton nuke, about two-thirds the size of the Hiroshima bomb, detonated at ground level, would result in about 15,000 immediate deaths and another 15,000 casualties from the initial blast, thermal flash and radiation release. As horrific as that is, the surprising revelation here is that over 99 percent of the residents in the D.C. area will have just witnessed and survived their first nuclear explosion. Clearly, the good news is most people will survive the initial blast.
The study also determined that another 250,000 people would soon be at risk from lethal doses of radiation from the fallout drifting downwind toward them after the blast. These much larger casualty numbers are avoidable, and that's more good news, but only for those pre-trained by a Civil Defense program in what to do before it arrives.
Another study, released this month by the Rand Corporation, looked at a terrorist 10-kiloton nuke arriving in a cargo container and being exploded in the Port of Long Beach, Calif. Over 150,000 people were estimated to be at risk downwind from fallout, again, many more than from the initial blast itself.
Today, lacking any meaningful Civil Defense program, millions of American families continue to be at risk and could perish needlessly for lack of essential knowledge that used to be taught at the grade school level.
The public urgently needs to be instructed in Civil Defense basics, like the good news that thousands can be saved employing the old "Duck and Cover" tactic, without which most people will instead run to the nearest window to see what the big flash was just in time to be shredded by the glass imploding inward from the shock wave. They need to know when promptly evacuating, doing so perpendicular to the coming downwind drift of the fallout would be their best strategy. They must also be taught how to effectively shelter in place for a brief time while the radioactive fallout loses 90 percent of it's lethal intensity in the first seven hours and 99 percent of it in two days. For those requiring sheltering from fallout, the majority would only need a couple or three days of hunkering down, not weeks on end.
This good news is within easy grasp of most people because an effective improvised family fallout shelter can be put together at home both cheaply and quickly, but only if the public is trained beforehand, as was begun in the '60s with our national Civil Defense program.
Unfortunately, our government today is doing little to promote nuclear preparedness and Civil Defense instruction among the general public. Regrettably, most of our officials, like the public, are still captive to the same illusions that training and preparation are ineffective against a nuclear threat.
Department of Homeland Security head Michael Chertoff demonstrated this attitude last year when he responded to the following question in USA Today:
Q: In the last four years, the most horrific scenario – a nuclear attack – may be the least discussed. If there were to be a nuclear attack tomorrow by terrorists on an American city, how would it be handled?
A: In the area of a nuclear bomb, it's prevention, prevention, prevention. If a nuclear bomb goes off, you are not going to be able to protect against it. There's no city strong enough infrastructure-wise to withstand such a hit. No matter how you approach it, there'd be a huge loss of life.
Mr. Chertoff fails to grasp that most of that "huge loss of life" is preventable if the survivors of the blast and those downwind knew what to do beforehand. He only acknowledges that the infrastructure will be severely compromised – responders won't be responding. Civil Defense training of the public is clearly the only hope for those in the fallout path. Of course, the government should try and prevent it happening first, but the answer he should have given to that question is: "preparation, preparation, preparation" for when prevention might fail.
The federal government must launch a national mass media, business-supported and even school-based effort, superseding our most ambitious public awareness campaigns like for AIDS, drug abuse, drunk driving, seat belts, anti-smoking and smoke detectors. The effort should percolate down to every level of our society. Let's be clear – we are talking about the potential to save, or lose, many times more lives than those saved by all these other noble efforts combined!
Instead, Homeland Security continues to be focused primarily on two missions:
2. COG – Continuity of Government for when No. 1 fails
The most important mission has been largely ignored:
3. Continuity of the Public – proven mass media Civil Defense training of the public that would make the survival difference for the vast majority of Americans affected by a nuclear event.
This tragic and deadly oversight won't change until the crippling myths of nuclear un-survivability are banished by the good news that a trained and prepared public can, and ultimately has to, save themselves.
National Civil Defense is an issue we hope and pray will come to the forefront politically this fall, with both parties vying to outdo each other in proposing aggressive Civil Defense educational programs. We are not asking billions for provisioned public fallout shelters for all, like what already awaits many of our politicians. We are just asking for a comprehensive mass media, business- and school-based re-release of the proven practical strategies of Civil Defense education, similar to what already has been embraced by the Chinese, Russians, Swiss, Israelis and even Singapore.
In the meantime, though, don't wait around for the government to instruct and prepare your own family and community. Educate yourself today and begin establishing your own nuclear survival preparations by reading the free nuke prep primer "What To Do If A Nuclear Disaster Is Imminent!"
Then pass copies on to friends, neighbors, relatives, churches and even local news media – and to your local elected representatives – with a brief note attached saying simply: "We hope/pray we never need this, but just in case, read it now, and keep it close for later on!" You might also forward them a copy of this article to help spread the good news that's liberating American's from the deadly myths of nuclear un-survivability!
Shane Connor is the CEO of www.ki4u.com and www.nukalert.com, consultants and developers of Civil Defense solutions to government, military, private organizations and individual families.
If a modest sized nuke was exploded off shore (on a ship, not a air blast) from one of our ports like NYC. How far away would the EMP effects travel?
If a modest sized nuke was exploded off shore (on a ship, not a air blast) from one of our ports like NYC. How far away would the EMP effects travel?
And what will happen to network TV? I'll just die if I can't keep up with "Survivor" every week!
I sure hope we never have to face such an attack. Our material blessings have insulated us from some of the hard realities of life. We have thus been able to make death a mere dramatic device in movies and TV. But whether it's been danger from bands of Huns, the Assyrian army, Pol Pot or the pandemic Black Death, there's been numerous episodes of megadeath in human history. And the comforting thing is that in even all this, God is still in charge. As Jesus said in Matthew 6:19:
"Lay not up for yourselves treasures on the earth, where rust and the moth consume, where thieves break through and steal. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither rust nor moth consumes, and where thieves do not break through nor steal."
By all means we should prudently prepare to take care of ourselves and our families (especially if we still have our children to care for) But the best preparation while we lay up physical necessities is to meanwhile lay up treasure in heaven. That way even if the big ground zero is the ground right under our house, or if we're all reduced to living in grass huts with a 30 year life expectancy, we can rest easy because we have made preperation for our true home.
No sir I do not.
You are spot on! One of the terrible possibilities with the democrat approach to appease and talk to terrorists is the very real possibility of them detonating a series of two or three nuclear weapons in the Gulf. The tsunami waves would render the Gulf Coast unihabitable for quite some time and the GUlf gas and oil platforms would be utterly useless, not to mention the escaping gas and oil rendering the Gulf a dead zone. The American voters are dumbed down purposely and there are factions within the government (read democrats, purely and simplely adversaries to US dominance, democraps) so determined to render US a non-super power that it is perhaps too late for literally millions who will be sacrificed in the democrat empowerment scheme. If folks think Katrina did some damage, wait to see what al qaeda can do to the entire Gulf coast with two or three nukes detonated below surface in the Gulf. Or off the coast of New York, Baltimore, Boston, if you like.
Not to compound the threat, but letting a country like mad mullah Iran achieve nuclear weapon status is a sure way to get nukes into the ships owned by al qaeda or operatives cooperating with al qaeda (Dubai Ports World anyone?). Such nukes could easily be packaged for dropping into the Gulf and sunk to a particular optimal depth before detonation. N. Korea and Iran with nukes is a sure way to bring about massive death and mayhem ... but then, that's precisely what the Rockefellers and democrats in general want so they can occupy the vacuum. Enjoy the democrat return to power over you, America. The happy days will be short lived and the death and destruction will surely follow. We know this as surely as day follows night because the democrats are showing their treachery and have learned to sacrifice millions in their empowerment schemes (read abortion on demand, if you doubt their gleeful deal with the devil).
I only have a small collection from when I was visiting old court houses for business and would ask for a little of the old unused materials.
All of my stuff is packed away in deep storage (elsewhere)and I probably won't see it again until I move several years from now.
I do like the more masculine attitude of the old material though. Look at your graphic it is men, in action, getting things done, there was nothing passive about govt. advice then.
Many Russians never ate sausage during the siege of Stalingrad, quite a few people simply disappeared...
Think of it as radiation therapy. You'll be immune to everything if you survive the treatment.
We'd written that for a future nuclear crisis and resultant mass panicked audience that has not yet arrived. As mentioned in it; "This guide was purposely designed with the sober realization that the overwhelming majority of our fellow Americans would not be compelled to read such a guide until a nuclear crisis was imminent and, unfortunately, their preparation options and time to prepare then would be very limited."
We wanted something that'd be a simple step-by-step basics that was practical for the masses then that they might still be able to do and acquire locally, and for the media to distribute, when an event happened that had us, and other sources, again sold-out. Like after 9/11 when the Federal Office of Emergency Preparedness dispatched a Lear Jet down here and scooped up our last 300,000 doses of KI or when FEMA bought out our last 13 truckloads of MRE's for Katrina last year.
The point is, as also mentioned in that guide; "If you are fortunate enough to be exploring your family preparation needs and options before such a future national crisis, there is much more that you can and should do now to insure that they are even better prepared."
That guide is a starting point and the links in it will further deepen your nuke prep knowledge and expand your family preparation options and odds of survival.
The original article posted here "The Good News About Nuclear Destruction" will, hopefully, now have many more seriously considering actually doing so, and well before a nuclear crisis unfolds and their options/time then had run out.
- Shane
ping
It would take quite a bit more than two or three 10 kt devices to do that. Water is extremely heavy, and a lot of the water around a nuclear burst is just vaporized, not lifted and dropped.
For reference, the Crossroads Baker shot in 1946 involved a 20kt device (identical to Trinity and Nagasaki) exploded 80 ft deep in Bikini lagoon. The resulting wave swamped some of the target ships in the lagoon, and the reflected concussion blew the bottom out of a (target) aircraft carrier. However, the surrounding atoll was not at all wiped out by the tsunami. (AFAIK, it didn't do any appreciable damage on land.)
You know, a 36" thickness of books, magazines or newspapers will reduce the amount of gamma radiation coming through them by 99%. You should set up your shelter inside all your CD materials!
Seriously, if you ever dig your stuff out, look me up! Until then, check out conelrad.com... lots of good stuff there.
Yes I misstated what Iodine could prevent. Unintentional my omission was that iodine will only reduce the amount of radioactive iodine absorbed by the thyroid, and prevent thyroid cancer at a later date.
As far as radiation sickness, avoiding contact with the dust as much as possible will help prevent absorbtion. Keep inside in a well sealed area. After a few days, the dust will settle. If possible, bathe in non contaminated water. Although remember that water resources may be in short supply, and may be better served by saving for drinking.
you said "The killing efficiency of trained fire teams is awesome and unhindered by fears. Order and peace among many can be restored by few of them rather quickly"
I know you want to believe that, but recall in New Orleans, after the hurricane, the snipers, the fires, and how long it took to restore order. How much looting took place before the troops arrived? How many days were the people at the mercy of the thugs and gangs roaming the streets? Impassable roads could prevent any kind of response for days or even weeks, especially if devestation is in multiple locations. Considering the botched response for one area a hundred miles wide, what if there are ten disasters nationwide? Who will be prioritized?
New Orleans and Hurricane Katrina should be considered a test response of disaster preparedness. From my view, the government failed to deliver on it's promise of protecting the people. From the top all the way down to the bottom of the bureaucracy. And it will continue to fail because bureaucracy has trouble learning from mistakes and not repeating them. It is very naive to believe that a humvee is going to come straight to your neighborhood immediately after the crisis and save you.
Yup - well said.
I read somewhere that a 1-megaton attack on New York City would destroy 10% of the assets and kill 20% of the population, thus leaving the citizenry proportionally better off...
Naw, don't teach duck-and-cover; think of it as evolution in action.
Detonate a 20 kt device or three at a depth of three hundred or more feet, perhaps one hundred miles apart. The swell created would devastate the coast in a very short time, and done at height of beach visitation time, the murder potential is astronomical. Don't make the mistake of under estimating the murderous intentions or potential of these demonspawn arising from Islam.
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