I find it astounding that such rudimentary national security issues such as this and our vulnerability to EMP attack have been ignored for so long.
“I find it astounding that such rudimentary national security issues such as this and our vulnerability to EMP attack have been ignored for so long.”
In the liberal worldview, and this carries over to those who would fight liberals too, if it isn’t getting you votes in the next election, it’s not worth considering. Also, a crisis is a good thing to have. It allows you to do things you couldn’t do otherwise. So a crisis is a win/win for politicians. Not so much for the poor sods who are bleeding or starving, but, then, they’ll be darned grateful for whatever the government can do for them.
See how all that works?
“...I find it astounding that such rudimentary national security issues such as this and our vulnerability to EMP attack have been ignored for so long....”
I don’t. Whenever we have an “enemy combatant” sitting in the Oval Office for 8 long years, nothing surprises me as to the destruction the POS did. He belongs in GITMO...sharing a cell with Hitlery....forever.
The Dept. of Interior project to do a national mineral survey is NOT new, only maybe if done in a coordinated nationwide manner.
I’ve been doing research in Record Group 16, Entry 17, Office of the Secretary of Agriculture, at the National Archives in College Park, Md.
During WW2, “mosaic” and limited aerial surveying of possible mineral deposits were done by a number of government agencies with the help of contractor civilian aerial photography/surveyings companies.
Many maps were made for the Dept. of Agriculture divisions such as the Agricultural Adjustment Agency, the Soil Conservation Service, etc, as well as by the U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey, the Bureau of Land Management, the Army Mapping Service (AMS), the Air Force/Navy, the U.S. Geological Service, the Forest Service, etc.
The purpose was to try and make as complete an updated national map collection of topographical, soil, aeronautical, forests, and possible mineral deposits from both photographic maps/mosaics of specific regions/areas into quadrangle maps (which were photographed/surveyed by county/subsectors).
In Record Group 51, Office of Management & Budget (the old Bureau of the Budget), they have the records of the old Federal Board of Surveys and Maps, esp. records rel. to the status of Federal mapping projects, Boxes 1-12.
This Fed. Bd of Surveys and Maps had numerous name changes including the Federal Bureau of Surveys and Maps, 1936. During much of WW2, there was created in the Estimates Division, a new position, Assistant to the Division for Surveying and Mapping (1942-52. The Resources and Civil Works Div. came later. In 1967-73, this Division was renamed the Natural Resources Program Division, then it became the Natural Resources, Energy and Science Division (1973-76).
The 1919 original mission of the Board of Surveys and maps was “to coordinate and promote improvement of surveying and mapping activities of the Federal Government”, and this included mineral deposits surveying on the ground and by aerial photography.
What Secy of Interior Zinke has done today is to make what was an often patchwork effort, esp. during WW2, to survey and catalog the mineral resources of the U.S., into a nationally coordinated program.
For more information on minerals exploration, see the U.S. Government’s Bureau of Mines annual “Minerals Yearbooks” which detail the explorations for specific minerals by year, state and even county/mines.
As we used to say in Geology class, “Dig, Baby, Dig”.