This article has been posted to DoctorZin’s New News Blog!
Posted on 08/12/2004 5:23:52 AM PDT by OESY
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[I]magine a blackout that lasts for months, or years.
That was the job of the Commission to Assess the Threat to the U.S. from Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) Attack. The commission, created in 2000 to examine the possibility of EMP attack and its aftermath, just delivered a report to Congress. All we can say is, we hope someone in Washington is paying attention.
An EMP attack occurs when an enemy sets off a nuclear explosion high in the Earth's atmosphere. The electromagnetic pulse generated by the blast destroys the electronics and satellites in its field of vision. For a detonation above the Midwest, that could mean the entire continental U.S.
No American would necessarily die in the initial attack, but what comes next is potentially catastrophic. The pulse would wipe out most electronics and telecommunications, including the power grid. Millions could die for want of modern medical care or even of starvation since farmers wouldn't be able to harvest crops and distributors wouldn't be able to get food to supermarkets. Commissioner Lowell Wood calls EMP attack a "giant continental time machine" that would move us back more than a century in technology to the late 1800s.
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China and Russia have the capability to launch an EMP weapon -- and have let us know it.
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But it's a relatively unsophisticated EMP weapon in the hands of terrorists that really scares the Commission. All it would take is one nuclear warhead attached to a Scud missile launched from a barge off the U.S. coast to shut down much of the country.
The Commission offers a series of recommendations for reducing U.S. vulnerability.
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(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
You'll need to have a big storage tank of your own and keep it topped off. If the gas is under the control of anyone else you can't be assured of access.
He'd run out of gass to truck within a week.
Because many of our critical systems are already protected. Satellites especially just by the nature of the environment they are forced to live in.
As far as I can remember the EMP will stop running electric instantly if operating.
If you have a generator sitting idle (not running) once the effects of the EMP cease it will run.
Anything operating at the time I beleive is useless.
Thus the major problem with electric generators like Niagara Falls.
Yesterday morning at 6am my wife saw FBI agents and Cops meeting at a local coffee shop.
They are watching this area, we are 5 miles from the falls.
I was showing a manufacturing engineer the problem and the video ram of the pc diagonally across from mine was affected. (now only if my personality...)
I guess the best story was the manager whose office adjoined
the ladies room. You'd hear a profanity when somebody started grabbing paper towels.
Grounding did not help. Chassis, table, electrical.
I started getting reimbursed for the cans of "Cling" or whatever the anti-static spray was at the time.
How likely is this to be a problem? vs. just possible events for Uncle Sugar to be aware of?
Did you get to read R.A.'s post, http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/1190041/posts?page=36#36
Would the the wiring also be a carry over problem for a generator?
Yesterday morning at 6am my wife saw FBI agents and Cops meeting at a local coffee shop.
They are watching this area, we are 5 miles from the falls.
Now that's funny.
Hand pump? What an idea.
Better hope he has good defenses, and can keep the authorities from confiscating it.
Pity the poor people with pacemakers...
I don't think so. His point is that it will flow thru wires connected.
Anything not connected to outlets or running should not be affected.
I would like to see more FBI around.
Short answer...yes. The military has been shielding their equipment for years.
"LOL, that is one good hubby you got there! I was very gratified at work on Jan 2 (or whatever day it was), 2000 to hear of another firm whose phones were down, they failed to find and fix a bug. I went nuts during '99 and it was nice to know it wasn't all a big hoax."
On January 1 in my office, nothing happened!!!
In front of the entire Y2K team a manager declared that it was a 65 million dollar waste of time. He was fired on the spot.
A lot of the newer networking stuff is cots...no more milspec stuff.
Nope. No way.
A tree branch, OTOH...
I was thinking about those birds on the wire myself :)
I was actually looking at generators. It seems they wouldn't be much of a solution beyond 3 days. What do you think?
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