The United States has been relatively lucky so far with regards to terrorist attacks on the civilian population (after you take 9/11 and other one-time events out of the mix). But based on what almost happened here in December 2009 (on a flight coming into Detroit) and May 2010 (in Times Square, New York City), one can start connecting the dots to see where the future might be headed.
FerFAL described what it is like to live on a daily basis where more than 50% of the population is below the poverty line due to an economic collapse. Other countries, on the other hand, have experienced terrorist attacks on a daily basis. I hope we don't have that kind of a situation develop in the United States, but it could happen. Here are a couple of articles about daily life in Israel from a while back about what life might come to in a TEOTWAWKI scenario caused by terrorism:
Los Angeles law enforcement officials have quietly begun preparing for possible suicide bomber attacks, laying plans to confront a threat that experts say could be psychologically devastating. After 18 months of accelerating terrorist attacks, [Israel] is a nation in despair.Preparing for Threat of Suicide Bombings
5:33 pm June 3, 2010
Justin Case
Bronze Apple
posts 647
2
Los Angeles is rolling out its counter-terrorism program. I wonder if other cities will follow with their programs.
This seems to me a distinct possibility with the tensions between North and South Korea heating up.
Military Source Warns of North Korea’s EMP Bomb
North Korea is developing a bomb that emits an electromagnetic field upon explosion and damages nearby electronic devices, a South Korean military source has revealed to the JoongAng Ilbo. The source said North Korea has been working on the electromagnetic pulse bomb, or EMP bomb, since the mid-1990s, with help from Russian scientists, adding that the weapon may be near completion.
Frank Gaffney, president of the Center for Security Policy, warns in National Review Online that the U.S. remains vulnerable to an electro-magnetic pulse (EMP) attack from North Korea. If North Korea were to detonate a nuclear warhead high in the atmosphere above the U.S., the resulting burst of immensely powerful energy would devastate nearly every form of electrical system in the nation. In 2004, a blue-ribbon commission tasked by Congress with assessing the EMP threat found that it could have a “catastrophic” effect, possibly reducing the U.S. to a pre-industrial society. The commission noted that an EMP could be delivered with a “relatively unsophisticated missile,” and named North Korea as one of the states that could be seeking such a capability. In his article, Gaffney calls upon the U.S. to “make a redoubled effort to deploy effective, comprehensive defenses against ballistic missiles that might be used for EMP and other attacks.” He urges the Pentagon to augment the modest ground-based systems in Alaska and California, in particular with increased sea-based defenses that could shoot down North Korean missiles at various points in their flight path.
" When a well packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and it's speaker a raving lunatic." Dresden James
8:34 pm June 5, 2010
Justin Case
Bronze Apple
posts 647
4
Preppers need to consider the electrical grid could go down someday:
Grid experts have long worried that the high-altitude detonation of a nuclear weapon would send a damaging pulse of energy to earth. And changes in solar activity have occasionally distorted the earth’s magnetic field and generated currents in the rock that have caused blackouts. Grid Confronts a Threat from Mother Nature
But just because something like this hasn't happened yet, it would still wreak havoc if it does (i.e., that's why they are called high-impact, low-frequency events).
5:26 am June 6, 2010
druidhouse
Guest
5
why not a vast fleet of armed drones continuously overflying n.k. with a GEO satellite parked over it to monitor the situation, since it is vastly easier to destroy a missile at launch than once it reaches full velocity. the same with the coasts. during the cold war we had the strategic air command on a constant mission to its failsafe point. same deal could be done now. stop building these f^%&ing aircraft carriers for ten bazillion dollars a copy, and do the easy thing. and the smart thing for a change. the days of the u.s. projecting power around the globe are long over. it's time the defense department started thinking about something more mundane, more practical, like, you know, maybe DEFENSE. isn't that the name of the f%$#ing department?
it cracked me up when g.w. bush created the dept. of homeland security after 9-11. i thought that was what we had a defense department for. but if we needed a whole new department to defend our actual country, then whose country are we spending half a trillion dollars a year to defend over at the defense dept.?
whom the gods would destroy, they first make mad. the u.s. has completely lost it's sanity.
8:47 am June 6, 2010
Jarhead
Arkansas
Diamond Apple
posts 2326
6
The threat form NK is not from a missile fired from their mainland, the danger comes from them loading it on a ship or barge atop a scud and launching it off our coast. They can use a ship flagged from another country and claim it was not them but terrorist who had fired them. If the tensions between North and South Korea lead to war and the US becomes involved the above scenario is a distinct possibility. Once lunatics like NK or Iran acquire Nuclear weapons and the ability to bring the US to it's knees the likelihood of them using them goes though the roof. How do you deter a nation like Iran who believes that a Nuclear War would hasten the return of the twelveth Iman and Islamic rule of the earth.
" When a well packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and it's speaker a raving lunatic." Dresden James
8:59 am June 6, 2010
Crab Apple
Bronze Apple
posts 860
7
Something that has concerned me since Feb is that the Iranians launched a satalite into orbit. If they do the same with a nuke they can drop it for an EMP anywhere.
8:36 pm June 6, 2010
druidhouse
Guest
8
jarhead said: "The threat form NK is not from a missile fired from their mainland, the danger comes from them loading it on a ship or barge atop a scud and launching it off our coast."
that's why i said over our coasts too. we could detect a launch of any kind and the drones would fire at that point and destroy it at lift-off.
what concerns me is the the u.s. doesn't really have a defense strategy for today's world. all the generals are STILL thinking about WWII. even after the lessons of vietnam. 2 of the most popular movies this year were "inglorious bastards" and "valkery". world war II, 70 years later and we're still obsessed with it.
with all due respect to the military veterans who are on this forum, when g.w. bush gave the order to invade iraq the generals should have either refused to obey it or resigned their commissions. the fact that they went ahead and obeyed a blatantly illegal order is grounds for firing all of them now. the highest officers at the pentagon are useless, dangerous idiots who have left us defenseless because of their lack of integrity and their betrayal of the u.s. constitution to which they swore an oath to protect and defend. obama should be impeached for continuing the order and for issuing additional orders for sending 30,000 men into afghanistan. stanley mcchrystal is a f&^%ing moron and a brown nosing s.o.b. Even i know more about military strategy than him or any of his predecessors. 6000 good men are dead. over a hundred thousand civilians are dead. a trillion dollars has gone up in smoke with no end in sight. we have so much blood on our hands it can never be washed away. that's why there is oil gushing into the gulf; it represents the blood on our hands. it is exacting a price in kind which we cannot escape paying. this time God has said, "ENOUGH!"
9:35 pm June 6, 2010
jamie
Golden Apple
posts 1820
9
Thanks for the post!!
It reminds me I need to change over my stuff to my new and bigger EMP Box. I need to make a Faraday cage for the generator and get some extra points, distributor cap and the spark plugs and wires for the RV and store them.It's a 1976 it should run with a little work.
Hopefully I can pick store some more gas before the price starts getting worse.
9:51 am June 9, 2010
Pete
Bronze Apple
posts 715
10
"6000 good men are dead. over a hundred thousand civilians are dead. a trillion dollars has gone up in smoke with no end in sight. we have so much blood on our hands it can never be washed away. that's why there is oil gushing into the gulf; it represents the blood on our hands. it is exacting a price in kind which we cannot escape paying. this time God has said, "ENOUGH!""
C'mon Druid…you were wondering where one of your posts looked like one of Loq's? If God took vengence on any nation for toppling dictators and theocratic tyranny's, every nation on earth would've been wiped out centuries ago.
The United States' I grew up in no longer exists…click your heals, Dorothy: you're not in Kansas anymore!!
1:35 am June 10, 2010
druidhouse
Guest
11
i guess i shouldn't have used the God part. that puts people off. iraq was the only SECULAR state in the arab world. we helped put saddam in power. saddam was on the CIA payroll for 25 years. iraq never made one aggressive move towards the u.s. We never punished iran for taking our embassy personal hostage for over a year. but saddam DID punish them for us. and at great cost to himself. he was the counter balance to iran in the region. now iran (our genuine enemy) rules the whole region.
i believe in metaphors. i believe that if you make horrific mistakes in one realm, you will make them in other realms. bad judgment and corruption spreads throughout the organism. in other words, i believe that karma is a b!tch.
9:49 pm September 21, 2010
Justin Case
Bronze Apple
posts 647
12
The threat of terrorism continues to grow and the world is becoming a battlefield.
Interpol says it has a register of almost 10,000 wanted or suspected terrorists.
The sharp growth in extremist websites is making recruitment much easier for al-Qaeda (there were 12 sites in 1998 and 4,500 by 2006). A researcher at the London-based International Centre for the Study of Radicalisation told the BBC that the number of radical websites was now far higher than the figure given by Interpol.
Throw enough mud against the wall and some of it will stick; send
enough terrorists on a mission and some of them will get through.
I believe we've been lucky so far. But as terrorist attacks become more common in the years ahead, I expect more disruptions in our daily lives (e.g., shortages caused by disruptions in supply chains, hassles caused by greater security precautions, the mental anguish of wondering if we'll be at the next ground zero, and so forth).
My Plan A is to remain close to home and to be able to shelter in place for an extended period. My backup plan is to be able to get out of Dodge as intact as possbile.
9:43 pm September 5, 2011
Justin Case
Bronze Apple
posts 647
13
This 90-minute documentary comes across as a PR film for the NYPD. I don't know if I should visit NYC and feel safe. Or be glad I don't go anyplace that either has large crowds or is in a confined space.
These guys don't work for free. What is going to happen when budgets get cut as we sink into austerity?
7:29 am September 6, 2011
pm97
Florida
Bronze Apple
posts 715
14
WOW!! Talk about thread resurection!
You're right JC. It's PR for the PD. NY has always believed they are the center of this country so of course they think they are the current prime target. Their security is an allusion. Don't go. No large crowds. The money for them won't run out. I can remember at least 3 times in my lifetime that we the people have bailed NYC out financially. It's a waste of money.
2:01 pm September 6, 2011
Gallo
Bronze Apple
posts 924
15
Post edited 2:05 pm – September 6, 2011 by Gallo
Yes, it’s an old topic but worth re-looking—if for no other reason than to see Druid and Jarhead go at it. And because the threats change with time (or get closer).
Druid, can you elaborate a bit more on the gushing oil / blood on our hands analogy. I’m a sucker for imagery.
How’s this for imagery, people having a good time at the slot machines. Several thugs under 25 rush-in with gasoline jerry cans and light the place on fire. Fifty-one die in a few minutes, mostly by smoke inhalation. Where? Less than 100 miles south of the US border. Why? The casino was late on it protection money. Now, that’s terrorism that doesn’t get much coverage on the tube. I wonder why?
3:56 pm September 6, 2011
Jarhead
Arkansas
Diamond Apple
posts 2326
16
Druid, can you elaborate a bit more on the gushing oil / blood on our hands analogy.
Oh damn….don't do that….don't rattle his cage
" When a well packaged web of lies has been sold gradually to the masses over generations, the truth will seem utterly preposterous and it's speaker a raving lunatic." Dresden James
5:30 pm September 6, 2011
Justin Case
Bronze Apple
posts 647
17
pm97 said:
I can remember at least 3 times in my lifetime that we the people have bailed NYC out financially.
This is one reason why I believe Gerald Ford might be the greatest U.S. president in my lifetime. He had the political balls to say NO to NYC:
Washington, Oct. 29, 1975 (News Bureau) – President Ford declared flatly today that he would veto any bill calling for “a federal bail-out of New York City” and instead proposed legislation that would make it easier for the city to go into bankruptcy.
Although I did not like Ford at the time because he had pardoned Richard Nixon, I've come to believe with age and wisdom that he knew what he was doing when it came to the role of government in our lives:
A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.
Address to a Joint Session of Congress
August 12, 1974
It's too bad the guy is not around any longer. He would qualify for one more term of office.
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