Solar Flares and 2012
As explored in the last blog, Solar Flares cause Electromagnetic Pulse (EMPs) and EMPs can cause serious damage to the electrical power grid and literally fry computer components at power stations, in cars, and even in airplanes. A 2004 Congressional Study projected a stunning 90% fatality rate from a significant EMP attack, explaining that it would cause an almost immediate shortage of potable water, food and medical supplies, and eventually lead to an economic and societal collapse. Recently, various scientists from NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration have sent a slurry of warnings about a surprising increase in the extent of Solar Activity. Various predictions are for the height of this cycle of activity to reach its maximum sometime between mid 2012 and early 2013. It has traditionally been cited that solar flares are made up of charged particles, such as protons and nuclei of atoms. Not until December 2008, more than two years after its discovery, did NASA release findings that solar flares emit mass-bearing particles, hydrogen, oxygen, and iron atoms.
Please be informed…I did not ace E=Mc2, but I do recall from Physics 101, that mass is affected by the force of gravity and the center of gravity between two objects is an effect of the relative mass between the two. We stay planted on the surface of a somewhat rounded Earth because our center of gravity is somewhere near the center of the Earth. Right now, most solar flares are contained pretty close to the Sun. The center of gravity between the mass of the Sun and the mass of the Earth is pretty much within the core of the Sun since the Sun has so much more mass than the Earth. This center of gravity between the two, being within the Sun, pulls particles back to the Sun. Only during episodes when the polarization of the two electromagnetic fields (that of the Earth versus that from the Sun) become opposed do we see much of a fuss. On December 22, 2012, the Sun, Earth, Jupiter and the Center of the Milky Way will be completely aligned. How will this event change the center of gravity between the Sun and the Earth? Will the solar flares be contained?
Let’s describe it this way: If you have a linear piece of wood or metal rod, with uniform mass throughout the length of it, you can place your finger in the middle of it and it will be completely balanced on your finger. That’s because your finger is at the center of gravity – mass is equal on either side. The center of gravity is the exact center of all the material (that is, mass) that makes up the object. Now take a sledge hammer. Your finger would have to be either right next to the hammer side, or on the hammer itself to balance the mass (weight) and to pinpoint the center of gravity. Now put a weight (mass) on the end opposite the hammer that is greater than the weight of the hammer itself. Your finger would have to be closer to the weighted side because it has more mass than the hammer end. The center of gravity between the Sun and the Earth is well within the Sun. The center of gravity between Jupiter and the Sun is still close to the Sun, but more towards its edge – Jupiter has more mass than the Earth.
Each planet has a direct line towards the Sun, like a trajectory, from its own center of gravity to that of the Sun. Depending on the location of the orbiting planet, the range of where this trajectory meets the Sun varies. It varies for each planet and there is a range where it meets the Sun due to its orbit around the Sun (This range is called a “sleeve”). The particular sleeve representing the mass of Jupiter intersects the solar surface at 35.9 degrees North and South. This is precisely where sunspot and flare activity begin and end during each 11 year cycle. According to Dr. Rollin Gillespie, a retired NASA engineer and astronomer, Jupiter, and to a smaller degree the other less massive planets, may trigger the 11 year cycle of sunspots and solar flares.
The Sun rotates at a slight angle, as our Earth does, and as it rotates, it wobbles a bit and tilts the sleeves where the various planets align. At certain locations within their orbit around the Sun, these tilting sleeves clash with each other and cause more intense eruptions of solar flares. This results in a “Solar Maximum”. The next "solar maximum" event coincides with December 21, 2012. Scientists have noted that when Jupiter and Saturn are aligned on the same side of the Sun, the solar maximum (the period when we have the most sunspots and flares) is at its weakest; when they are on opposite sides of the Sun,the solar maximum is at its strongest. The positions of these two planets on December 21, 2012 are ideal for extreme solar activity.
In December 2008, NASA scientists started releasing a flurry of warnings about increasing solar activity. On March 27, 2008, unexpected eruptions with M-class radiation (solar eruptions range from nana to X class), at approximately the equatorial region of the Sun were seen. These surprising eruptions suggests a disturbance from an object even more massive than Jupiter, placing the "sleeve" outside the Sun. Could this be the beginning of the Galaxy's effects on our Sun? On December 20th, 2012, just a few days before the Mayan "doomsday”, there is a straight-line alignment from Jupiter, the Earth, the Sun and (most significantly) the Galactic Center (which is a giant black hole!). A black hole, is a region of space from which nothing, not even light, can escape. It is the result of the deformation of space-time caused by a very compact mass. On December 20, 2012 we will be precisely aligned with the center of the Galaxy where there is maximum mass! More mass means more gravity.
Remember our experiment finding the center of gravity? With the alignment between the center of the Milky Way, where we find maximum mass, and the Sun, with Jupiter and the Earth right smack in between, WHERE will the center of Gravity among these galactic objects be? Remember NASA’s discovery that Solar Flares contain elements with mass? These elements of mass will be attracted to the center of gravity; The Solar Flares, expected to be at solar maximum on December 21, 2012, will be attracted to the center of gravity. With the mass of the Milky Way so great, the reach of Solar Flares will probably not be contained at the edge of the Sun. JUST how far they may reach…WE DON’T KNOW…How much mass is there in the center of the galaxy anyway?
Don’t worry…the Sun isn’t going to go racing towards the center of the galaxy, smashing us to smithereens. This cycle happens about every 12000 years, but it DOES have its effects!
NEXT BLOG: Solar Flares and Natural Disasters
Friday, September 10, 2010
Solar Flares, Electromagnetic Pulses, and EMP Weaponry
Solar Flares, Electromagnetic Pulses, and EMP Weaponry
Solar Flares - The End of Life as we know it! Watch the Video by CLICKing HERE!
An EMP Attack could be more damaging than an Nuke Bomb! Watch the Video by CLICKing HERE!
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. It results from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field. An electromagnetic pulse creates a high-density electrical field and the resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. An EMP acts like a stroke of lightning but is stronger, faster and briefer. EMPs can seriously damage electronic devices connected to power sources or antennas. This include communication systems, computers, electrical appliances, and automobile or aircraft ignition systems, even pacemakers and ICDs (Internal Cardiac Devises). The damage could range from a minor interruption to actual burnout of components, depending upon the intensity of an EMP.
The fact that an electromagnetic pulse is produced by a nuclear explosion was known since the earliest days of nuclear weapons testing. During the first United States nuclear test on 16 July 1945, electronic equipment was shielded due to expectation of an electromagnetic pulse from the detonation. The official technical history for that first nuclear test states, "All signal lines were completely shielded, in many cases doubly shielded. In spite of this many records were lost because of spurious pickup at the time of the explosion that paralyzed the recording equipment.” During British nuclear testing in 1952–1953 there were instrumentation failures that were attributed to "radioflash," which was then the British term for EMP.
The effects of an EMP were not fully appreciated until 1962. At this time, the United States was conducting a series of high-altitude atmospheric tests, code named "Fishbowl." The nuclear explosion, "Starfish Prime," which was detonated in the Pacific Ocean almost 900 miles from Hawaii, caused an EMP that disrupted radio stations and electrical equipment throughout Hawaii, knocking out streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link. The EMP-damaged microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands. The Thor missile carrying the Starfish Prime warhead actually reached a maximum height of just over 680 miles, and the warhead was detonated on its downward trajectory when it had fallen to the programmed altitude of 250 miles. A high atmospheric explosion can cover extremely large areas, resulting in an extremely large EMP field over the entire area. The magnitude of a nuclear EMP over the United States would be much larger than the tests in the Pacific would indicate. For any particular weapon, the magnitude of the components of an EMP is roughly proportional to the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field over the center of the continental United States is about twice the strength as at the location of the Starfish Prime test. Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements.
A few military ships and aircraft were positioned at the time in the region of the South Pacific Ocean near the Samoan Islands. This location was in an area known as the the southern conjugate region on the other side of the equator from the detonation. According to one of the first technical reports, "The visible phenomena due to the burst were widespread and quite intense; a very large area of the Pacific was illuminated by the auroral phenomena, from far south of the south magnetic conjugate area (Tongatapu) through the burst area to far north of the north conjugate area (French Frigate Shoals). . . . At twilight after the burst, resonant scattering of light from lithium and other debris was observed at Johnston and French Frigate Shoals for many days confirming the long time presence of debris in the atmosphere. An interesting side effect was that the Royal New Zealand Air Force was aided in anti-submarine maneuvers by the light from the bomb.” At Kwajalein, 1600 miles to the west, reports describe “a dense overcast extended the length of the eastern horizon, then a brilliant white flash burned through the clouds rapidly changing to an expanding green ball of irradiance extending into the clear sky above the overcast. Then rose great white fingers in the horizon in sweeping arcs turning downward toward the poles and disappearing in seconds to be replaced by spectacular concentric cirrus like rings moving out from the blast at tremendous initial velocity, then persisting in a state of frozen stillness. Then as greenish light turned to purple and began to fade at the point of burst, a bright red glow began to develop on the horizon until the whole eastern sky was a dull burning red semicircle. This condition, interspersed with tremendous white rainbows, persisted no less than seven minutes."
In 1963, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty to counter the considerable threat posed by EMPs. Unfortunately, the destructive potential of an EMP increases everyday as global society becomes more and more dependent opon electronics. According to W.H. Bowart and Richard Sutton, the U.S. Military has directed various Pentagon and Intelligence agencies, Corporations, and Universitites towards the development of EMP weaponry since the 1950's. Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons, be they sophisticated intercontinental nuclear weapons specifically designed to generate EMPs or relatively crude and cheap electromagnetic bombs, may be one of the most likely and potentially devastating means of terrorist attack in the near future.
EMPs are typified by fast rise times, high field strengths, and broad frequency content—factors that combine to make them lethal to electronic systems. The effect as similar to a lightning strike, but stronger. EMPs induce large voltage and current transients on electrical conductors such as antennas and wires as well as conductive tracks on electronic circuit boards. Pulses enter a system through a path designed to gather electromagnetic energy, such as an antenna, or even through cracks, seems, trailing wires or conduits, Regardless of how EMP enters a system, it damages components simply by overloading them.
ElectroMagnetic Pulses are not only caused by nuclear devises. Solar Flares result in EMPs as well. NASA has warned that a solar super storm could hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security. A 2004 Congressional Study projected a stunning 90% fatality rate from such an attack, explaining that it would cause an almost immediate shortage of potable water, food and medical supplies, and eventually lead to an economic and societal collapse. According to Dr Richard Fisher, the director of NASA's Heliophysics division, in a new warning, states that a powerful solar storm could cause “twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina”. Large areas will be without electricity power and to repair that damage will be hard as that takes time.” The National Academy of Sciences warned two years ago that power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications could “all be knocked out by intense solar activity”. In December 2008, NASA discovered a giant, pole-to-equator breach in the Earth's magnetic field, unprecedented in size and threat. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have recently acknowledged a surprising increase in the extent of Solar Activity. Predictions are for the height of this cycle of activity to reach its maximum sometime between mid 2012 and early 2013.
In 1989, solar flares caused major electrical blackouts in Eastern Canada. Loss of electricity lasted in some areas for six weeks. On September 1–2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm occurred. Aurorae were seen around the world, most notably over the Caribbean. Aurorae over the Rocky Mountains were so bright that their glow awoke gold miners, who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning. Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed. Telegraph pylons threw sparks and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire. Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies. From August 28th through September 1859, numerous sunspots and solar flares were observed on the sun. Just before noon on September 1, the British astronomer Richard Carrington observed a massive flare. According to Forstchen, author of the book, One Second After, “If such a storm hit our planet today, over 80% of the electrical generating systems in the Eastern U.S. would still be offline four years later”. Ice cores show evidence that events like those in 1859, as measured by high-energy proton radiation, occur approximately once per 500 years, with events approximately 20% as large occurring several times per century. Less severe storms have occurred in 1921 and 1960, when widespread radio disruption was reported.
On June 1, 2009, Air France 447, went down en route from Rio to Paris, killing all 228 aboard. The mystery of AF447 has been intensively investigated, but the blackbox was never found and the case was never solved. Investigators surmise that the plane flew through a thunderstorm, causing a temperature gauge to be coated with ice and thus give false readings which in turn caused speed sensors, known as pitot tubes, to give even more false readings, ultimately tripping the cascade of failures throughout the plane's computer systems that sent AF447 into the ocean. But there are a lot of thunderstorms in the South Atlantic, and pilots who do the Rio-Paris run routinely avoid them... When the Airbus went down it was passing through what is known as the South Atlantic anomaly, a California-sized crack in the Earth's protective magnetic field that normally protects us from solar EMP. Beginning the day before, on May 31, 2009, and continuing through the crash date, a large sunspot and along with it an enormous plasma filament had erupted on the Sun's northwest quadrant, the quadrant from which sunstorm explosions are likeliest to hit the Earth. Did a blast of solar EMP rocket through space, penetrate this giant crack in the magnetic field and fry some of the Airbus's electronic components, perhaps including the temperature gauge and/or pitot tubes?
Basically, the Sun gets angry every 22 years or so. The Sun has a natural cycle with a period of approximately 22 years, running from low activity to high activity and back to low activity. During the lifetime of each cycle, the magnetic field lines of the Sun are dragged around the solar body by differential rotation at the solar equator. This means that the solar equator is spinning faster than its magnetic poles. As this continues, solar plasma drags the magnetic field lines around the Sun, causing stress and a build up of energy. As magnetic energy increases, kinks in the magnetic flux form, forcing them to the surface. These kinks, known as coronal loops, become more numerous during periods of high solar activity. As coronal loops continue to pop up over the surface, sunspots appear, often located at the loop footpoints. As magnetic energy builds up, more and more magnetic flux is forced together. This is when a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection occurs. Reconnection is the trigger for solar flares of various sizes, from "nanoflares" to "X-class flares". Granted, the largest flares my generate enough energy for 100 billion atomic explosions, but this flare occurs inear the solar surface.
As the solar magnetic field lines release a huge amount of energy, solar plasma is accelerated and confined within the magnetic environment. Solar plasma has been thought to be superheated particles like protons, electrons and some light elements such as helium nuclei, but in December, 2006, NASA discovered a flow of Hydrogen atoms, followed by Oxygen and Iron atoms. NASA did not release this information publically until more than two years after the event. Please note, these atoms have mass and if you remember basic physics, mass is affected by gravity!
The Sun constantly fires high-energy particles from its magnetically dominated surface as the solar wind. The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is a part of the Sun's magnetic field that is carried into interplanetary space by the solar wind. The intensity of the IMF effects depends opon the magnetic configuration of the Sun’s interplanetary magnetic field and the geomagnetic field of the Earth (the magnetosphere). Generally speaking, if both magnetic fields are aligned with polarities pointing in the same direction, it is highly probable that the Sun’s interplanetary magnetic field will be repelled by the magnetosphere. In this case, the IMF will slide past the Earth, causing some pressure and distortion on the magnetosphere, but otherwise passing without a problem. However, if the magnetic field lines are in an anti-parallel configuration (i.e. magnetic polarities in opposite directions), magnetic reconnection may occur at the leading edge of the Earth’s magnetosphere. In this event, the IMF and magnetosphere merges, connecting the Earth's magnetic field with the Sun's. This sets the scene for one of the most awe inspiring events in nature: the aurora.
These events occur frequently, so what’s all the hype? On December 22, 2012, the Sun, Earth, Jupiter and the center of the Milky Way become completely aligned. Solar Flares emit particles with mass, mass is affected by gravity. In 2012, the center of gravity will change, hitting its maximum shift on December 22, 2012.
NEXT BLOG: Solar Flares and 2012
Solar Flares - The End of Life as we know it! Watch the Video by CLICKing HERE!
An EMP Attack could be more damaging than an Nuke Bomb! Watch the Video by CLICKing HERE!
An electromagnetic pulse (EMP) is a burst of electromagnetic radiation. It results from a suddenly fluctuating magnetic field. An electromagnetic pulse creates a high-density electrical field and the resulting electric and magnetic fields may couple with electronic systems to produce damaging current and voltage surges. An EMP acts like a stroke of lightning but is stronger, faster and briefer. EMPs can seriously damage electronic devices connected to power sources or antennas. This include communication systems, computers, electrical appliances, and automobile or aircraft ignition systems, even pacemakers and ICDs (Internal Cardiac Devises). The damage could range from a minor interruption to actual burnout of components, depending upon the intensity of an EMP.
The fact that an electromagnetic pulse is produced by a nuclear explosion was known since the earliest days of nuclear weapons testing. During the first United States nuclear test on 16 July 1945, electronic equipment was shielded due to expectation of an electromagnetic pulse from the detonation. The official technical history for that first nuclear test states, "All signal lines were completely shielded, in many cases doubly shielded. In spite of this many records were lost because of spurious pickup at the time of the explosion that paralyzed the recording equipment.” During British nuclear testing in 1952–1953 there were instrumentation failures that were attributed to "radioflash," which was then the British term for EMP.
The effects of an EMP were not fully appreciated until 1962. At this time, the United States was conducting a series of high-altitude atmospheric tests, code named "Fishbowl." The nuclear explosion, "Starfish Prime," which was detonated in the Pacific Ocean almost 900 miles from Hawaii, caused an EMP that disrupted radio stations and electrical equipment throughout Hawaii, knocking out streetlights, setting off numerous burglar alarms and damaging a telephone company microwave link. The EMP-damaged microwave link shut down telephone calls from Kauai to the other Hawaiian islands. The Thor missile carrying the Starfish Prime warhead actually reached a maximum height of just over 680 miles, and the warhead was detonated on its downward trajectory when it had fallen to the programmed altitude of 250 miles. A high atmospheric explosion can cover extremely large areas, resulting in an extremely large EMP field over the entire area. The magnitude of a nuclear EMP over the United States would be much larger than the tests in the Pacific would indicate. For any particular weapon, the magnitude of the components of an EMP is roughly proportional to the strength of the Earth's magnetic field. The Earth's magnetic field over the center of the continental United States is about twice the strength as at the location of the Starfish Prime test. Starfish Prime caused an electromagnetic pulse which was far larger than expected, so much larger that it drove much of the instrumentation off scale, causing great difficulty in getting accurate measurements.
A few military ships and aircraft were positioned at the time in the region of the South Pacific Ocean near the Samoan Islands. This location was in an area known as the the southern conjugate region on the other side of the equator from the detonation. According to one of the first technical reports, "The visible phenomena due to the burst were widespread and quite intense; a very large area of the Pacific was illuminated by the auroral phenomena, from far south of the south magnetic conjugate area (Tongatapu) through the burst area to far north of the north conjugate area (French Frigate Shoals). . . . At twilight after the burst, resonant scattering of light from lithium and other debris was observed at Johnston and French Frigate Shoals for many days confirming the long time presence of debris in the atmosphere. An interesting side effect was that the Royal New Zealand Air Force was aided in anti-submarine maneuvers by the light from the bomb.” At Kwajalein, 1600 miles to the west, reports describe “a dense overcast extended the length of the eastern horizon, then a brilliant white flash burned through the clouds rapidly changing to an expanding green ball of irradiance extending into the clear sky above the overcast. Then rose great white fingers in the horizon in sweeping arcs turning downward toward the poles and disappearing in seconds to be replaced by spectacular concentric cirrus like rings moving out from the blast at tremendous initial velocity, then persisting in a state of frozen stillness. Then as greenish light turned to purple and began to fade at the point of burst, a bright red glow began to develop on the horizon until the whole eastern sky was a dull burning red semicircle. This condition, interspersed with tremendous white rainbows, persisted no less than seven minutes."
In 1963, the United States and the Soviet Union signed the Atmospheric Test Ban Treaty to counter the considerable threat posed by EMPs. Unfortunately, the destructive potential of an EMP increases everyday as global society becomes more and more dependent opon electronics. According to W.H. Bowart and Richard Sutton, the U.S. Military has directed various Pentagon and Intelligence agencies, Corporations, and Universitites towards the development of EMP weaponry since the 1950's. Electromagnetic pulse (EMP) weapons, be they sophisticated intercontinental nuclear weapons specifically designed to generate EMPs or relatively crude and cheap electromagnetic bombs, may be one of the most likely and potentially devastating means of terrorist attack in the near future.
EMPs are typified by fast rise times, high field strengths, and broad frequency content—factors that combine to make them lethal to electronic systems. The effect as similar to a lightning strike, but stronger. EMPs induce large voltage and current transients on electrical conductors such as antennas and wires as well as conductive tracks on electronic circuit boards. Pulses enter a system through a path designed to gather electromagnetic energy, such as an antenna, or even through cracks, seems, trailing wires or conduits, Regardless of how EMP enters a system, it damages components simply by overloading them.
ElectroMagnetic Pulses are not only caused by nuclear devises. Solar Flares result in EMPs as well. NASA has warned that a solar super storm could hit like “a bolt of lightning” and could cause catastrophic consequences for the world’s health, emergency services and national security. A 2004 Congressional Study projected a stunning 90% fatality rate from such an attack, explaining that it would cause an almost immediate shortage of potable water, food and medical supplies, and eventually lead to an economic and societal collapse. According to Dr Richard Fisher, the director of NASA's Heliophysics division, in a new warning, states that a powerful solar storm could cause “twenty times more economic damage than Hurricane Katrina”. Large areas will be without electricity power and to repair that damage will be hard as that takes time.” The National Academy of Sciences warned two years ago that power grids, GPS navigation, air travel, financial services and emergency radio communications could “all be knocked out by intense solar activity”. In December 2008, NASA discovered a giant, pole-to-equator breach in the Earth's magnetic field, unprecedented in size and threat. NASA and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) have recently acknowledged a surprising increase in the extent of Solar Activity. Predictions are for the height of this cycle of activity to reach its maximum sometime between mid 2012 and early 2013.
In 1989, solar flares caused major electrical blackouts in Eastern Canada. Loss of electricity lasted in some areas for six weeks. On September 1–2, 1859, the largest recorded geomagnetic storm occurred. Aurorae were seen around the world, most notably over the Caribbean. Aurorae over the Rocky Mountains were so bright that their glow awoke gold miners, who began preparing breakfast because they thought it was morning. Telegraph systems all over Europe and North America failed. Telegraph pylons threw sparks and telegraph paper spontaneously caught fire. Some telegraph systems appeared to continue to send and receive messages despite having been disconnected from their power supplies. From August 28th through September 1859, numerous sunspots and solar flares were observed on the sun. Just before noon on September 1, the British astronomer Richard Carrington observed a massive flare. According to Forstchen, author of the book, One Second After, “If such a storm hit our planet today, over 80% of the electrical generating systems in the Eastern U.S. would still be offline four years later”. Ice cores show evidence that events like those in 1859, as measured by high-energy proton radiation, occur approximately once per 500 years, with events approximately 20% as large occurring several times per century. Less severe storms have occurred in 1921 and 1960, when widespread radio disruption was reported.
On June 1, 2009, Air France 447, went down en route from Rio to Paris, killing all 228 aboard. The mystery of AF447 has been intensively investigated, but the blackbox was never found and the case was never solved. Investigators surmise that the plane flew through a thunderstorm, causing a temperature gauge to be coated with ice and thus give false readings which in turn caused speed sensors, known as pitot tubes, to give even more false readings, ultimately tripping the cascade of failures throughout the plane's computer systems that sent AF447 into the ocean. But there are a lot of thunderstorms in the South Atlantic, and pilots who do the Rio-Paris run routinely avoid them... When the Airbus went down it was passing through what is known as the South Atlantic anomaly, a California-sized crack in the Earth's protective magnetic field that normally protects us from solar EMP. Beginning the day before, on May 31, 2009, and continuing through the crash date, a large sunspot and along with it an enormous plasma filament had erupted on the Sun's northwest quadrant, the quadrant from which sunstorm explosions are likeliest to hit the Earth. Did a blast of solar EMP rocket through space, penetrate this giant crack in the magnetic field and fry some of the Airbus's electronic components, perhaps including the temperature gauge and/or pitot tubes?
Basically, the Sun gets angry every 22 years or so. The Sun has a natural cycle with a period of approximately 22 years, running from low activity to high activity and back to low activity. During the lifetime of each cycle, the magnetic field lines of the Sun are dragged around the solar body by differential rotation at the solar equator. This means that the solar equator is spinning faster than its magnetic poles. As this continues, solar plasma drags the magnetic field lines around the Sun, causing stress and a build up of energy. As magnetic energy increases, kinks in the magnetic flux form, forcing them to the surface. These kinks, known as coronal loops, become more numerous during periods of high solar activity. As coronal loops continue to pop up over the surface, sunspots appear, often located at the loop footpoints. As magnetic energy builds up, more and more magnetic flux is forced together. This is when a phenomenon known as magnetic reconnection occurs. Reconnection is the trigger for solar flares of various sizes, from "nanoflares" to "X-class flares". Granted, the largest flares my generate enough energy for 100 billion atomic explosions, but this flare occurs inear the solar surface.
As the solar magnetic field lines release a huge amount of energy, solar plasma is accelerated and confined within the magnetic environment. Solar plasma has been thought to be superheated particles like protons, electrons and some light elements such as helium nuclei, but in December, 2006, NASA discovered a flow of Hydrogen atoms, followed by Oxygen and Iron atoms. NASA did not release this information publically until more than two years after the event. Please note, these atoms have mass and if you remember basic physics, mass is affected by gravity!
The Sun constantly fires high-energy particles from its magnetically dominated surface as the solar wind. The interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is a part of the Sun's magnetic field that is carried into interplanetary space by the solar wind. The intensity of the IMF effects depends opon the magnetic configuration of the Sun’s interplanetary magnetic field and the geomagnetic field of the Earth (the magnetosphere). Generally speaking, if both magnetic fields are aligned with polarities pointing in the same direction, it is highly probable that the Sun’s interplanetary magnetic field will be repelled by the magnetosphere. In this case, the IMF will slide past the Earth, causing some pressure and distortion on the magnetosphere, but otherwise passing without a problem. However, if the magnetic field lines are in an anti-parallel configuration (i.e. magnetic polarities in opposite directions), magnetic reconnection may occur at the leading edge of the Earth’s magnetosphere. In this event, the IMF and magnetosphere merges, connecting the Earth's magnetic field with the Sun's. This sets the scene for one of the most awe inspiring events in nature: the aurora.
These events occur frequently, so what’s all the hype? On December 22, 2012, the Sun, Earth, Jupiter and the center of the Milky Way become completely aligned. Solar Flares emit particles with mass, mass is affected by gravity. In 2012, the center of gravity will change, hitting its maximum shift on December 22, 2012.
NEXT BLOG: Solar Flares and 2012
Thursday, September 9, 2010
Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
Just a short note after yesterday's blog. I know many of us feel reassured that our government is actively thwarting terrorism within our borders. But doing so has eliminated many of our Liberties, especially privacy. Perhaps the end justifies the means, perhaps not. Just a couple quotes....
"But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775
Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
"But a Constitution of Government once changed from Freedom, can never be restored. Liberty, once lost, is lost forever."
John Adams, letter to Abigail Adams, July 17, 1775
Give Me Liberty Or Give Me Death
Patrick Henry, March 23, 1775
Wednesday, September 8, 2010
Terrorist Attacks
Terrorist Attacks
Since 9/11, Americans have come to know the every day threat of terrorism looming overhead. It’s excedingly difficult to forget the jubilation expressed by Islamists all over the world at the sight of the Twin Towers collapsing. An image of a Palestinian woman clucking her tongue and waving her hands in the air is likewise very difficult to forget. She was just one of millions of sympathizers celebrating the deaths of almost 3,000 human beings. In Muslim countries all over the world clerics are fomenting more and more hatred against the U.S. It’s even happening in mosques here in America. There haven’t been actual attacks in the U.S. since the 9/11 attack, but that is not because terrorists haven’t tried.
According to a report by the Heritage Foundation,19 attacks against America have been thwarted. Those include shoe bomber Richard Reid, who attempted to blow up an airliner with explosives planted in his shoes, seven men charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, and four men plotting to blow up a jet fuel artery running through residential neighborhoods at JFK Airport in New York City. A possible trial run of an attack occurred just the end of last month. Ahmed al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi, residents of Detroit, Michigan, were detained when their flight arrived in Amsterdam, final destination, Yemen. Soofi’s baggage contained non-functioning cell phones taped together, box cutters, and a cell phone taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. They claimed the cell phones were gifts and have been released by Dutch authorities. Cell Phones from abroad are indeed common gifts. Maybe it’s just cultural differences, but wouldn’t you honor someone with a gift of functioning cell phones, in their original wrappings, maybe wraped around clothing for protection?
When terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Americans realized they were no longer safe. No longer was terrorism confined to foreign countries like Israel, Pakistan, and Lebanon or confined to Airplanes hijacked by the PLO. It was now on Our Own Front Lawn.
Terrorist Attacks through history in which Americans were killed is summarized on the page “Terrorist Attacks” to your right. The attacks upon Americans and Israelis (whom the jihadists equate) started with the PLO, founded by Yassar Arafat (self-proclaimed Palestinian who was in reality Egyptian), in the 1960’s. "Sky-jacking terrorism” first began against Israeli targets abroad by PLO and Fatah in the late 1960's, and Yasser Arafat, who founded both, is considered the father of modern terrorism. He is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Israeli citizens, the deaths of untold numbers of Arabs and the killing of more than 100 U.S. citizens. Among the Americans were two diplomats, whose murders in Sudan, Arafat ordered by radio from his Beirut headquarters. In fact, groups under Arafat's direct or indirect command – including Fatah, Black September, Tanzim and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – were responsible for hundreds of bombings, hijackings, assassinations and other attacks, including the 1972 murder of 11 of Israel's Olympic athletes in Munich, the 1973 murder of the American ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, and the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruiseship (resulting in the murder of wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, whose body was then thrown overboard). Leon Klinghoffer was 69, a retired American businessman who was celebrating his 36th wedding anniversary to wife Marilyn with a cruise on the Achille Lauro. For more information on Arafat, see the page, “Father of Terrorism” to your right.
To the jihadists, America and Israel are the same. Before 1969, this was not the case.
In 1969, it was the KGB who prompted Arafat to declare war on American "Imperial-Zionism" during the first summit of the Black Terrorist International, a neo-Fascist pro-Palestine organization financed by the KGB and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi. Yasser claimed to be the one to come up with the "Imperial-Zionism" strategy to attack the US, but this was actually a favorite tool of Russian intelligence to feed ethnic hatred. The KGB regarded anti-Semitism and anti-Imperialism as a valuable instrument in furthering anti-Americanism. Why is there such vicious hatred now for Americans? One reason may be for our political support of Israel, the only nation in the Middle East that emminates our values of democracy, liberty, and equality for women. But venomous lies about Israelis by presumably well-educated and prominent individuals in Islamic Government-Supported press does not help our plight.
On 13 March 2002, the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) published excerpts of a translation of an article which had appeared in the Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Al-Riyadh on 10 March of that year. The article, a column by Dr. Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma of King Faysal University in Al-Dammam, dealt with the "The Jewish Holiday of Purim". The author of this blood libel is not your average Jew-hating Saudi. He is not just a columnist, he is an academic: Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma of King Faisal University in Al-Dammam. So while the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz-al-Saud, is whispering sweet nothings into our trembling ears, his Government-Supported Press is telling its readers under a headline: "Special Ingredient For Jewish Holidays is Human Blood From Non-Jewish Youth." You can read this excerpt under the page, “Vulgar Saudi Lies”, to your right. Please be warned, it will make you ill, but it is important to know what jihadists believe as fact about Israelis, because they equate Israelis with YOU!
While the terrorist attacks of past have included the use of bombs (suicide bombers,
car and truck bombs, airplane bombs), 9/11 showed us that they can be more imaginative. They are now plotting to acquire and use, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. A Department of Homeland Security report states that, in a 1999 interview with Osama bin Laden, he claimed it is his religious duty to obtain chemical and nuclear weapons. In 2003, extremist Cleric, Nasir bin Hamd al-Fahd issued a fatwa in which he declares that Islamic law permits the use of weapons of mass destruction for jihad. In January 2004, British police raided a London apartment and found traces of the poison ricin, a substance derived from Castor beans. Police suspect the Islamic militants arrested in the case were plotting to lace the food supply on at least one British military base using the ricin. Some reports linked the Islamists with al-Qaida, and a British mosque raided later in connection to the case, contained a number of forged passports, hundreds of documents relating to forging identities, weapons, and a gas canister. Since then ricin has been mailed to U.S. Senators and has been found in several locations in the U.S.
Sarin gas has also been employed recently by terrorists. Sarin, developed in Germany in 1938, is a an odorless, colorless gas and one of the nerve agents suspected to have been used during the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. In 1995, Japanese terrorists released Sarin on the Tokyo subway, killing 12, and injuring about 6,000. It is so potent that even a small drop on the skin causes muscle twitching. In addition to Sarin, mustard gas, tabun, chlorine, and compounds containing arsenic were used by Iraq on Iranians during the 1980 war. It is evident that terrorists already have access to these agents.
Just in the wake of 9/11, several letters containing anthrax were delivered to a New Jersey Post Office. On October 5, 2001, photojournalist Robert Stevens died of pulmonary anthrax and co-worker Ernesto Blanco suffered from symptoms of what at first was thought to be the flu, but later determined to be pulmonary anthrax. By the middle of November five people had died from inhaling anthrax and 17 more were injured from inhaling or coming in contact with the agent. The strains involved in the illnesses had the same genetic markers as U.S. military strains and the aerosolized strain of anthrax used in the attacks was originally produced at the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the location of the government's only aerosolized anthrax production facility in the country, and sent to Fort Detrick, Maryland in 2001. In late July 2008, an Army scientist committed suicide before federal prosecutors could charge him and four others with mailing the letters. Could terrorists actually infiltrate our own military? On November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent, shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas and wounded 32 others. It is reported that he shouted “Allah Akbar” (God is great) before opening fire.
According to Wikipedia, FBI terrorism task forces have officially declared Hasan had no links to known terrorist groups and that Hasan’s emails to Anwar al-Awlaki, (a US citizen in Yemen, also known as the “Bin Laden of the Internet”), were consistent with “medical research”. To view just another twist, and for all of you conspiracy advocats, GlobalResearch.Ca has suggested that the FBI had been slow to identify the perpetrators of the Anthrax attacks because that perpetrator may be the U.S. Government itself. GlobalResearch.Ca
Anthrax is only one of several biological agents being explored by terrorists. Others include botulinal toxin, smallpox, and bubonic plague. In January 2009 , the Black Plague killed at least 40 al-Qaeda operatives in their African training camp, indicating the organization was diligently working to develop the bacteria (or its airborne form pneumonic plague) as a weapon of mass destruction. Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. According Jeffrey A. Lockwood, author of Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War, insects may also become a weapon used by terrorists. During World War II, the Japanese killed more than 400,000 Chinese by dropping plague-infested fleas and cholera-coated flies, the French and Germans pursued the mass production and dispersal of beetles to destroy enemy food supplies, and during the Cold War the U.S. military planned to produce 100,000,000 yellow fever-infected mosquitoes a month to use for dispersal over the Soviet Union. Lockwood posits that terrorists with $100 worth of supplies, simple instructions, and plane tickets could introduce Rift Valley fever (a mosquito-borne virus found in Africa that affects livestock and humans) to the U.S. or another target countries with little or no chance of being caught.
In January, 2009, a report by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, testifying before the U.S. Congress, highlight
the danger in which we find ourselves: “The commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with greater urgency, it is more likely than not a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013.” Pakistan has nuclear weaponry. Iran may be obtaining it now. Former Soviet nuclear weapons and Soviet know-how are for sale on the black market. The threat that a terrorist could get his hands on a nuclear weapon is real. A dirty bomb, radiological dispersal device (RDD), a conventional explosive wrapped in radiological material and designed to disperse radiation, or a radiation-emitting device (RED) could kill thousands. The materials for both the RDD and the RED are easier for terrorists to
acquire than more traditional nuclear weapons .
And let’s not forget the threat of an airborn Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack that would wipe out the country’s electronics and send the U.S. into the pre-industrial age.
An EMP burst as a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by the rapid acceleration of charged particles. It can be initiated by exploding a nuclear weapon high above the earth, or by a non-nuclear weapon detonated close to a specific target. The charged particles of EMPs send electrical systems into chaos in three ways. It disrupts
electronics, acts as a powerful lightening strike, and flows through electricity transmission lines, damaging distribution centers and fusing power lines. Power grids would shut down, computers and their networks would crash, sewer systems would cease to function, late model automobiles, with their complicated computer systems would no longer run, and telephones and ATMs would shut down. There would be collapse of medical systems, breakdown of police and fire protection, loss of bank records. Distribution of food supplies, water systems, heat and communications, would become non-existent. All the normal day-to-day functions that we take for granted would cease. Dr. William R. Graham of the Claremont Institute, states that an EMP attack would spark, “unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures. The degradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country’s ability to support its population”.
BUT WAIT… EMPs aren’t only caused by nuclear radiation! They’re also caused by Solar Flares. NASA states that we are currently in an increasing cycle of Solar activity and that this cycle will climax in….. December, 2012. Hmmm!
NEXT BLOG: Solar Flares and EMPs.
Since 9/11, Americans have come to know the every day threat of terrorism looming overhead. It’s excedingly difficult to forget the jubilation expressed by Islamists all over the world at the sight of the Twin Towers collapsing. An image of a Palestinian woman clucking her tongue and waving her hands in the air is likewise very difficult to forget. She was just one of millions of sympathizers celebrating the deaths of almost 3,000 human beings. In Muslim countries all over the world clerics are fomenting more and more hatred against the U.S. It’s even happening in mosques here in America. There haven’t been actual attacks in the U.S. since the 9/11 attack, but that is not because terrorists haven’t tried.
According to a report by the Heritage Foundation,19 attacks against America have been thwarted. Those include shoe bomber Richard Reid, who attempted to blow up an airliner with explosives planted in his shoes, seven men charged with plotting to blow up the Sears Tower in Chicago, and four men plotting to blow up a jet fuel artery running through residential neighborhoods at JFK Airport in New York City. A possible trial run of an attack occurred just the end of last month. Ahmed al Soofi and Hezam al Murisi, residents of Detroit, Michigan, were detained when their flight arrived in Amsterdam, final destination, Yemen. Soofi’s baggage contained non-functioning cell phones taped together, box cutters, and a cell phone taped to a bottle of Pepto-Bismol. They claimed the cell phones were gifts and have been released by Dutch authorities. Cell Phones from abroad are indeed common gifts. Maybe it’s just cultural differences, but wouldn’t you honor someone with a gift of functioning cell phones, in their original wrappings, maybe wraped around clothing for protection?
When terrorists flew airplanes into the World Trade Center Towers and the Pentagon on September 11, 2001, Americans realized they were no longer safe. No longer was terrorism confined to foreign countries like Israel, Pakistan, and Lebanon or confined to Airplanes hijacked by the PLO. It was now on Our Own Front Lawn.
Terrorist Attacks through history in which Americans were killed is summarized on the page “Terrorist Attacks” to your right. The attacks upon Americans and Israelis (whom the jihadists equate) started with the PLO, founded by Yassar Arafat (self-proclaimed Palestinian who was in reality Egyptian), in the 1960’s. "Sky-jacking terrorism” first began against Israeli targets abroad by PLO and Fatah in the late 1960's, and Yasser Arafat, who founded both, is considered the father of modern terrorism. He is directly responsible for the deaths of thousands of innocent Israeli citizens, the deaths of untold numbers of Arabs and the killing of more than 100 U.S. citizens. Among the Americans were two diplomats, whose murders in Sudan, Arafat ordered by radio from his Beirut headquarters. In fact, groups under Arafat's direct or indirect command – including Fatah, Black September, Tanzim and Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade – were responsible for hundreds of bombings, hijackings, assassinations and other attacks, including the 1972 murder of 11 of Israel's Olympic athletes in Munich, the 1973 murder of the American ambassador to Sudan, Cleo Noel, and the 1985 hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruiseship (resulting in the murder of wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer, whose body was then thrown overboard). Leon Klinghoffer was 69, a retired American businessman who was celebrating his 36th wedding anniversary to wife Marilyn with a cruise on the Achille Lauro. For more information on Arafat, see the page, “Father of Terrorism” to your right.
To the jihadists, America and Israel are the same. Before 1969, this was not the case.
In 1969, it was the KGB who prompted Arafat to declare war on American "Imperial-Zionism" during the first summit of the Black Terrorist International, a neo-Fascist pro-Palestine organization financed by the KGB and Libya's Moammar Gadhafi. Yasser claimed to be the one to come up with the "Imperial-Zionism" strategy to attack the US, but this was actually a favorite tool of Russian intelligence to feed ethnic hatred. The KGB regarded anti-Semitism and anti-Imperialism as a valuable instrument in furthering anti-Americanism. Why is there such vicious hatred now for Americans? One reason may be for our political support of Israel, the only nation in the Middle East that emminates our values of democracy, liberty, and equality for women. But venomous lies about Israelis by presumably well-educated and prominent individuals in Islamic Government-Supported press does not help our plight.
On 13 March 2002, the Middle East Media and Research Institute (MEMRI) published excerpts of a translation of an article which had appeared in the Saudi Arabian daily newspaper Al-Riyadh on 10 March of that year. The article, a column by Dr. Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma of King Faysal University in Al-Dammam, dealt with the "The Jewish Holiday of Purim". The author of this blood libel is not your average Jew-hating Saudi. He is not just a columnist, he is an academic: Umayma Ahmad Al-Jalahma of King Faisal University in Al-Dammam. So while the de-facto ruler of Saudi Arabia, Crown Prince Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz-al-Saud, is whispering sweet nothings into our trembling ears, his Government-Supported Press is telling its readers under a headline: "Special Ingredient For Jewish Holidays is Human Blood From Non-Jewish Youth." You can read this excerpt under the page, “Vulgar Saudi Lies”, to your right. Please be warned, it will make you ill, but it is important to know what jihadists believe as fact about Israelis, because they equate Israelis with YOU!
While the terrorist attacks of past have included the use of bombs (suicide bombers,
car and truck bombs, airplane bombs), 9/11 showed us that they can be more imaginative. They are now plotting to acquire and use, chemical, biological, and nuclear weapons. A Department of Homeland Security report states that, in a 1999 interview with Osama bin Laden, he claimed it is his religious duty to obtain chemical and nuclear weapons. In 2003, extremist Cleric, Nasir bin Hamd al-Fahd issued a fatwa in which he declares that Islamic law permits the use of weapons of mass destruction for jihad. In January 2004, British police raided a London apartment and found traces of the poison ricin, a substance derived from Castor beans. Police suspect the Islamic militants arrested in the case were plotting to lace the food supply on at least one British military base using the ricin. Some reports linked the Islamists with al-Qaida, and a British mosque raided later in connection to the case, contained a number of forged passports, hundreds of documents relating to forging identities, weapons, and a gas canister. Since then ricin has been mailed to U.S. Senators and has been found in several locations in the U.S.
Sarin gas has also been employed recently by terrorists. Sarin, developed in Germany in 1938, is a an odorless, colorless gas and one of the nerve agents suspected to have been used during the Iran-Iraq War in 1980. In 1995, Japanese terrorists released Sarin on the Tokyo subway, killing 12, and injuring about 6,000. It is so potent that even a small drop on the skin causes muscle twitching. In addition to Sarin, mustard gas, tabun, chlorine, and compounds containing arsenic were used by Iraq on Iranians during the 1980 war. It is evident that terrorists already have access to these agents.
Just in the wake of 9/11, several letters containing anthrax were delivered to a New Jersey Post Office. On October 5, 2001, photojournalist Robert Stevens died of pulmonary anthrax and co-worker Ernesto Blanco suffered from symptoms of what at first was thought to be the flu, but later determined to be pulmonary anthrax. By the middle of November five people had died from inhaling anthrax and 17 more were injured from inhaling or coming in contact with the agent. The strains involved in the illnesses had the same genetic markers as U.S. military strains and the aerosolized strain of anthrax used in the attacks was originally produced at the US Army's Dugway Proving Ground in Utah, the location of the government's only aerosolized anthrax production facility in the country, and sent to Fort Detrick, Maryland in 2001. In late July 2008, an Army scientist committed suicide before federal prosecutors could charge him and four others with mailing the letters. Could terrorists actually infiltrate our own military? On November 5, 2009, Major Nidal Malik Hasan, an American-born Muslim of Palestinian descent, shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood Army Base in Texas and wounded 32 others. It is reported that he shouted “Allah Akbar” (God is great) before opening fire.
According to Wikipedia, FBI terrorism task forces have officially declared Hasan had no links to known terrorist groups and that Hasan’s emails to Anwar al-Awlaki, (a US citizen in Yemen, also known as the “Bin Laden of the Internet”), were consistent with “medical research”. To view just another twist, and for all of you conspiracy advocats, GlobalResearch.Ca has suggested that the FBI had been slow to identify the perpetrators of the Anthrax attacks because that perpetrator may be the U.S. Government itself. GlobalResearch.Ca
Anthrax is only one of several biological agents being explored by terrorists. Others include botulinal toxin, smallpox, and bubonic plague. In January 2009 , the Black Plague killed at least 40 al-Qaeda operatives in their African training camp, indicating the organization was diligently working to develop the bacteria (or its airborne form pneumonic plague) as a weapon of mass destruction. Bubonic Plague is spread by bites from infected rat fleas. According Jeffrey A. Lockwood, author of Six-Legged Soldiers: Using Insects as Weapons of War, insects may also become a weapon used by terrorists. During World War II, the Japanese killed more than 400,000 Chinese by dropping plague-infested fleas and cholera-coated flies, the French and Germans pursued the mass production and dispersal of beetles to destroy enemy food supplies, and during the Cold War the U.S. military planned to produce 100,000,000 yellow fever-infected mosquitoes a month to use for dispersal over the Soviet Union. Lockwood posits that terrorists with $100 worth of supplies, simple instructions, and plane tickets could introduce Rift Valley fever (a mosquito-borne virus found in Africa that affects livestock and humans) to the U.S. or another target countries with little or no chance of being caught.
In January, 2009, a report by the Commission on the Prevention of Weapons of Mass Destruction Proliferation and Terrorism, testifying before the U.S. Congress, highlight
the danger in which we find ourselves: “The commission believes that unless the world community acts decisively and with greater urgency, it is more likely than not a weapon of mass destruction will be used in a terrorist attack somewhere in the world by the end of 2013.” Pakistan has nuclear weaponry. Iran may be obtaining it now. Former Soviet nuclear weapons and Soviet know-how are for sale on the black market. The threat that a terrorist could get his hands on a nuclear weapon is real. A dirty bomb, radiological dispersal device (RDD), a conventional explosive wrapped in radiological material and designed to disperse radiation, or a radiation-emitting device (RED) could kill thousands. The materials for both the RDD and the RED are easier for terrorists to
acquire than more traditional nuclear weapons .
And let’s not forget the threat of an airborn Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) attack that would wipe out the country’s electronics and send the U.S. into the pre-industrial age.
An EMP burst as a high-intensity burst of electromagnetic energy caused by the rapid acceleration of charged particles. It can be initiated by exploding a nuclear weapon high above the earth, or by a non-nuclear weapon detonated close to a specific target. The charged particles of EMPs send electrical systems into chaos in three ways. It disrupts
electronics, acts as a powerful lightening strike, and flows through electricity transmission lines, damaging distribution centers and fusing power lines. Power grids would shut down, computers and their networks would crash, sewer systems would cease to function, late model automobiles, with their complicated computer systems would no longer run, and telephones and ATMs would shut down. There would be collapse of medical systems, breakdown of police and fire protection, loss of bank records. Distribution of food supplies, water systems, heat and communications, would become non-existent. All the normal day-to-day functions that we take for granted would cease. Dr. William R. Graham of the Claremont Institute, states that an EMP attack would spark, “unprecedented cascading failures of major infrastructures. The degradation of infrastructure could have irreversible effects on the country’s ability to support its population”.
BUT WAIT… EMPs aren’t only caused by nuclear radiation! They’re also caused by Solar Flares. NASA states that we are currently in an increasing cycle of Solar activity and that this cycle will climax in….. December, 2012. Hmmm!
NEXT BLOG: Solar Flares and EMPs.
Monday, September 6, 2010
Would You Survive an Economic Collapse?
Could there be a Total Economic Collapse? A few short weeks ago, I was in ignorant bliss. The economy was improving…not as fast as we hoped, but in the right direction. I was warned by an economy savvy friend to just watch out if the Chinese started dumping Dollars, but that they probably wouldn’t because they are dependent upon Americans buying their goods. Then, the last week of August I learned from Business Week and the Wall Street Journal that major banks- Citigroup, HSBC, and JP Morgan Chase are dumping Dollar-backed securities for Chinese-backed treasuries and have announced that they will be investing in Chinese (renminbi) yuan bonds. In fact, HSBC and StanChart are among a slew of global banks – including CitiGroup and JP Morgan – holding roadshows across Asia, Europe and the US to promote the renminbi to corporate customers instead of the dollar. HSBC, which recently moved its chief executive from London to Hong Kong, and Standard Chartered, are offering discounted transaction fees and other financial incentives to companies that choose to settle trade in Chinese currency.
And guess who else has joined the Chinese Bandwagon? McDonald’s, the US burger chain and icon of globalisation, just this month became the first foreign multinational to issue renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong. The Illinois-based fast-food chain has become the world’s first non-Chinese company to raise funds in renminbi!
Now that the Federal Reserve can't cut interest rates any lower, the only option left on the table is exactly what the Fed just announced it would start doing -- buying Treasury debt. But, who pays for that debt and its interest? WE do - with MORE DEBT! In fact, already reported last January, J. Mark Iwry, deputy assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy at the Department of the Treasury, had been working with Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi to develop the idea of structuring a government annuity, a "lifetime income option," as a mandatory element of IRAs and 401(k) plans, with the investment required to be in Treasury debt. Now, the U.S. Department of Labor recently released an agenda for a joint hearing on Sept. 14-15 to discuss whether government life-time annuity options funded by U.S. Treasury debt should be required for private retirement accounts, including IRAs and 401(k) plans, and to discuss the feasibility of implementing regulations that would require private investors to structure IRA and 401(k) accounts into what could amount to a U.S. Treasury debt-backed government annuity. Treasury officials confirmed a joint hearing scheduled between theTreasury Department and Department of Labor officials this month to explore the "lifetime income option" for Americans using their retirement accounts.
What does this mean? You might be required to convert your private retirement accounts into US Treasury Bonds. Do you believe the US economy will recover enough to fund your Retirement? CitiBank, JP Morgan Chase and even McDonalds don’t! They just converted to Chinese Yuan!
And what about the national debt? In risk management, most economists base their evaluation of the economy upon the debt to GDP ratio. The gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of a country's overall official economic output. It is the market value of all final goods and services officially made within the borders of a country in a year. According to economists Carmen Reinhart & Ken Rogoff, crossing the 90% debt/GDP threshold is the equivalent of crossing the proverbial Rubicon of economic growth. It's a point from which it's almost impossible to return. When Germany crossed it and when Argentina crossed it, their money was worthless. Our debt is growing, our GDP is decreasing, and some economists are predicting a 95% to 100% Debt to GDP Ratio by the end of this year.
NEXT BLOG: What’s Your Fancy? Total Economic Collapse? Solar Flares? Natural Diasasters? Terrorist Attacks? 2012? What will you do for Food, Water, Shelter?
And guess who else has joined the Chinese Bandwagon? McDonald’s, the US burger chain and icon of globalisation, just this month became the first foreign multinational to issue renminbi-denominated bonds in Hong Kong. The Illinois-based fast-food chain has become the world’s first non-Chinese company to raise funds in renminbi!
Now that the Federal Reserve can't cut interest rates any lower, the only option left on the table is exactly what the Fed just announced it would start doing -- buying Treasury debt. But, who pays for that debt and its interest? WE do - with MORE DEBT! In fact, already reported last January, J. Mark Iwry, deputy assistant Secretary for Retirement and Health Policy at the Department of the Treasury, had been working with Assistant Labor Secretary Phyllis C. Borzi to develop the idea of structuring a government annuity, a "lifetime income option," as a mandatory element of IRAs and 401(k) plans, with the investment required to be in Treasury debt. Now, the U.S. Department of Labor recently released an agenda for a joint hearing on Sept. 14-15 to discuss whether government life-time annuity options funded by U.S. Treasury debt should be required for private retirement accounts, including IRAs and 401(k) plans, and to discuss the feasibility of implementing regulations that would require private investors to structure IRA and 401(k) accounts into what could amount to a U.S. Treasury debt-backed government annuity. Treasury officials confirmed a joint hearing scheduled between theTreasury Department and Department of Labor officials this month to explore the "lifetime income option" for Americans using their retirement accounts.
What does this mean? You might be required to convert your private retirement accounts into US Treasury Bonds. Do you believe the US economy will recover enough to fund your Retirement? CitiBank, JP Morgan Chase and even McDonalds don’t! They just converted to Chinese Yuan!
And what about the national debt? In risk management, most economists base their evaluation of the economy upon the debt to GDP ratio. The gross domestic product (GDP) is a measure of a country's overall official economic output. It is the market value of all final goods and services officially made within the borders of a country in a year. According to economists Carmen Reinhart & Ken Rogoff, crossing the 90% debt/GDP threshold is the equivalent of crossing the proverbial Rubicon of economic growth. It's a point from which it's almost impossible to return. When Germany crossed it and when Argentina crossed it, their money was worthless. Our debt is growing, our GDP is decreasing, and some economists are predicting a 95% to 100% Debt to GDP Ratio by the end of this year.
NEXT BLOG: What’s Your Fancy? Total Economic Collapse? Solar Flares? Natural Diasasters? Terrorist Attacks? 2012? What will you do for Food, Water, Shelter?
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