Here is a link to my short video on national security thoughts that keep me up at night.
Showing posts with label Armageddon. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Armageddon. Show all posts
May 31, 2017
March 30, 2017
Future Home For Mankind
NASA discovered this star and 7 Earth-size planets around it that could conceivably have water and sustain human life.
As we continue to gobble up Earth's resources and build incredibly powerful weapons that may one day soon destroy it, we need to have a viable Plan B.
Hence, the race to find another planet(s) with resources and environmental conditions where human civilization can survive and thrive.
I'm not sure what is more exciting than finding that magic planetary home of the future, where everything is new and pristine again like the Garden of Eden.
A place to go where hopefully we take not only the bits and bytes of our current world, but also the lessons learned to do it better again. ;-)
(Source Photo: NASA JPL here and here)
February 23, 2017
No Smartphone, No Life
If our enemies strike our communications networks, we are as good as dead.
Can you imagine the panic and chaos that would ensue?
Cut off from family, friends, and colleagues.
Unable to get unto the Internet!
No eCommerce.
No online Banking.
No social networking.
No easily and readily available information.
No online music, videos, or gaming.
No online (fake) news.
As you see in the photo, under the smashed smartphone...it says, "Disaster"!
We wouldn't know what to do with ourselves.
And we wouldn't know how to conduct ourselves by ourself.
We are completely dependent on mobile communications and connectivity to each other.
Without, we wither and die.
And G-d created the marvels of the Heaven and Earth in 6 days.
But we have become so tethered and dependent on our technology, we are toast in just a split second.
If we don't get serious about cybersecurity, and fast, there is going to be hell on Earth to pay.
And not a single shot needs to be fired. ;-)
(Source Photo: Rebecca Blumenthal)
January 8, 2017
In Memory of Shir, Yael, Erez, and Shira
This is the result of radical Islamist terrorism that the Obama administration can't even utter...and which unfortunately has resulted in the loss of so many innocent lives.
As the Obama administration defends terrorism as "workplace violence" and traffic accidents, they condemn our friend and ally, Israel--the Holy Land.
Nor can we say that the Obama administration stood by and did nothing as the world descended into chaos...no, instead, they actively released the terrorists from GITMO, let Crimea be overrun by Russia, let China militarize the South China Sea, made a disastrous deal with Iran that legitimizes their attaining the nuclear bomb, watched as North Korea tested nuke after nuke and missile after missile, and ignored the overrunning of their "red line" as 500,000 were slaughtered in Syria and refugees streamed across Europe.
What a disgraceful legacy for the Obama administration--Anti-Israel hate and Anti-Semitism, and leadership from behind as the dark forces of terrorism and war engulf the Middle East and Western civilization, and the clock ticks down to midnight. ;-)
(Source Photo: Stand With Us)
December 27, 2016
Planning For The End Of The World
The world seems to truly be going mad.
And that MAD is as in CRAZY and as in Mutually Assured Destruction.
- 25 years after the end of the Cold War, we are back in a nuclear arms race with Russia!
- Despite being our largest trading and economic partner, we are now going head-to-head confronting China over trade, Taiwan, and the South China Sea!
- While setting some near-term constraints, we have in effect solidified Iran's getting the nuclear bomb!
- As North Korea continues developing and testing nukes and ballistic missiles, we have no answers for how to deal with them!
Not only have we failed to contain the many threats we face, but also in many or most cases, we have made them worse.
- The Middle East has gone from the promise of an Arab Spring to instead raging in flames and becoming the modern-day killing fields.
- Even as ISIS becomes more dangerous despite having less territory, they are likely eclipsed by Iran's global terror expansion as a threat to the world order.
- The refugee crisis has meant that ISIS terrorists have infiltrated our borders and are now living among us ready to strike at will.
- There is a real documented threat of a terrorist attack using radiological, chemical, biological, or nuclear weapons of mass destruction!
- The European Union is falling apart and it's future is unknown.
- Increasing border attacks and escalating tensions are creating a risk of a dangerous Indian-Pakistani War.
Obama has alienated our allies, reduced our stature among the nations, and destabilized the world.
- While people are arguing over the state of hopelessness since the election or from before it, either way, there is huge divisiveness in America.
- Gun ownership is soaring and people are stockpiling ammo.
- Videos have emerged from people in near-death experiences claiming to have vividly seen the coming World War III and the prelude to the coming of the messiah.
- There is even widespread recognition by our space experts that we are woefully unprepared for an errant asteroid or comet hitting the Earth.
Clergy is warning and encouraging us to repent and do good deeds to merit G-d saving us from the coming cataclysm, whatever it ends up being.
I am certainly not a forecaster of doom and gloom, but always try to remain hopeful and encourage everyone to do their best to improve the world.
But I also must reflect on the voices of anger, frustration, and exasperation around the world that are growing ever louder and scarier daily...the latest with Obama's betrayal of Israel at the United Nations Security Council.
What comes next politically may very well determine whether the end is near or the future gets bright again. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
December 6, 2016
The Planetary Colonization Imperative
First, he enunciated many of the threats we face these days, including:
- Accelerating technological change [I would elaborate that these include more advanced weapons of mass destruction and the means to deliver them]
- Automation, [robotics,] and rise of artificial intelligence
- Economic inequality, mass migration, job destruction, [and divisiveness] augmented by immersive social media that accentuates "Instagram [and Facebook] Nirvana" versus the real poverty and struggling of the masses,
- "Environmental challenges: climate change, food production, overpopulation, the decimation of other species, epidemic disease, and acidification of the oceans."
In one sentence then, Hawking says it all about the high level of risk we face:
"We now have the technology to destroy the planet, but have not yet developed the ability to escape it."
His call to action:
"Perhaps in a few hundred years, we will have established human colonies amid the stars. but right now we have only one planet. and we need to work together to protect it [and develop the means to eventually be able to escape it for the survival of humanity.]"
In short, we must get to and colonize other planets as quickly as possible, because it the realm of history, it's only a matter of time and our collective lives are depending on it. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal Via National Geographic)
October 25, 2016
Countdown To Nukesville
- Investing in new advanced nuclear weapons, such as stealth nukes that can destroy an area the size of Texas or France
- Adding hundreds of new warheads
- Moving nukes to the European doorstep of Poland and Lithuania
- Flying Russian bombers within 40 miles of California coast
- Pulling out of non-proliferation agreements, including producing new intermediate range nuclear cruise missiles
- Violating security pacts to destroy plutonium stockpiles
- Skipping the nuclear security summit
- Conducting massive civil defense drills
- Threatening asymmetrical and painful actions against the West, including first strike
- Building new bases in Ukraine, Syria, and now eyeing Cuba and Vietnam
- Building dozens of new underground bunkers
- Entering a new arms race with the U.S.
Well perhaps this is all just saber-rattling bluster and party-rallying political rhetoric.
The real question is if this is all talk, then why all the costly actions being made?
Self defense experts always say never pull out a weapon unless you seriously intend to use it, so are Russia's intentions to simply counter the West or is it going to go way beyond that. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 24, 2016
Greatest Danger Is Still Man
This was the long awaited episode to see what happens after Rick and cohorts are captured and literally put down on their knees in the gravel by the evil and ruthless Negan and his army.
The killings of Glenn and Abraham by getting their skulls brutally bashed in was one of the most horrific things I have ever seen.
And forcing Rick to nearly cut off his own child's arm and all the other mental torture and physical abuse he endured left the show's leader and hero, a completely broken man.
All that they had overcome and survived was now just a shattered history.
They were overcome, they were defeated, they were wholly broken.
What is amazing is that they could handle the Walking Dead zombies (even hordes of them), but ultimately, it was the evilness of man himself that they could not win against.
Zombies are dangerous and scary, but man is the most dangerous and brutal predator out there, and the horrific things they can do to each makes everything else pale by comparison.
Especially, when Negan kills and destroys, he does it with such completele evil joy that it leaves one questioning, how can this whole evil thing exist in a universe created and maintained by a good and merciful G-d.
My wife said to me that this was a small reminder of what the Holocaust must've been like--with the Nazi's holding a stranglehold of power and committing the most heinous atrocities and genocide against 6 million starving and enslaved Jews held in notorious concentration death camps.
After the show, watching "Talking Dead," viewers indicated that this was the turning point in the whole show, and there was no going back for Rick and his group.
Yet, I am most certain that even if it can no longer be Rick who regains his strength and leadership mantle, there will be another who will rise up and overcome the evil Negan.
It's a dog eat dog world, and there is always another younger, leaner, and meaner dog in town--hence, every dog has it's day.
Ultimately is that justice?
While perhaps we all wish to see good triumph over evil every time, there are certainly moments when good takes a good walloping.
And then G-d sends a savior to restore good to it's rightful dominant place in the universe.
In the process though, lives and souls can be shattered and never be the same again.
Watching the eternal battle between good and evil is what totally tests our faith and gives us the free choice on which side to be on. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
October 4, 2016
Are We Leading The World To The Brink
- Russia is raining bombs on Syria, massing on the border of Ukraine, threatening the Balkans, and holding massive nuclear drills, while talks break off with the U.S.
- China is militarizing in the South China Sea, creating anti-access/area denial (A2/AD), and threatening freedom of navigation and armed conflict.
- Iran continues to swarm U.S. ships, take U.S. hostages, tightens their grip over the Middle East, sponsors terrorism as #1 in the world, builds more reactors and advances their nuclear strategy and threats to the West.
- North Korea is building and testing bigger nukes, firing multiple medium-range missiles as well as long-range ballistic missiles, including from submarines, and threatens nuclear strikes on South Korea and the U.S.
In 1991, at the end of the Cold War and with nuclear disarmament initiatives underway, the Bulletin of Atomic Scientists rated us at 17 minutes to midnight (the best it's ever been) on the famous Doomsday Clock that represents the countdown to global disaster.
However by 2007, right before this administration, with far greater concerns of a nuclear terrorist attack, we were down to just 5 minutes to midnight.
And now in 2016, we are at a mere 3 minutes to midnight, and "the probability of global catastrophe is very high," as "world leaders had failed to act!"
Moreover, with the current slate of candidates for Presidency both receiving negative ratings of about 60% from registered voters, there is obviously great consternation by the people of the U.S. as well as the rest of the world on the direction we are going in or lack thereof.
Again today, flailing on the leadership front in Syria, almost 6 years into the war there, we are again "considering tougher options" after the "red lines" were eviscerated, plan B never went anywhere, and we acknowledged that "we have no good options" there, while Russia is bringing in the big guns!
In dangerous world situations, the wrong action by leadership can spark an escalation and lead to negative consequences, but no action, displaying uncertainty and weakness, or attempting a losing appeasement strategy can lead to an even more emboldened enemy and then the Doomsday Clock can strike midnight and we can all pretty much just say one last goodnight. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
August 28, 2016
Preppers Preparing
People are concerned about the inaction, misdirection, and chaos of where things are going, and they are preparing for a potential post-apocalyptic America and world.
Grave worries seem to be coming from a multitude of concerns whether about an eventual bursting of the bubble of our national debt and the downfall of our economy and associated good jobs, an outbreak of ebola or a deadly influenza, a dirty bomb by Iran or North Korea, a cyber attack or EMP that takes out our critical infrastructure including electricity and anything with computer circuits, or a devastating natural disaster, many of which are considered "overdue."
The preppers are moving to the American Redoubt (pacific northwest--Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Washington and Oregon.
They are buying and building defensible homes (bunkers and "fortresses"), stockpiling food, weapons, and ammunition, and preparing for life off the grid with water sources, solar farms, and secure storage.
While survivalists have always existed, the numbers of concerned, disaffected, and generally disgruntled citizens seems be growing exponentially along with prepper network shows, books, blogs, websites, and sales of survival gear.
Many people seem to either feel insecure, fearful, uncertain, or that we are simply going in the wrong direction, and that it is only a matter of time until there is some sort of major earth shattering, society destabilizing disaster, and not everyone will survive.
So from home shelters to luxury underground bunkers, preppers are putting their money and efforts where their mouths are, and are preparing for potentially the worst.
If as all agree that an important part of the government's job is to ensure the national security of the country, and protect life, liberty, and property, then something seems to be going very wrong that many people are feeling so insecure and unprotected physically and in terms of their human rights.
From corruption to divisiveness, dependency, and dirty dealing, communication and trust between government and the governed is being needlessly undermined.
Why can't we get some decent leaders with a solid moral compass, and a real plan to bring us back from forever walking the brink to a nation of strength and unity, prosperity and health, and a superpower not only today, but for the future, once again. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
May 19, 2016
Bird's Nest Surveillance
I find this fascinating!
The pure irony of a bird finding safety and shelter in a nest atop a surveillance camera looking out for bad things like criminals and terrorism.
On one hand, safety and security.
And on the other hand, the fear and insecurity of it all.
A bird may find a peaceful nesting place there.
But for the rest of us, the world continues to be a very dangerous place.
Often walking the streets of a major urban city, I think to myself the chaos and danger that could so easily ensue if events took a sudden and serious turn for the worse where society as we know it can completely start to unravel, and as they say, "the sh*t hits the fan!"
I believe that many, if not most people are worried about this, hence the incredible popularity of shows and movies far and wide such as:
(Fear) The Walking Dead
Containment
The 100
The Last Ship
Jericho
Mad Max
Road Warrior
I am Legend
The Book of Eli
The Postman
World War Z
Waterworld
Children of Men
Outbreak
Armageddon
Oblivion
The Day After Tomorrow
and more.
The camera is surveilling and the bird is watching from their perch.
We go about our days like the post apocalyptic zombies that wander the Earth.
But not so deep down, in our minds and hearts is the terror of what can happen at any moment and what is likely destined to happen eventually.
This is not about doom and gloom, but about what the threats are out there, what is being done or not done about them, and who will ultimately survive and would you even want to. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)
April 5, 2016
Have A Nice Doomsday
An anti-nuke demonstration outside the White House with signs that say:
"Live by the bomb, die by the bomb."
and
"Ban all nuclear weapons or have a nice doomsday."
This was particularly interesting juxtaposed to the editorial in the Wall Street Journal yesterday by the UAE Ambassador to the U.S. who reflected on "one year after the Iran nuclear deal" and outright stated:
"Don't be fooled. The Iran--we have long known--hostile, expansionist, violent--is alive and well."
And he goes on to cite the multiple ballistic missile tests by Iran (October, November, and March), the firing of rockets by Iran dangerously close to a U.S. aircraft carrier (December), the detaining of US Navy sailors on their knees broadcast to the world (January), an $8 billion purchase by Iran of Russian fighter jets, planes, and helicopters (February), and the seizure of shipments by Iran of large weapons caches supporting terrorism around the world (February, March, and April) including just yesterday when the U.S. seized thousands of AK-47s and RPGs headed for Yemen.
The editorial ends...
"Our hope for a new Iran should not cloud the reality that the old Iran is very much still with us--as dangerous and as disruptive as ever,"
Let's pray that our earnest yearnings for peace with Iran (and North Korea for that matter) does not end in the polar opposite...a "nice" nuke doomsday scenario by the leading state sponsor(s) of terrorism worldwide. ;-)
(Source Photo: Andy from Washington Artworks)
January 6, 2016
Tears & Fears
All Opinions my own.
(Source Graphic: Andy Blumenthal adapted from here with attribution to International Campaign To Abolish Nuclear Weapons)
May 9, 2015
From Vintage to Modern Threats
This was in commemoration of 70th anniversary of Victory in Europe Day.
My father (A'H) used to tell me about when he was in England during the war and the Nazi bombers would fly over and carpet bomb them in a blitzkrieg.
This happened night after night, and so adaptive as people are, they sort of got used to the bombardment, if that is possible to say.
After a while, instead of taking safety behind closed doors at home, people returned to go to the movies and dancing at night, even while the buildings next door were still being blown up--to the right and the left of them.
In the morning, those who survived would get up, and see what was knocked down and what still standing.
Hard to imagine living that way!
Now with new more destructive weapons (WMD, ICBMs, EMPs, etc.), we can only imagine that the destructive aftermath of WW II would be nothing in comparison to what a round III would be like.
It is crucial that we maintain our innovativeness and military superiority and not only offensively to defeat the enemy, but defensively so that we can stop whatever is coming at us whether a dirty bomb in suitcase, an ebola-type virus in an infected person or food, a drone carrying anthrax, or malware over the network.
We have come a long way in the last 70 years technologically, but the risk and stakes have also never been higher. ;-)
(Source Video: Minna Blumenthal)
January 21, 2015
Stop The Nuclear Threat
Before we get too rosy on the State of the Union...
Fascinating article in Forbes on the threat from nuclear armageddon.
- The Russians nuclear missile survivability is improving with missiles "equiped with four warheads that can be independently targeted."
- Typical yield is 500 kilotons--"equivalent to half a million tons of conventional explosives."
- The impact of a single nuclear explosion is that it heats the targeted areas to a "few thousand degrees."
- If/when exploded over a major city, "everything within a one-mile radius is destroyed, heavy damage extends to three miles, and fires will be widespread out to five miles."
- People at ground zero will be annihilated immediately "by the blast effects or a wind-spread firestorm...(initial wind speed 700 mph)"
- Those father from the epicenter will "linger longer before succumbing to the effects of prompt and delayed radiation."
- Due to the magnetic pulse, "electronic devices will be shut down for a hundred miles in every direction."
- How many long range nuclear missiles does Russia have? Over 2,000 (that are known)!
- Just 50, would leave every American city with over half a million people, "uninhabitable."
Now think about the Mullahs of Iran targeting, America, "The Great Satan," should they get this capability.
And do you think a Congressionally, bipartison endorsed, deadline-triggered sanctions on Iran should be vetoed or championed by the administration to stop this threat?
May G-d bless us with the wisdom and strength of character to see through the delay tactics and subterfuge of our enemies and remove this real threat from us.
As to the Russians' strategic nuclear arsenal, we better get moving along on Reagan's Star Wars Strategic Defense Initiative--because 2,000 is a heck of a lot of incoming! ;-)
September 15, 2014
Just About Says It All
Story of human civilization in 2 minutes by Joe Bush
History majors can probably add some, but overall completely awesome!
Maybe this is a glimpse of what it's like to have a G-d's eye view of the world--where time and space are inconsequential.
Looking at this, are we almost at the end or are we just on the verge of a new beginning? ;-)
April 26, 2014
Luxury Survival
Interesting underground survival shelters by Vivos--and they are built for luxury.
With everything from cushy entertainment theater rooms, indoor swimming pools, upscale kitchens and bathrooms, gyms, and stocked with clothing, bedding, toiletries, survival gear, and food and medical supplies for a year--this is for planning to survive and thrive.
They have dual generators, multiple water systems, airtight nuclear biological and chemical filtration systems, and medical and dental facilities.
This is communal living for 80-5,000 people. Shelters are co-owned--and it costs about $50,000 for an adult and $35,000 for children. Vivos will also make you a private shelter, but obviously this is a more expensive option.
Is this an insurance policy for you and your family to protect against the ultimate catastrophes or is this simply preying on people's worst fears?
You'll have to decide for yourself--and in the end, it's a gamble either way. ;-)
February 1, 2014
We're Dead And We Don't Even Know It
But what The Washington Beacon reports about the arms race to new ultra-high speed missiles means we are probably dead already and don't even know it.
These new missiles being developed by China, Russia, India, and the U.S. are designed to be so fast, so small, go so low ("ground-hugging), and be so maneuverable with precision guided systems that they may completely evade all our missile defenses (long-range interceptors, medium-range sea and land-based interceptors, and short-range, near target interceptors).
China tested one of these on Jan. 9--it would sit atop an ICBM and "then glide and maneuver at speeds of up to 10 times the speed of sound from near space en route to its target."
It "takes off towards its target from near space, or less than 62 miles from earth."
Traveling at Mach 10 or 7,680 miles per hour, the warhead would hit accordingly to my calculation in under 30 seconds!
These hypersonic weapons can be loaded on the last stages of ICBMS, submarine missiles, aboard strategic bombers, on cruise missiles, and even on surveillance drones.
This is the "hypersonic arms race" and the winner has asymmetric warfare advantage and can take out their opponent before the other guy even knows what hit them.
The good news is that the U.S. is testing the Lockheed HTV-2, Hypersonic Technology Vehicle, capable of Mach 20 (13,000 mph), and within the next 10-15 years we expect "rapid kill" to be able to "attack any location on earth within an hour."
Note: the diameter of the earth is only 7,926 miles so if we can achieve Mach 20, it will actually only take us about 36 minutes!
So conventional missile defense is a bust, which leaves kinetic weapons and lasers (high-speed hit-to-kill capabilities) as our last defensive hope, as Ian Easton of the Project 2049 Institute said, "If there is a great power war in this century, it will not begin with the sound of explosions on the ground and in the sky, but rather with the bursting of kinetic energy and the flashing of laser light in the silence of outer space."
What follows though is anything that gets through these defenses rings will destroy everything down here before you would even have enough time to read this post.
In a sense, we're all dead already, and this is a very small foreshadowing testament.
(Source Photo: here with attribution to Jonathan McIntosh)
November 15, 2013
Survival Is More Than An iPhone
We "need to learn ever new technology skills and simultaneously retain, old tried and true, core survival and self-sufficiency."
This is a serious topic, and there will come a time when the lights go out and those who blend old and new skills will survive, while unfortunately, others who don't, will not.
Hope you enjoy the article.
Andy
(Source Photo: here with attribution to U.S. Army Africa)
October 12, 2013
Total CIO Fighting Off The Zombies
It all starts tomorrow night--9 pm on AMC.
Got my bow, ax, shotgun, and friends from the show.
Kill those Zombies! ;-)
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