The American Spectator

Craig| 5.1.09 @ 6:23AM

Yikes!

Craig| 5.1.09 @ 6:24AM

Yikes!

Craig| 5.1.09 @ 6:27AM

Yikes!

Appleby| 5.1.09 @ 7:06AM

No more binkies! No more wireheads!

All those people who routinely walk right smack into me because they are madly twiddling their thumbs across that two inch screen, all the kids walking into trains, buses, street cars and five ton trucks because their TUNES were cranked up to eleven ... that woman in the elevator shouting into her cell phone about her urine sample ... ALL GONE!

No more garbage from Hollywood! No more teevee addresses by Obama, whose teleprompter will also be off line! No more playoffs! No more NA$CAR! No more Montel, Oprah, or Sally Jesse! No more Jay Leno, David Letterman, or Daly Show!

I am trying to think of something bad about an EMP and so far I cannot come up with a thing.

Darin| 5.1.09 @ 7:48AM

Appleby. You can't think of something bad about an EMP? How about the following:

Where do you get your food? If you don't have your own garden or farm, you're in trouble. Further, what devices do you use to plant/harvest? Tractors may not work (not to mention problems getting gas and oil). Food canning will have to be done by putting jars in a kettle over an open fire - no gas or electricity for a stove. Getting feed for any livestock may prove difficult.

Water. Unless you have a well with a non-electrical pump, fresh water may be a problem.

Heat. If it gets cold at any time, how do you heat where you live? Even if you have a fireplace or woodstove, how are you going to get the wood (or coal if you have such a furnace)?

Security. Even if you have the above items covered, can you protect them? They will quickly be highly valued items, and there are people who don't see a problem with taking from others.

Andrew B.| 5.1.09 @ 7:53AM

What has always worried me most about any large-scale catastrophe is how totally unprepared we are for it. Not just in terms of infrastructure and emergency services, but in terms of mental preparedness.

My mother made clear to me that the Depression made little impact on her and her family. They were dirt-poor Oklahoma farmers. Before 1929, they lived in poverty and privation. After the Stock Market Crash...it was just more of the same. She grew up hunting for bullfrogs, snakes, possums and any other source of free protein. The New Deal didn't make any difference in that.

Today, even the poorest Americans are used to regular, plentiful, affordable food, electricity and transportation. What would they all do if, tomorrow morning, none of that was available?

I shudder to think. As for me and my household, we will keep the larder and the ammunition supply stocked.

Ed| 5.1.09 @ 8:10AM

This is a real threat. Are there any electronics experts out there who know if a home gun safe could serve as a Faraday cage and protect a cache of electronics? Would it work better grounded or not grounded?

blackelkspeaks| 5.1.09 @ 8:53AM

There is no doubt in my mind that this country would explode in absolute savagery should this happen. We now have an entire nation with a "whats mine is mine, whats yours is mine" attitude. There is a reason guns and ammo sales are through the roof. No thinking person can expect anything from our current asinine government but utter mayhem and fatal incompetence. Remember what occurred when the power went out in some eastern states for a few days, shortly after 911. Even in the best of times, whole cities ground to a halt, with people losing power for days on end. An EMP burst would be orders of magnitude worse. This is not 1930; people today simply could not handle such a thing as an EMP disaster. One of my slams against Bush was to see how FEMA reacted to Katrina, given that the Dept of Homeland Security had been in place for years after 911; yet their response to Katrina was like watching a Chinese Fire Drill. The time to move to the hinterlands of Idaho is before this occurs. You've all been warned!

Stammon| 5.1.09 @ 9:16AM

We live on a farm with lots of ammo so we are safer than most. But a radio would be nice. I'm going to take my emergency windup radio and wrap in in Aluminum foil. Why? The foil will make a Faraday Cage and protect the radio's electronics against the EMP pulse. Kinda a tin foil hat, but it works. Wrap it in foil twice and put it on the emergency shelf. My tractor is a diesel, (no ignition wires), my heat is wood. I'll miss the bagels though.

Alan Brooks| 5.1.09 @ 9:30AM

if Newt co-authored six books with this guy then he must be a real prescient intelleckshuel.

Stammon| 5.1.09 @ 9:38AM

intelleckshuel???
Woof!
Do you even know what a Faraday Cage is? Have fun in the city when the bombs go off. Oh, wait that can't ever happen because Republicans are retarded and we all know that if we love them enough they will just love us back.
Time to wake up! My kids will live!

ccc| 5.1.09 @ 9:44AM

One more reason to put some solar panels on the roof.

TL| 5.1.09 @ 11:30AM

The plot for this bears similarities to S.M. Stirling's Dies The Fire series, which posits a worldwide event that causes electricity, gunpowder, and other forms of high-density technology to cease working. Without water, food distribution, and transportation, the residents of southern california and the desert southwest die in the tens of millions in futile attempts to escape north and west (the vague descriptions of stacks of dried corpses who made it only as far as the CA-NV border are chilling). The major cities of the south, northeast, and midwest are racked by starvation, plague, and even decades after the event are only inhabited by roving bands of cannibals. What civilization survives exists in the northwest and in isolated, rural areas well served with water supplies elsewhere. Stirling was using a magic event as a way to tell his story, but the event that begins Fortschen's book has a real, scientific basis in fact.

Steve| 5.1.09 @ 12:15PM

Prospective readers of Fortschung's book might want to know: the author is a terrible writer. His book is virtually unreadable. His dialogue is especially awful. And there's a lot of dialogue in the book. Fortschung is one of those authors who uses dialogue between characters to explain everything, to advance the plot. It makes for painful reading. It's also excruciatingly dull, and slow. I bought the book because I liked the idea, but I couldn't finish it. I'm sure the movie will be good, however.

bobby| 12.19.09 @ 4:16PM

i enjoyed the way he uses dialog to advance the plot.

JP| 5.1.09 @ 12:30PM

One thing this book (whatever its literary value) highlights is the continual shrinking of our military force. I am still undecided whether Rumsfeld's ideas concerning a smaller, lighter military was all that smart. But one thing that should alarm everyone is the reduction of our navy.

This has been going on since 1992 when the Cold War ended. And to some degree it made sense. However, one could argue that of all the forces, the USN if anything should have expanded since the end of the Cold War.

After the 1991 Gulf War, the Army disbanded 7th Corps (4 heavy divisions +headquarter staff); likewise the USAF reduced the number of active fighter, bomber, and airlift wings. Stateside, the Army also reduced the number of combat brigades, and put many of its support units into the Guard and Reserve. Therefore, our force projections were reduced considerably. The WOT only underscored this fact, as the Army continuely has to borrow from combat brigades in other theatres in order to fully staff its combat rotations.

In a pinch, a USN carrier task force can prevent a lot of mischief. Just look at the Horn of Africa. Islamic pirates for several years have preyed on civilian merchant ships. The USN just doesn't have enough ships to provide protection. Ditto for much of the Pacific.

Now add pressure to reduce our R@D on ship bourne missle defence, The Aegis isn't perfect, but it is the best anyone has. Research is continually improving its accuracy. In a nation that a few years ago had a $13 trillion/year economy, a $50 billion price tag is cheap (we spend that much on porn each year).

Sec Gates, BTW is considering a further drop in the USN to 270 ships. This feels like 1976 all over again.

Seeker| 5.1.09 @ 1:26PM

Loathsome Luddites like "Appleby" epitomize why paleoconservatives (Right) and the Khmer Rouge (Left) are just kissin' cousins.

I want my MTV. Hooray for Hollywood.

ds80| 5.1.09 @ 2:47PM

Was that cathartic, Seeker? Let me try:

MTV whores like "Seeker" epitomize why Obama-fascists and Marxists are inbred abominations.

I feel so much better. It was clear to me that Appleby's post was tongue-in-cheek.

Dave Williams| 5.1.09 @ 3:10PM

To continue with Appleby's tongue-in-cheek vein...best of all after an EMP...NO MORE DRIVEL FROM DAVE MATHEWS!!!

Michael L. Hauschild| 5.1.09 @ 5:27PM

Somehow I do not think the Flintlock mechanism on my Tennessee Mountain Rifle will be disabled by an electromagnetic pulse.

William| 5.1.09 @ 5:30PM

Colin Powell's vaunted 'urban values' (snicker) will surely keep the cities benign oases of calm.

Hmmm. All sarcasm aside, it would certainly cull the herd, would it not?

Seeker| 5.1.09 @ 5:53PM

No, ds80, I don't take Appleby's comments literally. But I do understand the poisonous sentiment behind them. Anyone who takes liberty seriously should oppose people like him.

Threats to liberty can come from the Right as well as the Left. Though I'm a committed conservative and Republican, I happen to despise radical "culture war" extremists. They are all war and no culture.

Michael L. Hauschild| 5.1.09 @ 5:57PM

Note to Netanyahu: Altitude 480 Km, Lat. 32.63 – Lon. 54.84
Note to USS Texas: Altitude 300 Miles, Lat. 40.25 – Lon. 126.62

Brian B| 5.1.09 @ 6:15PM

-No, ds80, I don't take Appleby's comments literally. But I do understand the poisonous sentiment behind them. -

You can certainly understand a lot about alleged luddites and paleoconservatives from a harmless and kind of funny joke.
In fact since he said 'no more NASCAR' and 'no more playoffs' I suspect he may be nothing like what you described him as.
Why not worry about whether you're going to get your EMP rather than whether Appleby is going to take your MTV?

Old Texican| 5.1.09 @ 8:09PM

I love the humor here.....but...

Some of you guys are missing the point. Forget MTV, without a car or power most of you become dark age cannibals before you starve. I am going to have to expend priceless ammunition shooting you idiots instead of shooting birds to feed my family.
I don't like that scenario, but the idiots will force me to be mean...and effectively so. I read a funny investor joke today: "Investor calls his broker..."What do I buy these days? Broker: "I reccomend canned goods and ammunition."

El Texas| 5.2.09 @ 12:14AM

Go to frugalsquirrels website and download "Lights Out" for free. Very similar plot.

moron| 5.2.09 @ 8:26AM

No more drivel from Matthews??? Hahaha!!! He has hoarded Snickers and moon pies. After the religion of peace pirates locate his microscopic testicles he would be blaming the evil Bush, but his tongue was taken 1st.

moron| 5.2.09 @ 8:34AM

The good news is, civil war here would be between the armed and the unarmed. When given a lemon, make lemonade!! Damn, wish I had more than cyber addresses!!!

dennisl59| 5.2.09 @ 8:51AM

But would Global Climate Change be stopped? If so, then we should launch the Missile ourselves and commit suicide to save Mother Earth.

Freya| 5.2.09 @ 5:08PM

I forget the URL, but I read a report online about hardening our infrastructure against just such an eventuallity. It would be easier (and cheaper) than most people think (and would make our power transmission system more reliable to boot).

If this scenario comes to pass, we'll only have ourselves to blame.

Richard Baker| 5.2.09 @ 6:35PM

This Starfish Prime blast in 1962 is familiar. My Dad was stationed at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii then and we stood outside his quarters one evening and watched the midnight sky become almost daylight after the blast, which we knew was coming. This blast was, by the article, 800 miles from Hawaii and had this effect and, as stated, the EMP damage which happened. So, the idiots in North Korea could develop their capabilities, after all what's a little starvation for the citizenry, and greatly damage this country. So, with no defense against this sort of action by one of many rogue states, or China or Russia, we can do exactly what to safeguard ourselves?

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 2:51AM

=>“Secretary of State, fourth in line of succession, is President. Confirmation comes weeks after the attack.” [John C. Wohlstetter]

I guess that those who said that the Clintons would stop at nothing to have Hillary made preseident were right, no?

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 2:52AM

=>“if Newt co-authored six books with this guy then he must be a real prescient intelleckshuel.” [Alan Brooks| 5.1.09 @ 9:30AM]

Yep. The Al Gore of the Right.

Very good Alan. Good comment.

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 3:15AM

=>“So, the idiots in North Korea could develop their capabilities, after all what's a little starvation for the citizenry, and greatly damage this country. So, with no defense against this sort of action by one of many rogue states, or China or Russia, we can do exactly what to safeguard ourselves?” [Richard Baker| 5.2.09 @ 6:35PM]

Hi Richard:

North Korea: It would be the last thing that miserable little country ever did.

The People’s Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China: It would be suicidal (especially the PRC; Russia could take us with it).

We can do what were do now: Posses a retaliatory capability that would make such an act suicidal.

Nuclear-powered submarines alone, make it unrealistic for any one of these three to try anything.

The same goes for Iran, in case you’ve been frightened by the rubbish of the Iranians developing a nuclear weapon.

As to the doom, gloom, and back to the dark ages stuff, then forget it. Uncomfortable yet. Regressing back to that level. No.

With the Joint Chiefs of Staff North America Command and NAFTA, at the minimum, then all of this is fantasy.

North America Command will ensure no change in our current highly centralizred government (Nartional Security Council, via departments of Defense and State).

Mexico and Canada have been transformed into vast corporate farms (much like Ireland was to Britain during WWII).

The port system, interstate highway system, air network, and Japanese and British maritime logistics and capabilities would negate any possibility of knocking out the U.S.A.

“On The Beach” and “The Day After” were more realistic than this pap ever will be.

Those pieces of sensationalistic fiction weren’t realistic either.

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 3:22AM

=>"How many would he trade to kill 270 million of us?" [John C. Wohlstetter]

Americans would be more realistic to worry about being led into a general war by our own government than this nonsense.

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 3:48AM

=>“Loathsome Luddites like ‘Appleby’ epitomize why paleoconservatives (Right) and the Khmer Rouge (Left) are just kissin' cousins. I want my MTV. Hooray for Hollywood.” [Seeker| 5.1.09 @ 1:26PM]

Hi Seeker:

Hollywood is a cesspool.
That may make you a human turd (i.e. someone who's formed himself as human excrement).

The paleo-conservatives are a sham.
The creation of the self-named paleo-libertarians.

All of this libertarianism and self-named neo-conservatism is nothing more than the ethical pollution of the right.

“Conservative” movements formed and led by ex-Marxists, red-diaper babies, and a tiny bunch of sneaks advocating of a 19th Century form of British capitalism that never took root in the U.S.A. until the past 20 years; and especially the past ten.

None of these parasites could ever have survived openly, 40 to 30 years ago.

But now, due to the deforming of younger Americans and death-rate of older Americans, the parasites are ‘coming out,’ killing, and discarding the host that these human vermin have used for the past 25 years.

So, yes, to some extent you're right. The paleo-conservatives, being the creation of the self-named paleo-libertarians, which provided the self-named neo-conservatives with much of their economic theory, and the Khmer Rouge are just kissin' cousins.

This whole rotten, corrupt bunch are kissin' cousins to the Khmer Rouge.

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 3:53AM

=>Appleby| 5.1.09 @ 7:06AM

Hi Appleby:

I don't know what you call yourself and could care less about the vitriol from "conservative" leftists like Seeker.

I enjoyed your comment.

You're right. All the garbage that you list can make an EMP look pretty good.

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 4:28AM

=>This whole rotten, corrupt bunch are kissin' cousins to the Khmer Rouge.

The whole rotten, corrupt bunch, includes the so-called neo-liberals as well.

They’ve demonstrated it in their roles in the American experiment” of 1967-present.

They’ve demonstrated this in Iraq since 2003 and since last October have now been demonstrating it in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

It’s been demonstrated in southwest Asia, on the Balkan Peninsula, in north Africa and in south-central Asia since at least 1991.

Actually, compared to this post-1989 crooked-as-a-dog’s-hind-leg government (National Security Council, via departments of State and Defense), and these blood-thirsty cheerleaders and enablers (neo-conservatives, paleo-libertarians, and neo-liberals), then the Khmer Rouge are being made to look like pikers in comparison.

Just to be fair to the Khmer Rouge. . .

At least Pol Pot didn't conduct his social revolution, murders, re-education, and tortures under the pretenses of being:

"kinder and gentler,"
following "A New Convenant,"
"a pro-life president"
or saccharine slogans like "Change We Can Believe In."

Again, just to be fair to the Khmer Rouge. . .

ChuckD| 5.3.09 @ 9:40AM

Steve, hate to tell you this, but you unwittingly gave the book a great review. As a novel writing hobbyist, I go to a lot of writing conferences and seminars. Without exception, every publisher says to sell a manuscript you have to write your story exactly the way you described, dialog and action have to move the plot. No internal monologues, avoid narrative, and shun description.

And like you said, it will make great movie. That's why they do it that way. You write it like a movie so you will sell more books -a la James Patterson. That way you can reach the reader with even the smallest attention span. And I hate it, too. Welcome to the M-TV generation.

sala| 1.26.10 @ 1:20AM

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Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 12:05PM

=>“That way you can reach the reader with even the smallest attention span. . . . “Welcome to the M-TV generation.” [ChuckD| 5.3.09 @ 9:40AM]

Hi Mr. D:

The sons and daughters of the Me-Generationers & Generation X.

The Xer contingent (to be sure) is: The Kentucky Fried Movie-National Lampoon’s-Animal House-AC/DC-Aerosmith-Punk Rock-Hank Williams Jr-Bruce Springsteen-Cocaine-Red Dawn-The Day After-Vietnam War movies-&-MTV videos generation.

All of this pack falling within this age bracket will be in middle age (40-59 years old) by 2013.

“They Grow Up So Fast.. . .”

But, hey, David Zucker, and Myrna Sokoloff, and a few others, have turned “conservative” in the past 5 years also. So now Hollywood has some new conservatives and the libertarian-&-neo-conized Xer & Me-Gen conservatives (i.e. the leftist-formed conservatives) have their own disgusting & debauched entertainment now too.

This latter batch should love any ‘1 Second After’ movie too (Wow, man, things move so much faster these days than when these people were kids and it was The Day After!).

This should be a movie for The Whole Family, for tens of millions aged 45 years old and younger, and millions aged 45 years old and younger.

Just to be clear on the terms:
Generation X: Born about 1960-73; now aged 35-48 years old; all will be in middle age (40-59 years old) by 2013.

The Me Generation: Born about 1953-73; now aged 35-56 years old.

Paul Crowley| 5.3.09 @ 12:14PM

=>"This should be a movie for The Whole Family, for tens of millions aged 45 years old and younger, and millions aged 45 years old and younger."

Ooops. Make that millions aged 55 years old and younger.

If they make it as a cartoon (A.K.A. animated motion picture), then, hey, extend the age of the millions category to 65 years old and younger. . .

The majority of American adults (emotionally & intellectually speaking), are now dead, and dying off rapidly.

Cpm| 5.3.09 @ 2:01PM

Thank you Paul Crowley for getting all that off your chest.....you must be relieved.

Paul Crowley| 5.4.09 @ 12:37AM

=>"Thank you Paul Crowley for getting all that off your chest.....you must be relieved. [Cpm| 5.3.09 @ 2:01PM]

Hi Cpm:

You're welcome; anytime.

But, no, not relieved.

There was no buildup or any so-called "venting" or "ranting" (others have made this mistake, even if you're not) and I'm not into the catharsis stuff. . . (From my experience, those who try to “vent” are only made worse and more neurotic by it, seriously).
So nothing to get off my chest. But, I can understand why others would confuse this as something pseudo-therapeutic. . . It’s how people have been taught and formed.

A lot of this is pretty basic after 30-40 years of going through it and paying closer attention for the past 25 years (Unavoidably). I also have a reasonably good memory and I'm also methodical.

I never did expect any good to come of this mess. The last ten years have been confirming the uneasy suspicions and the explicitly bad expectations.

And, it's not really that I'm typing so much, but that so many type so absolutlely little (pure surface scratching).

Lastly, it’s just another slow Sunday. :)

Country Boy| 5.4.09 @ 1:19AM

I have to admit, a successful strike like this would be devasting for the U.S. Recovery would not be in one year. Most people would be dead in a month or two. If the strike happened in winter, things would be worse.

The only silver lining is that most of the structures in gov set up to prevent this are somewhat on auto-pilot, or maybe autonomous. Structures like the CIA and the DOD. Without being political, Reagan was fully aware of this category of attack, and created missions to deal with them. I have no idea what kind of funding this stuff has now, but nothing in Washington ever dies.

Richard Baker| 5.7.09 @ 4:26PM

And our slavish devotion to computers advances our safety just How? When a puny country like North Korea can potentially unravel our computer based society that means computers, like any other dependency, are really an advantage? How did the world ever survive before personal computers?

Richard Baker| 5.10.09 @ 7:32PM

To Paul Crowley:
So, let's see if I understand. No defense against it AND we have to let the North Koreans, or whoever, EMP the country and potentially cause the death of thousands. As an aircraft mechanic I understand the computer- centric nature of the airline industry, as one example. Care to guess how many thousands are on airliners at any moment? Why do Americans have to suffer one wit and THEN we take action? With liberals, the answer seems to be why should our enemies die when Americans can instead?

Merlin8047| 5.10.09 @ 11:04PM

Another precursor novel was "Lucifer's Hammer" - Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Except the protagonists in that novel managed to save a nuke power plant. . . . .

ejhickey| 7.20.09 @ 2:02PM

Saw the author on TV kast night and read this article as well as his website. I take this seriously enough to buy two copies for my local library and step my own survuval contingency plans. It is also an incentive to buy an old Mustang or a 1950's chevy.

Bill| 10.28.09 @ 3:04PM

Beans, Bullets and Beer! Along with bottles of booze to trade !

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