Space Force: Up Up And Away

Space Force as another full branch of the military is the right thing to do!


The things that get focused on, get accomplished. 


Space is the “final frontier.”


And as Gene Roddenberry realized with the creation of Star Trek in 1964, it is the future of Mankind’s very survival. 


It’s time to stop thinking small as in planet Earth, and start thinking big as there is a whole universe out there!


Russia and China get it–hence their development and testing of anti-satellite rockets and other “kill vehicles” in space as well as lasers and jamming equipment against our satellites, and of course, their plans to colonize the Moon and land men on Mars and beyond. 


Why have we in America only gotten it in Hollywood?


Yes, there have been a few notable exceptions such as President Reagan with his vision for the Star Wars’ Strategic Defense Initiative and President Trump with the bonafide stand up of a Space Force.


Some of the Pentagon brass, particularly the Air Force, may hem and haw about the politics of this thing…losing money and prestige for their branch of the military, but their power is not the concern, our power as a nation is!


I envision a day in the not too distant future when the Air Force doesn’t run Space Command, but rather Space Force runs the Air Force. 


We need to put politics aside and stop laughing at our own ignorance about the potential of space for our future survival and for conflict. 😉


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Iran Outsmarts And Humiliates

Hostage

Iran so far continues to outsmart us at every turn…

Take just last week:


We released 7 Iranians for 5 Americans hostages plus a $1.7 billion settlement to Iran, even though our victims of terrorism haven’t received their settlement money from Iran. 


Good deal?


Well after Iran released the 5 Americans, the Shitte militias in Iraq “whose funding and direction come from Iran” immediately took 3 new Americans hostage.


Oh well.


How about with the nuke deal with Iran?


We got short-term commitments from the Iranians to restrain their nuke program in return for $100+ billion and a removal of sanctions.


Good deal?


Well after Iran agreed to this, they immediately tested 2 ballistic missiles capable of carrying nukes in violation of UN resolutions, and then Iran threatens to pull out of the deal if we impose any new sanctions


Oh well. 


Then again, what about our naval vessels seized?


Iran took 2 US naval vessels and 10 American servicemen/women and after releasing them, we profusely thank Iran. 


Good deal?


Well after we thank them, Iran broadcasts humiliating images of the Americans on their knees captured, and it is reported that Iran kept SIM cards from the sailors handheld satellite phones presumably to hack these communications in the future. 


Oh well. 


They win some and win some more–AND–we lose some and lose some more. 


Ready for the next humiliating round? 😉


(Source Photo: here with attribution to Scott Joseph)

Internet Divide And Conquer

Cut Cable

Remember in the old Western’s when the Indians were about to attack the town, and before they rode in with knives and flaming arrows–what would they do?  


The Indians would cut the telegraph lines–no calls for help out, and no communications in–the town and its people were completely cut off.


The very next scene would be the slaughter of everyone in the town including a bunch getting scalped. 


How have things changed in the 21st century?


Not so much so, as the New York Times reports today on the constant threats to our underground Internet lines being cut–with 16 cuts to the lines in the San Francisco Bay area alone in the last year. 


Similarly just a couple of weeks ago, the media was reporting about the U.S. being worried about Russian subs cutting the undersea Internet cables.


But isn’t the Internet built like a spiders’s web (i.e. the World Wide Web) with redundant routes so that it can withstand even a nuclear attack?


Apparently, if you take out key Internet Exchange Points (IXP) or major international cable lines then the Internet can be seriously disrupted. 


Similar to the impact of an EMP weapon that fries our electronic circuits…poof no more communications. 


If you can cut off our core communications ability–then it’s a simple strategy of divide and conquer.  


Divided we are weak and can’t communicate and organize ourselves to either know what’s going on or to effectively respond. 


Like sitting ducks in the Old West surrounded and cut off–it was a slaughter. 


This is why it is so critical that we not only build redundancy in the cable lines, but that we create alternatives like satellite Internet or Google’s Project Loon for balloon Internet access.


It’s not just the military, law enforcement, and emergency management not that needs to be able to communicate–we all do!


With excellent communications, we can unify ourselves and we are strong–but if we are left in the dark, then divided we fall. 😉


(Source Photo: Andy Blumenthal)

Electrical Cataclysm

Electrical Grid
Warning from the former director of CIA in the Wall Street Journal today…



We are grossly unprepared for an EMP attack on this country!



Dire reports from the EMP Commission from 2004 and 2008 have been “much neglected”!



The threat comes from nation states and terrorist organizations who can detonate a nuclear device above our skies by ICBM, SCUD missile (for example from a freighter near our shores), a space-launched vehicle that lifts satelittes into orbit, and even from low-yield nuclear weapons closer to home. 



Russia and China “have considered limited nuclear-attack options that…employ EMP as the primary or sole means of attack.”



North Korea in 2012 orbited a satellite compatible with such a small nuclear warhead “for the delviery of a surprise nuclear EMP attack against the U.S.”



Here’s the clincher on the damage this could do to us:



“Within 12 months of a nationwide blackout, up to 90% of the U.S. population could possibly perish from starvation, disease, and social breakdown.”



But for roughly $2 billion dollars we could protect the national electrical grid with surge arrestors, faraday cages and more. 



However, the bills to authorize this and protect us are stalled.



This is a known threat that our enemies are preparing for and what are we doing sitting on our hands, again?

 

Or as the comedian Lewis Black says, “If we’re going nowhere as a country, why can’t we get there faster?”

(Source Photo: here with attribution to Wil C. Fry)

Going For Gravity

Going For Gravity

A good friend told me to go see the movie Gravity.

He said, “You’ll definitely like it, and make sure you see it in IMAX!”

G-d, I don’t recall the last time that I went to an IMAX showing.

So keeping in the mind the saying, “try it and you’ll like it,” we went for the $19.00 IMAX 3D experience.

(OMG, I still remember when movies in NYC were $1!)

I was hesitant about this movie having heard that there were only 2 characters, and that 1 was Sandra Bullock!

Also, that she was the only one left for the second half of the movie–and I thought how interesting is this going to be?

Okay, I told myself, I’ll get excited by the action and destruction in the first half with Clooney and sleep through the second half with Bullock.

But it was so much better than I anticipated–one of the best movie experiences for me ever!

The IMAX 3D was absolutely amazing…only thing better would’ve been a massive in-your-face hologram of the whole movie–and I bet this comes one day soon.

The space walks, hurling space debris, exploding space stations and daring escapes was right there and up close in this movie.

I found myself at times reaching my hands out to practically touch the characters–since they seemed that close.

And Bullocks tears floating in space–were very moving and cool at the same time.

Bullock is going to win a ton of awards for her performance in Gravity.

Oh, and one more funny experience was when a lady told this guy in the theatre to hush, and when he didn’t listen, she kicked his chair.

But that wasn’t the end of it…

After she kicked it a few times, he turned around grabbed her shoe right off of her foot and then threw it at her.

She ran out of the theatre to get security.

Security told them both to cut it out, and then I heard the guards outside laughing about these two quarreling theatre-goers.

Anyway, I didn’t sleep a wink in this movie, and enjoyed the whole experience. 😉

(Source Photo: Rebecca Blumenthal)

Love Is In The Air

Love Is In The Air

Love is in the air for these mating penguins.

I love this picture from The Atlantic (8 Feb. 2013) of a penguin colony of 9,000 found in Antarctica–with these two penguins getting all cozy together.

While the penguins were not easily seen from satellites in the “remote icy expanses,” apparently they leave something behind that is observable, and that is their you-know-what–droppings.

What a way to find something so beautiful, but as they say bees do it, birds do it, and it’s not just love they are talking about. 😉

(Source Photo: here)