“Shattered people are best represented by bits and pieces.”
―
And nothing shatters like atoms getting smashed overhead. As of late it seems that the media is warming us up to the possibility of nuclear war. This is silly because, really, ever since 1945 nuclear war has always been a possibility…its just that some times it was more likely than others.
Two articles that popped up on my feeds:
- How to survive a nuclear bomb attack: Minute-by-minute steps to protect yourself
- If a nuclear bomb is dropped on your city, here’s what you should (and shouldn’t) do to increase your chance of staying alive
The notion that a nuclear attack is unsurvivable is demonstrably false. There are people who survived the nuking of Japan who were literally only a few hundred yards from ground zero when the bomb went off. To be fair, they were, I believe, in a heavily fortified bank vault, but the point is that with appropriate protection you could have a nuke dropped nearby and still make it out. I wouldn’t recommend it, but it is survivable.
But, of course, the number one rule of surviving any disaster is: don’t be there. Don’t live where nukes are likely to be dropped. Being fifty miles away from any major target area isnt a bad idea.
Curious how you’d fare? Hit Nukemap, select your closest likely target area, drop a good sized nuke on it, and see how your area would fare. Great Falls is a likely target but according to the simulator, even the biggest bomb Putin has would still leave my region safe from immediate blast damage. Windborne fallout, of course, is a different story.
But…in case you havent given consideration to nuclear stuff, you might want to read the articles and play with the simulator.
Last time I saw a nuclear targeting map. The area I’m in was actually quite high on Comrade Khrushchevs list. It was in the third tier. We have many military and government facilities here. Including the center that keeps track of every single paper clip, pencil and every other item possessed by the US Department of Defense.
Couple of years back we were in the running for a missile site designed to take out Russian and Chinese theater nuclear weapons.
But it’s been that way since I was in elementary school.
We even have a cyber intelligence site that protects against enemy hacking and at least one that flies drones from here in overseas operations. One of those places was my employer for awhile.
Since the Strategic Air Command is no longer operational our three air bases that were under SAC now are operated one by the Michigan Air National Guard with an A10 Thunderbolt wing at Selfridge north of Detroit. And KY Sawyer and Kinross in the UP, both fighter interceptor bases are no longer in existence. One was turned into a prison. The other is just a memory.
Many years ago, when I lived in Korea, I knew a guy who had survived the Hiroshima blast. He was a student at the time, and was sheltering in a slit trench.
When I knew him, he was thoroughly ostracized by everyone. They seemed to think he was contagiously radioactive, even 30 years after WW2 ended. He was kind of weird.
Yeah, the Japanese have a whole subculture or caste system relegated to nuke survivors. Its pretty cruel when you read about it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hibakusha
The Japanese have LOTS of sub castes that they openly discriminate against…
One is the Ainu, the actual native people (ethnic Japanese are actually Korean long, long, ago but don’t like to admit it).
They also look down on anyone with foreign blood. Japanese who don’t have dark black hair often dye it to avoid being called halfu, which is a nasty slur
Interesting theory, probably true…
The Ainu (Hairy Ainu, indeed) were probably the dominant members of the original Samurai.
Kurt
if they dropped on on Fairchild AFB that would get W. Montana me thinks
The problem is determining what the targets are. The existing maps showing targets mostly refer to targets from the Cold War…..which have changed, drastically: Most of the military installations are long gone, and since nuclear weapons are very, very expensive to build and require maintenance regularly, that is also expensive – so there is a finite number of functional weapons.
Then, there is the counter force / counter value argument. Go after people or military capability? Also, many of those maps missed what would consider key targets – military depots (for example, Sierra Army Depot in Herlong, CA – out in the middle of nowhere).
I live in the Flathead region. Counterforce targets are the missile fields a couple of hundred miles to the east (on the other side of the Rockies), or Seattle / Spokane (a couple of hundred miles to the west, with Seattle on the other side of the Cascades). Winds, for possible fallout determination are mostly westerly (from the west), but a couple of hundred miles is pretty good for the fallout to, well, fall out. I still have a fallout shelter.
Finally, it may all be for naught: Despite the target, there can always be a short round….Can’t do much about that.
Flathead region as in up near Flathead lake?
Lots of info from FEMA and the CDC. Must be straight scoop.
Interesting thing that escapes most historical note. Nagasaki was not the target for the second nuclear strike. It was Yokohama. It was a port city with many factories producing war materials.
The advance aircraft found the target clouded over that morning. Even after the aircraft ( Bach’s Car) was inbound. Finally with time running out to divert to the secondary target the choice was made to divert to Nagasaki. The bomb was “Fat Man” the plutonium fueled bomb.
Nagasaki was a legitimate target. The Japanese 5th Army was headquartered there. Along with factories.
During the fifties we knew the danger. But didn’t dwell on it. Even after the Cuban missile crisis in October of 62. I think that after that occurrence cooler heads prevailed. Both sides backed off.
The key there was Kennedy had information about the Russian nukes. They used a highly corrosive fuel that could not be uploaded till right before launch. Flight prep time was nearly an hour.
That plus the fact our early spy satellite program gave the President information about the so called” missile gap”. For years government officials fretted over the number of missiles the Russians had. Fully believing they had nearly twice as many as we did. That wasn’t so. Our satellites plus our U2 spy planes proved the “missile gap” was fiction.
Still. Looking back I think the funniest thing in those days was all the people building bomb shelters. Some were actually fairly good. So were comical. Not much forethought as to design. No toilets poor water. Limited food stocks. No way to heat the thing. Some had half the structure 4-5 ft above the ground. No lead sheeting.
Most if the designs came from the pages of Popular Mechanics or Popular Science.
Looking back and comparing those days to now. I see the world as a much more dangerous place. With a goodly portion of the danger directed from our own government. And I haven’t trusted the government since I first read the report from the Warren Commission.
Recently I read a book on the life of one of the most powerful men in the intelligence community. James Jesus Angleton. He was the gate keeper. Started with OSS and was there until 1974. The book was written by Jefferson Morley. It sheds much light on the era. And points to some interesting facts. I highly recommend this work.
Guess I should provide the title. It is titled ” The Ghost. The Secret Life of CIA Spymaster James Jesus Angleton.
I think people who read this will be surprised at some of the revelations in its pages.
Angleton had his fingers in everything. He had associations with people no intel officer would expect to have.
There is a good deal of information on the CIA intelligence they had on Lee Harvey Oswald. The collaboration between Angleton and J Edgar Hoover in suppressing huge amounts of evidence connected to the Kennedy assassination. It is definitely worth the time to read. And it gives a hard look at the current state of the now politicized Intel agencies that serve the Deep State.
Some fallacies about the use of nuke weapons –
“No one would use them, unless they were crazy” – was Truman crazy? He authored the use of two!!! Also, Putin wouldn’t be the first unstable politician- hell look at Joe B.
“No one will survive”- when the first bomb went off in Japan people thought it was just a reconnaissance flight not a bombing run so people didn’t seek shelter. Over half the population survived. More would have if they knew how to protect themselves from radiation. When the planes flew over Nagasaki the Japanese didn’t make the same assumption and assumed it was a bombing run. Larger bomb, less people dead- taking shelter works. If you can survive the blast, which is the hard part you can very easily survive the fallout, especially with some prior planning and preparation.
“There will be a nuclear winter and we will all die anyway!” Bull$hit, plain and simple. Junk science. The model the “scientists”’used had earth no jet stream, no topography, no rain, and every single nuclear weapon in the world going off as a ground burst even thou the majority are set for air burst.
After the expected casualties for US troops which was expected to be a million. And the additional casualties expected within the civilian population of Japan. Truman felt it was better to use the bombs.
The people I fear with access to a nuke or bioterror weapon is the Irainians. You know. The crazies Biden wants a new nuke deal with. Which will give them a nuke within 4 years. Probably sooner. They already have a delivery system. They have sent missiles into orbit. All they need now is the payload.
As an aside. The US government expected so many casualties they struck more than a million Purple Heart medals. Which are still being handed out today. Three quarters of a century after that war ended.
I must admit, living in GF makes me a bit itchy at times.
But, I have a family to take care of, and working remote isn’t really workable for me.
Kurt
Years ago, my wife’s co-worker, a Chinese-American physician told this story. As a young man, he and his brother were selected to attend university in Japan, Hiroshima to be exact. One day, a few students decided to go out to the countryside for a hike and a picnic. His brother, being more studious, declined and stayed back to study. Guess what happened that day? My wife’s co worker said the moral of this story was that sometimes you need to take a day off. Funny guy, that Dr. Chen.
I live 7 miles from a Navy base. If it was hit the town, I am in is dust along with me.
Even if I had 30 minutes of warning I still would be in the explosion radius of the bomb even 30 or more miles away. So, no worry here. There is no place to shelter or even hide from the blast effects. It is all flat around here no hills to hide behind or block the blast area.
Many ways to shelter from blast,as simple as a basement or slit trench. Long term fallout sheltering more complicated-water,food, radiation protection, sanitation etc.
Dear Commander Zero,
Fairchild AFB is home to an aerial refueling tankers and could very well be a target, but it’s a long way from Missoula, even for fallout. On the other hand, Maelstrom AFB is home to 150 Minuteman silos (of which about 100 are currently occupied). You won’t be affected by blast but upper level winds from the north could be a big problem. Attacks on missile silos will probably mean ground burst and fallout.
Old Ski Bum
The majority of Propaganda (that’s what it really is) about Nuclear Weapons is deliberately designed to Confuse Blast Effects and Fallout, with the intent of creating ‘learned helplessness’ in the targeted population. Blast Effects, no matter how large the weapon is, cover only a Fraction of the Area that Fallout covers. The “Nuclear Winter” hoax is the best example of this – and it Ignores the fact that several, more recent Volcanic Eruptions have put more Dust into the Atmosphere than All Extant Weapons could.
A Blast Shelter can be outfitted as a Fallout Shelter (and should be) but a Fallout Shelter does not necessarily have to be Blast-Protective to be Effective. The Live-Fire Testing done by the Army back in the ’50s and 60’s showed that simple, in-basement Fallout Shelters were perfectly Useful, even if the Above-Ground part of the House they were in was substantially Damaged.
While there are many recently-published Books on the subject of Nuclear Defense for Individuals, ALL of the valid Data comes from a Handbook entitled “The Effects of Nuclear Weapons” published by the DOD in 1959, revised in 1960. While quite Technical in nature (Maffs is Hard, yo’) it condenses the relevant parts of the Subject from the Vast amount of Data from the Tests.
Many other Publications put out by the Office of Civil Defense (part of the DOD, not ‘homeland insecurity) showed many Detailed and Specific methods of creating both Engineered and Improvised Shelters in almost any Home. The American Institute of Architects (of which my Father was a member involved in the Project) developed Methods to analyze any Existing Structure for usefulness as Fallout Shelters, and to ‘upgrade’ New Construction, at minimal Cost, to improve both Blast and fallout protection.
Anyone who thinks they are a ‘prepper’ (dog, I hate that term) who isn’t already Knowledgeable and Equipped (have at least one Geiger Counter) is Preparing to Fail in the event of a Nuclear War.