Archive for 2022

LISTEN, SUG: DON’T FORGET TO SAY YOUR PRAYERS. NYC releases PSA for what to do in case of nuclear attack.

Forget “duck and cover”; “get inside” and “stay tuned.”

If a nuclear blast befalls the Big Apple, New Yorkers should immediately seek shelter indoors and stay put.

That’s according to a new public service announcement the city released Monday outlining the three key steps New Yorkers should take in case Gotham gets nuked, either by a foreign power or a terrorist with a “dirty bomb”:

  • Get inside
  • Stay inside
  • Stay tuned

“As the threat landscape continues to evolve, it is important that New Yorkers know we are preparing for any imminent threats and are providing them with the resources they need to stay safe and informed,” said the city’s Emergency Management Commissioner Zach Iscol in a statement on July 11.

>While the likelihood of such an attack in or around the Five Boroughs is “very low,” according to the Emergency Management Department, the agency released a short video online to show that they have a plan in case it does.

And don’t forget to wear your mask when you’re in the fallout shelter:

Here’s a link to the referenced document if you want to see it for yourself.

Flashback: The Unexpected Return of Duck and Cover.

(Classical allusion in headline.)

I’M EXPECTING A SYSTEM-SHATTERING KABOOM: Scientists think they know when a rogue star will ruin the Solar System. “These “stellar flybys” are common and play an important role in the long-term evolution of planetary systems. As a result, the long-term stability of the Solar System has been the subject of scientific investigation for centuries. According to a new study by a team of Canadian astrophysicists, residents of the Solar System may rest easy. After conducting a series of simulations, they determined that a star will not pass by and perturb our Solar System for another 100 billion years. Beyond that, the possibilities are somewhat frightening.”

RICHARD FERNANDEZ: Russia’s Hunger Weapon. “But Putin might be trapped by his own actions and therefore unpersuadable. The one obvious flaw in the hunger plan is that famine can also destabilize the Chinese and Russian spheres of influence, as events in Sri Lanka proved.”

CHURCH DESECRATED AND SET ON FIRE IN BETHESDA, MARYLAND:  Mostly peaceful, no doubt.  For the record, “Bethesda” or “beth hesda” means “house of mercy” in Hebrew.

PETE BUTTIGIEG JUST (FALSELY) ACCUSED BRETT KAVANAUGH OF A CRIME: “Despite the Democrats’ apparently mass false memory, Brett Kavanaugh never once during his confirmation process promised that he would not overturn Roe v. Wade. (If he had made such a promise, he would’ve lost many Republican votes and probably not have been confirmed!) He simply acknowledged Roe as an important precedent, an objective fact, and promised to show precedent respect—but that doesn’t mean never overturning it, something every sitting member of the Supreme Court has voted to do countless times.”

THAT SEEMS ABOUT RIGHT:

The pro-life side has spent 50 years working on “hearts and minds,” lobbying state government, etc. The other side has spent the same time hectoring, lecturing, and leaning very hard against a poorly constructed Supreme Court decision.

NO, ABSOLUTELY NOT:  Efforts to amend the law to increase the caps on Title VII monetary damage awards (on account of inflation) must be resisted.  This article explains why this matters.

COLD WAR II: ‘Doomsday’ Submarine Armed With Nuclear Torpedoes Delivers to Russian Navy.

Project 09852 Belgorod is based on a Russian Oscar-class guided-cruise missile submarine that has been altered to accommodate six 80-foot Poseidon nuclear torpedoes that could be armed with a warhead of up to 100 megatons, USNI News previously reported.

Poseidon, first revealed in 2015, is a nuclear strategic weapon that would have a range of thousands of miles and would “destroy important economic installations of the enemy in coastal areas and cause guaranteed devastating damage to the country’s territory by creating wide areas of radioactive contamination, rendering them unusable for military, economic or other activity for a long time,” according to a translation of a Russian presentation caught on camera by the BBC.

Russians have long complained about the strategic imbalance of American ballistic missile defense systems in Europe. Poseidon and Belgorod were created to mute the U.S. BMD advantage by creating a nuclear weapon that could duck under a U.S. BMD screen.

Let’s hope there’s no earth-shattering kaboom.