some things learned

I’m reposting some excerpts of mine as an introduction to a condensation of a book that I read recently which has provided great inspiration to me.  I learned a handful of things in 2012 that have helped me tremendously in moving forward.  The following excerpts represent for me, as a prelude to the book condensation, the core of my path from last year into this year.

The following is from:  Geographies of the Mind

Lately, through a friend, I’ve been practicing “mindfulness,” which is a form of meditation. Mindfulness helps to keep one planted in the now of existence, with bare feet on wet sand instead of allowing oneself to be pulled forward by the tide, into the deep, or backward into the dead tangles of old seaweed. Annie Dillard, in her book For The Time Being (1999), described existence as at the crest of an ocean wave. The dead fall behind life, and newborns rise into it. My grand-niece was once a part of the ocean and is now a part of the wave. Someday, I’ll no longer be a part of the wave, but I’ll still be within the ocean. We’re all a part of that ocean.

Too often, the past and future seem to have roots creeping up and around my legs, pulling me in both directions, tearing me apart instead of leaving me alone to participate in the now. I described to my friend that mindfulness brings a realization of having been born with a nice little cottage of the mind, but in growing up, I learned to spend more-and-more time outside, always here, always there, but never home. Mindfulness brings me back into the cottage, into the now.

This blogsite of mine is an extension of that cottage. I can have all the parties I want here, because I’m always invited.

The following is from:  alchemist

A fresh Sun cooks through me.

Khi — air and energy balance the plus and minus within,

Aura – each breath blushes, surrounds,

Shantih shantih shantih –

“peace which passeth all understanding.”

Laughter brightens, ripens my Face,

its form imposed upon me.

Note: Shantih (shahn.tee) repeated three times is the formal ending to an Upanishad as well as the final line of T. S. Eliot’s poem, The Waste Land. Eliot, in his notes for the poem, understood the word to mean: “the peace which passeth all understanding.” This phrase can be found earlier in the Greek-penned letter of Philippians 4:7 (KJV) as “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding.”

Khi (kee) is the Greek form of the oriental chi.

The following is from:  Talkin’ near-bedtime, beer-drinking, alchemy blues

. . . take a deep breath, feel the air and energy balancing the crap in your life down into the good in your life, feel the energy expand outward as if becoming an aura radiating out from your flesh, let the breath out and then feel the peace. It’s just a breath for God’s sake. We all do it. We have to in order to breathe. It’s not that you do it. It’s how you do it.

So, I breathe, write and try to live in the “now.”  Add to that, I read.  May sound simple, but it helps to focus my mind, to be mindful and aware, in a positive way.  Here’s where the recent book I read comes in.  It’s from 1965, with a fortieth-anniversary edition published in 2005, entitled:  “Are You Running With Me, Jesus:  Prayers By Malcolm Boyd.”  It is, as far as I’m concerned, beyond all books on techniques of prayer.  It’s real-life, and it has helped me, if for nothing else, to have someone important to talk to, when there’s no one to talk to, 24/7.  When things get bad, which they do a lot, I slow it down to a breath, and I talk through prayer.

Beginning tomorrow, I’ll post excerpts in the form of a condensation of the short, paperback book–the passages that have meant the most to me and that I think will make my point as to how worthwhile it is to those for whom prayer is meaningful.  It’s worth owning.  http://www.malcolmboyd.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malcolm_Boyd

*Please note, with this new year, that this remains a not-for-profit blogsite.  I do not receive compensation/money of any kind for any reason regarding this site.  I just try to write my pains and joys and bring awareness to things that I feel are important to understand in this future-shock “now” of a wave that we all share.

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Spring 2012: Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks?

Here are four brief articles developing a necessary, out-of-the-ordinary (would I offer you anything less? :)) context to contemplate while you’re out and about enjoying the freshness of nature today, the beginning of spring 2012.

wild lilies - spring 2010 --SB

First, from the online Guitar World Magazine, news that the famed guitarist for Led Zeppelin, Jimmy Page, is today marketing six never-officially-released tracks, ominously titled:  Lucifer Rising and other sound tracks.”  Page created the recordings for Kenneth Anger’s 1972 film, Lucifer Rising, co-starring (uncredited) another acclaimed British musician Marianne Faithfull, once the lovely girlfriend of a much younger (but not so faithful) Mick Jagger.

Jagger and Faithfull in more halcyon days --Lauren Valenti theVogueVibes.com

Second, the British Guardian published a world map graphically clarifying the multitude of individual locations of the ever-spreading Occupy Wall Street (OWS) protests around our globe.  Their map is from four months ago during the first wave of OWS protests, but as you’ll see from the third article, today hearkens the beginning of a second wave of more earnest pandemonium from the movement, aimed at coinciding with the American presidential election, now in full swing, as well as with the rapidly decaying world economy. 

Compare the OWS’s recent global number of  “951 cities in 82 countries” to the year 2000, global “ecclesial network of 1,920 dioceses comprising 211,156 parishes; and in some 3,000 bishops and 483,488 priests who tend those dioceses and parishes” described in my recent post [ Georeligious Power: A Paris Revolution. A Polish Revolution. An American Revolution? ].  Add to that the ongoing jousting between President Obama and Pope Benedict XVI over freedom of religion [ Cardinal Takes Over for Bishop and Advances on King ], and you have a whole other front of street fighting.

Pandemonium (Milton's "capitol of hell") by John Martin

On a side note, check out the legendary British author J. G. Ballard’s posthumous final novel (published 2003 in England, 2011 in America), Millenium People, for a great fictional (or not) account of street fighting, which Mick Jagger so passionately anthemized in a Rolling Stones song.  Here, Ballard describes a more modern, and chilling, class-warfare in English streets, which in fact has since begun its global contagion, predominantly from the OWS germ.

From Jagger’s “Street Fighting Man” to Ballard’s Millenium People to today’s OWS — “Moves Like Jagger,” indeed!

Jagger at blood-splattered Altamont 1969 - photo: EthanRussell.com

Third, a selection from TheBlaze.com detailing Frances Fox Piven’s comments of her speech from eleven days ago (with links to primary-source audio) and forewarning, on behalf of the OWS, “This Spring, We’ll See Action.”

As a corollary to the Frances Fox Piven article, the very left-of-center, but also very important publication for understanding the far left, The Nation, has their entire April 2, 2012 issue devoted to the “call-to-arms” of “Occupy Spring.”  The issue contains the thoughts of fourteen influential progressive activists, including Frances Fox Piven and Michael Moore, on the forward strategy that the OWS movement should take beginning today, this first day of spring.

I encourage all who have interest to dig much deeper into the thought processes of those who are orchestrating the coming OWS street revolutions to check this issue out online at [ http://www.thenation.com/issue/april-2-2012 ].  Also in the issue:  a slide show of “The Fifty Most Influential Progressives of the Twentieth Century” [ http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/154631/slide-show-fifty-most-influential-progressives-twentieth-century ] and “‘Nation Readers’ Most Influencial Progressives of the Twentieth Century” [ http://www.thenation.com/slideshow/155750/slide-show-nation-readers-most-influential-progressives-twentieth-century ].

My own thought process operates, I imagine, as far from those of the above progressive icons as could be possible.  I have no problem, however, referencing this virtual home-school graduate class on the history of modern progressive thought and how it’s being thrust upon our world today.  I thoroughly believe that we should all understand our enemies, from their own words, in order to live with them side-by-side — and not wish them dead.  Free speech, after all, is free to all or free to none.

OWS protester in San Diego, CA - TheBlaze.com

Finally, to balance the political spectrum, a brief article from the Kansas City Star reporting on GOP caucus elections held in Missouri three days ago.  The elections spun more-than-slightly out of control, revealing the simmering rage from Ron Paul’s supporters over how the center-right GOP (primarily party-supporters of Romney and Santorum) are pulling every devilish trick they can (in this case through ballot-counting mayhem) to marginalize Paul’s clear and present power among the liberty-conscious right as well as among the younger Democrats, all of whom have had it with President Obama and his administration.

If none of the GOP candidates reach the required delegates to be nominated (becoming more-and-more likely as each state ballot-count passes), then all hell will break lose at the ensuing Republican brokered convention in which all bets are off for the nomination.

Anger is brewing from the grassroots to the pinnacles of power, from the far left to the far right and most points in-between, in America and worldwide, and it all ramps up today.

If you toss in the ambiguous intentions of the Muslim Brotherhood and their growing influence throughout the world, including the United States [see the following blogs: 1 of 2: Muslim Brotherhood Looks West to 3.2 Billion Dollar IMF Loan (2.17.2012) and 2 of 2: Muslim Brotherhood Looks Away from West to Governance by Sharia Law (2.22.2012) ], then the mix could prove toxic at many levels of global society.  Oops!  Did I forget to mention the end of the Mayan calendar later this year? 🙂

Athens in flames - early 2012 --Wall Street Journal

Lucifer Rising and other sound tracks?  God only knows, although we can all agree that this brew won’t taste anywhere similar to a well-crafted, American spring ale.

Highland Brewing Co. Ashville, NC

Have a sincerely pleasant day with the rising clarity and strength that this awareness can awaken within each of us.  –SB

1. Guitar World

 

Jimmy Page to Release ‘Lucifer Rising and Other Soundtracks’ This Month

Posted 03/16/2012 at 11:36am | by Josh Hart

[ http://www.guitarworld.com/jimmy-page-release-lucifer-rising-and-other-soundtracks-month ]

Jimmy Page has just announced the release of Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks for March 20, a date specifically chosen for its connection to the spring equinox. 

This marks the first time ever that these tracks have been officially released.  (Songs were apparently released in 1987, although the legality of that release is very much in question.)

“The title music, along with other musical pieces recorded at my home studio in the early Seventies, have been revisited, remixed and released for the first time,” Page said.  “This is a musical diary of avant-garde compositions and experiments, one of which was to appear on the film Lucifer Rising [ http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0066019/ ].  The collection has been exhumed and is now ready for public release.”

–Photo by TRACKS LTD courtesy of Led Zeppelin: Good Times, Bad Times (Abrams Books (from online Rolling Stone).

The album will be available a standard edition on heavyweight vinyl, as well as deluxe and signed deluxe editions.

You can get more information, as well as register for the deluxe pre-orders, at jimmypage.com.

Page was commissioned to write a soundtrack for Kenneth Anger’s 1972 film Lucifer Rising, which went unused in the final version of the film.  Page makes a cameo in the movie, staring at a portrait of Aleister Crowley while holding an Egyptian stele.

Jimmy Page and Aleister Crowley

Lucifer Rising and Other Sound Tracks

Side One
1) Lucifer Rising – Main Track

Side Two
1) Incubus
2) Damask
3) Unharmonics
4) Damask – Ambient
5) Lucifer Rising – Percussive Return

2.  The Guardian 

Edition: US

 

 

Occupy protests around the world: full list visualised

Simon Rogers guardian.co.uk

The Occupy protests have spread from Wall Street to London to Bogota.  See the full list – and help us add more.

“951 cities in 82 countries” has become the standard definition of the scale of the Occupy protests around the world this weekend, following on from the Occupy Wall Street and Madrid demonstrations that have shaped public debate in the past month. . . .

So, we have started listing all the events we can find verified news reports for.  There’s not 951 yet, but we do have most of the major ones.  You can see them mapped here:  [ http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/interactive/2011/oct/18/occupy-protests-map-world ]

This article was published on guardian.co.uk at 06.45 EST on Monday 14 November 2011.  It was last modified at 10.03 EST on Monday 14 November 2011.  It was first published at 14.06 EDT on Monday 17 October 2011.

3.  The Blaze

 The Blaze  

US:  ‘This Spring, We‘ll See Action’:  Piven Issues Dark Prediction on Occupy Wall Street

• Posted on March 9, 2012 at 5:28am by  Madeleine Morgenstern

[ http://www.theblaze.com/stories/fri-a-m-this-spring-well-see-action-piven-issues-dark-prediction-on-occupy-wall-street/ ]

[ Please note that all bold highlighting is original to the following article.] –SB

According to Frances Fox Piven:

• The Occupy Wall Street movement is entering the phase where it “makes trouble.”
• “We’ll see action against the banks, against the corporations.”
• Different forms of protests that will engage many people.
• Occupy was helped by “sympathetic” press coverage.

Leftist professor and activist Frances Fox Piven last week predicted the Occupy Wall Street movement is entering the phase where it “makes trouble” and will soon be taking action against banks and other institutions.

“It may well be that the Occupy movement is now in its second phase, in the phase where it makes trouble, in the phase where it threatens to shut down institutions,” Piven said.  “The Occupy movement has moved into the neighborhoods of our cities, it has moved into the schools….  This spring, we’ll see action against the banks, against the corporations.”

She added, “It is going to be a spring with lots of protests that take different forms and engage lots of people.”

Tom Hayden lifting Frances Fox Piven into student-occupied Columbia University Dean's Office --Life Magazine, 10 May 1968

Piven made her comments during a lecture to a group of students at the University of Connecticut last Friday.  She touched on the genesis of the Occupy movement, which she said was particularly a result of the financial crisis, which “exposed those in charge of the economy as illegitimate.”

“The people who were sitting on top of the world, the top-tenth of the top 1 percent, were guilty.  They were guilty of thievery, of chicanery,” Piven said.

*  “Francis Fox Piven”:  For this primary source audio clip of her comments, please see link to full article, provided above.  –SB

 

*  Calling Occupy Wall Street “a brilliant tactical innovation,” Piven dismissed the notion that local authorities actually worried about the sanitary conditions of the encampments, saying their major concern was how easily the “99 percent” theme caught on — helped by sympathetic press coverage.

Fiery and Fearful --Linas Garsys Washington Times

“The press began to cover them, and as the press began to cover them, the press became more sympathetic.  The slogan, ‘we are the 99 percent, they are the 1 percent,’ is so clear, how can you say they have no demands?” she said.  “Then the polls started to show that the message was resonating with a lot of Americans.  And as that happened, the local authorities became worried.  All of a sudden, it was very dangerous to have people sleeping overnight.”

*  “Piven OWS Structure”:  For this primary source audio clip of her comments, please see link to full article, provided above.  –SB

 

*  Taking questions from students, Piven was asked how lawmakers can pass laws for “the 99 percent” without being viewed as socialist.

“Well, we’ll call them democratic, or maybe we’ll call them anarchists,” Piven replied before adding to audience laughter:  “No, you can’t call a law an anarchist law.”

She continued, “I know one poll that shows something like half of the youngest age group polled, probably 15 to 25, saw no problems with socialism.  I myself am not a socialist, but, you know, who knows what that is?  I want to try to reform American capitalism to the extent that it can be reformed, and then we’ll see.”

 *  “Piven Socialism”:  For this primary source audio clip of her comments, please see link to full article, provided above.  –SB

 

*  Questioned about the Tea Party, Piven resurrected one of her old refrains that the movement is racist.

“The Tea Party has a chant at its rallies.  The chant is ‘Take it back!  Take it back!  Take it back!’  And you know who they want to take it back from?  They want to take it back from African Americans, immigrants.  They can’t stand the idea, they’ve popularized the idea that our African American president is a Muslim,” she said.

*  “Piven Tea Party”:  For this primary source audio clip of her comments, please see link to full article, provided above.  –SB

 

*  Piven also espoused her views on the charter school versus public school debate, saying in charter schools, “poorer children…don’t get the same kind of educational services.”

“If we take the funds that are designated to public education and we give them to for-profit entrepreneurs they’re going to behave in an entrepreneurial way,” she said, meaning teachers will “select out the kids who will do best.” 

*  “Piven Public Schools”:  For this primary source audio clip of her comments, please see link to full article, provided above.  –SB

 

*  Asked about the “hostile” business environment in the U.S., another student questioned what is stopping businesses from picking up and relocating due to over-regulation.

“You know, these businesses need government, they rely on government,” Piven replied.  “There may come a time when this new super structure of international agencies like the IMF, the World Trade Organization, the World Bank, the European Union is so highly developed they can actually function to provide the safeguards, the credibility, the infrastructure, the legal framework that business requires.  They haven’t yet so I would say let’s tame business, fence them in, while it can be tamed.” 

*  “Piven Tame Business”:  For this primary source audio clip of her comments, please see link to full article, provided above.  –SB

 

*  Piven gave her talk as part of a University of Connecticut political science forum.  Joseph Gasser, president of the University of Connecticut College Republicans, told The Blaze that while Piven has “every right to voice her collectivist opinions,“ he believes it was ”a mistake“ to give a platform to someone with ”a demonstrable misunderstanding of economics and a vicious contempt for those who have made themselves successful.

Student members from both the College Republicans and the University of Connecticut Young Americans for Liberty attended the event.

“Hosting her sends the message to students, faculty and donors to the university that this is an environment where covetousness, envy and ill will are encouraged at the expense of industriousness, hard work and ingenuity,” Gasser said.

4.  The Kansas CityStar /Midwest Democracy

Missouri caucuses marked by contention, with no clear victor yet
 
March 20 DAVE HELLING The Kansas City Star

[ http://midwestdemocracy.com/articles/missouri-caucuses-marked-by-contention-with-no-clear-victor-yet/ ]

Liberty, Missouri caucus 3.17.2012 --Scripps Howard

Liberty, Mo.:  Missouri Republicans met in more than 100 counties Saturday to begin picking their presidential nominee at party caucuses marked in some places by crowded rooms, loud disagreements — and no clear victor.

Organizers shut down one of the largest GOP caucuses, in St. Charles County, because of bitter disputes between supporters of Rep. Ron Paul and attendees supporting other presidential hopefuls.  Confusion and contention also marred several other crowded Republican gatherings, The Associated Press reported.

In Clay County, arguments between Paul supporters and others became so intense that the caucus chairman threatened to have voters removed by force.

Backers of the Texas congressman said they were upset their views weren’t being heard.

 “We’re just a little frustrated because caucuses are supposed to be run by a very strict set of rules,” said Paul supporter John Findlay.  “We raised a number of points of order, points of information, points of parliamentary inquiry, many of which have been ignored.”

But county caucus chairman Ben Wierzbicki said all caucus goers had been treated fairly.

“Certain people have made it very difficult on most of the people who are involved in this caucus,” he said.  “It might be a little crazy, but that’s part of it.”

After a three-hour-plus session, Clay County caucus goers eventually elected delegate slates from both the 5th and 6th congressional districts whose members were officially uncommitted to any specific presidential candidate.  Attendees also firmly rejected an effort to more closely align the party platform with Paul’s views.

Unlike neighboring Kansas, which caucused March 10, Missouri Republicans did not cast direct ballots for any presidential candidate Saturday.  Instead, delegates picked Saturday will eventually choose 49 of the state’s 52 national GOP convention delegates at district conventions in April and the state convention in June.

Not every county held a caucus Saturday. Republicans in Jackson County and the city of St. Louis postponed their caucuses until March 24 because of St. Patrick’s Day events.

Because of the confusing process, no presidential candidate is expected to get an immediate political boost from Saturday’s caucuses.

RELATED POSTS:

“Like” a Rolling Stone: Huey, Dewey, Louie and the New Voice of Youth – Dr. Ron Paul ,  Dr. Ron Paul on a Heartland Campus Near You: Danger, Danger Will Robinson! and Recent Misconceptions About Ron Paul .

Revolution du Jour and Another Slice of American Pie and

Malcolm X’s “The Ballot or the Bullet”

(tnks tw)

Without Power, Starfish Prime and the Good Side of Fear

I’d like to add some comments on a political science subject, with a bit more emphasis on the science–which is not to say the political implications are less important in our present day.

I write a lot, more non-fiction than fiction, but I have written fiction and still have ideas along those lines.  I had an idea, about 12-15 years ago, that I have yet to fully develop, which I titled “Without Power.”  The premise was that suddenly during morning rush hour, all power goes out around the globe.  Wherever you happen to be at the moment, you’re stuck there.  Your car won’t work, your cellphone, anything with electronics including microchips won’t work.  NPR goes out.  Talk radio goes out.  BBC is down.  Your cigarette-lighter powered shaver goes out during a last-minute cleanup up in the rear-view mirror.  So, what do you do?  You get out of your car and walk.  Where do you walk?  Home.  How do you survive without communication, conveniences, ease of mobility, all of the things we take for granted?  Not just that, but the infrastructure of world power goes out as well.  How well is that one going to work out?

One of my thoughts that I never fully researched was how electrical systems would just suddenly go out throughout the world.  One early thought was that it would remain unexplained, mysterious and supernatural.  The story, instead, would focus on the drama of everyone suddenly being “equaled out.”  Struggles for power would form on local and regional levels.  What system(s) would develop out of the crisis?

I found out recently, to my surprise, that country-wide power outages are possible, and I thought I would give some resources in case anyone is curious–because, as we all know, if the technology is there, then those who would use it are there.  Any naysayers can just check out the villains in Austin Powers or any of the James Bond films:)

I’ve written, on this blog, about some results of fear (“Election Year Fear” and “Goodness Breeds ~ Goodness!”)  The full truth is that fear can be a good thing.  Generally, it’s true that good has a bad side, and bad has a good side.  That’s why the balance of powers between Congress, the President and the Supreme Court is a good thing.  Balancing power so that the bad can’t get an edge over the others is a good thing.  On a current note, President Obama last night stated that he would seek more power for his executive branch and that he would bypass Congress, if necessary, any time they didn’t agree with his political agenda.  This is not a good thing.  Let’s say he does consolidate power around the presidency, and then Mitt Romney wins the November election.  How well is that one going to work out for Democrats?

Fear is now and has seemingly forever been used politically from every direction as a bad thing, but it’s also a natural, human instinct.  If you hear someone walking around your house at night, leaves are rustling around outside when they shouldn’t be, you’re probably going to get up and take a look.  It’s natural.

So, the first step to eliminating any fear that develops is that you make yourself aware of what’s really going on outside.  Probably a deer or racoon, or a stray dog, and then you can sleep good that night.  That’s the same premise here, with the concept of suddenly being “without power.”  Awareness is the first step.  You know the technology exists.  You know there are those who would use it for not-so-good purposes.  You’re hearing the leaves rustling outside.  Awareness allows you to sleep good each night–or, to take further steps toward your own, your family’s and your friends’ safety.

It’s simply saying that given that this scenario can happen, ask yourself:  “What would I do if…?”  It’s up to you.  My aim here is just toward the awareness part.  Or, to give some writers out there a decent story line about this dark premise.  NOT!  It’s my story.  Actually, a thriller, titled “One Second After,”  was written in 2009, and has been optioned a second time as a film.  (A lesson that when you get an story idea, jump on it.  I could have had a book out on the subject ten years ago if I had knuckled down.)  The author of the 2009 book, however, is tied as a cowriter of separate books with a prominent politician now running for president, so it’s up to you if you want to check it out.

Here’s where to find the scoop on the technology itself, and its “already-tested” history that dates back to July, 1962.  Funny how it usually takes so long for the “little people” to become more aware of what the “big people” have been up to.  Makes you wonder what else they’ve hidden up their sleeves since 1962.  A lot, I think.  As an aside, I was seven years old, almost eight, when the U.S. and the Soviet Union detonated a series of these nuclear EMP devices over the Pacific and the Soviet Union.  This was during the Cuban Missile Crisis with John F. Kennedy as president and Nikita Khrushchev as leader of the Soviet Union.  Maybe because I’ve always been more on the arts side than the science side, I never became aware of those tests, and the technology, until now.

[ http://www.futurescience.com/emp.html ].

[Excerpts from the article]:

Nuclear Electromagnetic Pulse by Jerry Emanuelson, B. S. E. E.

Futurescience, LLC  Colorado Springs, CO

In testimony before the United States Congress House Armed Services Committee on October 7, 1999, the eminent physicist Dr. Lowell Wood, in talking about Starfish Prime and the related EMP-producing nuclear tests in 1962, stated,

“Most fortunately, these tests took place over Johnston Island in the mid-Pacific rather than the Nevada Test Site, or electromagnetic pulse would still be indelibly imprinted in the minds of the citizenry of the western U.S., as well as in the history books.  As it was, significant damage was done to both civilian and military electrical systems throughout the Hawaiian Islands, over 800 miles away from ground zero.  The origin and nature of this damage was successfully obscured at the time — aided by its mysterious character and the essentially incredible truth.“

The Starfish Prime Nuclear Test
from nearly 900 miles away

Although nuclear EMP was known since the earliest days of nuclear weapons testing, the magnitude of the effects of high-altitude nuclear EMP were not known until a 1962 test of a thermonuclear weapon in space called the Starfish Prime test.   The Starfish Prime test knocked out some of the electrical and electronic components in Hawaii, which was 897 miles (1445 kilometers) away from the nuclear explosion.   The damage was very limited compared to what it would be today because the electrical and electronic components of 1962 were much more resistant to the effects of EMP than the sensitive microelectronics of today.   The magnitude of the effect of an EMP attack on the United States, or any similar advanced country, will remain unknown until one actually happens.   Unless the device is very small or detonated at an insufficiently high altitude, it is likely that it would knock out the nearly the entire electrical power grid of the United States.   It would destroy many other electrical and (especially) electronic devices.   Larger microelectronic devices, and devices that are connected to antennas or to the power grid at the time of the pulse, would be especially vulnerable.

. . .

The Starfish Prime test (a part of Operation Fishbowl) was detonated at 59 minutes and 51 seconds before midnight, Honolulu time, on the night of July 8, 1962.  (Official documents give the date as July 9 because that was the date at the Greenwich meridian, known as Coordinated Universal Time.)  It was considered an important scientific event, and was monitored by hundreds of scientific instruments across the Pacific and in space.   Although an electromagnetic pulse was expected, an accurate measurement of the size of the pulse could not be made immediately because a respected physicist had made calculations that hugely underestimated the size of the EMP.   Consequently, the amplitude of the pulse went completely off the scale at which the scientific instruments near the test site had been set.   Although many of the scientific instruments malfunctioned, a large amount of data was obtained and analyzed in the following months.

When the 1.44 megaton W49 thermonuclear warhead detonated at an altitude of 250 miles (400 km), it made no sound.   There was a very brief and very bright white flash in the sky that witnesses described as being like a huge flashbulb going off in the sky.   The flash could be easily seen even through the overcast sky at Kwajalein Island, about 2000 km. to the west-southwest.

After the white flash, the entire sky glowed green over the mid-Pacific for a second, then a bright red glow formed at “sky zero” where the detonation had occurred.   Long-range radio communication was disrupted a period of time ranging from a few minutes to several hours after the detonation (depending upon the frequency and the radio path being used).

In a phenomenon unrelated to the EMP, the radiation cloud from the Starfish Prime test subsequently destroyed at least 5 United States satellites and one Soviet satellite.  The most well-known of the satellites was Telstar I, the world’s first active communications satellite.  Telstar I was launched the day after the Starfish Prime test, and it did make a dramatic demonstration of the value of active communication satellites with live trans-Atlantic television broadcasts before it orbited through radiation produced by Starfish Prime (and other subsequent nuclear tests in space).   Telstar I was damaged by the radiation cloud, and failed completely a few months later.

. . .

A nuclear EMP attack could come from many sources.  A missile launched from the ocean near the coast of the United States, and capable of delivering a nuclear weapon at least a thousand miles inland toward the central United States, would cause problems that would be devastating for the entire country.  A thin-cased 100 kiloton weapon optimized for gamma ray production (or even the relatively-primitive super oralloy bomb of more than 56 years ago) detonated 250 to 300 miles above Nebraska, would destroy just about every unprotected electronic device in the continental United States, southern Canada and northern Mexico.  Such a weapon would also knock out 70 to 100 percent of the electrical grid in this very large area.  Nearly all unprotected electronic communications systems would be knocked out.  In the best of circumstances, as completely unprepared for such an event as we are now, reconstruction would take at least three years if the weapon were large enough to destroy large power grid transformers.

The more that preparations are made for an EMP attack, the less severe the long-term consequences are likely to become.  In comparative terms, being ready for an EMP attack would not cost a lot, and the benefits would include a much higher reliability of the electrical and electronic infrastructure, even if a nuclear EMP attack never occurred.  Adequate preparation and protection could keep recovery time to a month or two, but such preparations have never been made, and few people are interested in making such preparations.

Hardening the electronic and electrical infrastructure of the United States against an EMP attack is the best way to assure that such an attack does not occur.  Leaving ourselves as totally vulnerable as we are now makes the United States a very tempting target for this kind of attack.

By not protecting its electrical and electronic infrastructure against nuclear EMP, the United States invites and encourages nuclear proliferation.  These unprotected infrastructures allow countries that are currently without a nuclear weapons program to eventually gain the capability to effectively destroy the United States with one, or a few, relatively simple nuclear weapons.

Severe solar storms can cause current overloads on the power grid that are very similar to the slower E3 component of a nuclear electromagnetic pulse.  There is good reason to believe that the past century of strong human reliance on the electrical systems has also, fortunately for us, been an unusually quiet period for solar activity.  We may not always be so lucky.  In 1859, a solar flare produced a geomagnetic storm that was many times greater than anything that has occurred since the modern electrical grid has been in place.  We know something about the electrical disruption that the 1859 Carrington event caused because of the destruction it caused on telegraph systems in Europe and North America.  Many people who have studied the 1859 event believe that if such a geomagnetic storm were to occur today, it would shut down the entire electrical grid of the United States.  It is likely that such a geomagnetic storm would destroy most of the largest transformers (345 KV. and higher) in the electrical grid.  Spares for these very large transformers are not kept on hand, and they are no longer produced in the United States.  Protection against nuclear EMP is also protection against many kinds of unpredictable natural phenomena that could be catastrophic.