| Author | Message | ||
     Hexangler |
Personal interest of late. My Gran'pappy was one of these guys:  Who helped put a whole bunch of these in Nevada:  And on a lighter note, was the chief engineer of this project:  Since his death 8 years ago, and then my father's early death 5 years ago, I've been reeling to find a family history without those two around to give me clues. They never really told me anything specific, but I do have a beautiful vellum of the HST with C. John Ryan's signature, drawn by, chief engineer, etc. Lockheed. BTW he thought it would be against us by China. But that was pre-9/11. (Message edited by hexangler on August 18, 2009) | ||
| P_squared |
If it's any consolation, I can't see China nuking us. We owe them too much $$$. | ||
| Rfischer |
Bingo! | ||
| Zane |
Most likely scenarios in my mind, most likely to least: Target: Large United States metropolitan area, most likely New York City. Bad Guy: Terrorist group with the support of a Middle East state, most likely Iran. Weapon: Small tactical nuke stolen/black market from Russia Time Frame: Some time in 2011 Target: Israel Bad Guy: Iran Weapon: Iranian home grown nuke Time Frame: 2010 Target: South Korea Bad Guy: North Korea Weapon: Home grown NK nuke Time Frame: 2011 Target: North Korea Bad Guy: North Korea Weapon: Home grown NK nuke accidentally fired or malfunction Time Frame: 2011 Some days no matter what you do, you wind up stepping on your own crank with golf shoes. (Message edited by zane on August 18, 2009) | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Via shipping container, to a port city, on the east coast Gee, thanks | ||
| Cityxslicker |
What do you want to accomplish with a nuke?.... and what could be done with alot less. Nukes, while terrible and awfully destructive are not the threat. Your next threat is from a assymetrical source using ready at hand products to dismantle infrastructure or key command/control/lanes of travel points on our own soil. Three volvo sedans with cell phone detonators and packed with over the counter fertilizer bomb would cripple a city. Hell save the money on the cell phones, everybody knows these terrorist radicals love to commit suicide for the cause. (why volvo? cuz they are everywhere, they start all the time, and they are stupid reliable) | ||
| Ferris_von_bueller |
Three volvo sedans with cell phone detonators and packed with over the counter fertilizer bomb would cripple a city Please elaborate. How do you see this "crippling" a city? Are you talking days, months, years??? | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Case in point. Seattle, 1 sedan 520 floating bridge 7;30 1 sedan 1-90 floating bridge 8:00 1 sedan I-5 shipcanal bridge 8:45 You have effectively killed this town for 3 years minimum. How do I know? When the bridge sunk in 1990 because of highwinds and storm, it collapsed, it took them 3 years to rebuild, and open back up for traffic. Now add a container of fun down at the Port, and well, you really arent as safe as y'all wanna think. this lil experiment in western capitalist freedom is damn fragile, we have been VERY lucky. this town grinds to a stand still when there is a wreck in the Renton S curves (its a left, a right, a left, a right and none of it more than 15 degrees over 4 miles) when y'all play Xbox/PS2 its called a game, when we did it, it was called 'modelling' DAMHIK (Message edited by cityxslicker on August 18, 2009) | ||
| Zane |
I say a nuke for the sheer terror factor. That’s the entire point isn’t. The level of destruction and causalities can’t be matched with a 100 Volvos. The shipping container makes tons O' sense from a logistical stand point. Even al Qaeda or the Taliban has the technology to pack a shipping container. Low tech, cheap and effective. City Slicker is right about one thing. Volvos are stupid reliable. They are almost as reliable as they are ugly. | ||
| Hootowl |
Seattle is in a tough spot as far as freeways go. Lake to the East, Sound to the West. There just aren't a whole lot of places you can put in a new freeway. And since they built the convention center OVER THE FREEWAY it would be almost impossible to make the freeway wider or stack more lanes than they already have. The city planners should be sacked. Oh yeah, and talk about a prime target. All you have to do is drive the bomb-laden truck down I-5 and press the button. Slicker is spot on about the vulnerability Seattle faces. You take out those three places, Seattle is at a standstill for years. Food doesn't get delivered etc. What a mess. They don't even need to take out a large section of the floating bridges, just puncture one of them. Last time this happened the sinking spans took out the stay cables for the adjacent sections. I used to commute from Everett to Burien in the afternoons. Getting through downtown was always a mess. The viaduct doesn't appear too stable either... | ||
| Sifo |
I wonder how hard it would be to attack the US with a nuke. You wouldn't even have to get it into the US. It could be loaded into a small aircraft in the Bahamas, Haiti, Cuba, Bermuda, etc. From there just fly over the city of your choice and self detonate. You also get the benefit of an air blast without the hassle of developing a missile. Alternative plan, just get near the US coastal city of your choice with a nuke on a boat. Pick a calm day where said nuke can be transferred to a small seaplane out at sea. You never even deal with getting into any country that way. It's so easy a cave man could do it. All they need is a source to sell the cave man the nuke. | ||
| Hootowl |
Surface blast is better...more radioactive fallout. | ||
| 86129squids |
"It's so easy a cave man could do it. All they need is a source to sell the cave man the nuke.' Actually, isn't a Jihadist nutjob really the last "cave man"? Darwin's theory apparently only applies to biological evolution, not to the evolution of the intellect or the spirit. We are in a battle of the minds which will spill blood again. | ||
| Hexangler |
Seattle does have a prevailing Westerly wind...and that target would show that both coasts are vulnerable. Less damage, but maybe more fear. What will we do then? Can we stop the hit? | ||
| 86129squids |
Thanks for the Teddy Roosevelt quote! (Message edited by 86129squids on August 18, 2009) | ||
| Ourdee |
I think someone will use a electric pulse energy weapon against the US before they use a nuke. And I stand by the nuke in israel as next. Here is my reasoning base on bible prophesy; 1. In order for blood to flow 200 furlongs as deep as the horses bridle, it must be irradiated to keep it from coagulating. 2. When testing nukes at sea huge dents were caused on the ship decks from 70 plus pound hail stones caused by the moisture in the atmosphere being pushed high enough to freeze. | ||
| Johnnymceldoo |
What will we do then If its in the next couple years than we will have roundtable discussions to see what the issues at hand are. We will find commonality and find ways to overcome our differences without bloodshed. Our dead and dying can be looked at as our payment to a safer more eco friendly environment.  | ||
| Hootowl |
Darwin's theory only works when the strong aren't overcome with guilt when they thrive and others don't. | ||
| Blake |
Cityslicker, I think that if need warranted, the Army core could have functioning temporary bridges up and running in a matter of days, maybe weeks. A fast track construction project could have permanent bridges in place and functioning in a matter of months. A fleet of ferryboats could augment the situation. The environmentalists would be told to sit down and shut up, progress would happen unhindered by court cases and the red tape of fascist environmentalism. | ||
| Hootowl |
Blake, that would not happen in Seattle. They wouldn't even salt the roads during the snowstorm they had last year because it would increase the salinity of Puget Sound by 0.00000003% or some such ridiculously low number. The people in charge ARE the environmental whack jobs. They're not going to request waivers. In fact, they'll probably argue that maybe they don't really need those bridges that shade the lake bed and inhibit life in the lake. | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Ask the locals, this town closes for an inch of snow; 3 car IEDs would negate this place off the map for YEARS. | ||
| Toona |
Minnesota I-35W bridge collapse, Aug 1, 2007, That bridge has been rebuilt and opened Sept 18, 2008. Albeit a year or so later. | ||
| Lonewolfnavet |
I predict the Earth will be cubed by a Prophet named Erikus Buellikus. | ||
| Mayerhd |
I think the next attack will happen in Minnesota, by some indiscriminant cheese truck from Wisconsin.  | ||
| Blake |
Time of war or national disaster. The civilians have little to no say. Martial law. Picture General Honore telling the enviro fascists "stop getting stuck on stupid." | ||
| Cityxslicker |
Martial Law, yep, the rounding up and detention of anybody that thinks they are going to stand infront of a military option to bridge. The IPW boys love that game. Now that Gitmo is closin, they are anxious to get some work time  We did that scenario too, actually hired UofW students to play detainees to go through the 'center' and try and disrupt HazMat clean up after a simulated Bio Dirty bomb. Good fun. I think more than a few of the students got their eyes wide open and feelings stepped on. PS all the local bridging and riverine boys are deployed forward, your nearest resupply is Oakland, two pontoons aint doin shiat. | ||
| Hexangler |
Yeah, I agree marshal law in the localized disaster area, but what about the rest of the nation. We might never find out who or how a big one went off, just all of a sudden, poof. Then no evidence. | ||
| Zane |
Here's a scary thought: What if the islomcrazies have been waiting to get multiple nukes? They like to do things in a big way and it would also explain reports that al Qaeda already has a nuke but hasn't fired it. They used four planes on Sept 11th instead of just one or two, remember? What if they want to nuke New York and a west coast city at the same time? How's that for making a "statement"? New York is the commerce center and the symbolic home of capitalism. That makes it the best target, even better than Washington DC. The Los Angeles area has massive port facilities and the most dreaded of all Western influences: Hollywood. I don't think it's likely but also don't think it's out of the question. Could some one hand me my tin foil hat please? The voices are getting so loud... Edited because I can't spell. (Message edited by zane on August 19, 2009) | ||
| Etennuly |
This is why human nature has instilled in us a desire to explore and inhabit new planets. We, humans are like an infection to this planet, by all the laws of nature in us, we will infect others. As microbes do, we will kill our host and need fresh meat. If we can't consume enough of it, and crap enough on it, we will blow it up so that nothing else can. GO HUMANS! Mold does the same thing to fruit, as it depletes its food supply in one, it spreads to others. The more 'food' supply available the faster it grows and spreads. In relation to geologic time, we are growing and spreading very rapidly. It is more than human nature, it is Nature's nature. We are just a part of it. So screw it.....let's ride! | ||
| Aesquire |
You must understand that the goal of terrorism is terror. To create unreasoning fear. In islamo-fascist culture you want to push the "bleeding heart liberal" buttons & make the giant surrender to you. See hysterical anti-war types who want to abandon Iraq etc. because of a few deaths by mad bomber. Very effective tactic when dealing with the bleeding heart/emo types. In our culture, terrorism is meant to push the government to repressive measures to incite a popular uprising against the govt. A smart domestic terrorist would target electric supplies, etc. Maybe nuke D.C. but that is far more likely from a jihadist of islamic or eco-nut stripe. Israel, Tel Aviv, by Iranian Nuke, 6 months before the"experts" say it's possible. Then Qom, Tehran, Mecca....... |
