Something about nuclear power (for war and peace) has always fascinated me. I started reading everything I could get my hands on somewhere around 6th grade. I worked my way through the (very limited) selection in the school library and then started working through the public library offerings about anything nuclear-related.
In 7th grade, we were required to do a public speaking bit in our English class. It was to be a 5-7 minute lesson to the class on "how-to". We got to pick our own topics, and there were quite a few cooking lessons, a bit of drawing, and so forth. I taught the class how to do nuclear fusion. (Yep, I was a nerd.) Hydrogen isotopes, add heat/pressure, get helium. Piece of cake, right? :-)
I've watched nearly every "nuke" movie I've heard of. Not the Toxic-Avenger type stuff, but "Fail Safe", "Manhattan Project", "Dr. Strangelove", etc. Documentaries about Cheyenne Mountain, Los Alamos, Oak Ridge, Y12, Pantex, Bikini Atoll, and so forth.
It's easy to imagine the fear that my parents' generation lived in; look at pictures 14-20 in the above link. When you're feeding that kind of thing to school children, and supplementing it with Bert the Turtle (he ducked, and covered - ducked, and covered...), fear makes sense.
I grew up within a short drive of the Seneca Army Depot, anecdotally known (and denied, with a wink and a nudge) as the East-coast storage facility for tactical nuclear weapons during most of the Cold War. When I was old enough to understand what that meant, I was well into learning about nukes: I figured that if things went south we'd be sitting under a large quantity of Soviet MIRVs and it wasn't worth worrying about. (Bend over and kiss your sweet ass goodbye, kid.)
The base has been closed (since 2000) and is slowly being repurposed: - some of the ultra-secure Q-section bunkers have been leased out to a local technology group for off-site secure data and document storage. - NYSDOC has opened a maximum security prison - the NY State Police have (or will have?) a training facility - the runway has been used for SCCA rallies
The nuclear war we face now is not one of strategic bombers, ICBMs, SLBMs, nor even Davy Crocketts. If we are attacked by someone using nuclear device, it's going to be either a "dirty bomb", a homegrown low-yield fission device, or, worst case, a black-market ex-Soviet device.
In any of those cases, how can we respond appropriately? Even in the case of state-sponsored terror (Iran, Libya, I'm looking at you here), could we possibly justify eye-for-an-eye vengeance? The US is the only nation in the world to have used nuclear arms in anger, but the sea change in world politics over the past sixty-five years would make us a pariah among nations if we did so again. It's easy to say, "So what? We don't need 'em!" - but it isn't true.
Without a very long tangent into the economics involved, the US is, in my opinion, on the edge of losing its position as world leader in R&D and manufacturing. We need the other nations of the world to keep us going. Pretty heavy stuff to consider.
Does that mean we can eliminate our entire nuclear arsenal? Probably not. Teddy Roosevelt had it right, and five thousand nuclear warheads is a hell of a stick. Unfortunately, that stick is so big that if we start swinging it, we will have trouble checking the swing. Nuclear winter isn't a pleasant concept - you think oil costs too much now, wait 'til you see the price when heating season is twelve months a year!
All that aside, I am always amazed at the mesmerizing intricacy of explosions - and these are more fascinating than most. Examine images five through seven - if you were not told in advance that these were images of nuclear detonations, they could be almost anything. Photomicrographs? Abstract art? Deep space imagery?
On that note, I'll leave you with something to smile at:
We had two dogs when I was young; a generic black mutt and a collie (think "Lassie"). They got old and passed away in due course. Mom and Dad never chose to get another dog. A cat made an appearance early in my teen years and just passed away this summer.
I got my own cat somewhere around the end of 2003. Heinlein is still alive and kicking, having been adopted by former roommates when my living situation changed to preclude pets (2006 or so).
In 2009, MrsZ and I bought our house, and shortly thereafter adopted a pair of young barn cats from one of my former coworkers. I love cats - they're relatively low-maintenance, can be friendly, and they get rid of mice... but they aren't dogs. There is something just right about a good dog.
Last winter we started kicking around the idea of getting a dog, but it got put off while we continued to settle in to the house and get life in order. I kept half an eye on the local SPCA web site, but none of their dogs really grabbed my attention. We were being moderately picky about what we wanted in a dog: female, medium-size (40-70lb or so), preferably short-hair, good disposition, non-puppy, and preferably not a senior citizen. We also wanted a dog that had potential for some kind of training, be it hunting with me or hanging out with the livestock.
Monday of this week, I glanced over the list of dogs at the SPCA and found one that looked promising. A year and a half old (or so), 60lb, hound mix, and female. We went over to visit her Tuesday evening and promptly fell in love. "Sugar" was low-key, attentive, very good about being handled, and seemed like an ideal dog. She didn't have much (any?) training, but that's correctable.
Paperwork was filled out, and we spent Wednesday picking up all the assorted stuff that a house needs to have a dog. Leashes, collar, bowls, crate, toys, food, treats, run, and on and on. We got everything set up, gated off our dining room (laminate floors, easier clean up!), and this evening, we picked up the dog formerly known as Sugar formerly known as Lady.
We went home via a stop at the pet store for a harness, and she spent the trip sitting up in the back seat of the truck watching the world go by. At home, we took her out to the designated Potty Spot, and waited ... and waited ... and waited. After twenty minutes of standing there while she sniffed around the area (and nothing else), we wandered over to meet the goats. She was thoroughly intimidated by the goats and never got close enough to the fence to get zapped.
We went inside, let her explore the dining room (still on a leash), meet the cats through a gate, find her water bowl, and then took the leash off.
She promptly made a puddle on the floor. *sigh*
Back out we went. She heels well, so when I got down to the Spot, I looked down at her ... and was looking at an empty collar. I turned around and found her standing three feet behind me, waiting. Proper adjustments were made, and we wandered around the yard a fair bit more.
Housebreaking is going to be a long process, I think.
But, she's awful sweet, and I think she's a great match for us.
Head on over and congratulate him; if you don't read him, you should.
You don't come up with a million visits by writing crap - unless you are supplementing your written crap with pictures of very nice boobs. (Playboy in the past fifteen years, I'm looking at you here.)
I've met Jay.
He does NOT have nice boobs. (Nice pecs, perhaps, but pecs are not moobies.)
Obviously, he must write pretty well. And he does supplement with pictures of very nice guns.
I mentioned a couple days ago that I'd gotten what appeared to be spam from a "new" ammo company requesting free advertising.
I put it up here then: I'm for sale, but I ain't free.
They sent me another email today, "following up" and they'd "really appreciate" a link, and btw, here's a coupon code for your readers.
I hadn't identified the company before, but now I will. BulkAmmo.com. I'm not hot-linking them because they are spamming me and numerous other gunbloggers. I googled the name on the email, one Steven Otterbacher, and found mentions of him and the ammo company across several blogs.
Steven: stop spamming me. The internet is a big place, but the gun blog community isn't. It doesn't take much to put a bad taste in our mouths. Your company will NEVER get free advertising from me, and in fact, I'll do as much as I can to send business elsewhere. Unsolicited commercial emails aren't appreciated. One I could grumble about and ignore. A second one makes me angry, and this is the result.
The only one up there I have not ordered ammo from is Natchez. All the others have gotten business from me over the past couple years and all have had fair prices and prompt service and shipping.
And yes, I'm sending a link to this post to Mr. Otterbacher. Anyone who wants to link this, please do. Spread the word.
For some reason the fed.gov thinks you're not smart enough to recognize my comments and opinions as just that. Or that people giving me free stuff would make for a better review. But to make a government paper-shuffler happy, here it is:
Unless otherwise and specifically noted, any product mentioned, commented about, or reviewed in this blog was bought with my own hard-earned money or given to me by a third party with no vested interest in a review (i.e., my wife).
Copyright
Everything on this site is, unless otherwise indicated, copyright me - ZerCool - and may not be used for any commercial purpose without express written permission.
