Tag Archives: dystopia

Military

Five Years After an EMP Strike: Expert Explores What Society Might Look Like

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Black Mountain, NC, June , 2023 —William R. Forstchen, Ph.D., prays that he is remembered 30 years from now as a crank. Widely considered one of the foremost experts on electromagnetic pulse (EMP) attacks, Dr. Forstchen wants more than anything to be wrong when he says an attack is imminent.

Dr. Forstchen is also a New York Times bestselling author who has written extensively about EMP weapons. His upcoming book, Five Years After, traces the plight of protagonist John Matherson as he struggles to protect the fragile civilization helped rebuild following an EMP strike.

A means of delivery- Newscom/Alamy Stock Photo/M2T8T5 North Korea’s intercontinental ballistic missile Hwasong-15 is displayed during a military parade in Pyongyang, 8 February 2018.

Most people have lived through minor power outages lasting anywhere from a few hours to a few days. But what would happen if the power went out and didn’t come back on? Historian William R. Forstchen, Ph.D., warns that if something were to cripple the U.S. power grid — an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) for instance — it would trigger a cascade of deadly events, and long-term survival would depend on being in the right place at the right time with the right food supply.

“It is catastrophic. It is not ‘tinfoil hat,’” said Forstchen in a recent interview. “With an EMP, when it hits, it blows the grid out. You’re going to lose your water immediately. Within several days, that’s going to be bad. Second: food supply. … Medication. … and then of course, disease sets in.”

Widely considered one of the foremost experts on EMP attacks, Forstchen is also the New York Times bestselling author of the One Second After series, a fictional exploration rooted in the cold, solid facts of how an EMP strike above U.S. soil would impact society.

How would an EMP attack effect Canada?

The Canadian Press/J.P. Moczulski An aerial view of the Bruce Power nuclear generating station in Kincardine, Ontario, Canada. An EMP event affecting this facility could have catastrophic consequences.

The latest book in the series, Five Years After, follows protagonist John Matherson as he contends with new threats to the fragile civilization that he helped rebuild.

In Five Years After, the Republic of New America has all but collapsed into regional powers, and the world at large is struggling to remain stable as regional conflicts ravage the post-EMP landscape. After several years attempting to lead a quiet life, John receives word that the President is terminal with cancer, and John is asked to take over the reins of government.

Pulled back into the fray, John struggles to hold the tottering Republic together. Facing threats on multiple fronts, he races against time to stop another EMP attack on the former United States and China, putting years of progress at risk. With so much of his work under threat, John must find the strength within to start over, so that he can save the country and the people that he holds dear from even greater calamity.

Forstchen’s depiction of a post-EMP society throughout his One Second After series is rooted in years of extensive research, and he has long been advocating for greater awareness and preparation against an EMP strike, which he considers a very real threat. His goal is not to alarm, but to prompt proactive measures to protect the North American public.

“We’ve got to live our lives; we’ve got to enjoy ourselves … don’t make this the obsession,” Forstchen said of the topic of EMPs. “But it should be out there. You should be thinking about this and doing some basic planning.”

Featured image- NASA “Mini-EMP attacks do happen when conditions on the Sun create discharges powerful enough to reach the Earth’s surface. Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory’s view of the 23 July 2012 coronal mass ejection. The event was the fastest-ever coronal mass ejection, leaving the sun at between 1,800-2,200 miles-per-second.

About the Author

William R. Forstchen is a New York Times bestselling author and a Professor of History at Montreat College, in Montreat, North Carolina. He holds a doctoral degree from Purdue University with a specialization in military history and technology. He is the author of more than 50 books, including the One Second After series that details the realistic effects of an EMP strike.

He is a noted expert historian and public speaker and has been interviewed on FOX News, C-SPAN and many others on topics ranging from history to technology and cultural issues, to space technology development, to security threats.

Amazon link: https://www.amazon.com/Five-Years-After-Matherson-Novel/dp/1250854563/

Five Years After

Publisher: Tor/Forge

Release Date: August 22, 2023

ISBN-10: ‎ 1250854563

ISBN-13: ‎ 978-1250854568

Available for pre-order from Amazon.com

Culture

Sci Fi Like Devices Part Of Queen’s Park Security Update

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Canadian director James Cameron projected into the future for 1986's Aliens radar motion tracker. Now this tech seems to be ready for Queen's Park.
1986 film- Aliens radar motion tracker. Now this tech is ready for Queen’s Park.

Eight years ago at Queen’s Park, the Cross-Border Institute (CBI), part of the University of Windsor, hosted an event to demonstrate advances in security, surveillance and fingerprinting technology. That technology had immediate application for border crossing screening, supply chain security and cybersecurity.

The CBI hosted the event as part of its mandate to support ongoing, practical research aimed at addressing numerous cross-border issues with the United States. The CBI works in collaboration with a number of University of Windsor departments, private sector partners and organizations and all levels of government, looking at making land border crossings work better.  The technologies demonstrated represented a number of research projects and initiatives currently being conducted at the University of Windsor as part of its strategic focus related to understanding borders. These projects and activities were also supported by the Department of Research and Innovation at the University of Windsor.

Queen’s Park staff and members had a first-hand opportunity to see the work of Dr. Roman Maev’s high-speed biometrics ultrasonic system for 3-D fingerprint imaging. This system allows reconstruction of fingerprint patterns from deeper layers of skin while embedding the internal parameters of these deeper layers as key features of the fingerprints. Also on display was Dr. Sazzadur Chowdhury’s 77GHz short range radar. At the time- the smallest and thinnest in the world and economical enough to be carried by an individual for mobile motion detection or used in multiples in such large surveillance application as airports. Cue the Aliens movie soundtrack.  Both Drs. Maev and Chowdhury are members of the University of Windsor Faculty.

The University of Windsor has developed an area of expertise in technologies that can detect threats and violations, provide positive identification and secure the transfer of data. The projects all have practical security applications and are at or approaching the commercialization stage. All of these projects have received support from the Federal Development Corporation for Southern Ontario (FedDev Ontario) Prosperity Initiative Project 802390, which is administered by the Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor.

Quick Facts: The Cross-Border Institute at the University of Windsor was founded in 2008 under the direction of Dr.  Bill Anderson.  The Centre approaches the study of border issues from a multi-disciplinary perspective that includes economic development, geography, engineering, management science and political science.  The CBI has focused on initiatives, events and research that address ongoing challenges at land crossings between Canada and the United States. The CBI, as part of the University of Windsor, looks at the impact of trends in cross-border transportation and the impact of policy decisions by governments on both sides of the border. Currently, the CBI is working to launch Canada’s first university level certificate program in border management, Managing Borders and International Trade.

Technology Quick Facts:
Short Range Radar for Surveillance Applications – UWindsor engineering professor Dr. Chowdhury has developed the world’s smallest and thinnest short-range radar unit. Because it is inexpensive to build and completely weatherproof it can be used effectively in a variety of applications for motion detection, ranging from individual units attached to a soldiers uniform to arrays of units for border and perimeter surveillance.

High Speed Biometrics Ultrasonic System for 3D Fingerprint Imaging – World-renowned UWindsor physicist Dr. Maev has taken a new approach to fingerprinting using acoustic microscopy technology. This device generates far more detailed information from fingerprint images below the skin level, making it more accurate than conventional technologies, yet it is fast and practical.

Real Time Location System for Security and Indoor Location – Based on the novel indoor positioning method developed by Dr. Majid Ahmadi and Dr. Rashid Rashidzadeh at the University of Windsor, this system will identify, locate and track people in indoor environments. Its positioning algorithm takes advantage of various sensors on smartphones to improve positioning accuracy.

Automated Vehicle Identification – Cameras that can read license plate information are increasingly common. University of Windsor computer scientists Dr. Imran Ahmad and Dr. Boubakeur Boufama have taken this technology several steps farther, allowing the shape and colour of a car to be extracted from video feeds and stored in a database. This technology will be tested in the University of Windsor’s new parking structure in the Spring of 2015.

Data Encryption Using Graphical Processing Units (GPUs) – Data encryption is an increasingly important function that normally requires the use of expensive add-on cards known as crypto-accelerators. UWindsor researcher, Dr. Roberto Muscedere has developed algorithms that make it possible to achieve the same kind of encryption using much cheaper GPU units typically found in laptop computers and game consoles.

Secure vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) communications – Advanced vehicular communications technology has enabled such life-saving features as collision warning, collision avoidance and emergency vehicle signaling. However these systems may be vulnerable to cyber-attacks that threaten the privacy and safety of drivers and passengers. University of Windsor faculty researchers Dr. Mitra Mirhassani, Dr. Kemel Tepe and Dr. Wu and their students are working to fill security gaps in V2V systems.

Control, Monitoring and Surveillance in Wireless Systems – Large scale power and communications systems, manufacturing and process control plants, networked building energy systems and others are increasingly controlled by autonomous, sensor-rich, wireless systems. Given the consequence of failure in these systems and the danger of cyber-attacks upon them, UWindsor researchers Dr. Mehrdad Saif, Dr. Rashid Rashidzadeh, Dr. Alavi and Dr. Razavi-Far are developing methods to detect intruders and faults early.

Sensor fusion for concealed weapons detection – Conventional images are good for revealing a person’s identity, while infrared images can spot concealed weapons. But what if you want to both identify a person and know if they are concealing a weapon? A University of Windsor engineer, Dr. Jonathan Wu, has found a way to fuse information from different sensors to produce a clear image not only of a suspect’s appearance but also of any concealed weapon they are carrying. For the Silo, Jarrod Barker. 
Learn More: www.uwindsor.ca/crossborder

Culture

Out Of Work? You Could Be A Contestant On A Future Game Show

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After perusing the many niches of reality TV — well-to-do housewives in multiple major cities, the rugged Alaska lifestyle, and working the dirtiest jobs known to man — employment strategist Richard B. Alman wonders why we haven’t seen a show about a popular and compelling subject: long-term unemployment and drop-outs. (Spoiler alert- Life imitates art, this has in fact become reality…read on)

It’s a numbers game

While unemployment rates ebb and flow, according to various Government agencies such as the Bureau of Labor Statistics in the United States or Statistics Canada here at home, there is no reliable data for the long-term unemployed – those who’ve been jobless for 27 weeks or more – and for the underemployed.

“Recent college grads, who are typically saddled with student debt, still struggle to find terra firma in the professional world, and there’s a large blind spot for older unemployed workers, who may have gone back to school or taken a lesser job for which they’re overqualified, or they’re still searching,” says Alman, principal of Recruiter Media, owner of www.RecruiterNetworks.com, the world’s largest owner/operator of career websites.

The 1990 arcade game Smash TV- set in 1999 and with a vague story arc. Officially, the plot of Smash TV revolves around a futuristic game show in which players compete for various prizes, as well as their lives. Urban legend has included references to 'out of work teens and college drop-outs' being some of the principle characters. CP

The 1990 arcade game Smash TV- set in 1999 and with a vague story arc. Officially, the plot of Smash TV revolves around a futuristic game show in which players compete for various prizes, as well as their lives. Urban legend has included references to ‘out of work teens and college drop-outs’ being some of the principle characters. 

“Drama, struggle, learning moments and, yes, hope – that’s what you’d get with an un- and underemployment-themed reality TV show.”

Life imitating art imitating life? The Running Man takes place in the year 2017- and pits ‘society discards against one another in a reality based TV show set in a dystopic future’.

Alman reviews how the first season might play out.

•  Week 1: Job-seekers are happy to have a gig. Since reality show participants are paid, all are happy for this opportunity. Newly graduated college students are grateful to have a place to crash for several weeks with Wi-Fi and other free amenities, and love interests begin to develop. Older professionals, however, will have mortgages and families; for them, the show is a business trip. Underemployed job-seekers tell their stories of working long hours in unfulfilling positions.

•  Week 2: Putting the reality into “reality TV.” “Un- and underemployment touches nearly everyone; we all know someone without enough work,” Alman says. While reality includes fortuitous wealth and fame for a few, it also includes tough times for many. The second week would feature job-seekers sticking to old methods of searching that have not worked in the past and continue to fail them.  

•  Week 3: The reveal – participants find out it’s a competition. While the cameras have sparked renewed vigor in their individual searches – a few participants may have even tried some wildly unconventional tactics – the group has had relatively little success. Producers reveal that it’s not just a reality show about job-seekers, it’s a competition. The group is separated into two teams. Participants from the winning team get legitimate interviews with Fortune 500 companies.

•  Week 4: Job-seekers gain important tips. No matter how much experience, talent, youth or beauty they have, job-seekers still make mistakes with their strategies. While a well-written cover letter, an impressive education and a great resume certainly help – they’re not everything. Professionals give participants tips for staying relevant in today’s market, including the importance of doing volunteer work, preferably in roles that match their talents and training.

“I really cannot overemphasize this tip enough. Volunteering is probably the best way for the long-term unemployed to demonstrate their abilities, initiative and effectiveness in a marketplace that hasn’t given you enough of a chance,” Alman says. “It builds new skills, introduces you to a new network of potential employers, and adds recent experience to your resume.”

•  Final week: All are on their way to gainful employment. After several weeks, most of the participants have made significant progress in landing career positions. While the winning team gains a great opportunity with a guaranteed, high-quality interview, there are no losers on this show. And, those who’ve made an excellent impression on the program are sure to gain additional opportunities.

For the Silo, Richard B. Alman

Supplemental-Following the theme of this story, you might like to consider the US game show “Paid Off”. Accordingly the contestants are graduates competing to have their student loans paid off.

Sci-Tech

Synth Britannia Shows The Future Was In Fact Delivered

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Come on, you have to admit. It’s a lot of fun to stumble around YouTube with that old pre-internet habit of television channel surfing surprising you with random discoveries.

When I do, I particularly enjoy reading comments left by others who have somehow found their way to whatever it is I happen to be watching. This comforts me because I know that this method of purposeful and accidental consumption of media is not exclusive to me [many comments start with: “Not sure how I ended up at this video but….” or ” __________led me here.”]  but perhaps I’m alone in the belief that spontaneous discoveries help connect me better to the production. I think what I’m talking about is called “verisimilitude” and no doubt as I type this out there’s someone trying to figure out how they’ve discovered the same excellent BBC synth documentary that I discovered by chance: Synth Britannia.

Donna Summer's synth programmer in 1977 brought the sounds of the future to disco with I Feel Love
Donna Summer’s synth programmer in 1977 brought the sounds of the future to disco with I Feel Love

A few years ago, I was enjoying reading a guest editorial in Wired by comedy bull Will Ferrell. )

Not one to beat around the bush, Will wanted to know what had happened to the future?  Specifically the future suggested if not promised in comic book ads to the then pre-adolescent Will Ferrell. He asked, where were the Jet packs, autopilot-flying cars and robot butlers? It occurred to me that if Will was an electronic musician he would have come to the same conclusion that the producers of Synth Britannia did while they drew up the plans to make their excellent documentary: The future did come, it just wasn’t so literal.

1970's Northern Britain looking like a scene from Blade Runner, one of the birthplaces of future synth music.
1970’s Northern Britain looking like a scene from Blade Runner, one of the birthplaces of future synth music.

To compound matters this future somehow passed by all of us, unless perhaps you were a student of history or an existentialistic, free-radical electronic acolyte or computer programmer back in the golden age of dystopia vision. I call this era the ‘other’ 1970’s.
I have added the qualifier: ‘other’ 1970’s, because today’s media mistakenly focuses on reinforcing the bell-bottom, disco driven qualities of the 1970’s but there was a much more robust, artistic movement running against the grain in the same way that meaningful art has always done. This movement bridged fashion, art, cinema, sound design and of course music and if you want to learn more while being thoroughly engaged, then spend some time paying attention while you watch Synth Britannia.

You might even find yourself considering an impulse purchase of a mini Korg 700S. I know I did.

Supplemental- While I polished this article, one thing became apparent. New music or to be specific, those new artists that are being profiled on national television as new music agents are all lacking the one thing that characterizes the heroes of this column. Simply put, today’s music heroes are not a unity of ideas and expression. They are not bands. They are performers representing wish fulfillment with no sense of genuine attitude or social commentary and perhaps even worse, no sense of daring inventiveness. So far, most (but not all-there are exceptions) of today’s star performers are ‘safe’, predictable and lacking in terms of communicating their alienation. They have become game show contestants. This is because media business (in other words the television networks) has formulated and created what is palatable to an audience. The home video game market further suggests and reinforces created fantasies with interactive games that essentially boil down to a form of karaoke or twister. Simply put, new consumer habits are being engineered and I’m sure they always will be.

So, as listeners, is it fair to say that we no longer think for ourselves and we no longer question what is ‘good’ or ‘impactful’? With today’s de rigueur promise of dream and wish fulfillment (in terms of television shows that empower an audience with voting privileges to create the next pop star) that most crucial artistic ingredient: “individualized commentary” has been eradicated. Even more alarming is that consumers’ freedom of choice is being challenged.

That’s likely because the major media corporations feel wholly threatened by what the internet promises: a vast sea of content that is discoverable and searchable by desire or by chance.

Vince Clarke- Depeche Mode's keyboard player and future visionary.
Vince Clarke- Depeche Mode’s keyboard player and future visionary.

So-is it fair to say that we have become woefully inadequate in identity and informed choice? If there is art, angst and message, where can we find it? Try channel surfing around YouTube and follow what catches your interest.  For the Silo, Jarrod Barker.

Culture

Novel Warns North Americans Of Corrupt Bankers And Valueless Dollar

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Back in 2012 The Silo reported on a dark novel titled Zurabia. That book held a plot that seems less like fiction with each passing year.  Corrupt bankers, a practically valueless dollar, hyper-unemployment and underemployment, home-grown terrorism, the uptick in natural disasters and the overall lack of trust in our most important institutions – these are some of the reasons all North Americans should be very, very concerned, according to author Peter Dash a world-traveled researcher for Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs.

Peter Dash and his novel

“I predict a brutal world ahead of us,” says Dash, author of “ZUrabia,” a book about rogue forces taking over the world’s most important institutions. “Unfortunately, I have been right since my research at Harvard in 1986, when I questioned the viability of government institutions to meet general needs and growing problems, both domestically and abroad.”

The pragmatic holiday shopper this year will purchase items to safeguard their families against these threats, which have been long in the making and won’t disappear quickly, he says.

From Dash’s homepage- a map of Zurabia complete with mountains and a mushroom cloud. Biblical ! CP

“Terrorism wasn’t inaugurated with 9-11; extremism in Muslim sects has been growing for decades, and Neo-Nazi groups are starting to flourish in failing states like Greece,” he says. “The dollar has been steadily losing its value since the creation of the Federal Reserve in 1913; climate change has been on the radar for quite a while; and there have been greedy bankers since, well, banks have existed.”

“If you’re confident that everything is sure to be okay, then you’re not paying attention,” he says.

He offers a four-point survival strategy for holiday and everyday shopping:

• Gold is good: The dollar has lost 95 percent of its value in 100 years, and it will continue losing value. As
the Reserve continues to flood money into the system, thereby reducing current or potential value, more inflation is inevitable, acting as yet another tax on wages. So, collect and buy any gold that you can and consider spending federal notes while they’re still worth something to businesses. Think about your
jewelry, and buying more. Silver is a good option if gold is too expensive, and there are Exchange Traded Funds, or ETFs, that are backed by physical gold. A reputable banker or broker can help explain for those who are interested. “TD Ameritrade or Charles Schwab may be good places to start getting information on gold and silver ETF trading,” according to Dash.

• Inflation: Spend your money now or smartly invest it before you lose it. Remember, banks often give clients less than one percent on many accounts, but inflation on food and real items we use, like gasoline, are going up by much more. In essence, your banker is stealing your money through the assistance of the Fed, which is killing your savings rate by cheapening money. As if to pour salt on this wound, the bank,
in many cases, lends money at four percent or higher. Rerouting some bank savings/wages by investing in canned food, for example, may protect you against the scourge of food inflation, as well as other disasters.

• Worthy purchases: With food and water, a failed society puts a premium on additional goods. They include home insulation, gardening tools and materials, computer programs and language learning kits – perhaps Spanish or Chinese – because of the increasing prominence of other cultures. Guns, security systems and other measures to protect one’s home will likely prove extremely valuable should law enforcement be spread too thin, or fail as an institution.

• Buy in bulk: Places like Wal-Mart or Costco will help you get the most value with large purchases of food. It’s important to be well-stocked if something happens that results in the emptying of grocery markets, but remember to have adequate space in your house, apartment or cabin for a “safe” room, which is part of a sound strategy for protecting you and your family.

Peter Dash has been a teacher, professor and corporate trainer for the last 17 years, working in Saudi Arabia, the former Soviet Union and China. He has an applied science degree in forestry from the University of British Columbia and a Masters in applied teaching from Southern Queensland in Australia. He was a researcher in world (dis) order and youth groups at Harvard University’s Center for International Affairs, started by Henry Kissinger. He follows the investment field intensely, focusing on commodity funds and trends.
Fifteen percent of his book’s royalties will go to needy students consistent to the many years Dash has worked in assisting voluntary youth organizations. He lives on a small tropical island that is stocked with the finest well water, fish and food. Dash invests in Gold ETFs and commodity trading companies.

Supplemental– CBC radio interview with Dash on Zurabia

Comics

TRDWTR “Treadwater” launches as new mature themed Superhero franchise

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TRDWTR TRDWTR, pronounced ‘treadwater’, is a mature take on the superhero genre, set in a plausible geopolitical future. The franchise will kick off with a graphic novel on September 30th, 2014. A live-action series based on the novel is set to follow suit in 2015. A preview of the graphic novel will be staged in America’s largest comic book store today, September 10th.  To commemorate the launch, a teaser trailer for the TRDWTR franchise has been  made available to the general public. And here it is!

Culture

Douglas Coupland Player One

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As the world teeters on the brink of disaster, four people converge in a Toronto Airport cocktail lounge. As oil prices suddenly approach $300 a barrel, power cuts out, planes stop taking off and cell phone signals die—a self imposed apocalypse sets into motion. As you read, four people come to terms with the situation, and more importantly, each other. Karen, the 40 year old receptionist at a psychiatric clinic who has flown to Toronto to meet a man she met on the Internet; Rick, the recovering alcoholic bartender who eagerly awaits the arrival of an obviously transparent self-help guru; Luke, a pastor, recently turned felon, who has run off with $20 000 from his church renovation fund; and Rachel, a beautiful, young autistic woman with the intention to find a man to be the father of her child.

“Cocktails and laughter—and what will come after?” asks the haunting voice of Player One after the self-narrated character introductions and before the announcement of the skyrocketing gas prices that quickly envelop the world in complete chaos. The novel follows a simple format: each character narrates their version of the same events, over a five hour period, followed by Player One’s omniscient and sometimes mocking narration. The identity of Player One remains a mystery up until the end of the novel where resolution is provided and final comments are made.

Player One is the first fiction selection for the CBC Massey Lecture series. Presented in a series of five, one hour, real-time lectures, Coupland explores what people do, talk about and think about as the world sits on the brink of total disaster. For anyone who has read Coupland, this novel addresses many familiar themes and ideas. Mild drama and in-depth dialogue where topics from humanity to sexuality fill the text of this lecture turned novel.

 

This book, simple in structure, but at times complicated in meaning, provides the reader with a scary dystopian view of what will become of us when a daily staple in most of our lives becomes virtually unavailable. The dialogue can drag on at times and the characters can be a little predictable and melodramatic, but this novel is more about what it leaves you with when you put it down. What would happen if gas became unaffordable? How small would our world actually get? Douglas Coupland will infect your mind with these questions long after you put down the book and forget about the meddling and self-loathing characters.

As Player One haunts the pages of this book, the ideas and inferences you read will haunt your mind every time you indulge in a modern day convenience, such as filling a vehicle up with gas, making this book a worthy read.  For the Silo, Sarah Purdy.

Supplemental:

iTunes link: Massey Lecture with Douglas Coupland