Sunday, June 20, 2010

Sun of a...


Click Cartoon for Larger Size
As the old saying goes, "you can run, but you can't hide" -
especially from the "once in a lifetime" solar storms that NASA is now predicting in the next few years.

Scientists believe that the sun is beginning a new round of heightened activity with the potential for strong solar flares which could
knock out satellites, power grids, computers, personal electronics and more. Basically, anything with circuitry goes "pffft!"

The risk is, ironically, greatest to the most technologically advanced (and therefore technologically dependent) nations. Like, oh yeah, us.

Scientists are encouraging an all-out effort to "harden" our electrical systems (through additional shielding) while there's still time, but as yet the Whitehouse has not seemed overly interested in taking preventive measures.

After all, if the worst happens, the president can always take a tour of the devastation, then announce that he'll be "keeping his boot on the sun's throat."






10 comments:

Anonymous said...

What a chance for TPB to pop an EMP blame it on the sun. Who will know? No electronic media to disseminate the truth.

Unknown said...

Obama will be in trouble if he is giving a speech and his tele-prompter gets fried, but then again the main steam media thinks Obama is a god and can do anything. It would be funny to see that happen. I bet he would fall apart because we see how he handles "emergences". He probably would kick the prompter's ass.

Anonymous said...

NASA said that? The same NASA that gives us this:

http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/global_warming_worldbook.html


Pat Riotic

Emmentaler Limburger said...

Any other "Twilight Zone" generation folk find this strangely reminiscent of an episode there? You know: the one where the scientists had the global cooling/global warming bit all wrong? Is this reality imitating art? Or are the panic-truffle pigs simply rooting around for another cataclysmic theory to which to hitch their wagons...

...and fortunes! Get your solar flare-EMP credits here, folks! Step right up...

alan markus said...

I'm from the Twilight Zone generation - I remember that episode scaring the crap out of me.

The Twilight Zone - The Midnight Sun

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

Emmentaler & alan- One of the few benefits of being an old fart is being able to remember things like the "Twilight Zone." In roughly 25 minutes, Rod Serling could scare the crap out of us - and make us think - without special effects, sex, blood, or language you wouldn't let a 6-year old hear.

And yes, I definitely remember the episode you're talking about - and the classic "twist" at the end which I won't reveal here.

By the way, my vote for all-time scariest episode was "It's A Good Life" with Billy Mumy playing the part of young Barack Obama.

alan markus said...

I liked the treatment that NoseOnYourFace gave that episode:
The Obama Zone

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

alan- I'd never seen that clip and I LOVE it! It won't have the same impact for those who aren't familiar with the stomach-churning original episode, but for those of us who do remember, the queasy-sick look on the faces of the adults says it all.

Emmentaler Limburger said...

Can we wish Obama into the cornfield? Won't even need to alter his appearance as he's already proven to be quite a Jack-In-The-Box...

(GREAT clip, Alan!)

Stilton Jarlsberg said...

Emmentaler- "Wish it into the cornfield" has been one of my favorite sayings for decades, and it's getting a whole new resonance for me...

"That Obamacare you made...it's good! Real good! Everybody likes that Obamacare! But...well...if you wish it into the cornfield, that would be good too! REAL good!"