War on Terror- Plane Bombs and Plain Bombs

So now MI5 have woken up to the possibility of surgically implanted bombs.

Apparently a leading source claims that male bombers would have the explosive secreted near their appendix or in their buttocks, while females would have the material placed inside their breasts in the same way as figure-enhancing implants. A shaped charge of 8oz of PETN, the most likely explosive, can penetrate five inches of armour and would easily blow a large hole in an airliner.

I say that our security services are woefully unprepared if they have not considered this a real threat up till now. These bombs have existed in Fiction since the 1950's and there was a plot to blow up one of the US presidents using a bomb hidden inside a dog at one point.

The thing is that if we want a free society we have to put up with the risk of bombs from those who are displeased with us. even more so if we continue to operate the lunatic policy of allowing those same terrorists to enter the country, be financed with housing aid and cash by our own government and then commit atrocities both here and elsewhere.

Our security services cannot do much except protect high value targets like Trafalgar Square and the Tower of London plus high risk targets like airports and nuclear power stations. The day that a bombing campaign starts to target infrastructure rather than political targets we are screwed. Imagine for example any of these scenarios.

1. At the moment all across London gas mains and Water mains are being replaced. It is three AM, somebody climbs down into a remote unguarded roadworks with a carrier bag. He removes an entrenching tool and takes five minutes to dig a hole and bury a large sandwich box beneath the line of the new pipe. A month later when the roadworks are all closed there are small and large explosions all across London as gas mains and water mains are irreparably ruptured... The above picture is what an underground pipe explosion in a busy street looks like. Imagine this on the A10/North circular and how much chaos it would cause for weeks if not months - not to mention that very often other services such as electricity, phones and drainage would be affected.

2. There are around a dozen main High voltage Electricity switch yards across the capital. they are easily identifiable by the forest of insulators and grey boxes. They are only protected by an eight foot razor wire fence, but not to worry because our terrorist does not need to go inside. All he need to do to cause millions of pounds worth of damage is to buy some thick galvanised wire and make some chain made out of one foot lengths of this with a loop at each end. This chain can then form the tail of a kite which is rigged using non conductive nylon fishing line. He flied the kite across the yard and drops the chain onto some insulators. This could be done multiple times in one location using more than one kite and chain. An alternative to the chain would be to make some carbon fiber chaff by cutting strips from the material sold for car body repair, and dropping this over the switch yard. this would be ironic because it is exactly how Baghdad's power system was shut down in the Gulf War.

3. Alongside the train tracks in all the British overground systems there are a number of grey boxes containing signal equipment. Terrorists equipped with an easily bought 150lb draw crossbow and steel arrows could simply shoot the boxes and the cables entering them to cause chaos and effectively freeze the railway system.

Of course the above situations assume that whilst some level of loss of life is essential to the terrorist for publicity, mass loss of life would be counter productive. If you say that the terrorists are the type of lunatics that would want to create a 911 type massacre situation then there are some far scarier simple things that can be done with utilities, which I shall not mention here for fear of them being used!

Big Freeze Part 2- Death toll is 60-80,000

So what is wrong with this picture in a major nation (or are we now in truth a third world country).

• Shops running short on food and putting up prices.
• Road and rail transport in Chaos
• Air transport Failing
• Gas Supplies reportedly in danger of failing.
• Food supplies to run lower as harvest fails and crops rot in the ground.
• 60-80,000 elderly predicted to die before their time because they are frightened of heating costs

Yes at the moment 60,000 pensioners are predicted to die before their time as a result of the freeze-up yet in the last freeze in 1963 there were 89,000 premature deaths.

To put this in some perspective during the whole of WW2 the civilian death toll in Britain was some 67,000. So how come Gordon brown is doing as good a job (or possibly better) than Hitler at attacking his citizens?

I fear the answer is simple mathematics. The old age pension now stands at an average of around £83 per person per week. 80,000 x 83 x 52 = £345.28 Million per year. It is estimated that the average old age pensioner costs an additional £35 a week for carers and other council services. This is 80,000 x 35 x 52 = £145.6 million per year. However the average pensioner costs the NHS a wopping £85 a week for free prescriptions and hospital/clinic treatments. This is 80,000 x 85 x 52 =£353.6 million. Now let us say that the average pensioner who dies would have lived an extra five years with decent care. This means that (345.28+145.6+353.6) x 5 - thats £4,222,400,000 (or 4.22 Billion pounds) that is saved.

In other words the freeze is saving the government around 4 billion pounds over the next five years!

Its easy for Gordon to get away with it. Lets face it most of the 'people who matter' in this country live in London which has only had 14cms of snow, travel disruption here has been minimal or non existent and peoples lives, elderly or not are barely affected. So by carefully avoiding making this an issue he can brush this under the political carpet (which this year seems to be full of lumps and bumps).

It would be different is London were to suddenly get 2 meters of snow... oh yes! Something would undoubtedly have to be done then. I do hope it happens.

Historic Freeze Ups

Other than watching the really bogus apocalypse man on download there has been little to giggle about in the UK over the last few weeks. We have in fact been snowed in, snowed under and snowed out. Mostly because the government is NEVER prepared for a cold winter. Why not? We do get them - and far worse ones than this.

The worst winter here recently in Britain came in 1962. It snowed for 71 consecutive days. Snow fell every day between Boxing Day 1962 and March 6, 1963.

However even this is dwarved by the bleak winter of 1684 when the river Thames froze for two solid months. The ground froze, too, so no ploughing or planting of crops could take place.

Here we are after a piddly little 5 days of light snow in London and the wold is beginning to come apart at the seams for many folk. Down in Hampshire where there is 40-50cm of snow the world HAS come apart for many people. Fearing death and disaster headlines the Government did finally mobilise a few troops with APC's and landrovers to rescue more than 1000 stranded motorists on the M3.

Thing is - what happens in Norway or Sweden? People live on as normal because to them it is normal. the roads are cleared by snowplough every 12 hours, they dont bother with salting or gritting. Why? Because when it re-freezes into a skating rink it just makes the situation worse.

Why can our government not just fit some APC's with ploughs and let the army keep the motorways and main roads clear. Forget about salting and gritting when you have snowfall because it does not work!