The nuclear missile fashion rage these days, among friend and foe alike, tends towards the smaller,W54 warhead variety, in bunches. It takes us back to the 1960s when the 1-man Davy Crockett atomic mortar was deployed to 2000 locations in Europe. One of the smallest nuclear weapon systems ever built, with a yield between 10 and 20 tons TNT, and highly mobile.

Would the hit-and-run driver, who rammed into that flatbed truck yesterday near Olive Street, please claim your front bumper and license plate which you left at the scene.
Thank you.

*****

As always, the Gazette aims to be ahead of the news curve, so I thought I would tell everyone that our country will soon be engaged in a war. Remember, you heard it first at the Fillmore Gazette.

While this report may seem a little flippant, I'm deadly serious. War is more probable than not.

My recent research meanderings in the area of American military defense, particularly nuclear and naval, leave me wanting to construct a bomb shelter and stow away some water and grub, just like the 1950s. Our enemies are ready; in my opinion we are not.

America has abandoned the practice of civil defense. Unlike the Cold War years (some may recall the duck and cover days) the government has neglected to notify us of available public shelters against nuclear fallout. It no longer designates private or government-owned buildings to which the public could find safety in such an emergency. Emergency water sources, for example, don't exist as they should, as well as accessible food supplies. Sufficient medical resources are just as lacking. All because we don't believe an attack will happen.

Emergency water could be efficiently supplied with a little thought, even after an atomic attack. Immediately after such attack finding water will be critically important for drinking and flushing away fallout particles. I don't know why Homeland Security doesn't construct multiple, simple gravity-fed water sources around the city, since it has said, eventually an attack is inevitable. Recent events make it now highly probable.

Build water sources with concrete-encased, earthen-covered,100,000 gallon tanks, every 5 miles or so away from the expected target area, near main highways. Survivors will more likely die without a source of water. This is a simple, inexpensive preparation, guaranteed to work.

Food sources must also be available for millions of people. They must be as available as water, and secure as possible from theft and riotous looting - which will require armed guards.

Like it or not, America's feckless government during the past 30-years has facilitated North Korea's ability to strike our homeland with multiple nuclear missiles, from land and sea. We have waited too long.

North Korea has the ability to launch these weapons from submarines, any one of which could approach the U.S. from points in the Pacific. I don't think Kim Un would waste his missiles on Guam, or even Hawaii. He would try for Seattle, Los Angeles, or San Diego. Even a near-miss, or a complete miss anywhere, would change America forever, and entice Russia, China, and Iran to join the fray, overtly or covertly.

I have always taken pride in America's defensive strength, going back to the Reagan years and the so-called "missile gap." Today we have some remarkably capable weapons, but so do our many nuclear-armed enemies - Russia, China, North Korea, and Iran. Include in this enemy's list our pretend friends like Turkey and Pakistan who would likely turn on us - because they are Sharia devotees - which a good 80-percent of Islam is today. Think of 80-percent of a billion-plus. All reports to the contrary are dangerously false.

Most recently I have admired our navy's Gerald R. Ford-class nuclear aircraft carrier. That's the one with no urinals.

This is a super carrier which travels with a heavily armed escort of missile-destroyers, at least one submarine, and the latest in radar-sonar and other counter-defensive electronics. Its nuclear "engine" produces huge quantities of electrical power which runs the entire ship. No more steam generation like all earlier super carriers.

It has $13-billion worth of armament, is a 1,100-foot long floating airport manned by 3000 sailors, and billions of dollars worth of jet fighters, bombers, helicopters, and intelligence planes. It is indeed a fierce behemoth.

What worries me about this great ship, and the next couple now under construction, is the fact that our enemies now demonstrate contempt for its capabilities. Russia boasts it can destroy our whole Navy. " US General Frank Gorenc [quoted] as saying: “Russian electronic weapons [can] completely paralyze the functioning of American electronic equipment installed on missiles, aircraft and ships.” And satellites. Russia proved this a few years ago when "a single Russian war plane flew several times around American destroyer the USS Donald Cook in the Black Sea several years ago, disabling its systems and leaving it helpless."

This is a fact. Do we have a counter-measure to protect our ships, or are they just sitting ducks on the pond?

Other serious problems exist regarding the safety of our ships. During many so-called war games, with allied countries attempting to destroy our carriers with their submarines, they have been successful. Our carriers are vulnerable to enemy atomic submarine tactics.

The weapons themselves are hyper-sophisticated as well. We are now dealing with torpedoes that travel over 200-miles per hour, thanks to special supercavitating torpedoes developed several years ago by Russia, like the VA-111 Shkval.

Another sword of Damocles hanging over the carrier projects is the anti-ship missile. These are plentiful and accurate. Even that little rat Un claims to have a few. They can be launched by sea, air, or land. And, I'm not worried about the many that can be handled by our Aegis Ballistic Missile Defense System. I'm worried about showers of missiles intended to overwhelm the entire carrier force. Systems on land, air, and sea can deliver far more firepower than even a well-armed carrier force, continuously.

So, I'm glad we have impressive super carriers, I really am. But even with substantial air and anti-missile defensive support, they are very vulnerable. This is why, Mr. Ratus Horabilus Un, is so confident. He has China, Russia, and Iran in his corner, grinning like Cheshire Cats, in anticipation of the show.

Prayer, my friends, prayer is the best shelter.