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National Geographic primer for The Perseid Collapse

American Blackout

October 27th 9PM Eastern Time, set your DVR for American Blackout

Just when I’m about to give Time Warner Cable the boot, I find something like American Blackout—and we’re stuck with 900 channels of cable again!

Sounds drastic, but a one hour special like this can make an immeasurable impact. From what I can tell through show’s website, you don’t want to miss it. It details the possible outcome of a nationwide, 10 day blackout, and its impact on everyday Americans.

The timing of American Blackout coincides with the impending launch of my research based, disaster epic, The Perseid Collapse. You’ll find some frightening similarities between the two stories, except in my novel, nobody gets to flip the lights back on in 10 days. The “mass event” in The Perseid Collaspe is more of a permanent blackout.

Check out National Geographic’s interactive timeline at Survive the Blackout. They take you day by day through the scenario, as the situation deteriorates. I guarantee you’ll learn something that could save your life on the ten pages of this timeline. I’ve been writing research based fiction about realistic disaster scenarios for years, and I took away some simple, “no kidding,” easy to implement tips that could help in any disaster situation. It’s well worth a look.

A blackout isn’t the only disaster scenario discussed on the National Geographic website. I found the killer asteroid scenario interesting.

I wonder what would happen if both occurred simultaneously? The Perseid Collaspe.

Chinese Cyberwarriors…

are crossing a dangerous line in the realm of Asymmetric Warfare.

I have been watching this issue for years with a detached interest. There is truly nothing earth shattering (hint) about the accusation that China continues to systematically prosecute economic espionage operations against the United States or the West. This is not a new theme out of Asia. The Japanese were accused of conducting industrial and corporate espionage in the 80’s and 90’s, which purportedly launched several of their high-tech companies far beyond the reaches of American counterparts. Most American electronics brands never recovered from the supposed theft of billions of dollars in research and development information, leaving Japanese brands to dominate the market. So, what is different about the current Chinese brand of economic espionage? China is a rising superpower and competitor, with much greater aspirations than dominating the world electronics market. Think military, then think beyond.

EUVE_satellite

Can China, or any nation ever surpass the United States in terms of military technology, power and the ability to project that power? Not in my lifetime, or my children’s…thankfully. We have cornered the market by spending trillions and developing a robust military-industrial complex. The Soviets tried to compete with us directly and it tore them apart. The Chinese won’t make that same mistake. Think more subtle, then think massive scale.

What are they really doing? Stealing military secrets is part of it, but the persistent, widespread cyber-attacks indicate something deeper.

I have been thinking more about this lately, because the concepts of Cyber and Asymmetrical Warfare will be featured prominently in the sequel to The Jakarta Pandemic, setting the stage for a complete shut down of the United States. I just hope the Chinese don’t shut us down before I launch the novel. 

Take a look at this article, which does a great job explaining what has been capturing U.S. officials’ attention: Asymmetric Warfare article