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A Nuclear Nightmare: EMP
by J. Ed Newman
IN J. Ed’s Almanack 25 July, 1981, a brief note told of EMP, electro-magnetic pulse, and its effects. Should an enemy choose to use EMP, it could neutralize all of our elaborate defense systems. Scary? Ha! The only response I received was from Charles Colvin who recognized the awesome implications. Aware of it for over a decade, I hoped we could devise a defense.
EMP was first recognized in July 1962 when a nuclear bomb was detonated 248 miles above the earth, 800 miles s.w. of Hawaii. It caused little surface damage but the side effect, EMP, damaged electrical and communication systems in Honolulu. Our Military seemed to ignore it, but the USSR took it seriously and began developing means to guard against EMP. After an article in Science, May ‘81, the ‘cat was out of the bag,’ and our Military acknowledged they’re ‘working on it.’ The latest on this is a feature The Chaos Factor, (Science 83, Jan-Feb). Although a bit sensational, it tells the frightening menace of EMP.
A Haiku Year
by Mary Brunori (1 – 3) & J. Ed, (4, 5)
1
Bleeding hearts, droopy
Valentines of June, tabled
In February.
2
April thunder – the
Alarm clock for dandelions
And slumbering trees.
3
Rain clouds pout. Jealous
Of picnickers and ants
Abroad in the sun.
4
Late August sunset
Look very sad to young boy…
Bring school-time closer!
5
Cold December snow
Cover Summer furniture
With shroud-sheets of white.
Mars
by J. Ed Newman
From photos and sketches at the eyepiece of our 6 inch refractor
It was during the favorable opposition of 1957 the lino was made and when I first saw the fabled ‘canals.’ Percival Lowell believed they were constructed by intelligent beings to draw water from the polar caps. Earlier this century that was just as popular as the equally fabled ufos are today.
PS: And I once discovered a new comet. Don’t bother looking it up, I was one day late!
Little Green Man
(The Leprechaun)
by Percy Ervafaythe
There’s a story, so I’m told,
Of a ‘lil green man, very old.
‘Tis said if you catch his eye,
He must show you his hoard of gold.
Now I want no hoard of gold,
Stolen from a green man, old; for
Once I found a hoard of gold,
And the story I’ve never told.
She was beyond compare, and
When I saw her sitting there, a
Lil’ green man on the table
Winked and said, “It’s all a fable.”
But as the years come and go,
Down, ‘way deep in my heart I know,
The lil’ green man was wrong, for
She gave to me a golden song.
J. Ed’s The Web for N.A.P.A.
Edgewater, Florida 32032