Thursday 9 November 2017

"The Saint" #RogerMooreRIP



"What's one of these?" .."It's one of those that died in a nasty accident!"

Thursday 2 November 2017

"The Black Hole that Ate Hedge End"

"Will it?
What is there?
Can you find it, reaching behind the pasta in your good shoes, a disastrous conclusion?
The void doesn't answer it just expands,
Tarmacked fields witness under floodlights the play of ancients,
Shadows bleeding into darkness as consumed,
Flesh retreats the shrinking violets of bone and sinew,
Do we grasp the past whilst dancing like celebrants at some mad Sabbat, often colliding all un-heeding?
"We must be off our trolleys".
It's Christmas all year but Christmas is never here!
Is it sentient perhaps or just conceit that consciousness should waste its gaze on us?
Still there is warmth dogging around the halo,
A smile of ; "That's not mine it's yours"
As we struggle, near bereft of hope, not to be the whores we feel."


("Wolf's Head": The Poetry of #Arafel: https://twitter.com/i/moments/926378311365820416 )

Also; "Super-massive black hole 'double burps' light - then has a nap" go to: https://news.sky.com/story/supermassive-black-hole-double-burps-light-then-has-a-nap-11204208?dcmp=snt-sf-twitter&__twitter_impression=true

Saturday 28 October 2017

"Mare's Kiss"

"A bearing few can match turns, wheels,
Rushes up to hang on blue-silver skies,
A call to Davy Jones and away,
Is this how you have seen?

A flash in midday light trapped in city canyons,
Piratical glare,
Immaculate wings inches from the table tops;
'"I am here! I am here!"
Gusts upon the face bestowing Mare's kiss."




Thursday 5 October 2017

Edward Heath; "Will the Past be Buried?" #OperationConifer #OperationYewTree



Quote; "Police said none of the allegations, claiming Sir Edward assaulted victims as young as 10, took place while he was Prime Minister.
“No inference of guilt should be drawn by the decision to interview under caution,” a spokesperson added.
“The account from Sir Edward Heath would have been as important as other evidence gathered as part of the wider investigation.”
They include the alleged rape of an 11-year-old boy, indecent assault of a 10-year-old boy and the indecent assault of a 15-year-old boy during three “paid sexual encounters”, and are said to have occurred between 1961 and 1992 in London, Kent, Sussex, the Channel Islands and Wiltshire.
Chief Constable Mike Veale said there were “compelling and obvious reasons to investigate” the allegations."..
.. "It received 42 disclosures relating to 40 people over 14 different police force areas in the UK.
Of those, 19 were found not to meet the threshold for interview, three complaints were withdrawn, 10 were reported by a third party and another three allegations were made anonymously.
The report revealed that there was “reason to suspect” two people may have intentionally misled the police by claiming that they were abused by Sir Edward.
“In the case of one of these disclosures, a live criminal investigation remains ongoing,” it states.
Another person was formally cautioned for wasting police after admitting that they had misled the investigation falsely claiming to be three different people in three separate claims.
Wiltshire Police said its conduct was scrutinised by an independent panel and a “value for money” review by Her Majesty’s Inspector of Constabulary, which found no wrongdoing.
Operation Hydrant carried out two reviews on Operation Conifer, which concluded that the probe was proportionate and being carried out in line with national guidance.
The report marks the official end of the probe, which was launched in 2015 after Sir Edward was named as a suspect in an investigation into historical child sex abuse.
Its findings will be passed to the wide-ranging Independent Inquiry into Child Sexual Abuse, which is being chaired by Professor Alexis Jay." Go to: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/crime/sir-edward-heath-report-child-sex-abuse-allegations-investigation-inquiry-grounds-interview-caution-a7984256.html For full article and video.
 
Quote; "The independent inquiry into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) was forced to issue an apology following the loss of vital evidence in the case that was deleted from their servers.



The data, which would have held testimonies and strong evidence for the inquiry, was said to have been lost due to a 'technical malfunction'.
Despite the technical glitch, the agency said there was no security breach in their systems and ensured that privacy of the victims is not at risk.
Freethought project reports London, UK — The Independent Inquiry Into Child Sex Abuse (IICSA) apologized this week after vital testimony from victims of child sexual abuse was “instantly and permanently deleted” from their servers."...
...."“Due to a change in our website address to http://www.iicsa.org.uk on 14 September, any information submitted to the Inquiry between 14 September and 2 October through the online form on the "Share Your Experience" page of our website, was instantly and permanently deleted before it reached our engagement team. We are very sorry for any inconvenience or distress this will cause and would like to reassure you that no information was put at risk of disclosure or unauthorised access*." Go to: http://www.neon-nettle.com/features/974-uk-government-deletes-entire-database-of-elite-pedophile-ring-evidence- For full article. 
 
*Italics mine. Isn't this the one scenario in these cases that one would be expected to most assiduously avoid?!
 
Barbara Castle drew up dossier on VIP paedophiles: File seized by Special Branch 'heavy mob'
 
Quote; "Lady Castle put together 30 pages of information about alleged attempts by the Paedophile Information Exchange (PIE) to infiltrate government while seeking funding and trying to persuade MPs to legalise sex with children.
As well as key members of both the Commons and Lords, she found that about 30 prominent businessmen, public school teachers, scoutmasters and police officers had links to PIE.
Yesterday Mr Hale, 61, said: ‘Barbara was horrified at the rapid extent of PIE’s involvement with key people and her file included details of about 16 household-name MPs.’
He said Lady Castle – who at the time was Euro MP Barbara Castle – passed him the dossier and asked if he would write a story based on it." Go to: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2693635/Now-revealed-Barbara-Castle-drew-dossier-VIP-paedophiles-File-seized-Special-Branch-heavy-mob.html For full article.
 
Also see; http://www.arafel.co.uk/2017/01/heath-investigation-continues-epstein.html, http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/11/those-nice-people-at-boiling-frogs-add.html, http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/11/yew-haw-poison-in-flesh-childabuse.html, http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/11/absolute-power.html & http://www.arafel.co.uk/2016/10/the-horrible-cant-possibly-be-true.html

Tuesday 3 October 2017

"Generation Zapped"; New Documentary about #WiFi Dangers in Schools..also; Sleep Disturbances, #BT Hotspots and #Hacking #WhyFry





"“A wifi classroom is like the inside of a microwave oven set at very low power. Children are exposed to that wifi radiation six hours every school day, five days a week, and for several months during the year.” – Magda Havas, Associate Professor of Environmental and Resource Studies, Trent University, Canada

GENERATION ZAPPED investigates the potential dangers of prolonged exposure to Radio Frequencies (RF) from wireless technology; it’s effects on our health and well-being, as well as the health and development of our children. From its links to breast and brain cancer, to its associations with increased infertility and genetic mutations related to autism and ADHD, to newly developed illnesses, such as Electrical Hyper-Sensitivity (EHS)." https://es-ireland.com/2017/09/13/new-film-generation-zapped-the-health-effects-of-wireless-radiation-on-our-health-well-being/


"BT is exposing customers to unnecessary electromagnetic radiation through its network of private home Wi-Fi routers.

All BT Home Hubs are now enabled with a default feature called ‘BT Fon’. ‘Fon’ uses a portion of the broadband customer’s private wireless connection and offers it to the public for use as a local ‘hotspot’. In short, unless the customer actively opts out of ‘Fon’, their router is functioning as a local mast.

‘Fon’ transmits for a distance of approximately 250 metres* and exposes the user to higher levels of radiation exposure. Whereas domestic Wi-Fi routers can be turned off at night or when not in use to reduce exposure, these Fon hubs are active 24/7.

Many international bodies are now warning of the risks to health from the ubiquitous use of Wi-Fi and some European countries have taken a precautionary stance by removing it from schools and public spaces. References 1,2,3,4,5,6,7.

Some people are particularly sensitive to this form of radiation and suffer immediate acute symptoms such as headache, sleep disturbance, fatigue, heart palpitations/arrhythmia, etc. For others, the effect is chronic and may result in long term cell and tissue damage leading to cancer. Last year, the updated Bioinitiative Report reviewed a further 1800 studies and noted that the most serious health end points from electromagnetic exposure included leukaemia, brain tumours, leakage of the blood-brain barrier and increased risk of the neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The Childhood Cancer Conference in 2012 reported that exposure to electromagnetic fields may also impede recovery and stated that it appeared to decrease the survival time of children in remission from leukaemia." https://www.canceractive.com/cancer-active-page-link.aspx?n=3460



Other Indicators..

"Consumers need to be more aware of the potential dangers of connecting to a public Wi-Fi network, a new security report has warned.

Wi-Fi networks in cafés and coffee shops are “high-risk”, according to the study, partly because of their popularity and convenience.

Cyber criminals are targeting people who connect to public Wi-Fi networks, and can access their private data without them realising.

“Wherever there is an unsecured public Wi-Fi network, there is the threat of attack,” reads a new report from iPass. “However, coffee shops are seen as the most dangerous public Wi-Fi venue of all.”

Research involving 500 CIO and IT decision makers from the UK, US, Germany and France found that coffee shops are the most popular places to connect to a public Wi-Fi network, followed by airports and hotels.

“Our research shows that man-in-the-middle attacks are considered to be the greatest mobile security concern of using public Wi-Fi hotpots (69 percent),” the report explains." http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/news/wifi-hotpots-coffee-shop-dangerous-security-risk-report-a7750091.html

New study links phone use and mental health issues in teens

Quote; "July 3, 2017, 8:15 AM| A new study in the journal Child Development shows nighttime usage of a cell phone can increase anxiety and depression in teenagers and reduce self-esteem. This is the first study that shows a direct link between screen time and mental health. Psychologist and CBS News contributor Lisa Damour joins "CBS This Morning" to discuss tips for parents who want to decrease their teens' cell phone usage and how screen time affects important sleep habits." https://www.cbsnews.com/videos/new-study-links-phone-use-and-mental-health-issues-in-teens/


For updates and the "Arafel" biomagnetics and #EMR archive please see Twitter Moment:
https://twitter.com/i/moments/930097464530690052

Tuesday 19 September 2017

BBC Didn't Deign to Broadcast most Scathing Interview (so "we" are): #DPAC #UNCRPD #UN #UniversalCredit #Austerity #IllegalState #CentreforSocialJustice

Quote; "A BBC interview, of which only 20 seconds out of more than 10 minutes were broadcast, has come to light. And it has exposed the UN’s most scathing attack on the Conservative government to date.

Published by the UN, it reveals the organisation thinks that austerity is “life threatening” to many disabled people in the UK. And it sees the government’s actions potentially leading to “killings and euthanasia”, because it has helped create a society where a whole group of people are viewed as “parasites”. But it’s an interview the BBC completely dumbed down for its viewers.

A ‘human catastrophe’

 

In August, the UN Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) met in Geneva, Switzerland. It was assessing if the UK government meets its obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Disabled People.
And it was publicly unequivocal in its opinion on how disabled people are treated by the Conservative government. Its Chair, Theresia Degener, said in a statement seen by The Canary:

Disabled people: ‘parasites’ who could be ‘killed’

 

In the BBC interview, one of the UN’s most scathing comments was about public attitudes towards disabled people. Degener said that the government and the media “have some responsibility” for society seeing disabled people as “parasites, living on social benefits… and [living on] the taxes of other people”. And she said these “very, very dangerous” attitudes could  “lead to violence… and if not, to killings and euthanasia”. And she urged the government to “stop” this:" Go to: https://www.thecanary.co/uk/2017/09/15/bbc-didnt-broadcast-uns-scathing-interview-ever-uk-government-full-audio/ For full article and audio of this interview.

 

4 out of 5 Default Under Universal Credit: Flassbeck Economics

 

Quote; "Since the conservatives came to power in 2010, one million jobs in the public sector have been lost (see here). The champions of austerity have more than doubled national debt. It is now the sixth-highest of any advanced economy. Today, 4.2 million disabled people live in poverty in the UK. As a UN committee wrote, government policies in the UK “have caused grave and systematic violations in the rights of disabled people” (see below). The number of homeless people in the UK has doubled since 2010 (see here, here and here for a report of the Department of Communities and Local Government). When the Tories returned to power in 2010, there were some 66 food banks in the UK. Today, there are more than 2.000 and they cannot keep up. The Universal Credit Scheme (“social welfare”) that the Tories have introduced leads to an avalanche of evictions (see here; today, 4 out of 5 people who have been transferred to this new scheme face eviction because they are unable to pay rent (see here and here))*. But no problem, the Tories are cooking up a scheme which may ultimately prevent up to four million people from voting in the next general election (see here). Last Saturday, Boris Johnson repeated his scandalous Brexit lie about the £350 million a week that the UK would invest in the NHS if the country would be out of the EU (see here for an excellent article on Theresa May, her government and all the Brexit lies). For the rest, it is all about the immigrants – May’s personal pathological obsession." Go to: http://www.flassbeck-economics.com/the-tories-are-using-the-brexit-to-turn-the-uk-into-a-right-wing-dictatorship/ For full article.

 

*Italics mine 

 

Millions of the UK’s poorest families driven into deeper poverty

 

Quote; "Commissioned by the LGA, “The Cumulative Impact of Welfare Reform: A national picture,” shows the impact of welfare reform across the whole of the UK. It assesses the devastating impact of welfare cuts, growing inflation and ever-steeper rent rises in the private sector.
The study examined over 40 local authorities, representing 9.1 million households, receiving either a Department for Work and Pensions benefit, Housing Benefit, or Tax Credits. The data was examined via a modelling tool, the Benefits and Budgeting Calculator, used to measure the impact of reforms that have taken place and those yet to come.
It finds that reductions in household income will hit poorest families hardest, with more than 84 percent of lone parents or couples with children set to lose up to £50 a week or more in income.
The government’s overall agenda, dressed up as welfare “reform,” is underpinned by slashing welfare spending and encouraging people to move from benefits into work. By 2015, after five years of austerity, the Conservative/Liberal Democrats coalition had slashed nearly £17 billion from the social security budget. Theresa May’s current Tory government is committed to a further £12 billion in welfare cuts by 2018. This equates to a £1,500 cut for 8 million households in the two years to 2018." Go to: http://truepublica.org.uk/united-kingdom/millions-uks-poorest-families-driven-deeper-poverty/ For full and extensive article.

Mother kills herself after son’s disability benefits slashed

Quote; "A mother committed suicide after asking mental health workers “What have I got to do? Top myself to get help for my son?”.
73-year-old Valerie Grant walked in front of a train on 23rd April after a string of benefits and support were taken from her severely autistic son James, 37.


Shocking removal of support

 

In the months leading to Mrs Grant’s suicide, Mr Grant was devastated by the removal of his disability benefits.
He had his support system completely stripped away from him by the Department for Work and Pensions. The inquest heard:
  • He lost his work placement as a bin man
  • He was told he would lose his disability allowance
  • He discovered he did not qualify for PIP (personal independence payments)
  • He was informed that he no longer qualified for day care
  • He was turned down for accommodation

 

Suicidal 


Mrs Grant had a history of depression. On the 10th January, she scored 96% for the severity of her mental health state after telling her GP she was suffering suicidal thoughts.
Following this, she was given a routine appointment which she did not attend."..

"An inquest in Cannock concluded ‘she had taken her own life whilst suffering from depression.’
Coroner Andrew Haigh accepted that lack of support was the main issue. He said:
There were a number of agencies involved, but nobody took a lead. I do have concerns about the lack of support, but I don’t think there’s any one agency that I can write to to try to remedy this,
Mr Haigh has previously raised concerns about the possible link between benefits and suicides, calling it a “worthwhile issue to explore”.
In an emotional outburst at the hearing, Mrs Grant’s stepson, Stuart Grant, shouted:
It is just being swept under the carpet. One agency blames another agency and they can get away with it.


Tragically common 

 

Sadly, Mrs Grant’s decision to end her life shortly after such dismal decisions by the DWP is not an isolated incident." Go to: http://evolvepolitics.com/mother-killed-get-help-son-disability-benefits-slashed/ For full article.

Disability assessors 'lack right skills'

Quote; "A report from a UN committee has criticised the UK government for its treatment of disabled people, saying it needs to do much more to protect the rights of the disabled.
The UK is required to regularly report to the UN on how it is honouring the Convention on the Rights of People with Disabilities*.
Anastasia Tempest, who lives in York, has cerebral palsy and uses a wheelchair.
She told 5 live’s Tony Livesey: "Social care managers are not equipped, and lack skill, in knowing how to assess people with disabilities."
She said she was asked "quite ridiculous" questions in her assessment, including "who does your eyeshadow?" and "do you put your own earrings in?"
A government spokesman said: “We’re disappointed that this report does not accurately reflect the evidence we gave to the UN, and fails to recognise all the progress we’ve made to empower disabled people."
He said the UK spent a record £50bn a year to support disabled people and those with health conditions - the second highest amount in the G7.
The UK was committed to furthering rights for all disabled people, he said, adding that almost 600,000 had moved into work over four years." Go to: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-41117812/disability-assessors-lack-right-skills

*Bold italics mine...How many Brits know that this is the case? Is the process open to public submissions?

 

"Case managers like me are well-trained to deal with any claimants threatening suicide"
Quote; ""It is not uncommon for charities and support workers to inform case managers – the ones whose job it is to assess people for universal credit and other benefits – of the law, rather than the other way round.
Full-time case managers on average handle in the region of 300 claims each. We recently started a new way of working whereby tasks are prioritised in a “trigger” approach, meaning we often only have time to look at the highest risk cases. Payments and “payment blockers” are the first priority but many case managers struggle to make it past these on a daily basis. Claimants are told that they must fill out an online “universal credit journal” about their job searches and keep it up to date in order to release the benefit – their “work coach” is the person who’s supposed to keep in touch with them about those notes. But in reality, claimants are putting important journal messages about jobs and interviews online all the time, and the case managers and work coaches can’t reply. Each employee has dozens of other unseen journal messages they simply don’t have enough time to address." Go to: http://www.independent.co.uk/voices/universal-credit-dwp-worker-case-manager-benefits-system-government-food-banks-a7998196.html for full article. 

Arafel:  I know from personal experience that if the claimant wants to appeal an Employment and Support Allowance decision they may not claim Universal Credit during the process of appeal (and this is true during the initial "mandatory" reconsideration period also), such appellants may only apply for Job Seekers Allowance. What genuine appellant will subject themselves to the JSA regime? Most find the notion frightening and will avoid the strictures of JSA if at all possible. I wanted my ESA claim reconsidered but have been forced by this policy to try to claim the disability component of Universal Credit. I was without benefits of any kind for approx. four weeks following my unsuccessful ESA claim, the Govt. are now billing me for this pleasure and (like 4-5 U.C claimants), I now have a rent debt and am receiving less (following deductions), than I would be on JSA! We are a constitutional monarchy that relies on the judiciary to direct parliament concerning its legislation, who I ask you sanctioned this particular mugging of the vulnerable? It is legal nonsense.  
 The bias inherent in the assessment process for ESA and UC claimants detailed in the story below is precisely what I experienced, in-fact my ESA appeal was to be based primarily on the breathtaking lack of inquiry made as to the state of my mental and emotional health. I had just lost an upper tribunal appeal for Personal Independence Payment that supported a decision not to award me the benefit based on a score of six points (where PIP starts at eight points), the ESA assessor some months later scored me zero points out of fifteen ("Theresa I can walk!").

How the Tories Use the Language of Social Justice to Sell Us Social Injustice

Quote; "Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith excels at this kind of redefinition, setting up a think-tank, the "Centre for Social Justice", to lend intellectual heft to his politics. The CSJ is a remarkable exercise in finding evidence to fit conclusions, with its "Breakdown Britain" report recommending marriage as a solution to all social ills, and sending its researchers to the US to formulate the basis for Conservative "workfare" policy. Both Duncan Smith, in his endless references to drug addicts and the permanently jobless, and his pet think-tank, promote the idea of a parasitical "underclass" that need shaking out of dependency, and use that analysis to gut social provision across the board. It didn't matter that the analysis was discredited by countless social scientists and historians: it gave IDS the chance to redefine "social justice" as a matter of personal moral probity, so cuts were a painful but necessary medicine, rather than a matter of entrenched wealth gaps, inequality of opportunity or exploitative employment – matters unexamined by the "independent" CSJ."  Go to: https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/9bjg9p/conservatives-use-the-language-of-social-justice-to-pursue-socially-unjust-policies for full article.

The job coach has decided this person can work 1 hour per week and for no more than 12 (twelve) minutes each day


Quote; "The  ‘job coach’ – a title given to a jobcentre worker  – has decided that this person can and indeed must contract to look for work in order to receive "Universal Credit" (not "ESA" ed.  Arafel), which is paid at the same amount as job seekers allowance (JSA) of £73.10 per week.
The job coach has decided this person can work 1 hour per week and for no more than 12 (twelve) minutes each day and with a 45 minute travel time to and from each 12 minute maximum spell of work each day.
This scrounger is FIT FOR WORK according to the DWP!
As you can see at the top of the page it lists what practical conditions this person has in terms of employment. The person:
  • Cannot stand for more than 5 minutes
  • Cannot sit for more than 5 minutes
  • Cannot work further than 100 metres
  • Cannot operate machinery as medication makes here drowsy
  • Cannot operate machinery as medication causes concentration problems
  • Cannot travel more than 45 minutes each way to work (the usual stipulation is 90 minutes each way!)
Yet this woman is FIT FOR WORK according to the DWP and can work for up to TWELVE MINUTES PER DAY.
This genuine letter describes what the DWP and the Tory government mean when they say you are FIT FOR WORK.
In DWP and Tory-speak FIT FOR work is the lowest common denominator and if you are fit to work for this 1 hour per week though it could easily be 1 minute per week you are deemed as fit for work.
The fact that no employer would ever employ anyone for 12 minutes each day has no bearing whatsoever on being deemed ‘fit for work’ and having to show that you have sought work for this time as a legally binding commitment in order to receive the same £73.10 per week that a fully-abled body and mind person receives. (Please excuse terminology)
IF and at the absolute discretion of the job coach you have not done enough to search for work then they have the absolute power to sanction the person which means no benefit paid at all and for up to three years!" Go to: https://speyejoe2.wordpress.com/2017/08/25/fit-for-work-oh-do-feck-off/ for full article.

"Parity of Esteem" #MentalHealth

Quote; "The Tories are currently claiming that they have given ‘parity of esteem’ to mental health. Yet just last week the SKWAWKBOX shared the account of someone with severe mental health issues who just weeks ago was denied support based on a series of questions, by a private company on behalf of the DWP (Dept for Work & Pensions), that concerned only physical health.
The film below is four years old. It was made by Tyneside Mind – and it won the 2013 Royal Television Society Award Winner for ‘Best Factual Non Broadcast’. Yet only a little over 21,000 people have seen it.
That needs to become every single person in this country.
In August, the mainstream media and the Establishment – including right-wing Labour MPs – rounded on the excellent Labour MP Laura Pidcock for saying that she regards Tory MPs as ‘the enemy’ because of the harm they do to people.
The vast majority of people, watching this film, will find it impossible to disagree with her.
Four years ago, this video typified the experience of many people – with mental and physical health problems – in the devastating impact of government determination to remove support from those who need it. The situation has only grown worse since." Go to: https://skwawkbox.org/2017/10/24/every-person-in-uk-needs-to-see-this-short-film-wca-consciouscruelty/



Velvet Glove?
It's the "soft" British Fascist version of the NAZI slave state except our huge subterranean concentration camps contain thousands upon thousands performing only one task once a week (for a life-sapping bowl of gruel and water); ...."Use your 'ead Tommy!!" "Alright Ganger!" BANG! Aside; "Tommy hasn't got any arms but he's productive!"

World is ignoring human rights of poor despite disproportionate abuses – UN expert
Quote; "GENEVA (16 October 2017) – The world’s poor are at disproportionate risk of torture, arrest, early death and domestic violence, but their civil and political rights are being airbrushed out of the picture, UN Special Rapporteur on extreme poverty Philip Alston has warned in a hard-hitting statement to mark International Day for the Eradication of Poverty on 17 October. Even human rights groups are failing to draw the link between civil and political rights violations and poverty. Alston, who will report on the issue to the General Assembly later this month, said it was shocking that on the 25th anniversary of the international day, so much remained to be done:


“If you are a victim of torture, the chances are significant that you are also poor. The same applies if you are a woman or a child who is a victim of domestic abuse.
As a poor individual, you are more likely to be arrested and prosecuted for crimes and, if you are, you are less likely to be able to afford a lawyer. The poor experience additional barriers when they want to vote and often have virtually no influence on political decision-making.
In short, people in lower socio-economic classes are much more likely to get killed, tortured or experience an invasion of their privacy, and are far less likely to realize their right to vote, or otherwise participate in the political process.
Development and human rights organizations, as well as Governments, mostly ignore violations of the civil and political rights of the poor, with terrible results.
Key international agencies, such as the World Bank and the OECD, ignore human rights altogether and have paid no attention to the specific civil and political rights of those living in poverty.
Even those working in international human rights, including many UN Special Rapporteurs, experts, groups and committees, often focus on civil and political rights violations without dealing with the fact that these are interlinked with poverty.
The same applies to international human rights NGOs. Analytical work like the 2006 report by the World Organization Against Torture (OMCT) on the root causes of torture is the proverbial exception that proves the rule.
Airbrushing the civil and political rights of the poor out of the picture has taken several forms.
Firstly, human rights organizations have assumed that poverty can be explained exclusively by various forms of discrimination. But the use of a surrogate lens is clearly inadequate for capturing the very specific consequences of the varied forms of discrimination, oppression, stigma and violence experienced by many of the poor on a daily basis.
Secondly, virtually all Governments, UN human rights bodies, and human rights organizations have ignored the fact that key provisions in all major human rights treaties prohibit discrimination of any kind on grounds of social origin, property, birth or other status.
The result is that discrimination based on socio-economic class is hardly ever part of any analysis.
I call for a new approach by the human rights community, the development community and Governments that gives due attention to how often and how exactly the civil and political rights of the poor are violated*." Go to: http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=22237&LangID=E For full article.

*Italics mine.
 
Arafel: Recommended Emendations to Universal Credit
1. An immediate rise in all benefit levels and the minimum wage.
2. No ESA claimant changing to the new system is to lose their entitlement to Universal Credit Disability Component payments until they have been assessed and a mandatory appeal entered into (if requested), and dismissed (this could be done by the simple expedient of treating the U.C disability component assessment as the re-application for ESA it would otherwise have been).
3. There will be no advance payments made as loans, all advance payments made to successful applicants for any component of Universal Credit should be treated as a component of the benefit.
4. No one in receipt of Housing Benefit is to have that stopped at any time.
5. Housing Benefit payments and the Housing Benefit component of U.C should be paid directly to the landlords.

6. New Universal Credit claimants should enter into an introductory period lasting not less than six months when their capabilities can be properly assessed and orientation "workshops" attended (a number of creative ideas could be tried regarding targeted "field trips" -et.al-, for certain demographics within the system etc.).

Please see Twitter "Moment" for updates to these stories and previous posts concerning electric bicycles and mobility, go to: https://twitter.com/i/moments/922709645877235712

Monday 11 September 2017

Tactical Nukes, "Rods of God" and Space Rocket X: The U.S Continues to Militarise Space #SpaceWeapons #NKorea #Proliferation



Quote; "Since 1967, there has been an agreement among 107 countries that prohibits the use of biological, nuclear and chemical weapons from outer space.

These Air Force 'rods from god' could hit with the force of a nuclear weapon

The Air Force now draws new attention with their latest weapon development: super-strong tungsten rods that can be fired from space to any city on Earth.
These can hit their targets with a force comparable to that of intercontinental missiles, reports the military news site „We Are The Mighty“." Go to: http://www.disclose.tv/news/the_us_air_force_has_a_new_weapon_as_strong_as_a_nuclear_bomb__but_without_fallout/140227 For full article and videos.

Quote; "During the Vietnam War, the US used what it called "Lazy Dog" bombs. These were simply solid steel pieces, less than 2 inches long, fitted with fins. There was no explosive — they were simply dropped by the hundreds from planes flying above Vietnam.
Lazy Dog projectiles (aka "kinetic bombardment") could reach speeds of up to 500 mph as they fell to the ground and could penetrate 9 inches of concrete after being dropped from as little as 3,000 feet.
The idea is like shooting bullets at a target, except instead of losing velocity as it travels, the projectile is gaining velocity and energy that will be expended on impact. They were shotgunning a large swath of jungle, raining bullet-size death at high speeds.
That's how Project Thor came to be.
Instead of hundreds of small projectiles from a few thousand feet, Thor used a large projectile from a few thousand miles above the Earth. The "rods from god" idea was a bundle of telephone-pole-size (20 feet long, 1 foot in diameter) tungsten rods, dropped from orbit, reaching a speed of up to 10 times the speed of sound.
The rod itself would penetrate hundreds of feet into the Earth, destroying any potential hardened bunkers or secret underground sites. More than that, when the rod hits, the explosion would be on par with the magnitude of a ground-penetrating nuclear weapon — but with no fallout.
It would take 15 minutes to destroy a target with such a weapon.
One Quora user who works in the defense aerospace industry quoted a cost of no less than $10,000 a pound to fire anything into space. With 20 cubic feet of dense tungsten weighing in at just over 24,000 pounds, the math is easy. Just one of the rods would be prohibitively expensive. The cost of $230 million a rod was unimaginable during the Cold War.
These days, not so much. The Bush administration even considered revisiting the idea to hit underground nuclear sites in rogue nations in the years following 9/11. Interestingly enough, the cost of a single Minuteman III ICBM was $7 million in 1962, when it was first introduced ($57 million adjusted for inflation).
The trouble with a nuclear payload is that it isn't designed to penetrate deep into the surface. And the fallout from a nuclear device can be devastating to surrounding, potentially friendly areas.
A core takeaway from the concept of weapons like Project Thor's is that hypersonic weapons pack a significant punch and may be the future of global warfare*." Go to: http://uk.businessinsider.com/air-force-rods-from-god-kinetic-weapon-hit-with-nuclear-weapon-force-2017-9?r=US&IR=T
For full article.

Nb. All the videos of the "Nuke Strike" on Yemen are now..."no videos found" on Blogger embed...url paste will not reveal either, go to:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=84&v=4VZmxDCbRVM and/or see the Arafel archive..(Edit; this was true for me at least at time of writing, however a "Lion's Ground" video did embed today and quite frankly it is one of the best I've seen on this subject, text and video now appears on; "NEW Footage of #Yemen Bunker Buster and Nafeez Ahmed on War Crimes #SaudiArabia #Israel #UN #MiddleEastEye" Go to:
http://www.arafel.co.uk/2017/07/new-raw-footage-of-yemen-bunker-buster.html edited 14/09/2017)

Why a "Neutron" Bomb?:


 I don't think it was the Indians though..!

*Arafel: Uninformed and/or disingenuous from Business Insider here (the usual circumlocution from the "money men" -however if BI say it's going down you can bet there will have to be a very good reason why it doesn't-), bunker busting nukes have in-fact proliferated, I see this initiative as a response to precisely those problems, there are after all supposed to be prohibitions against the use of nuclear weapons no matter what the size (although if the videos of the strike on Yemen are valid a "small one" is hardly something one would set off in the garden), Was this what President Trump was referring to recently when he said;  "fire and fury like the world has never seen"? For surely any president would prefer to make an appropriate response without having to resort to nuclear weapons? It seems strange that no-one has yet publicly examined the nature and strength of North Korea's defences, you can build some awful big, deep bunkers with all that focused people power, it's not even a question of tech just muscle (especially given the longevity of the N.Korean regime).



Quote;  "A military space plane spread its wings and a rocket stretched its legs during SpaceX’s Sept. 7 launch of a classified mission from NASA’s Kennedy Space Center.
The 230-foot Falcon 9 rocket rumbled from historic pad 39A at 10 a.m., as weather cooperated a day before Brevard County planned mandatory barrier island evacuations ahead of Hurricane Irma’s projected arrival.

On top of the rocket was the Air Force’s X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle, an unmanned mini-shuttle resembling one of NASA’s retired orbiters, but about a quarter the size at 29 feet long and windowless. The program was riding for the first time on a SpaceX rocket, after four turns on United Launch Alliance’s Atlas V.

The X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle (OTV-5) is being staged in preparation for its upcoming launch on September 7, 2017.

To preserve the mission’s secrecy, SpaceX cut off its broadcast a few minutes into the flight, after nine Merlin main engines cut off and the first-stage booster fell away.
About two hours later, Gen. John Raymond, the head of Air Force Space Command, confirmed on Twitter that the launch was a success.
Boeing, which built and operates two reusable X-37B orbiters housed in former shuttle hangars at KSC, did the same.
After separating, the roughly 16-story Falcon booster pirouetted in space and flew back toward a pad on Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
The rocket stage touched down on four landing legs, announcing its return with sonic booms that reported across the region." Go to: http://www.wearethemighty.com/news/this-secret-air-force-spaceplane-just-got-shot-into-orbit-again For full article.



 Use of tactical nuclear weapons discussed with South Korea

Quote; "WASHINGTON – Defense Secretary Jim Mattis confirmed Monday that the U.S. and South Korea have discussed employing tactical nuclear weapons as an option to defend against North Korea’s nuclear weapons program.
The acknowledgment from Mattis comes as the U.S. and international community grapple with increasingly aggressive nuclear weapons testing by North Korea.
In the last few weeks, North Korea has tested an intercontinental ballistic missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland and tested a hydrogen bomb, according to U.S. Strategic Command’s assessment of the program.
Last Thursday, as Mattis was at STRATCOM assessing the U.S. nuclear posture, North Korea fired another intermediate range missile over Japan, sending millions of Japanese citizens into shelters."...
.."The U.S. has around 500 B-61 low-yield, or “tactical” nuclear gravity bombs ― some with yields as small as 0.3 kilotons in their arsenal, said James McKeon, a nuclear weapons analyst for the Center for Arms Control and Non-Proliferation." Go to: http://www.militarytimes.com/news/your-military/2017/09/18/mattis-use-of-tactical-nuclear-weapons-discussed-with-south-korea/?utm_source=Sailthru&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=EBB%2009.19.2017&utm_term=Editorial%20-%20Early%20Bird%20Brief For full article.

Thursday 13 July 2017

NEW Footage of #Yemen Bunker Buster and Nafeez Ahmed on War Crimes #SaudiArabia #Israel #UN #MiddleEastEye



...and this goes unchallenged because?
 It was more than two years ago now that these videos were first published and the international community and media are silent still. The toothless United Nations is so deeply mired in the slough of uncontested Interventionism that it is unable to act and the Pro-Saudi/Pro-Israel lobby are in the ascendant, it is the West's base craving for the black-stuff that ensures that the people of Yemen are left to starve, this is what we are capable of.

A former State Department war crimes expert warns that arms sales to Saudi Arabia is ‘prohibited’ under US law - but the lethal exports still go ahead

Quote; "Britain and America are above the law. Our complicity in Saudi Arabia’s war in Yemen proves it.
This week, the High Court in London ruled that British arms sales to Saudi Arabia are lawful, dismissing a judicial review filed by Campaign Against Arms Trade (CAAT), which had demanded that weapons exports be halted over humanitarian concerns.
Our laws are not fit for purpose - the rule of law has become a farce, a figleaf to enable the US and Britain to outsource illegal wars to their Gulf proxies
CAAT are appealing the ruling, and no wonder – it was ultimately decided on the basis of largely secret evidence supplied by the UK government, heard in closed court. This is not open justice: it is evidence of how the Whitehall foreign policy establishment abuse "national security" as a carte blanche to protect themselves from legal accountability.
The same thing is happening across the pond. According to a former senior war crimes advisor to the US State Department, US arms sales to Saudi Arabia are “prohibited” under US laws due to “credible allegations” of illegal actions during the kingdom’s bombing campaign in Yemen.
The analysis is set out in a compelling white paper published in May by Professor Michael Newton, who teaches the International Law Practice Lab at Vanderbilt University Law School. The American Bar Association sent Newton's paper to the US Senate saying that "questions had arisen" concerning whether the sales were "consistent with US statuatory obligations".
Unfortunately, despite the robustness of the legal argument, it did not prevent the US Senate from narrowly backing the sale of $500m worth in precision-guided munitions to Saudi Arabia in mid-June.
If our domestic laws have no power to prevent our governments from becoming complicit in Saudi state terror in Yemen, this does not make those arms sales legitimate. It means, simply, that our laws are not fit for purpose - that the rule of law has become a farce, a figleaf to enable the US and Britain to outsource illegal wars to their Gulf proxies." Go to: http://www.middleeasteye.net/columns/us-and-uk-acting-above-law-support-saudi-war-yemen-613554453?utm_content=buffer8b54d&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer For full article.

Also from The Middle East Eye

Quote; "A former British ambassador to Saudi Arabia has said the kingdom has been funding mosques across Europe that promote an "extremist" version of Islam, the Guardian has reported.
Sir William Patey, who served as ambassador to Saudi Arabia from 2006 to 2010, told an event in parliament on Wednesday that while Saudi Arabia was not directly funding terrorism, it was promoting an ideology that leads to extremism, according to the newspaper.
"It is unhealthy and we need to do something about it," he said at a roundtable debate organised by the Conservative Middle East Council, a campaign group linked to the ruling Conservative Party.
The intervention from the former senior diplomat, who also served as head of the Middle East desk at the Foreign Office, comes after the government released a summary of a Home Office report on Wednesday into the funding of extremism in the UK." Go to: http://www.middleeasteye.net/news/saudi-arabia-funding-extremism-europe-former-british-diplomat-687597543 For full article.

Quote; "The nuclear explosion in Yemen is about a neutron bomb, a hydrogen bomb designed so that a large part of the energy of the explosion is released in the form of neutron radiation, while the amount of radioactivity that is released is small. Earlier this month, two F-16s were shot down over Yemen. ARTICLE: "READ THE FULL ARTICLE" - click the link below to read everything about this topic - http://lionsgroundnews.com/nuclear-ne... A. Its not a conventional 2k lb bomb. It’s much bigger. B. Its either a very large MOAB bigger than 4,000 lbs. or; ???? Max weight for an F-15 / 16 is about 2,000 lb payload per bomb rack making the deployment of a MOAB impossible. C. Lightning effect and duration of the fire ball being suspended in mid air and the very large mushroom cloud is the main give away, that is because it is being hit by neutrons from the nuclear fireball blast. It overloads the ccd’s electronic circuit producing white flashes. If the radiation is too high it will burn out the chip. They had big problems with this in Japan with the Fukushima robots cameras failing due to very high radiation counts. D. Delivery is most likely by an IDF F-16 with a Saudi paint job on the plane. They are not even hiding their use anymore, they just don’t publicly admit it and the IAEA does nothing or says nothing. That is the true war crime. The UN just ignores it unless the US, France or GB complain… Russia and China say nothing." Thank you Lion's Ground.

Other recent videos are being continually removed and most of the videos of the explosion cannot be found for Blogger embed and will not paste to url. I am being forced to continually edit the Arafel archive as a result.

Found this though..best explanation of why neutron bombs are used for tactical warheads...


See Twitter "Moment"; #YemenNuclearStrike #TacticalNukes #UnofficialNuclearProliferation: https://twitter.com/i/moments/879617300126732288 for updates.

Monday 10 July 2017

Welcome to the 21st Century: #EMPWeapons #TheSpaceMarine #UNNuclearBan

Quote; "WASHINGTON — Lawmakers on Tuesday took the first step towards establishing a ‘Space Corps’ within the Air Force — similar to the way the Marine Corps functions in the Navy — by drafting legislation that would require the new organization to be set up by January 1, 2019. As the House Armed Services Committee prepares to vote on the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA), the strategic forces subcommittee — which oversees military space matters — released its proposed additions to the bill. The subcommittee has scheduled a formal legislative mark-up session for its portions of the bill on Thursday.
The subcommittee’s top Republican, Rep. Mike Rogers of Alabama, and top Democrat, Rep. Jim Cooper of Tennessee, said the subcommittee’s mark would require the Air Force to establish the Space Corps to serve “as a separate military service within the Department of the Air Force and under the civilian leadership of the Secretary of the Air Force.”
“There is bipartisan acknowledgement that the strategic advantages we derive from our national security space systems are eroding,” Rogers and Cooper said in a prepared statement. “We are convinced that the Department of Defense is unable to take the measures necessary to address these challenges effectively and decisively, or even recognize the nature and scale of its problems.”
“Thus, Congress has to step in,” the statement continues. “We must act now to fix national security space and put in place a foundation for defending space as a critical element of national security.  Therefore, our Mark will require the creation, under the Secretary of the Air Force, of a new Space Corps, as a separate military service responsible for national security space programs for which the Air Force is today responsible.  We view this as a first, but critical step, to fixing the National Security Space enterprise.”
The Space Corp would be led by its own chief, who would sit on the Joint Chiefs of Staff with a six-year term, the bill says. It would be a position equal to the Chief of Staff of the Air Force, and would answer to the Secretary of the Air Force.
The subcommittee’s markup of the bill would also set up a U.S. Space Command that would be a sub-unified command under U.S. Strategic Command, a move lawmakers hope would improve the integration of space operations in warfighting.
The subcommittee’s action on the NDAA  is one of the early steps in a lengthy legislative process. The bill would still need to get approval from the full committee before it could be debated by the House, but the chamber isn’t expected to vote on the NDAA until after the Fourth of July holiday." Go to: http://spacenews.com/house-panel-takes-first-step-towards-military-space-corps/ For full article.
  
HASC BACKS SPACE CORPS

Quote; "The committee rebuffed an amendment from Rep. Mike Turner (R-Ohio) that would strip a provision from the Strategic Forces mark creating a Space Corps and replace it with a report on the need for a separate space services.
Turner argued the reorganization of the Air Force's space mission needed more study, saying the bill was "asking us to do something we haven't done something since 1947."
Still, the proposal drew opposition from both parties, and Strategic Forces Chairman Mike Rogers (R-Ala.) defended his panel's development of the measure. "To delay this, in my view, would be irresponsible," he said, adding not implementing the measure would be "legislative malpractice." Go to: http://www.politico.com/tipsheets/morning-defense/2017/06/29/hasc-approves-ndaa-just-before-midnight-221115 For full article.
 

Secret Missions of the X-37B.
  
Quote; "WASHINGTON – Alarms once again are being sounded over North Korea’s capability to launch satellites that could carry a nuclear weapon and be detonated at a high altitude over America, creating an extremely powerful electromagnetic pulse that would knock out the nation’s vulnerable electrical grid system, according to a report from Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
It is on that grid system that the nation’s life-sustaining critical infrastructures, from food supplies and utility services to financial and even communications, depend.
Pyongyang already has demonstrated it can launch such satellites. Two already are in orbit, even though experts don’t know what the satellites are doing.
Peter Pry, who already has expressed concerns about Pyongyang’s satellite launches, has warned that North Korea would not need a missile capable of reaching the U.S. mainland. Instead, it could put a nuclear weapon on a satellite that could be detonated on command over the United States.
Pry, who is executive director of the congressional advisory Task Force on National and Homeland Security and U.S. Nuclear Strategy Forum, has said Pyongyang has been testing smaller nuclear kiloton warhead that emit greater amounts of gamma rays, a form of electromagnetic energy, rather than devices with physical destructive capability.
Now Jim Oberg, who is one of the few American scientists to visit North Korea’s Sohae space launch site in the northwest corner of the country, has expressed similar concerns about the content of North Korean satellites.
Oberg is a retired space shuttle Mission Control specialist with NASA and worked for U.S. Space Command.
For the rest of this report, and more, please go to Joseph Farah’s G2 Bulletin.
“There have been fears expressed that North Korea might use a satellite to carry a small nuclear warhead into orbit and then detonate it over the United States for an EMP strike,” Oberg said in a Space Review article. “These concerns seem extreme and require an astronomical scale of irrationality on the part of the regime.
“The most frightening aspect, I’ve come to realize,” he said, “is that exactly such a scale of insanity is now evident in the rest of this ‘space program.'”" Go to: http://www.wnd.com/2017/02/new-alarms-sounded-over-north-koreas-emp-potential/ For full article.



Nb. Date of projection.

Quote; "US military boffins are preparing highly sophisticated technical defences against the dreaded electromagnetic pulse bomb, a weapon which has long been anticipated but never successfully built*.We know about the counter-electropulse defence technology because the company which will develop it - HRL Labs of Malibu, California - announced their contract win yesterday. The programme is referred to by the Pentagon as Electromagnetic Pulse-tolerant Microwave Receiver Front-end, or EMPiRe*.
The idea of the attacking e-weapon is that it would release a hugely powerful radio-frequency or microwave pulse. In the same way that a normal, very weak emission is picked up by a radio or radar antenna to produce a measurable current, the weapons-grade pulse would induce a vicious surge in exposed electronic equipment - potentially frying it for good, or at least shutting it down for a bit.
Such weapons, it's often thought, might be driven by explosions or other rapid processes rather than normal batteries or generators, because of the need to release large amounts of power very fast: hence pulse bomb rather than pulse raygun etc.
Normally, the defence against this sort of thing is simple. You merely enclose your electronics in a conductive metallic Faraday cage, perhaps fashioned of trusty tinfoil if nothing better comes to hand. The problems of generating and focusing powerful electropulses are already enormous* - so enormous, in fact, that decades of secretive US effort have failed to produce any working EMP weapons**. Producing an EMP which has range, focus and power sufficient to sizzle its way through a decent Faraday cage is just not on.
But there are problems here. Some kinds of electronics are no use if you wrap them up in a radio-proof box. In particular, a microwave receiver in a communications or radar set needs to pick up RF radiation - but if you let it, an EMP bomb or whatever might fry the electronics of the connected system.
HRL's proposed solution is to isolate the "front end" of the receiver, which will "sense incoming electrical fields through a high-performance microwave photonic link". The new HRL front end will pass information to the signal processors optically, meaning that no electric surge through into the protected back end is possible.
"The thermal effects of a high-energy attack will be insignificant because our sensor head absorbs negligible radio-frequency power," says HRL Senior Scientist Dr James Schaffner.
HRL's research is funded by DARPA, the Pentagon's elite group of paradigm-punishing, technonoclastic nerd-wranglers. DARPA's goal often appears to the outsider to be that of rendering America's latest military tech obsolete well before it actually comes into service. In this case the Pentagon brainboxes may well excel themselves, as even the more ambitious ongoing US pulse-bomb efforts only see themselves starting a useful weapons programme from 2012. (To be fair, DARPA might be more worried about EMPs from nukes*.)" Go to: https://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/08/28/darpa_pulse_weapon_countermeasure/ For full article.

*Italics mine. This article strikes me as both disingenuous and misleading (unlike the one above that just appears to be ill informed on the threat), civilian technology is not usually encased in a Faraday Cage, working EMP weapons would appear to be fact (see below), and have been for a long time (esp. the nuclear variety), and indeed DARPA are worried about EMPs from nuclear weapons (underplayed), but surely they've already developed (or are developing), countermeasures to their own technology?....

CHAMP

Quote; "The Pentagon’s Counter-Electronics High-Power Advanced Microwave Project (CHAMP) has been one of the sci-fi like weapons programs that has the ability to change warfare as we know forever. Now it looks like the CHAMP has found an ideal delivery vehicle, the stealthy Joint Air-to-Surface Standoff Missile-Extended Range.
  The technology has been around conceptually for many years and something like it was even rumored to have been deployed secretly before. For instance, there were reports that during the fall of Qaddafi, unmanned aircraft orbited over Libya’s most volatile weapons stockpiles and zapped vehicles engines and electronics that approached."
  .."CHAMP, which is a Boeing and Air Force Research Laboratory project, was successfully tested in 2012 aboard a AGM-86 Conventional Air Launched Cruise Missile (CALCM). During the test, which occurred over a bombing and testing range in Utah, the CHAMP equipped CALCM flew over a two story building filled with computers and other powered technology and initiated a high-power, directed microwave burst above it as it passed by. The burst knocked out all the equipment inside. The test went on to zap six more targets successfully before the missile crashed itself in a pre-designated area. Other test flights are set to have followed, and even hardened targets were not completely immune to CHAMP’s zapping power." Go to: http://foxtrotalpha.jalopnik.com/this-stealth-missile-will-use-emps-to-cripple-enemy-ele-1705441209 For full article.


Quote; "THE United States Air Force wants to fry your phone. And your computer. And your car. It’s investing millions into modifying missiles into weaponised microwave ovens.
The devastating power of electromagnetic pulse (EMP) has long been associated with nuclear war.
It’s a flash of raw electromagnetic energy through the atmosphere that fuses delicate electronics into irreparable smoking scrap.
The problem has always been the nuclear bit: Using one to fry a phone network would have been overkill.
Not to mention a trigger for an almost inevitable ‘mutually assured destruction’ escalation.
So the US military has been seeking less lethal ways of sowing confusion among its enemies.
Enter flying microwave ovens.
The idea was tested as far back as 2012 when Boeing flew an EMP missile off a B-52.
It didn’t get the contract, though.
Flightglobal reports defence contractor Raytheon has just been handed $US4.8 million to attach a microwave generator to two conventional cruise missiles." Go to: http://www.news.com.au/technology/innovation/inventions/us-air-force-modifies-cruise-missiles-to-carry-electromagnetic-pulse-generators--to-destroy-electronics-from-a-distance/news-story/f1898c65dd851fe23f2fca578db83b2b For full article.

Arafel: All of these articles downplay the threat (EMP nukes are very much in the armoury esp. for use against non-nuclear powers). Not effective against military installations? Maybe so but only the properly shielded (and this would need to be considerable in the case of air-burst nuclear EMP weapons). We are a technologically reliant culture, the likelihood is we'd end up like this...


Instilling panic in civilian populations has been a weapon of war since the beginning and if this were to include parts (or all) of the vital services and administration? Khaos.



UN Nuclear Ban

 
Quote; " "None of the nine countries known or believed to possess nuclear weapons — the United States, Russia, Britain, China, France, India, Pakistan, North Korea and Israel — is supporting the treaty. Many of their allies also did not attend the meeting*.

Instead of a ban, the US and other nuclear powers want to fortify the pre-existing Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty.

That pact, which has been widely criticised as being ineffective, originally sought to limit the spread of atomic weapons beyond the five already in possession at the time of its inception – the US, Russia, Britain, France and China. It compels non-nuclear signatory nations to promise not to purse atomic weapons. In return, those who already own nuclear weapons would be obliged to commitment towards nuclear disarmament and guarantee non-nuclear states access to peaceful nuclear technology for producing energy*." Go to: http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/politics/g20-summit-120-countries-adopt-nuclear-weapons-ban-treaty-arms-war-prohibition-disarmament-a7828581.html For full article.

*That's oxymoronic too (and indicates the true direction of Time's Arrow), nuclear power is essential for nuclear weapon production and the truth is even those countries which do not possess them but run reactors underpin proliferation. A nuclear powered world without nuclear weapons? Ludicrous..." Go to: http://members5.boardhost.com/xxxxx/msg/1499501028.html

For full post. 

*Italics mine.