This is admittedly only very tangentially related to Seattle real estate, but this news article caught my attention this morning: Congressman implies: Seattle could be nuked
Huffington Post columnist Jason Linkins writes today about an e-mail sent by Rep. Todd Akin (R-Mo., not Ala. as the headline reads) regarding the United States’ missile defense plans.
…
Akin doesn’t specifically mention Seattle, but his e-mail did include a map of the city and the expected effects of a 10-kiloton nuclear blast centered over South Lake Union.
The map they mentioned seemed a little familiar to me…
Left: Congressman Todd Akin’s 2009 map of possible North Korean nuke on Seattle
Right: Seattle Civil Defense Manual’s 1950 map of possible USSR nuke on Seattle
Hey, at least the 2009 hypothetical North Korean bomb isn’t dropping practically right on top of Ballard like the hypothetical 1950 USSR bomb was. Apparently Paul Allen’s Vulcan real estate ventures are now a higher priority target than a Scandinavian fishing neighborhood.
Even in a hypothetical nuclear disaster, the historic legacy of the overpriced Ballard craftsman will be preserved. Phew!
Ira Sacharoff » Jun 8, 2009 at 8:25 am
Don’t know how the SLUT will survive, but at least a couple of the old Hiroshima streetcars survived the blast just fine.
Perhaps if he uses the mind meld, Paul Allen can deter the enemy.
Dogggis » Jun 8, 2009 at 8:55 am
Whheewww, I was worried there for a minute, I guess we’ll be okay here in Renton ;)
The Tim » Jun 8, 2009 at 8:59 am
By Dogggis @ 2:
Scotsman » Jun 8, 2009 at 9:33 am
Dang, Ira, ya beat me to it!
That looks bad, Tim. Must be “Rooski” bombers- they’re red. I’m moving to Montanna.
David McManus » Jun 8, 2009 at 9:49 am
By The Tim @ 3:
Looks like New Orleans is safe from attack. Parrrrrrrrrtayyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!
Kary L. Krismer » Jun 8, 2009 at 9:57 am
Property values will skyrocket in Maple Valley!
Cheap South » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:01 am
That’s one way to clear excess inventory.
anna » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:12 am
i think long range missiles have error radius of 10+ miles. so no big city suburb is safe if nuclear war breaks out.
softwarengineer » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:26 am
RE: anna @ 8 –
ESPECIALLY IF IT’S A N. KOREAN ONE
I imagine their missiles are about as accurate as the lions share of the RE experts were in predicting the bubble in 2005…LOL
Dave Lincoln » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:30 am
RE: anna @ 8 –
Maybe the N.K. ones don’t have much for guidance, Anna, but the intercontinental missiles made during the cold war had accuracies of much better than that, maybe within 100 yards of target. The idea for both the US and the USSR was to launch the first round of missiles at the other countries missile silos, and you had to get pretty close, as these silos were hardened big-time. After they took out the missiles at the bases in N. Dakota and others, the next round from the Russkies would be headed for Ballard, with maybe a short detour over Skyway and Rainier valley just to put the fear of God into some folks there.
Dave Lincoln » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:36 am
Also, if our enemy is still flying straight-wing turbo-prop bombers, per the Tim’s map., I don’t think we have too much to worry about. I knew about this “bomber gap” as President Kennedy just told us (seems like last year, but maybe it was the year before), but dang, this is ridiculous. I think our new century-series fighters and the upcoming Phantom jet will make mincemeat out of these evil bastards. [/T-Warp]
Dave Lincoln » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:36 am
Yeah, that’s right – HTML was done with square braces back then, smart guy!
Racket » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:37 am
By David McManus @ 5:
I dunno that might have the appeal of putting a m-80 into a porta-potty.
softwarengineer » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:59 am
SPEAKING OF NUCLEAR BOMBS
Did you bloggers look up the 30 year fixed rates home mortgages on BECU this morning? No wonder the banks mull offers for five months now, by the time they accept them the interest rates will be 15%, LOL
They’re now up to 6%+ and growing almost daily. It may sound nice to add trillions to the stimulus debt; but the treasuries [with mortgage interest rates] are going through the roof like a mushroom cloud….even the stock market is shocked today.
One Eyed Man » Jun 8, 2009 at 11:41 am
RE: Ira Sacharoff @ 1 –
"golly", I’m going to have to get a new personal plan to deal with the North Korean nuclear threat. During the 1960’s my plan was to spend the last 15 minutes before the big one hit checking off the only item a 15 year old suburban kid has on his bucket list. Now days, I’d never make it through traffic to South Lake Union to ride the SLUT. Maybe I’ll have to settle for the public transit on Pacific Hwy So.
Live long and prosper.
anna » Jun 8, 2009 at 12:06 pm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2564241.stm
north korean missile accuracies estimated in this article.
The Nodong missile is thought to have a range of around 1,300km and could potentially carry a nuclear warhead,..However, this missile is only thought to have been tested twice and it is not accurate. A March 2006 report, by the US Center for Non-proliferation Studies, said it had a ‘circular error probable’ of 2km to 4km, meaning that half of the missiles fired would fall outside a circle of that radius.
The Taepodong-1 is a two-stage missile comprising Nodong and Scud parts and can reach a distance of 2,900km. With this range it would be able to reach US bases on Okinawa but the missile is thought to be even less accurate than the Nodong.
The Taepodong-2 long-range missile is estimated to have a range of between 4,000km and 10,000km and, like the Taepodong-1, it requires a fixed launch site…Defence experts say that the original Taepodong-2 is now being replaced by a newer model, which can have two or three stages giving it an extended range of up to 15,000km.
The three-stage Taepodong-2 was used in a failed attempt to launch a satellite in April 2009. The launch was widely condemned by the US and South Korea, among others, as cover for a long-range missile test…..However, it could only carry a small payload to its maximum range and is not thought to be particularly accurate.
My Conclusion: NK’s missiles just glorified dart throwing contraptions capable of long distances and carrying nuks.
Ray Pepper » Jun 8, 2009 at 12:14 pm
Appears Wyoming is the safest according to the map. Hmmmm. Maybe I should plan a trip.
Scotsman » Jun 8, 2009 at 12:44 pm
RE: One Eyed Man @ 15 –
Fifteen years old? First time? Fifteen minutes? Aint gonna happen. Five minutes- max. Even for you. Sorry. ;-)
Scotsman » Jun 8, 2009 at 12:46 pm
RE: anna @ 16 –
Even the polar bears are afraid. Montana is not safe.
Groundhogday » Jun 8, 2009 at 12:50 pm
RE: anna @ 16 –
Given the accuracy of those North Korean specials, I’d better start working on my bomb shelter here in Pullman.
David Losh » Jun 8, 2009 at 2:08 pm
Bangor is the number one target for nukes on the west coast.
anony » Jun 8, 2009 at 4:35 pm
RE: anna @ 16 – “NK’s missiles just glorified dart throwing contraptions capable of long distances… ”
Sounds a lot like the Hyundais in the 90s. Now they are producing better cars than the US ever did. If the North Koreans are as smart and motivated as the South they’ll be able to hit Robert Gates right in the middle of his comb-over in a couple years.
David Losh at 21, good point.
anna » Jun 8, 2009 at 8:02 pm
I don’t think NK is very motivated to actually:
a. hit the any real military target in the US, given they have no hope to actually take out US nuke capacity
b. improve their nuke’s accuracy
the same reasons that NK is not very motivated to improve its people’s quality of life.
NK is interested the survival of its regime by nuclear intimidation, and if that fails, they will try to maximize the
damage inflicted on the world, just out of spite.
The Sherm » Jun 8, 2009 at 8:29 pm
I assume they still have the bomb shelter in the basement of Fredrick and Nelson’s, don’t they?
jon » Jun 8, 2009 at 9:06 pm
The accuracy is not determined by the nuclear device, it is determined by the missile. NK is highly motivated to improve the accuracy of the missiles, because they sell them to other countries for use with conventional weapons. Iran would even be interested in buying a highly accurate nuclear missile because they would need to take out hardened Israeli targets if they wanted to present a credible threat.
Racket » Jun 8, 2009 at 10:26 pm
RE: The Sherm @ 24 –
That’s Nordstrom now, and I think it’s the mens department.
+ it was a fallout shelter not a bomb shelter.
BTW unless Canada launches a nuke at us, I don’t see one hitting a US city without a plane, or other missle taking it out of the sky.
Hugh Dominic » Jun 9, 2009 at 5:43 am
RE: anony @ 22 –
North Korea is a basket case. Communism ruins peoples’ ability to innovate….just look at the difference between East and West Germany – and that was only 40 years….
anon e. moose » Jun 9, 2009 at 9:36 am
It’s unclear to me why the North Koreans would want to blow up Lake Union.
Kary L. Krismer » Jun 9, 2009 at 10:10 am
By anon e. moose @ 28:
They don’t like the sponsor of the 4th of July fireworks.
Ira Sacharoff » Jun 9, 2009 at 10:31 am
By Kary L. Krismer @ 29:
JP Morgan Chase? Chances are better that they’d blow themselves up before North Korea go to them.
Racket » Jun 9, 2009 at 10:00 pm
RE: Ira Sacharoff @ 30 –
Fratelli’s?
those were the days.
Ira Sacharoff » Jun 9, 2009 at 10:27 pm
By Racket @ 31:
These young Whippersnappers don’t even know what Fratelli’s was.
It was ice cream, and danged fine ice cream at that. And made on Capitol Hill, with a cow mural on the side of the building.