[speedgibson] Speed Gibson: How to Conquer Earth

[Email subscription to blog articles]

Posted by Speed Gibson:
How to Conquer Earth
http://speedgibson.powerblogs.com/posts/1246856457.shtml


   I just watched the 1953 "War of the Worlds" with Gene Barry as Dr.
   Clayton Forrester. Yes, the original Dr. Clayton Forrester for you
   Mystery Science Theater 3000 fans out there.
   The Martians are everywhere, destroying every city in the world,
   curiously saving Los Angeles and Washington DC for last. The weapon of
   choice? Ray blasters of course, burning, blasting, and vaporizing
   everything before them. But for forgetting to get their shots they
   would have won easily. Trouble is, all they would have gained is a
   charred planet. What might a more clever space invader do,
   particularly to stop us from assembling a coordinated defense?
   First, you have to disrupt communications. Instead of destroying
   transmission towers and jamming frequencies, just kill a big name
   celebrity or two each month. The news media will lock in for weeks on
   each, each claiming to have new information! Only talk radio will be
   relatively immune, so bump off a couple of their hosts for the
   survivors to talk endlessly about.
   Second, you disrupt transportation. Since to even reach Earth you are
   already Zen masters of transportation, you don't need our planes,
   trains, and automobiles. You only need keep us from using them and
   there is no better way to interdict the efficient, spotaneous flow of
   people about town than to impose a expensive, sluggish system that
   seldom will take people where they want to go, when they want to go.
   The perfect weapon for this? Light Rail. Build all the lines being
   planned, and maybe half a dozen more.