COVID-19 Global Response: A Blueprint for Alien Arrival

Posted on 18 April 2020 by Liam H Dooley

Aliens.  Who isn’t wondering where they are?  Or when they will get here?  And some may wonder… how will the world react?

The COVID-19 global response is not only a template, but a model master plan, of how governments might prepare for an alien arrival.  Let’s be clear – Liam H. Dooley is not proposing that the current COVID-19 pandemic is in any way connected to an impending alien arrival.  But what I am proposing is that the global response to this most unfortunate pandemic is almost exactly how world governments might want to prepare and respond.  I propose that the current COVID-19 global response is a near-perfect blueprint to prepare for an alien arrival.

An alien arrival would compel governments that never agree on anything – think Iran, USA, Russia, China, and France – to agree on one thing.  That thing might look like what we have now: a set of historically restrictive national and global policies with no more sanctions over human rights, no complaints about foreign citizens being confined and/or quarantined in foreign countries, no objections to broad policing powers equivalent to martial law everywhere.

This blog entry will indicate how the COVID-19 Global Response is perfect to prepare for an alien arrival.

arrival 1

In the film Arrival, benevolent aliens arrive to teach us language (Paramount Films)

The Alien Warning

If aliens suddenly appear in our skies like in the film Skyline, or just beyond the moon, like in Independence Day, then there will be no time for a global response plan.  But other films provide an indication of what governments might do with adequate warning.  The classic film Close Encounters shows that the government will welcome benevolent extra-terrestrial visitors, but in order to maintain secrecy they will force people out of their homes near the arrival site and keep out the general public with the cover of a chemical toxic nerve gas spill – showing dead or anesthetized livestock as proof of the agent’s lethality.

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Top 10 Non-Fiction Books

Posted on 11 April 2020 by Liam H Dooley

Stuck at home?  Looking for an informative book to read?  Read below for recommendations!

IMG_2670

The beauty of the Aran Islands, Inis Mor, Ireland, on a summer day. Perfect place for some semi-isolated reading.

Here are Liam H. Dooley’s top 10 non-fiction books that might help pass the time, in approximate order of favorite to less favorite, with a brief explanation of why I love the book.  Clearly weighted towards history.  Amazon links in the hyperlinks.

1 – Rise and Fall of the Third Reich, by William L. Shirer. This book somewhat helped project me on my career path and history hobbyism, including visits to many of World War II’s great battlefields and sites.  There are no lack of books about Nazi Germany.  It’s probably one of, if not the, most written-about historical subject in the English language.  This is one of the first books that I read on this chapter of history.  And though a) the book is very long and b) you know how it ends (spoiler alert: Hitler dies and the Germans lose) – the narrative, story-telling style is engaging and, honestly, page-turning especially if you only have the vaguest knowledge of this aspect of world history.  Yes, there are some questionable historical analyses and statements – but the broader outlines of this book by a non-historian hold true, and it is a much more engaging read than a heavy, academic tome.

2 – Guns, Germs, and Steel by Jared Diamond. This book really impressed me with formulating a clear theory of why the world is the way it is, from the perspective of civilizations and development.  This is a well-known book which is a meta-history looking at a combination of civilizations and their technologies, military technologies, diseases, and natural resources.  As the author states in the book’s introduction, why in the Battle of Otumba (in modern-day Mexico) of 1520 did Spanish Conquistador Herman Cortes defeat a vastly, numerically superior (about 500 versus 10,000 to 20,000) Aztec army – and why wasn’t it the case that an inferior Aztec – or Mayan or even Central African army – defeated a numerically superior French, Spanish, or English army on their native lands?  What gave the Spanish and the Europeans the ships and guns (and yes, germs) – not to say a host of other tools and knowledge – to so decisively defeat the Aztecs?  And as we know, it was not a stroke of luck.  The Europeans went on to conquer all of Africa and the Americas because of the same imbalances.  One thing that struck me was that it is clear that it wasn’t a question of race or culture or genes – but fortunes and misfortunes of geography, which determined available crops, livestock, and beasts of burden among many other things, destined Europeans to conquer the Americas, Africa, and the Pacific islands and not the other way around.

3 – The Crusades: The Authoritative History of the War for the Holy Land by Thomas Asbridge. I loved this book because it gave a great, balanced overview of this period which everyone seems to mention at some point, usually in regards to both Middle East policy and conflict, and the Global War on Terror.  But most people really don’t know anything about the Crusades.  The Crusades is balanced, impartial history of the Crusades in the Middle East (it’s a bit forgotten that there were other Crusades – particularly in the Iberian Peninsula and in Northeastern Europe).

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NEW BOOK ANOUNCEMENT! Seizing Washington: Overthrowing the US President

Posted on 22 July 2018 by Liam H Dooley

Liam H. Dooley is proud to announce his lately writing accomplishment!  I have just completed and released a new book:

Seizing Washington: Overthrowing the US President

I have taken a break from creative writing to delve into the area of political science and current events. (Spoiler: this book is not for/against this or any US President).  The summary/intro is here:

America has never experienced a coup d’état, but that does not mean it never will. These days, Off with his head! may resonate more strongly amongst some Americans than, in Abraham Lincoln’s words, The ballot is stronger than the bullet.

How could opponents of the President of the United States of America overthrow him or her by the use of force? What kind of combat forces would the coupists need, and what kind of opposition would they face? What would be the coup’s primary targets? Who would they need to recruit in order to create a viable, and relatively legitimate coup force and subsequent regime? And lastly, when would a coup be legitimate?

This non-partisan book attempts to address the above questions while taking into account key aspects of the US military, Washington Capital region geography, the organization of the US government, and American political society.

Seizing Washington: Overthrowing the US President is an important read for anyone looking to rapidly change the President through extra-Constitutional means – or anyone who would like prevent others from doing so.

I was inspired to write this book when I read Edward Luttwak’s Coup d’etat: A Practical Handbook.  This book was a bit long-winded, and basically had nothing that was specific to the United States; but it was still interesting.  But Luttwak led me to ask: how could a Coup d’Etatbe conducted in the USA?

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The US Space Force: Where Are the Heroes

Posted on 28 June 2018 by Liam H Dooley

Recently, US President Donald J. Trump proposed – maybe a bit flippantly – a US Space Force.  This would be a separate military service from the US Army, Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps.  Some people, and many of the usual anti-Trump critics, found the idea ridiculous.   But real experts predict that there will be a Space Force eventually and some commend him for having the vision to compel the Pentagon to embrace change and reform – two things that the Pentagon is not known for.  I would like to make a few observations on how this USSF should and may evolve – and some challenges therein.

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The Boeing X-37B: a USAF space ship currently in operation and/or trial (Photo: Boeing)

Today, as some experts note, creating a USSF is premature.

https://www.pbs.org/newshour/science/why-a-u-s-space-force-is-premature-but-inevitable

It might be like creating the US Air Force a few years after the first hot air balloon.  The US Civil War showed that hot air balloons had military utility, for telegraph lines and reconnaissance for example; but of course there was not a real need for a whole armed flying wing of the military until after World War 1.  And as it was, the independent US Air Force was not created until 1947 (see reference above to the Pentagon’s slow embrace of change and reform).

Today, the US and many other countries have to deal with a number of malevolent threats in space.  These include cyber attacks against satellites and their ground control stations, anti-satellite weapons including ground and space-based lasers, anti-satellite missiles, and anti-satellite satellites.  Finally, space is a battlefield in the sense that ballistic missiles often traverse the upper atmosphere touching outer space – and these missiles need to be intercepted (if they are the enemy’s) or our missiles need to penetrate enemy anti-missile defenses.  So already, we are fighting in space or passing through it to wage war.  For better or worse, most of our space battles have been with electrons and radio waves; though a very big, bad war would involve (hopefully conventional) missiles arcing through space.

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The Warthog of Tomorrow : The A-1000

Posted on 15 June 2018 by Liam H Dooley

The Warthog of Tomorrow : The A-1000

Or Designing Tomorrow’s A-10 Thunderbolt II / Warthog Anti-Tank Close Air Support Aircraft.

107th Fighter Squadron Returns to Normandy

Two A-10’s fly over France to celebrate the anniversary of D-Day. The A-10 on the left is painted to commemorate the anniversary, assuming the black and white stripes of some of the Allied aircraft flown on 6 June 1944 during the invasion of Normandy.  Photo: theaviationist.com

For those of you perhaps unfamiliar with my favorite plane, and the world’s most awesome 30mm bullet-spewing flying anti-tank killer in the world, the Fairchild Republic A-10 Thunderbolt II, known more affectionately as the Warthog, is America’s premier tank busting aircraft.    Rather than let me go on about it for pages, you can browse these two web sites:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fairchild_Republic_A-10_Thunderbolt_II

http://www.af.mil/About-Us/Fact-Sheets/Display/Article/104490/a-10-thunderbolt-ii/

Here is a great YouTube video compilation of the A-10 shooting its incredible 30 mm GAU-8 rotary barrel (Gatling-gun like) gun.

Two aspects of the A-10 are relatively unique in terms of audio: first, the engines have a high-pitched whistling above the lower, bass roar.  This is partly to reduce its audio signature so that adversaries hear it as late as possible – preferably after it has already fired and turned away from its threat.  Second, when the gun shoots the first sound (the sound of a lot of a snare drum) is the bullets impacting and then one hears the higher-pitched sound of the bullets being fired (a brrrrr, or sound of canvas being ripped).  This is because of the speed of the bullets, sound, location of their impact, and location of the aircraft.  So you see and hear the bullets hitting their target before you hear them being fired.  Time travel!

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Ethiopia travel video

Posted on 6 March 2018 by Liam H Dooley

Here is my latest travel video, of Ethiopia.  Primarily Lalibela and Tigray.

Ethiopia has a fascinating religious history and follows relatively strict, old Orthodox Christian practices.  The country experiences all-too-frequent power outages, has some unpaved roads which compel one to crawl along, and there is a bit too much of a “tipping” culture. But the countryside is beautiful, and despite its relatively large population, the country seems quite empty.

There are a dozen fantastic places in Ethiopia that I did not have time to see.  In terms of sub-Saharan Africa, it has some of the most fascinating historic sites, and a lava lake (which I did not see).  To crown it all, the true Ark of the Covenant (famous from such works as the Bible and Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade) is reportedly in Axum – but no one but one priest is allowed to see it.

 

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Book review: Battlefield Ukraine

Posted on 5 January 2018 by Liam H Dooley

BOOK REVIEW

BATTLEFIELD UKRAINE: by James Rosone and Miranda Watson

Battlefield Ukraine is the type of novel I would not mind writing – and perhaps I will write one day.  So this is a high compliment (IMHO).  After over fifteen years of the war on terrorism, most novels are focused on counter-terrorism operations, Islamic extremism, espionage, and other small-unit / small scale conflict.  This novel aims to follow in the footsteps and style of Tom Clancy’s Red Storm Rising, Harold Coyle’s Team Yankee, Bob Forrest-Webb’s Chieftains, and Larry Bond novels.  It does a good job, bearing in mind this genre has some limitations.  Most importantly, while this novel has similarities with Red Storm Rising and similar books, it is an important political and technological update.  Red Storm Rising is quite dated with references to SM-1s, F-14s, F-19 stealth fighters, etc.  Also think about what that novel does not have: B-2 bombers, F-22s, F-35s, Javelins, GPS, JDAMs, etc.

These novels are action and equipment oriented and cover the whole spectrum of warfare, from the trench to the President.  They are not character driven except for a few characters who get a bit more page space than others.  This genre of novel simply cannot be a spiritual journey of redemption and discovery as they usually cover the perspectives of both sides and different military occupations (armor, infantry, aircraft pilot, intelligence analyst, spy, political leader, etc.).  And, frankly, I do not read these books for their “characters” but for the action and the fictional portrayal of force-on-force war.  Other books or types of books will cover one man’s search for himself amidst war and tragedy – but these will be focused on that person, and not cover dozens of aspects of warfare and geopolitics.

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My YouTube Channel

Posted on 9 September 2017 by Liam H Dooley

Dear blog friends, I’ve added a page for my YouTube channel, which has a bunch of 1080p travel videos from around the world (mostly Asia for the moment).  Enjoy!

My YouTube Page

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Operation Kaki Blue – An ASEAN War Short Story

Posted on 10 December 2016 by Liam H Dooley

My latest short story! Read here, or download!  Free for distribution.

This is a short story about the breakout of war in Southeast Asia.

Download Here: OPERATION KAKI BLUE.PDF

Cover Operation Kaki Blue

Four hours and thirty minutes: that was how long it would be until she had been married a full day to Singapore navy Lieutenant Nengyi Yew, Myolie thought.  She had worn a traditional wedding gown, sleeveless with an open back; while he had worn his formal white naval uniform with brass buttons, black epaulets with two gold stripes—one thick, one thin—denoting his rank.  After exchanging vows, they had walked down the aisle of their local church in the Serangoon neighborhood, hand in hand, beneath an archway of sabres borne by Nengyi’s comrades from the RSS Tenacious.  The organ had boomed Handel’s Messiah as they had departed, celebrating their union through lead pipes.

For nearly an hour her focus had been on the ship where the very same men who had saluted the newlyweds with swords were afloat aboard their ship in the Singapore Strait, but some movement just beyond the Singaporean navy frigate caught her attention.  It was impossible to be certain, but it seemed like a very long and straight man with rounded limbs was hanging from a cable beneath a helicopter, being dropped into the warm waters of the Singapore Strait as if he was either being tortured to confess a crime or for the mere pleasure of hanging from the whirlybird and taking an occasional dip.  “It’s a sonobuoy,” Myolie heard a man who looked to be in his mid to late-thirties next to her explain to a little boy at his side.  “They are looking for submarines.”

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MY ANTI-MATTER PROPULSION PROPOSAL FOR NASA

Posted on 14 October 2016 by Liam H Dooley

I have just entered a competition to propose ideas to NASA as part of their NASAiTech program.  My proposal is a study to identify and plan for an anti-matter propulsion infrastructure.  You can read the abstract below, and download the 5-page PDF.

Antihydrogen

NASAITECH PROPOSAL: PROPULSION  / OCTOBER 2016

DEVELOPING AN ANTI-MATTER PROPULSION FUEL INFRASTRUCTURE STUDY

By Liam H. Dooley

REFERENCE: LHD-NASA-01-2016

AMOUNT REQUESTED: 1,500,000 USD

ABSTRACT

NASA requires a new approach to propulsion technologies that will provide rapid, efficient long distance space travel between planets within Earth’s solar system and beyond, as well as building and sustaining populations off of the planet whether in deep space or on terra firma.  NASA and space-faring companies and nations will require a lift capacity far beyond what is currently available.  This need would be best met with anti-matter based propulsion systems.  However, because anti-matter is not readily available naturally nor easily produced, NASA needs to foster the establishment of a national – or global – anti-matter production infrastructure.

This proposal 1) suggests NASA promote the establishment of an anti-matter propulsion fuel infrastructure through planning, programming, and budgeting; and 2) establish a study group to propose potential courses of action, national and globally, to create and establish an anti-matter propulsion fuel infrastructure.

Read the complete proposal here:

Anti-Matter Propulsion System Infrastructure Study PDF

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