Seven Bombs for Seven Harbors!
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Seven Bombs for Seven Harbors!
Hey, Cogito! Remember that Cold War editorial cartoon, wherein some town in the midwest was boasting that their nuclear silo was "really going to put them on the map," and then in panel 2, we saw the Soviet War Room, with that same city on "The Map?"
Well, here's my list of the seven busiest harbors in the US, in no particular order:
Long Beach, CA
Los Angeles, CA
New York/New Jersey, NY
Houston, TX
According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the California ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach accounted for a combined 27 percent of value of trade (13.8 and 13.3 percent, respectively) in 2000, followed closely by the Port of New York City with 11.0 percent. The fourth-ranked port based on value of trade was the Port of Houston (Texas) with 5.9 percent.There's 44%, right there.
Charleston, SC
Seattle/Tacoma, WA
Oakland, CA
Now, New Orleans has already been rolled over by Katrina, so now the question becomes:
Are these port cities on "The Map" of the Yahtzees*?
I feel that other "Must Have" cities are the obvious New York, NY (positively lousy with Joos, and hence a one-stop genocide center), Washington, DC (not terribly overrun with Joos, but has lots of Representatives and some Senators, not to mention The Devil), and — of couse — Las Vegas, NV.**
You guys in these cities watch your backs! I'm not saying you have to inter anybody in camps or anything, but stay alert. The U.S. is too large, physically, to destroy, except through economic attack. Even then, I'd like to believe that the American Spirit would render such an attack only temporarily crippling, but not fatal.
I'd like to believe that, but I'm not sure I do, anymore.
*I-Slammo-Fascists, by any other name.
** Let's be honest: who, among the holiness-focused, wouldn't want to bomb Las Vegas? I mean, I know it's a fast-growing economic center of the US and all, but — damn! Additionally, Nellis Air Force Base is home to one of my favorite groups o' troups: the "drone" pilots for the theaters of war in which we are engaged.
Remember that Cold War editorial cartoon, wherein some town in the midwest was boasting that their nuclear silo was "really going to put them on the map," and then in panel 2, we saw the Soviet War Room, with that same city on "The Map?"
yes! A Jeff MacNelly classic!
We're highly aware of the vulnerability of the Port of Houston round these parts: unlike most ports, which can be described more or less by a circle (and are therefore relatively easy to fence off), the POH stretches in a linear fashion for 50+ miles along both sides of the Houston Ship Channel (say what you want about Texans, they do think BIG: Instead of building the Port on the Gulf, they brought the Gulf to the Port.)
And it's not just container traffic handled here: along that same ship channel is the largest known petrochemical complex in the local cluster of galaxies. Houston is doubly or triply attractive as a target: you get the economic impact, the psychological impact, the strategic impact on energy infrastructure, and better access potential to such a spread out complex. Oh, and for the personal insult dimension, the President's parents live here as well.
I'd say Houston is definitely on 'The Map'
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