Since 1998 I have publicly warned of Russia’s war preparations. The idea of preparing for nuclear war is absurd for most Americans, because the idea of nuclear war makes no sense in a consumer society. However that may be, Russia’s war preparations were as undeniable then as they are today. And Russia is not a consumer society. In the late 1990s Russia was refurbishing huge nuclear war bunkers and building underground cities. The only purpose such bunkers and cities could serve is in relation to a future nuclear war. For a country that was supposedly broke to be spending its precious resources on something so expensive, so far out of the way of “normal” expectations, seemed inexplicable. “Oh well,” people would shrug. “The Russians are used to doing this sort of thing. It gives them psychological comfort. Let them do what they want. It needn’t trouble us.” The public missed the fact, however, that Russia was continuing to violate arms control agreements. It was not admitting to all the nuclear warheads it possessed, and was not reliably disposing of them. It was developing new, deadly, biological and chemical weapons.
RUSSIA'S UNDENIABLE WAR PREPARATIONS

Jerusalem, Aug. 27 (PTI): Israel is constructing an underground bunker,
which will house the prime minister's office and military command
centers, to withstand a nuclear attack, a media report here said.
Construction of the USD 240 million worth new National Command Center,
where the country's leaders would be taken, should Israel suffer a
nuclear attack, is rapidly progressing, daily 'Yedioth Ahronoth'
reported today.
"It's like something out of a movie, you walk around it in complete awe,
knowing this is the place they'll be running the country from," a
government source was quoted by the daily as saying.
Israel building underground bunker to withstand nuke attack

The shelters, which cost at least £60,000 for a bargain-basement version, are built to withstand radioactive fallout, have fortified walls and doors and generate their own electricity and decontaminated air. Defence experts estimate that hundreds of such bunkers, many fitted with all modern conveniences such as bedrooms, kitchens and bathrooms, have already been built in private homes across the country and demand is soaring.

Zaki Rakib, a wealthy businessman, built a shelter for himself and his family under his large villa overlooking the Mediterranean in Herzliya, an exclusive garden suburb north of Tel Aviv.

"The shelter looks like a regular flat," he said. "It is 2,000 square feet, with a living room, two bedrooms, kitchen, self-powered electricity."
Israelis put nuclear bunkers in gardens

China's official Xinhua news agency reports Shanghai has built an underground bunker that can accommodate 200,000 people in the event of nuclear war.

The bunker covers a total area of more than 90,000 square meters, with 15 passages nearly 4,000 meters in length each to link the underground space with buildings above ground – including office towers and apartments.
China's bomb shelters

HONG KONG: North Korea�s nuclear test has unnerved Japanese citizens, who are barely a missile strike away from Pyongyang. In response, home owners and businesses in Japan are increasingly preparing for a doomsday scenario by building underground bunkers that can withstand atomic force explosions.
Nervous Japanese build Nuclear Bunkers

Many historians will agree the fall of the Berlin Wall marked the end of the Cold War, but in Switzerland the threat of nuclear war has left an unexpected legacy.
Swiss still braced for nuclear war
In fact, there are over a quarter of a million of them in Switzerland, because, 17 years after the end of the Cold War, the policy of providing shelters for the entire population still stands.

October 09, 2006 (Computerworld) -- Continental Airlines Inc. last week ran its first full-blown test of a new disaster recovery facility that it opened earlier this year in an former bomb shelter built by an eccentric Chinese oil baron.

The Houston-based airline decided to improve its business continuity and disaster recovery facilities last October after hurricanes Katrina and Rita, said John Stelly, managing director of technology. At that time, the company's off-site facility was located just 20 miles north of Houston and ran on the same power and telecommunications grid as the city, he said.
Continental Airlines moves into bomb shelter

Then there's this, which Mike briefly touched on in his initial post and has been covered before I believe in other ATS posts...Boy those Japanese are some smart cookies:


Japanese Scientists Eye New Planet

This illustration released by Kobe University shows a planet -- half the size of Earth -- which is believed to be in the outer reaches of the solar system.

The researchers at Kobe University have said that their theoretical calculations using computer simulations lead them to conclude it was only a matter of time before the long-awaited "Planet X" was found.

Scientists at a Japanese university said Thursday they believed another planet up to two-thirds the size of the Earth was orbiting in the far reaches of the solar system.

The researchers at Kobe University in western Japan said calculations using computer simulations led them to conclude it was only a matter of time before the mysterious "Planet X" was found.

"Because of the very cold temperature, its surface would be covered with ice, icy ammonia and methane," Kobe University professor Tadashi Mukai, the lead researcher, told AFP.

The study by Mukai and researcher Patryk Lykawka will be published in the April issue of the US-based Astronomical Journal.

"The possibility is high that a yet unknown, planet-class celestial body, measuring 30 percent to 70 percent of the Earth's mass, exists in the outer edges of the solar system," said a summary of the research released by Kobe University.

"If research is conducted on a wide scale, the planet is likely to be discovered in less than 10 years," it said.

www.physorg.com...