Test of ~1KT tactical nuclear weapon, Nevada, January 1951.
Tactical nukes have been getting a bunch of ink of spilled lately, so here are some words about nukes and what you might want to panic about if you live in Europe. Nothing in here is classified and most everything in here is in Wikipedia or other popular websites. Many people here have great backgrounds in science but I have kept everything at science 101 levels to make typing it easier.
Let’s start with little booms. These are conventional bombs and explosions. The explosion comes from a chemical reaction that occurs at high speed. (Sometimes this reaction is in two parts but for our purposes we can consider everything one reaction.) Damage comes from over pressure from the shock waves, heat causing burns or combustion, and shrapnel. Shrapnel can come from the casing around the explosive charge like in a hand grenade or artillery shell, or from materials propelled by the shockwaves, like an automobile, wood splinters, or pulverized concrete etc. Shock waves don’t propagate that well through air which limits their effect to cause damage at distance.
The largest air dropped conventional bombs are about 22,000 lbs. (10 tons) During WWII 41 or 42 were dropped. The MOAB was used by the USAF in Afghanistan. Some ground emplaced explosions have been larger, but have been limited in far reaching impact because of the depth of their emplacement. That is not to say they were small. One set off by the British in France during WWI was heard in London. At least one did not detonate is still ticking underground today.
Grand Slam being dropped by RAF, 1945
Using nuclear fission (splitting nuclei) or fusion (forcing two hydrogen atoms together with enough force to make a helium atom) releases lots more energy than a mere chemical reaction. With a theoretical 100% rate of fission one kilogram of uranium-235 releases an explosion equivalent of ~17,000 tons of TNT. The Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima only “fissioned” ~1.4% of the nuclear fuel.
Nuclear and radiological weapons add in radiation to the mix. Radiological weapons are not nuclear explosions, rather they scatter irradiated material in order to deny people access to an area. The scattering can be by explosion, mechanical means, wind, water etc. After 9/11 these type of weapons got some publicity because you don’t need a state actor, any terror group or lone madman can employ this weapon provided they can get their hands on an easily spreadable radiation source. By their nature these weapons can do local damage only, and that damage will be mitigated by weathering, half-life, and mechanical decontamination. The primary impact these weapons is psychological since you can’t see, taste, or smell the radiation. So unless you are planning on a winter vacation in Ukraine and one of these is used in the same town that you are in- you are safe.
Nuclear weapons either split atoms (fission weapons) or push them together to make new elements (fusion weapons) and either way releases huge amounts of energy. This is the first difference with nuclear weapons to differentiate them from conventional weapons. Nukes have much more power. More overpressure (shock waves), more heat, more material thrown as shrapnel. Plus these weapons add in several forms of irradiation. There is direct radiation from the nuclear reaction, and there is induced radiation where the radiation from the reaction makes other materials radioactive. Since it is very difficult for weapons to consume 100% of their radioactive materials so the remaining uranium or plutonium is dispersed as well. These materials are best known as fallout. [If the reaction is a squib or partial squib and not a full reaction then the core materials (uranium or plutonium) will be spread as well.]
Direct radiation is in the area directly around the weapon detonation site. These are the gamma rays produced during the explosion. If you survive the heat, overpressure, and shrapnel, this form of high energy can quickly kill you. (A neutron bomb is a hybrid fission/fusion bomb that releases a greatly enhanced amount of gamma radiation for the size of the explosion.)
Nuclear bombs produce up to three types of fallout: local, tropospheric, and stratospheric. Local fallout is due to the deposition of the larger radioactive particles near the site of the explosion. This fallout is quite intense but relatively short-lived (see squibs above). Tropospheric fallout occurs when the particles stay in the lower atmosphere (think around the height of Mt Everest) and are deposited over a larger area, depending on the local meteorological conditions. Usually this fallout drops in a month or less, in the same general latitude of the burst, and primarily downwind by the direction of dominant winds. (Local weather like storms would also scrub the particles to the ground.) Stratospheric fallout is made up of the finest particles and are carried into the stratosphere. These particles can take years to make it back to the surface and can land just about anywhere. “Small” nuclear weapons don’t produce much of this type of fallout since they don’t have enough power to lift significant amounts of materials high enough into the atmosphere. Back in the era of Nevadan open air nuclear tests no fallout fell east of the Mississippi River. This was ensured by not establishing any fallout measuring stations east of the Mississippi River.
Many different radioisotopes are formed during a nuclear explosion, but only a few long-lived isotopes are dominate stratospheric fallout. Cesium-137 and strontium-90, which have 27 and 28-year half-lives dominate most discussions because they absorbed by the body as a calcium mimic and can bio-accumulate. Radioactive Iodine can accumulate in the thyroid and increase cancer risk. A popular, but not universally accepted, method to reduce risk is to take Potassium iodide pills or iodine treated water to make sure the thyroid full of iodine so the body doesn’t absorb the radioactive iodine.
Will Putin break previously intact international norms? Will Biden get a chocolate or vanilla pudding cup for lunch? What will Giselle do with three Super Bowl rings? Find out in the sequel, “Post-Boom.”
No Math? Where’s the fun in that?
“Where is my Earth-shattering Kaboom?” -Marvin
⬆⬆ This guy, right here.
you + nuke = dead you
Here’s some math for you to double check:
That’s a Ted’S issue, he clearly meante Tonnes instead of Tons
A metric ton and a long ton are the same amount. Further proof that the metric system is a silly exercise in taking credit for doing nothing at all.
They could just call it a megagram.
That’s a ton of letters.
This post is the bomb.
Full of explosive revelations.
Definitely radiates with me.
Comes at a critical time, that’s for sure.
A fusion of knowledge and entertainment.
*narrows gaze*
Someone set us up?
Thanks, dbleagle, for bringing some of us up to date, been a long time since I slept (err, sat) through those classes.
I’m sorry he’s not here to curate this article. I believe he’s in a timezone where it’s still early morning and the article got scheduled really fast.
Great article. I have never seen this topic covered in detail. Here at Glibs we have the ability to both inform and horrify.
Obligatory.
All the best quotes
d=====(￣▽￣*)b
Also obligatory: The Gap Band – You Dropped a Bomb on Me
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=17lkdqoLt44
Beat me (and Ted) to it
Also also obligatory: https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=4QbUSjnhv6M
Bonus track:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY
Fine, I’ll do it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n6ty-a6sPC8
We’ll meet again
My grandma sang that to me when I was young….great fucking song.
It’s one of those songs I can never separate from the movie they were in.
Same here.
I was going to link to this.
People recently have been talking about “tactical” nuclear weapons as if they are no big deal. Our most common “tactical” nuke starts out around the yield of the Hiroshima bomb and can be dialed up to more than 10 times that yield.
https://www.damninteresting.com/curio/dial-a-yield-nukes-regular-or-extra-crispy/
Wait, are you saying they made them variable-yield?
Yep – they call it Dial-a-Yield. You can chose how big a hole you want to blow in the world.
There’s a little dial on the front. It goes from 1 – 11.
“This bomb goes to Twelve!”
If you turn it down past 1, does it yield a baby boom?
Don’t be Debbie Downer, Drake.
I heard that a limited nuclear exchange could help climate change!
I would be okay with one over Davos at a specified time of the year.
Exactly – it’s all about location.
Back in the day, we had nuclear artillery shells that were fired at max charge and elevation from an 8″ howitzer, in order to keep the stink off the crew.
True Climate Science!
“This was ensured by not establishing any fallout measuring stations east of the Mississippi River.”
Hey, wait a minute…
I didn’t get a chance to add this at the end, but Part Two, “Post-Boom” will be published next week in this time slot.
Thanks Tonio.
Planet of the Apes?
Post boom is just geeks playing Fallout
I thought post-boom was Gen X?
We don’t count.
Evident in probably the prime of our voting bloc history.
⊙.☉
Thanks, dbleagle. Bleak subject, fits the times .
Dragging this in from the am lynx. Suthenboy posted a music link that led to this new to me bluegrass band.
Thanks, Suthen.
On my playlist. You are welcome.
That voice. Better than whiskey and honey.
Top. Shelf.
I was in the kitchen when her voice came through the speakers and drug me back to see just who was producing that sound.
Forgot my coffee on the counter.
Yes. Great pipes on that one. Cover of one of my favorite Dire Straits songs.
::reads credits:: I don’t they’re from ’round here.
thanks for that
you can’t see, taste, or smell the radiation
Radiation poisoning can result in a metallic taste.
So can bad wine and getting socked in the mouth. Things which occasionally go hand in hand.
Licking a 5v battery does the trick too
Also, CT contrast dye.
Little late by then, though.
https://www.sgammo.com/product/magtech-ammo-sale/1000-round-case-9mm-luger-115-grain-fmj-ammo-magtech-9a
$.26/per
*points to avatar*
I’ll be looking for 5.56 Black Friday deals.
Are the credit card processors feeding ammo purchase information to the federales yet?
How many lists are we already on?
At least one did not detonate is still ticking underground today.
The sappers in WWI were insane. Where is the undetonated bomb?
This was ensured by not establishing any fallout measuring stations east of the Mississippi River.
Safe and effective?
Thanks, dbleagle! Looking forward to the next installment!
I’m guessing the entirety of Alsace-Lorraine.
I found this.
Yikes!
Send the barn airborne?
Go see the Petersburg crater if you really want to be underwhelmed.
Bomb Songs in 2 Styles:
Powerman 500 – Bombshell
Bowling For Soup – Cover of I Melt With You
Flying over Hiroshima, 1945…
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyc3VGrUKsM
There’s a Suspect Device, left 10,000 dead!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBYoNYuUVk0
Has to be shown.
Penguin: Your strip is in Pending now. I forgot to move it out of drafts.
Everybody Else: Pengie has an awesome new comic that will be published soon.
Is it Newsish?
No spoilers! But you’ll love it.
I very rarely write gushy letters to contributors, but my letter to Pengie about this was the worst sort of fanboi squee.
OK, that was supposed to be thumbs up HTML, dangnabit!
-1 OBE sad
Tonio – thanks. Sorry about being whiny.
Zwak – totally unrelated. I did do a Newsish one, but the (non-Glib) people I showed it to were asking me things like “is this supposed to be funny?” and “do you have any jokes?” So I came up with something unrelated.
Ah, yes. The weak and small minded.
Woo Hoo!
SQUUUUEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!11
Nice.
Looking forward to your offerings.
will stone burners be covered?
also the tactical nukes in starcraft seemed e beet weak
They had to tone down the radius so that it doesn’t incinerate the Ghost calling down the bomb, so yeah, they’re weaksauce.
Beets cooked improperly are indeed weak.
I thought Trump sued you cuntes over this.
Former President Trump has refused to comply with the Select Committee’s subpoena requiring him to appear for a deposition.
His attorneys have made no attempt to negotiate an appearance, and his lawsuit parades out many of the same arguments that courts have rejected repeatedly.
Donald Trump orchestrated a scheme to overturn a presidential election and block the transfer of power. He is obligated to provide answers to the American people.
The committee will evaluate next steps in the litigation and regarding the former President’s noncompliance.
While I have soured on Trump, this is the right move. Make the sitting government punish you and/or attempt to arrest you for denying a subpoena that many have defied before you.
“Donald Trump orchestrated a scheme”
It’s sounding more and more like the FBI orchestrated yet another scheme.
The replies confirm my views that (1) team membership is almost complete and (2) American politics has become a morality play.
https://youtu.be/GkUUBbU5jtw
Wherein Katherine Mango Water says Desantis is just as bad as Gavin Newsom…. How is it that ‘lockdowns’ are not the biggest issue for alleged libertarians?
The war on fossil fuels, guns and lockdowns should be all they are talking about.
Fuck reason.
If that case was made in all seriousness, that person is batshit crazy.
Slow ratching of personal freedoms being diminished should also be on their docket.
Stossel is making a good series on why electric cars aren’t the future, if that helps.
She makes claims that this is nothing new…which I agree that in small pockets, we experienced delays in counts but not on the scale we are seeing in the past 2 years.
Sorry, nothing new = extended vote counting
At 15:30, just for anyone listening for the utter retardation that is KMW
Unfuckingbelievable
“he has demonstrated clear authoritarian-type impulses…” Make the claim, and do not lay out the facts of what those impulses are… Culture war topics?
He refused to let local school systems be authoritarian.
Really, that’s it.
Yet she throws her weight behind Polis?
But, they slightly lowered Colorado income state taxes, so clearly it’s libertopia. They do can’t wait for the whole country to turn into what Colorado is today.
And then raised it for those icky rich people.
Lol, really?
Yeah, prop FF I believe.
Reason is nothing more than disaffected Democrats at this point.
They’re busy musing about galactic terraforming while we’re flirting with nuclear war and force vaccinating the population with toxic clotshots.
I think I despise them more than I do progs.
Well, once we are done nuking earth, we’ll be glad we terraformed Mars.
Yes, and not letting the trans activists fuck with toddlers’ minds. Really horrible, get out your nooses folks.
They’re postmodernists who think that they can be postmodern and still remain free.
Sorry dipshits, it doesn’t work that way.
The steadfast refusal to accept that ANY of DeSantis’s political positions have been based on principle, particularly when his positions have gone against the national grain and were scorned by the media is disingenuous at best.
“DeSantis is a cynical opportunist and that’s all he is.” It’s an ad hominem argument in it’s purest form. They’re not engaging with his decisions, just a caricature of him.
What a bunch of useless assholes.
Yeah, no doubt he probably does some things for cynical reasons, he wouldn’t be a politician otherwise. But if that’s all why he does anything, he took some huge risks during the pandemic.
Exactly. He stuck his neck out when it mattered most. Reason hid under their beds or made excuses for the regime. Personally, I think they’re secretly ashamed of their conduct and that’s why they hate him.
I’ve really tried to keep an open mind about them, which is why I have been clicking in they’re stuff anyway. It is getting harder and harder, especially with Katherine watermelon over there. She should have been kicked out 5 years ago, but Nick was too big of an effete loser to cut people out who needed to be gone.
On the bright side I haven’t heard anything from Shitka lately.
I am all for various levels of discourse and varying opinions though.
Sure, but I don’t expect libertarian orgs to sponsor the brain lint coming from someone who isn’t libertarian.
Shikha is at Daily Beast IIRC. some lefty rag anyway. Reason served its purpose.
Robby has big thoughts too.
Are they saying Arizona voters don’t care about immigration? Because that was the main thrust of Lake’s campaign.
Five bucks says Soave hasn’t read a damn thing from Hobbs or Lake.
Ten bucks says he read Hobbs’ accusations that Lake would execute women seeking abortions, or whatever. I don’t recall a single Hobbs communication, print or video, that wasn’t about abortion.
My guess is they’re hyping the “election denier!” angle – which wasn’t exactly the centerpiece of either of their campaigns that I can recall.
And frankly, if it’s true that Arizona (and by extension the rest of the country) “don’t care” about election integrity, we’re more fucked than Reason is obviously willing to admit.
Probably this. The press was obsessed with asking Lake about the 2020 election, and she never said “I completely disavow Trump and agree that the 2020 election was 100% fair and legit.”
It’s yet another litmus test that must be answered correctly in order to be considered a member of polite society.
Helps to have complete control over most major institutions in the country, I guess.
Becuz muh culture wars!!!!
Well, this is the shit of nightmares. Thanks a fucking lot, dbleagle.
Double ditto. I’m looking forward to the next installment, but not really…ya know?
The next installment will really crater in your views on the subject
Nightmares, yes. A year or two ago this would just be an interesting article on theory. But now the only thing between us and BIG BOOM is a corrupt lying old politician with dementia and his Millennial handlers who just graduated from indoctrination training.
Thanks for the article dbleagle. One thing I don’t remember from grade school:
“Nuclear weapons either split atoms (fission weapons) or push them together to make new elements (fusion weapons) and either way releases huge amounts of energy. ”
where does the energy come from for both? Is mass being converted to energy in both cases? If so, since all subatomic particles of the same type have the same weight, where does the mass differential come in?
Thanks.
Friction and heat from breaking nuclear and magnetic forces? I dunno, I only stayed at a Holiday Inn last night.
It’s radioactive decay writ large.
Typical uranium fission converts about 0.1% of the mass into energy per E=mc^2
I was gonna say it all boils down to E=mc^2 but seemed too simple.
What’s not simple is getting a large amount of fissile material to decay all at once.
Fission is an easier one to at least hypothesize about for me, since of you lose a neutron or something, you can still form another atom.
For hydrogen fusion, you put two protons together and form a helium atom… Where’s the extra mass you can afford to lose?
Well, first off, most hydrogen can’t form stable helium. You need duterium or tritium for their extra neutrons in the mix.
How the fusion releases energy… I have no idea.
See my link below. It answers your question.
where does the energy come from for both?
My vague recollection of the early nuclear bombs is that the uranium was forced together by, essentially, shaped charged explosives.
If only we had a commenter who works with our nuclear arsenal . . . .
I take comfort in knowing this theoretical person is too busy working to respond.
The hard part early on was timing to get the implosive force uniform.
I kept mixing up the name but it’s the Krytron switch that they developed to overcome the timing problem.
Hiroshima was a uranium gun-type bomb.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gun-type_fission_weapon
Nagasaki was a plutonium implosion-type nuclear weapon about half again more powerful.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fat_Man
Oranges?
Here is a start — Fission
Fusion
The fusion one was good, the fission one sucked.
Thanks for sharing that.
Short answer, it takes 4 hydrogen to create a helium (2 protons 2 neurons in the example(, and since a proton are heavier than a neutron and an electron, there is a little extra mass which is converted to energy.
Deuterium and tritium probably fuse slightly differently, since they’ve already got some neurons to provide. Which night explain why they’re energetically more profitable and easier to fuse(from what I’ve read)
You are welcome.
You got what was at the top of the google search.
The fusion animation was pretty good.
Not quite.
The mass of a nucleus does NOT equal the mass of the protons and neutrons making it up. Some of that theoretical mass is converted into the energy holding the nucleus together. Fission and fusion can only produce energy when the total binding energy of the products(s) is less than what the starting materials were. The crossover point is iron. Lighter than that, you get energy from fusion, heavier than that you get energy from fission — this is why once a stellar core hits iron, it dies really quick — further fusion is an energy drain, not a production.
That’s crazy.
The curve of binding energy.
I agree.
Despite it being a Klimt.
Gotta include this.
Losing Rodney was a tragedy wrapped in a comedy
Jesus Fucking Christ. No, those two pieces of shit show that there are some lives nowhere near as valuable as art.
Whether it is Klimt or Kincaide, it doesn’t make a difference. Some things are above humanity, because they ARE humanity. These shit stains would rather us die in caves, hungry and alone. Art is the symbol of rising above that.
The art is fine it’s protected by glass, this just created a little mess for the art gallery to clean up, no different than ‘I did that’ stickers on gas pumps and grocery shelves.
You are missing my point, so I assume I am not being clear. In my opinion, and in the full view of the history of zealots, they would gladly destroy the original to further their goals. That it is behind glass is incidental, they want to show that they are capable of destroying what humanity holds dear in order to further their goals. It is no different than the Taliban destroying standing Buddhas’, various book burnings, or any other display of contempt for humanity and its creations.
No, you were perfectly clear.
they would gladly destroy the original to further their goals
Precisely. They are monomaniacal fanatics in the grip of a religious frenzy. They will escalate to actual destruction of the art if they aren’t stopped now.
You are missing Hype’s point though, its no different than placing a sticker on a nondescript gas pump!
He didn’t miss your point. He wanted to make his own.
You all just seemed so concerned that the priceless art was destroyed and I wanted to reassure you that it’s okay.
It is no different than the Taliban destroying standing Buddhas’, various book burnings, or any other display of contempt for humanity and its creations
Not destroying something is no different than destroying something, got it.
So we should wait until art is actually destroyed before we get upset?
I think you have to be at a very high level of abstraction to equate putting a sticker on a gas pump with (attempted?) vandalizing of art.
Get upset, every act of vandalism should be punished, to differing degrees of course. The degrees of punishment should be determined by the amount of damage done not by what the perpetrators intentions and reasons were, which gets pretty close to hate crime territory and/or punishing people for ‘what could have happened’ Things I am generally opposed to.
Intent follows the bullet.
There is a point were society does intervene before a crime, it is why we have charges for conspiracy. Do that go to far? Maybe. But I only stated that the art was greater than the two people, who are showing what they will do when society doesn’t act the way they think it should.
Also, there is nothing from before the fact that shows that they knew it was behind glass, or in any other way protected. Stating post facto that they knew is BS. Indeed, we consider it a crime, with very good reason, if you rob a bank with a toy gun. The point being, you are still robbing a bank.
I’m not saying they should be punished as if they had destroyed the paintings. I am saying they should be punished for what they did. And vvery publicly, because of “what could have happened”. In some ways, this strikes me as being akin to attempted arson – sure, the building didn’t actually burn down, killing who knows how many people, but we don’t punish it as a form of trespass and littering, either. “Attempt” crimes are generally punished based on what was attempted, not what was actually accomplished. If they want to argue they didn’t really attempt to damage the art, let them, and see what the jury thinks.
IANAL so I could be (probably am) wrong but to my quick read up on Transferred Intent the person is still punished for what they did even if they didn’t mean to, that’s not the same as punishing them for something they didn’t do because it might have happened.
Also, there is nothing from before the fact that shows that they knew it was behind glass, or in any other way protected.
With the rash of these things happening lately I would assume that the people committing them are aware of/read about the others and would know that these works of art are behind glass. Also because these people aren’t acting ‘out of the blue’ (how often do we hear about the ‘leftists playbook’ and how these protestors are financed and coordinated by various nefarious groups?) My guess, and It’s just that, is that they knew exactly what they were doing.
Transferred intent might apply if they actually damaged the art, mistakenly believing it was protected against their temper tantrum. I’m saying that they could (should?) be tried for attempting to damage the art, and let the jury decide if they actually intended to damage it, or if there was sufficient risk of damage, to warrant punishment for that crime.
“Oh, those statues are fine. They were originally dirt and rock, after all – and, more importantly, it’s no different than Republicans doing something vaguely similar, like putting bumper stickers on cars.”
– The Hyperbole, Totally Unbiased Hot Take #4,573,441
Where did I say it’s fine to destroy things?
I actually kind of like Klimt’s work.
I think I saw this piece in person. What assholes.
The nerd gluing himself on at the end….
I often wonder if just shooting people sometimes would make people re-think their actions.
Back in the era of Nevadan open air nuclear tests no fallout fell east of the Mississippi River. This was ensured by not establishing any fallout measuring stations east of the Mississippi River.
If it didn’t get measured, it didn’t happen.
SCIENCE!
A lesson that was not lost on the CDC or the NIH.
Adding to the bomb songs. “Momma Don’t Allow”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ndUF8jOoDu8
We just saw the implosion of FTX and the Fed is rolling out a feasibility study on a ‘programmable dollar’
https://www.newyorkfed.org/newsevents/news/financial-services-and-infrastructure/2022/20221115
Goes under bomb songs for sure 😉
So, No-FTX?
Eh, I heard they suck live.
Just don’t call me white
Should we Call you Mister White?
Way to step out of the joke UCS…
*shrugs*
it wasn’t exactly clear.
There’s something happening here?
Well, we have to kill all the white man.
Lol
Isn’t something like 99% of the money in circulation purely digital anyway?
This is the big one. Not sure how we can fight it, but if (when?) this happens it’s game over.
1980s nuclear war porn: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTo9N3mb3Og
The topic of nuclear physics and weapons specifically has been one of fascination and wonder for me. It stemmed from the apparent insanity of what the nuclear scientists and engineers were proposing, while at the same time the amazing amount of creativity, optimism, and can-do attitude they displayed. There seemed to be no problem that couldn’t be solved.
This is one horrifying proposal to the problem of the Soviets shooting down US bombers before ballistic missiles were advanced enough.
Why not make a nuclear powered jet bomber that spews radiation, can travel across the USSR low at supersonic speeds for weeks, and drops its own nuclear bombs.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Pluto
I can be horrified as well as fascinated at the same time. This might be how scientist who created stuff like this got through their day. The challenge and desire to solve hard problems is what mattered.
Thanks for that! That was an interesting read and I agree…you can be absolutely mortified and curious at the same time — like a train wreck.
So there was a glimmer of sanity back then.
I think mostly they got through their day with the thought that if they didn’t develop this stuff first, someone else in Nazi Germany and later Russia would.
Psychopaths exist.
We tend to forget that little fact and that they have to be held in check or very bad things happen.
Pushing the envelope of science shouldn’t be seen as psychopaths, it’s the environment in which they are exploring ideas that are dangerous.
No?
What would you call the scientists who are developing highly virulent bioweapons under the guise of public health?
There is literally no use for those germs other than killing.
“indiscriminate killing” I might add
Yes they need to be held in tight check and under strict constraints but pushing the envelope is what drives humanity forward. The person that looked at a plant as a source of nutrition and thought to eat it before knowing what it might do to them is one example.
They probably developed the initial research in the the same way the Einstein developed E=MC(2). And like scientists around the world and throughout time, followed their research.
Could some of those people have been evil? Sure. But, so can a dude in a clown suit.
Psychopaths aren’t necessarily marked by an intent to do ill will. It’s a lack of empathy and remorse, as well as an inflated ego.
And all scientists aren’t psychopaths. Oppenheimer was famously remorseful for his part in building the A-Bomb and the federal government rewarded him with an investigation over his refusal to support open-air tests of the first H-Bomb.
Edward Teller, on the other hand…
Einstein was also horrified. He only saw the beauty in the math, but it was others, further down the road who took it, one step at a time, to its logical conclusion: The Bomb.
Of course you are right, not all scientists are psychopaths. But they are human, and the fullest of what they are researching is often not where they started, let alone thought of by them. Like Einstein to Oppenheimer, it takes many different hands, which are going to be guided by those around them. Funding them.
But, in the end, War is the mother of all inventions. It’s gaping maw will come up with any conceivable solution.
That is very true. When there is no voice of opposition or alternative reasoning, things become very scary. This is why yes men, one viewpoint controlling mass media, or the willingness to allow criticism is so dangerous.
I’ve had this on my shelf for years, have yet to read. It’s supposed to be good: http://www.peterdsmith.com/doomsday-men-the-real-dr-strangelove-and-the-dream-of-the-superweapon/
“Gee, I wish we had one o’ them doomsday machines.”
So Tim Pool’s squawking about a Russian missile killing some people in Poland just now and Article 5. Y’all familiar with what’s going on here? He’s a panic monger and probably an accident but not good.
Jack is squaking the same thing….all sides want this war
https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1592599036301021185
Posobiec is a fucking fool.
MartyrMade isn’t.
Boom.
Should I be concerned that Posobiec apparently has access to Russian targeting decisions and operations?
This was an inevitable development. Shit happens in wars.
It’s also why everything should have been done to avoid it in the first place.
Supposedly an S-300 missile. Both sides use them and both sides are blaming the other.
NEW YORK – The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today announced that its New York Innovation Center (NYIC) will participate in a proof-of-concept project to explore the feasibility of an interoperable network of central bank wholesale digital money and commercial bank digital money operating on a shared multi-entity distributed ledger.
This provokes me. I saw a commercial (football game, probably) in which two guys are arguing.
Guy A is trying to hand Guy B a fistful of cash to pay his share of something or other. A dinner check, maybe; it’s irrelevant, really.
Guy B REFUSES TO ACCEPT THE CASH. “You have to send it to me by [bank transfer app].”
That one really really pissed me off, for some reason.
A programmable dollar will mean those not in favor will be at the whim of whoever is in power.
“Fuck your app, take the cash or I’m just leaving”
When I went through Intel School in the AF we had lessons on targeting – how many sorties of a certain type would it take to destroy a particular target. This was during Viet Nam and for conventional iron bombs it was like throwing an handful of gravel across your yard at the army men you’dset up in the sand box – it look lots to do anything. Then we got to the nuke section and got to use the TS nuke targeting “computer” – a purpose-built circular slide rule. For soft targets (wooden structures and troops).the number of weapons needed was usually two – we took into account weapon reliability (they don’t all get to the target). For hard targets (bunkers, missile silos airfields armor) I was surprised at how many it took to get a high Pk.and accuracy was more important that yield.
What was the number for strategic nukes and cities?
Speaking of nuclear Armageddon…
Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities Tuesday with its biggest barrage of missiles yet, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts, and a U.S. official said missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, where two people were killed.
A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymr Zelenskyy shook his fist and declared: “We will survive everything.”
Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller did not immediately confirm the information from a senior U.S. intelligence official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the situation. But Mueller said top leaders were holding an emergency meeting due to a “crisis situation.”
Polish media reported that two people died Tuesday afternoon after a projectile struck an area where grain was drying in Przewodów, a Polish village near the border with Ukraine.
The Polish government is rabid. They’re liable to drag us in even further.
Yep, dangerously aggressive as applies to this conflict.
I am curious, if the Polish government is rabid….what are the Belorussian, Russian, Baltics, etc?
Rabid. It’s the nature of governments.
I don’t see the Poles launching missiles at cities hoping to kill people, break all their stuff and make them bend the knee and be annexed into the Empire.
So the Ukes shot down a Russian cruise missile aimed at L’viv, and it landed in Poland (unfortunately on a village) or the Russians had a bad launch (I know, Russian quality control is too good for that!). I can see why the Poles might not like this.
Hell, not even any of that…missile guidance is not 100% anyway. But people are going to take this and run with it to drive us into the conflict they want Swissy. You should know this better than most.
Oh, certainly – excuses abound. But I do wonder if Vlad might tell the Strategic Rocket Forces to lay off the L’viv area for a bit. Just double up on Kharkiv or such. They can still kill people and blow up power and water stations.
I’ve been saying from the beginning that this would spiral out of control, but we can’t reward thugs with negotiations, now can we, even if it comes at the cost of WW3.
Well, our rabid government just requested another $34B for Ukraine.
These stupid Euro conflicts have been going on forever.
I’m getting tired of being one of the baddies.
Rabid dogs are indiscriminate and irrational.
I’d say celebrating an attack on your erstwhile ally’s civilian infrastructure qualifies for that moniker.
I suppose you could qualify Russia for that if you go past Putin to the more hardline of the Kremlin bunch, but their actions, while reprehensible, have not been indiscriminate or irrational. For that, you need a Max Boot in charge.
It is not indiscriminate to lob missiles into civilian areas and try to kill them and terrorize them into surrendering? That has worked in that part of the world?
So the Russian invasion is rational, and discriminating? Still is?
Rational does not equal moral. I said at the start of this that Russia views the problems in Ukraine and Ukrainian NATO membership as existential issues and that they would go to the mat over it. Our perception of the situation doesn’t really matter, any more than Russia’s perception mattered to us in our various wars over the past three decades.
The opportunity for stopping the destruction came and went, but negotiating wasn’t acceptable to the West, so here we are. Now it’s going to play out and we’re going to be lucky if it doesn’t broaden further.
It’s not about existential issues for Russia, it’s about punishing those uppity backwards people who don’t want to be under the Russian yoke.
The opportunity for stopping the destruction came and went, but negotiating wasn’t acceptable to the West,
“Negotiation” here meant surrendering to Russia of course. Russia was trying to instigate the equivalent of a coup, much more so than the protesters on the Maidan.
My understanding is that the negotiations would be mainly (a) the degree to which Russia would control Ukraine’s foreign policy and (b) how much Ukrainian territory Russia would keep. Exactly what Russia would be giving up for peace has never been clear to me. Ukraine never committed aggression against Russia, after all, only against people in Ukrainian territory rebelling against the Ukrainian government. Regrettable as that may be, that has generally been the purview of the government.
Unless you want to sign on to “responsibility to protect” as a casus belli. In which case I suggest you invest heavily in American arms manufacturers, as that is a recipe for forever war.
They’re virtuous, because they’re standing up to WEF and the rest of the western elites.
‘…a U.S. official said missiles crossed into NATO member Poland, where two people were killed.’
*ingests grain of salt*
Who knows what or who to believe anymore.
In my earlier days I worked on some aerospace and military projects and products. Some of the more interesting challenges and problems to solve. Having cost as only a minor concern compared to performance and reliability was a great. Longevity of a products could be longer than some of the people working on the project.
For dumb nuclear weapons their was the Dave’s Crockett. Basically a nuclear RPG. The lethal radius agains troops exceeded its delivery range. What killed it though was the Army wasn’t keen on giving two Snuffies a nuke and sending them into the field unsupervised.
Snuffy 1: You actually fire one of these>
Snuffy 2: No. I wonder what they do. Bet it’s awesome.
………….
Davey
Do they have the range to keep the fire team outside the blast radius, or were they kamikaze weapons?
You were supposed to dig a shallow trench, lie in it under a tarp and then pull the lanyard. Oh, and wait for the radioactive dirt to stop landing on you.
I said it was dumb.
These were all thought to be a viable weapons to stop the Warsaw Pact armor from roiling into the west. The thought was similar to a Neutron Bomb. Blow up, but more importantly irradiate the people in the armor.
Don’t forget the nuclear mines. I remember the manhole covers over the holes in German roads where they were to be placed.
The Paranoia GM once gave me a nuclear hand grenade from R&D. Instructions: Throw real hard.
Gotta roll a 20 though
Really tough in a game system that uses d6…
Is there still a game system? It’s had some troubles and they won’t sell me the earlier editions anymore.
My books upstairs are still good.
There’s a Kickstarter going on now to update and reprint it.
“I have +14 to throw”
^Nerds
I’m afraid that instruction manual was above your clearance level, Citizen.
/Friend Computer.
Way to look and sound like a quintessential Bond villain.
Klaus Schwab is now part of the G20 and here he is giving his instructions directly to our “elected” leaders…
Nuke it now
JFC.
Wife is in full “we are moving mode” even though I haven’t found a job or a place to live. We are Leaving Las Vegas if I like it or not and not under any sane conditions either. Her reply? “We are resourceful and will figure this shit out”. God I love that woman but we are stable right now lets wait a moment to get all our ducks in a row!
One of those days where I misthread.. Got it.
Once we made the decision to bail, there were a lot of “we’ll figure it out” moments. And we largely have.
Still thinking Carolinas?
Yes very much so. A mix of liberal and conservative that seems to have a balance. A great walking city that seems to be in decline and a bit of ‘live and let live’ attitude of Vegas.
Is there a specific direction she wants to go, or is it just “anywhere but here”?
Upstate SC in the west….Greenville to be specific.
Could you send her on a scouting expedition? Rent an apartment, that kind of thing?
Anywhere’s better than here.
Was not disappointed.
A chaser for you.
We have scouted there in the past 6 mo. Most likely I will put in a request to relocate in the coming months, put up the house and rent in the time being. Plenty of fools still moving to Vegas in the time being.
Exactly what we did. Finding a nice plpace to rent wasn’t easy, but we ended up in a great place in a great area. Signed a second lease, even.
No hurry to buy just yet.
Work out of GSP airport in Greer?
Yeah, for us its called Tri-Cities but that is the hope. Supposedly my position and the person that holds it is going to retire in within the year.
What happened that kicked off the rush to get out?
Just normal conversation and idea of moving. My wife is a “I have made up my mind” kinda person, as am I. The elections didn’t have any help and SC seems to have somewhat of their shit together to at least know the day of if you are fucked or not, not like here in NV where we get to wonder when the opposing party gets enough votes to declare victory.
“like”? I’d say he has it perfect.
Klaus Schwab is now part of the G20 and here he is giving his instructions directly to our “elected” leaders…
Cult leader to the .0000001%.
It doesn’t help that a young Time read shit like this in middle school.
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/627938.Beyond_Armageddon – Twenty-One Sermons to the Dead
And this in College
https://www.amazon.com/This-World-Ends-James-Morrow/dp/0156002086
His Towing Jehovah was much better.
My personal favorite was “Only Begotten Daughter” followed by “bible Stories for Adults”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/184003.Only_Begotten_Daughter
“Call it a miracle or an accident at the sperm bank. But Julie Katz, the half-sister of Jesus, has been born to a celibate father. Soon poor Julie is tempted by the Devil and challenged by neo-Christian zealots-and that’s just the beginning of her fantastic odyssey through Hell, a seceded New Jersey, and her own confused soul”
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/218574.Bible_Stories_for_Adults
This is interesting.
Abbot either grew a pair or last week gave him confidence to go forward.
poppycockguild1@poppycockguild14h
Replying to @GregAbbott_TX
Basically wasting tax payer money on things that are not an issue
Doctor Kavorkian@KavorkianDoctor
Replying to @GregAbbott_TX
Answer for Uvalde. Nobody cares about the fake border crisis you’re orchestrating.
I don’t get people.
Go Team [insert BS here]!!
Over 2 million immigrations arrests on the border so far this year, with a month and a half remaining. Some fake crisis.
And when he sends a fraction of them to sanctuary cities, they have an absolute shit-fit.
You can float gun boats in the Rio Grande?
href=”https://imgs.search.brave.com/ExvvRc5vmcFuPd3vLaaCnIJX577NWRA1lSEVV0F4WzY/rs:fit:602:383:1/g:ce/aHR0cHM6Ly9xcGgu/ZnMucXVvcmFjZG4u/bmV0L21haW4tcWlt/Zy1mN2YwZTdiOGJj/NTgwYmFkNmY1N2I0/YzJmZDQ5YzRlNA” target=”_blank” >Why not?
Whoops.
Why not?
NEVER get out of the boat.
Always good advice.
But, where would you pick your Mango-Wards?
I’m trying to find the size of the navigable channel, but it’s good enough for some degrees of shipping.
For some reason, I see a bass boat married to a pickup truck suspension, puttering along the border.
Finally, the excuse we’ve been waiting for.
Insert John McCain version of “It’s Happening!” GIF here.
You’d have to have a warboner you could drive nails with to call that an act of war.
There are plenty calling it an Art 5 act….
There are also plenty of fools in the world.
There are missiles falling out of your behind.
Taco Bell will do that for ya
A Cruise Chalupa?!
I’m working. Sue me 😛
You’d have to have a warboner you could drive nails with to call that an act of war.
In that case, we’re fucked.
Razorfist makes me laugh sometimes.
So does this guy
Lol. Left you a rebuttal.
Val@ValVolinori19441h
Replying to @mhsradar and @RAZ0RFIST
Revenge of the Sith
Ownbestenemy@mhsradar1h
Replying to @ValVolinori1944 and @RAZ0RFIST
You do not have the high ground here that you think you have
Talk about taking a leap.
I laughed at that one…
Since I’ve had my internet go down for the past 3+ hours (state wide outage…) I’m not sure if someone linked this song or not, but it should be here.
Doomsday
Yesss!
Ska makes me feel funny
Point to the place on the doll where Ska touched you.
Here?
Wow, people need to stop taking videos of concerts using their phones. The audio always stinks.
Might be my bad for clicking on the first video…it was terrible audio!
Let’s start with little booms.
So… foreplay?
Back in the era of Nevadan open air nuclear tests no fallout fell east of the Mississippi River. This was ensured by not establishing any fallout measuring stations east of the Mississippi River.
Convenient.
Will Putin break previously intact international norms? Will Biden get a chocolate or vanilla pudding cup for lunch? What will Giselle do with three Super Bowl rings? Find out in the sequel, “Post-Boom.”
I can’t wait.
No, seriously. Thanks dbleagle for this and I look forward to the next installment.
Tune into the next episode of Soap.