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Russo-Ukrainian War 2014-23 and Invasion

Started by mongers, August 06, 2014, 03:12:53 PM

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The Brain

Quote from: DGuller on September 15, 2014, 09:34:35 PM
People are more resilient that they are given credit for.  They adjust to new realities very quickly if they have to.  Those adjustments are not "free", though, so it's not necessarily a bad thing to lack those adjustments until they become necessary.

:lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao: You're killing me, DG!
Women want me. Men want to be with me.

Martinus

Quote from: The Brain on September 16, 2014, 12:39:17 AM
Quote from: DGuller on September 15, 2014, 09:34:35 PM
People are more resilient that they are given credit for.  They adjust to new realities very quickly if they have to.  Those adjustments are not "free", though, so it's not necessarily a bad thing to lack those adjustments until they become necessary.

:lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao: You're killing me, DG!
:D

Martinus

So, who wins the nuclear exchange between Russia and NATO?

Hint: it starts with "C".

Jacob

Quote from: Martinus on September 16, 2014, 12:46:43 AM
So, who wins the nuclear exchange between Russia and NATO?

Hint: it starts with "C".

Connecticut?

CountDeMoney

Fuck, if Russia and the US sent some their way in the middle of it all, that would be the only positive out of the whole fucking thing.

Unless you meant Cameroon, and fuck them too.

Martinus


frunk


DGuller

Quote from: The Brain on September 16, 2014, 12:39:17 AM
Quote from: DGuller on September 15, 2014, 09:34:35 PM
People are more resilient that they are given credit for.  They adjust to new realities very quickly if they have to.  Those adjustments are not "free", though, so it's not necessarily a bad thing to lack those adjustments until they become necessary.

:lmfao: :lmfao: :lmfao: You're killing me, DG!
:mad:

derspiess

Quote from: Razgovory on September 15, 2014, 06:36:27 PM
Yeah, the backlash against nukes has created this idea that everyone will die if they are used.  Everyone chortled about the "Duck and cover" exercises, when in fact that is very good advice.  Sure it may not save you if you are in a wooden house at ground zero, but a concrete building 10 miles away, that could save your life. 

I never understood the backlash against that.  Sure, it's gonna be a shitty day even if you survive the blast, but wouldn't you want to at least make the effort?

Maybe it was just baby boomer contrarianism.
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

CountDeMoney

You can't exercise your constitutional right to hug bears with nuclear arms, or something.

Martinus

Quote from: CountDeMoney on September 16, 2014, 09:14:00 AM
You can't exercise your constitutional right to hug bears with nuclear arms, or something.

That's a Molotov cocktail of a metaphore.

Malthus

Quote from: derspiess on September 16, 2014, 09:03:25 AM
Quote from: Razgovory on September 15, 2014, 06:36:27 PM
Yeah, the backlash against nukes has created this idea that everyone will die if they are used.  Everyone chortled about the "Duck and cover" exercises, when in fact that is very good advice.  Sure it may not save you if you are in a wooden house at ground zero, but a concrete building 10 miles away, that could save your life. 

I never understood the backlash against that.  Sure, it's gonna be a shitty day even if you survive the blast, but wouldn't you want to at least make the effort?

Maybe it was just baby boomer contrarianism.

You don't understand how treating a probable civilization-ending event with a TV PSA with a cartoon turtle and a catchy jingle could be mock-worthy?  :hmm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60

The whole point of this is spelled out: nuclear war is just another danger, like fire is a danger. If we are prepared, it isn't so bad. Some windows may be knocked out, though.

Sure, it is understandable to have civil-defence preparations even for the worst, but the effort looks hilariously tone-deaf in its efforts to spare kiddies the horrors. 
The object of life is not to be on the side of the majority, but to escape finding oneself in the ranks of the insane—Marcus Aurelius

derspiess

Quote from: Malthus on September 16, 2014, 09:29:58 AM
You don't understand how treating a probable civilization-ending event with a TV PSA with a cartoon turtle and a catchy jingle could be mock-worthy?  :hmm:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60

It was a film that was viewed by kids in school.  I don't believe it was shown on TV.  Anyway sure, we can (and do) mock everything from our childhood.  I just think it's odd that this one gets singled out so often.  The most common knock I hear on it is that "you're just gonna get vaporized anyway so why bother" which is not necessarily true as Raz pointed out.

QuoteThe whole point of this is spelled out: nuclear war is just another danger, like fire is a danger. If we are prepared, it isn't so bad. Some windows may be knocked out, though.

Well, until they're old enough to fully understand nuclear bombs, war, etc. I think that's probably the best approach.  What would you do differently in the context of the Cold War?  Scare the shit out of 2nd graders?  Or just avoid the issue entirely?

QuoteSure, it is understandable to have civil-defence preparations even for the worst, but the effort looks hilariously tone-deaf in its efforts to spare kiddies the horrors. 

Interesting.  The other contrarian angle I've heard is that it's intended to scare children and somehow turn them into McCarthyites.
"If you can play a guitar and harmonica at the same time, like Bob Dylan or Neil Young, you're a genius. But make that extra bit of effort and strap some cymbals to your knees, suddenly people want to get the hell away from you."  --Rich Hall

frunk

Quote from: Berkut on September 15, 2014, 06:15:25 PM
I looked at one of those maps that shows the area of effect for nuclear weapons over some particular point.

Oddly enough, what I got out of that is that the area of effect is not nearly as large as I expected.

I think culturally we imagine nuclear weapons as being these crazy huge weapons that take out entire cities, but they are not of course. It takes quite a few, for example, to really destroy NYC.

I think it's instructive to compare it to conventional explosives.  For the same weight a small nuclear bomb is about 40,000 times more powerful than a conventional bomb.  It's a serious escalation in power, even if it doesn't manage to destroy a whole city all by itself.

The Brain

Telling kids how they should act to minimize the effects of dangers seems reasonable to me. Showing them all the gory details of said dangers seems unnecessary to me.
Women want me. Men want to be with me.