Obama considering steep nuclear arms cuts

[Razgovory]

I don't think our democracy would be the same if someone nuked an American city.  I think the people of this country are capable of great cruelty if provoked enough.  9/11 made the US angry and it invaded Afghanistan and Iraq.  And nobody in Iraq was even invoked.  You kill a few hundred thousand Americans and you may scare the US.  Something that hasn't really happened since WWII.  I think the US is perfectly capable of genocide and if really scared by something, like an existential fear, will got to lengths not considered by other Western Democracies.  If Iran somehow nuked Washington, I don't know if there would be many Iranians left in a decade.

[Ideologue]

Of course we're capable of genocide, or at least mass killing based solely on origin.  We've commited at least three (Native Americans, Germans, and Japanese) and spent billions preparing to commit a fourth (Soviet/Warsaw Pact) and have contemplated a fifth (PRChina).

[Josquius]

Once the asteroid mass-drivers are in orbit, we won't need any nukes. 

An asteroid leaving the belt would take year or so to reach the Earth.  That's not much of a deterrent.

he said in orbit.

[Neil]

he said in orbit.

Sort of stupid to have the mass drivers in orbit without any asteroids, wouldn't you say?

[Ideologue]

Why would you need asteroids?  Wouldn't you just build the mass driver on the moon?  Its escape velocity is pretty minimal.

[fhdz]

Of course we're capable of genocide

Welcome to the human condition.

[Neil]

Why would you need asteroids?  Wouldn't you just build the mass driver on the moon?  Its escape velocity is pretty minimal.

Because it's impossible for the US to get to the Moon, due to shittiness of space program.

[HisMajestyBOB]

You bring the asteroids from the belt and put them in orbit around Earth.

[Neil]

You bring the asteroids from the belt and put them in orbit around Earth.

That level of space tech is beyond the US.  For-ever.

[Siege]

Why did the early bombers and fighters fly so low?
The B10 Martin flew at 2000m high, the B17 at 7000m.

[Neil]

Why did the early bombers and fighters fly so low?
The B10 Martin flew at 2000m high, the B17 at 7000m.

Neither of those are true.

[Ideologue]

Yeah, the B-17 had a service ceiling of like 35,000 feet.

[Siege]

The late B-17G.

The initial models were nowhere near that.
The model 299 flew at 2100m or 7000 feet.

[Neil]

The late B-17G.

The initial models were nowhere near that.
The model 299 flew at 2100m or 7000 feet.

I'm sure it did, but it also flew higher and lower than that.  That's how airplanes work.

[Tonitrus]

I thought they also were not as well pressurized/climate-controlled as they are today...being why the aircrew wore lots of heavy clothing to stay warm.