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What's really more likely? A Soviet spy gains physical access to your nuclear weapons and launches or detonates one (or several), possibly starting a global the

What's really more likely? A Soviet spy gains physical access to your nuclear weapons and launches or detonates one (or several), possibly starting a global thermonuclear war (which the Kremlin could honestly start at any time if it were interested anyway) with a modest advantage on the Soviet side. (A possible advantage - it depends how quickly the Soviets are able/willing to follow up with additional nukes.) or... You lock yourself out of your own nukes during a crisis because you have a big fancy launch-code-management system and it falls apart because key people are confused and/or dead. In related news, handguns with fingerprint sensors and other electronic locks will protect you in case a criminal breaks in and steals your gun from you - and yet they're not very popular among gun owners.

fennecfoxen 13y ago
AND WHILE I'M HERE TALKING ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS SYSTEMS and understandings thereof, allow me to rant about one of the most misunderstood videos of all time, Bert the Turtle ("duck and cover") -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 -- Witness the crowds of people saying "lol but nuclear bomb! you're already dead!" Well, maybe you're right and you're already dead, but IF YOU'RE NOT DEAD YET then there's going to be a BIG BLAST WAVE OF DEBRIS heading your way IN A MATTER OF SECONDS, so you'd better look for some shelter, pronto. And get away from any windows, too, or you'll end up like those poor people watching the Chelyabinsk meteor, getting LACERATED by flying glass.
- hga 13y ago
  Except of course for the school children in one class with a teacher who remembered her Soviet era civil defense teachings and got them to duck and cover in time.
- pjscott 13y ago
  Some juicy details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_Cover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_Cover The short versions is this: in most of the area where a nuclear blast can kill you, there are simple things you can do to reduce its effects and survive. A building will protect from much of the blast wave, and even a blanket can greatly reduce the amount of skin burning. Nukes are not unstoppable bringers of universal instadeath.
  - empthought 13y ago
    But then you have to live in a world where people are nuking each other.
    - pjscott 13y ago
      We already live in a world where people have nuked each other.
      - empthought 13y ago
        Those devices were quite small compared to the cold war arsenals. There were also only two of them, as compared to the 15,000+ today.
- Cyranix 13y ago
  I had a flight a few months ago during which I was seated next to a fascinating woman whose mother had survived one of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during WWII. She had thrown herself facedown into a shallow ditch at the roadside, suffering tremendous burns on her back but staying alive. There's no question that it can pay to do your utmost when it comes to a matter of survival like that.
Crito 13y ago
I would be less concerned about "Soviet spy" and more concerned with "General Jack Ripper".
- Amadou 13y ago
  According to the article it was actually "General Tom Power" they were worried about. Reality is better than fiction.
- TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
  Mmm, the US is known for its crazed gunmen, and a spy has little incentive to ensure mutual destruction.
- rfnslyr 13y ago
  I hope a nuclear war erupts right now so I don't have to go to work tomorrow. I hate my job with the passion of a trillion suns. The only thing preventing me from not blowing out my fucking brains is living is slightly cooler than not existing.
  - marvin 13y ago
    That's pretty dark. Sounds like you might want to talk to someone...
    - rfnslyr 13y ago
      I did and it doesn't help, I just deal with it now. It's getting really really annoying having all the ambition in the world one moment, then not feeling a thing the next moment. I do need someone to talk to, but I've given up on people. I'm too scared and fragile to even try at this point. Burnt out. Need to move to the country side. Wrote this awhile back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6007364 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6007364 Honestly I think it's because I know so much about the world and have been so many places I have nothing "grand" to look forward to. My grandmothers LIFE goal was to dip her toes in the ocean. What's mine? I've seen images of Earth from space, I've read thousands of stories of corruption, I see poverty, I've made loads of money, I've read hundreds of enlightening books. We've set the bar so high to please ourselves it's impossible to go any further unless you go into hard drugs, a universe of its own. That couples with my massive ego and narcissism is a terrible combination, so I'm just praying I have an excuse to die soon because I won't do it myself.
shele 13y ago
Either a soviet spy or the regular crew in the chaos of a soviet nuclear attack: false dichotomy.
codex 13y ago
I don't think you can buy a biometric firearm (yet).
martincmartin 13y ago
I take it you've never seen "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove

fennecfoxen 13y ago

AND WHILE I'M HERE TALKING ABOUT NUCLEAR WEAPONS SYSTEMS and understandings thereof, allow me to rant about one of the most misunderstood videos of all time, Bert the Turtle ("duck and cover") -- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IKqXu-5jw60 -- Witness the crowds of people saying "lol but nuclear bomb! you're already dead!" Well, maybe you're right and you're already dead, but IF YOU'RE NOT DEAD YET then there's going to be a BIG BLAST WAVE OF DEBRIS heading your way IN A MATTER OF SECONDS, so you'd better look for some shelter, pronto. And get away from any windows, too, or you'll end up like those poor people watching the Chelyabinsk meteor, getting LACERATED by flying glass.

hga 13y ago
Except of course for the school children in one class with a teacher who remembered her Soviet era civil defense teachings and got them to duck and cover in time.
pjscott 13y ago
Some juicy details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_Cover http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duck_and_Cover The short versions is this: in most of the area where a nuclear blast can kill you, there are simple things you can do to reduce its effects and survive. A building will protect from much of the blast wave, and even a blanket can greatly reduce the amount of skin burning. Nukes are not unstoppable bringers of universal instadeath.
- empthought 13y ago
  But then you have to live in a world where people are nuking each other.
  - pjscott 13y ago
    We already live in a world where people have nuked each other.
    - empthought 13y ago
      Those devices were quite small compared to the cold war arsenals. There were also only two of them, as compared to the 15,000+ today.
Cyranix 13y ago
I had a flight a few months ago during which I was seated next to a fascinating woman whose mother had survived one of the nuclear bombs dropped on Japan during WWII. She had thrown herself facedown into a shallow ditch at the roadside, suffering tremendous burns on her back but staying alive. There's no question that it can pay to do your utmost when it comes to a matter of survival like that.

Crito 13y ago

I would be less concerned about "Soviet spy" and more concerned with "General Jack Ripper".

Amadou 13y ago
According to the article it was actually "General Tom Power" they were worried about. Reality is better than fiction.
TazeTSchnitzel 13y ago
Mmm, the US is known for its crazed gunmen, and a spy has little incentive to ensure mutual destruction.
rfnslyr 13y ago
I hope a nuclear war erupts right now so I don't have to go to work tomorrow. I hate my job with the passion of a trillion suns. The only thing preventing me from not blowing out my fucking brains is living is slightly cooler than not existing.
- marvin 13y ago
  That's pretty dark. Sounds like you might want to talk to someone...
  - rfnslyr 13y ago
    I did and it doesn't help, I just deal with it now. It's getting really really annoying having all the ambition in the world one moment, then not feeling a thing the next moment. I do need someone to talk to, but I've given up on people. I'm too scared and fragile to even try at this point. Burnt out. Need to move to the country side. Wrote this awhile back: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6007364 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=6007364 Honestly I think it's because I know so much about the world and have been so many places I have nothing "grand" to look forward to. My grandmothers LIFE goal was to dip her toes in the ocean. What's mine? I've seen images of Earth from space, I've read thousands of stories of corruption, I see poverty, I've made loads of money, I've read hundreds of enlightening books. We've set the bar so high to please ourselves it's impossible to go any further unless you go into hard drugs, a universe of its own. That couples with my massive ego and narcissism is a terrible combination, so I'm just praying I have an excuse to die soon because I won't do it myself.

shele 13y ago

Either a soviet spy or the regular crew in the chaos of a soviet nuclear attack: false dichotomy.

codex 13y ago

I don't think you can buy a biometric firearm (yet).

martincmartin 13y ago

I take it you've never seen "Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb." http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dr._Strangelove