When "just doing my job" saves the world. “My cozy armchair felt like a red-hot frying pan and my legs went limp. I felt like I couldn't even stand up. That's how nervous I was when I was taking this decision,” he told RT. How well would any of us have done in that situation? It's tempting to think that we'd have said no, don't launch. But picture yourself as a military commander, raised in that lifestyle. Then add t…
Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
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Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#132Another Soviet officer who also probably prevented nuclear war was Vasili Arkhipov.[1] "On 27 October 1962, during the Cuban Missile Crisis, a group of eleven United States Navy destroyers and the aircraft carrier USS Randolph located the diesel-powered, nuclear-armed Soviet Foxtrot-class submarine B-59 near Cuba. Despite being in international waters, the Americans started dropping signaling depth charges, explosive…
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#133Earlier quoted context omitted.
> 1) The reported starts (5 in total) happened from a single base in the US which didn't make sense from the military point of view: the US would have put themselves at a grave disadvantage by sending just a few missiles There was an interview with Petrov (in the 90s or 00s) when he spoke about this point, and the interviewer said that in 1983, the US plans for a preemptive strike started with a "beheading strike", i…
> started with a "beheading strike" Wow, so given Petrov's response, this plan might have actually worked. Those clever generals. (Insert emoticon of me being horrified right now..)
There isn't really a workable first strike plan, and that's probably a good thing.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#134Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#135Earlier quoted context omitted.
Ever hear of the bomb the US accidentally dropped on the mainland? When they recovered it, they discovered the bomb had armed itself and that all the safety mechanisms failed except one.
What the hell?! How many times are we going to be lucky before something goes very wrong. I hope they are a lot more careful now, and I mean all sides.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#136Earlier quoted context omitted.
Really respectful to take away his heroic act and give credit to a fantasy-figure. /s
Why does believing God was involved mean Petrov wasn't heroic? Perhaps God was why the hero Petrov was there when he was?
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#137Earlier quoted context omitted.
Why does believing God was involved mean Petrov wasn't heroic? Perhaps God was why the hero Petrov was there when he was?
Because it's fucking stupid and below HN. You are still giving a fantasy figure the credit since he put the right guy there.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#138Earlier quoted context omitted.
s/compromised/comprised/
s/comprised/composed/
The original mistake was just an autocorrect error. Some day I'll learn not to write posts from mobile devices.
Also, I noticed you created an account just for this. Assuming it isn't a throwaway, welcome to HN. That's a cool username.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#139Earlier quoted context omitted.
s/comprised/composed/
Interesting, I never knew that grammatical holy war existed. Learn something new every day. The original mistake was just an autocorrect error. Some day I'll learn not to write posts from mobile devices. Also, I noticed you created an account just for this. Assuming it isn't a throwaway, welcome to HN. That's a cool username.
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/comprise
"The factory was to be a vast installation, comprising fifty buildings" is the same kind of use.
Re: Stanislav Petrov, a Soviet officer who averted nuclear war, has died
#140Earlier quoted context omitted.
Because it's fucking stupid and below HN. You are still giving a fantasy figure the credit since he put the right guy there.
Religious flamewar is not allowed on HN. Please don't post like this here, regardless of how wrong or annoying other comments are. https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html
> Eschew flamebait. Don't introduce flamewar topics unless you have something genuinely new to say. Avoid unrelated controversies and generic tangents.
This is what I responded to in the first place, flamebait. But I would have no issues saying the first sentence in real life, to the face of anyone making such a comment. I did not know how else to put it because it seriously makes zero sense and is impossible to debate.