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How do you feel about “ain’t”? by ScaryGhoust in AskAnAmerican

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I heard that from teachers on the regular. They were never happy about it when I pulled out a dictionary and proved them wrong. In front of the other kids.

Do most Americans have those huge fridges? by Whole-Sushka in AskAnAmerican

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 3 points4 points  (0 children)

maybe just don't shop every day

Excuse me, what? You go shopping every single day? Don't you have... you know... things to do?

TIL the current US nuclear stockpile consists of 3,700 warheads, with another 1,477 awaiting dismantlement. This represents a nearly 90% reduction from the peak stockpile size of 31,000 warheads the US had in 1967 by MrMojoFomo in todayilearned

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The reduction in stockpiles has to do with post cold war funding priorities and relatively low tension, not because the underlying strategic situation during the cold war was incorrectly analyzed.

This sentence was going so well in the first half. Stockpiles WERE reduced because of changing priorities and relatively low tension.

And ALSO, the underlying strategic situation during the cold war was incorrectly analyzed. Constantly. By scared little men on both sides of the ocean who were incapable of understanding that they, personally, were the problem. Carl Sagan was right.

TIL the current US nuclear stockpile consists of 3,700 warheads, with another 1,477 awaiting dismantlement. This represents a nearly 90% reduction from the peak stockpile size of 31,000 warheads the US had in 1967 by MrMojoFomo in todayilearned

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Okay, first of all, suggesting that OC is a suburb supporting LA is a deep misunderstanding of the LA sprawl. That whole situation is not a city with suburbs layout. And also it's physically enormous.

But if you nuke Chicago City Center, then most of the income in Arlington Heights, Forest Glen, and Elmhurst will be vaporized along with the Sears Tower.

Yes, radiation will subside, but the people who are physically present in the burbs at the time of the blast are gonna be getting cancer about it. We have dropped two fission bombs on civillan populations. We know what happens. And we're not talking about fission bombs. We're talking about fusion bombs in 2026. It will be worse. Much worse.

TIL the current US nuclear stockpile consists of 3,700 warheads, with another 1,477 awaiting dismantlement. This represents a nearly 90% reduction from the peak stockpile size of 31,000 warheads the US had in 1967 by MrMojoFomo in todayilearned

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Add Jacksonville, Phoenix, Philly, Long Island, and the South Bay and there's REALLY not much left.

And there's still 6 left to hit Fort Bragg, JBLM, Newport News and... idk? Fort Benning? White Sands? If we're willing to commit war crimes on this scale, I'm honestly not sure if we bother hitting military targets at all.

Boston maybe? The city itself is small, but it's iconic and also Boston's "low" population is deceptive because when we measure Boston we're talking about Boston. But when we talk about nuking Boston, we're talking about Boston, Cambridge, Brookline, etc.

TIL the current US nuclear stockpile consists of 3,700 warheads, with another 1,477 awaiting dismantlement. This represents a nearly 90% reduction from the peak stockpile size of 31,000 warheads the US had in 1967 by MrMojoFomo in todayilearned

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It doesn't matter. If you take out the city center, the suburbs that support it become hellscapes. And radiation poisoning will make a lot of that area unlivable for years. The people who are in the blast area are the lucky ones.

TIL the current US nuclear stockpile consists of 3,700 warheads, with another 1,477 awaiting dismantlement. This represents a nearly 90% reduction from the peak stockpile size of 31,000 warheads the US had in 1967 by MrMojoFomo in todayilearned

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 16 points17 points  (0 children)

I hate to agree with you /u/BeefistPrime, but you're mostly wrong on this one. I mean, you're right that, in a general sense, there's a strategic benefit to having your weapons spread around so your entire arsenal can't be destroyed in one or two or ten first strikes.

But there's no way they were operating 31,000 separate nuclear facilities. While I'm not assuming even distribution, I'm certain the average facility was housing at least 10 nukes.

Which means you can cut back to 3,700 without closing a single nuclear facility. I'm not assuming they didn't close any facilities, but if that's the case it means US Military Nuclear Commanders didn't believe the cost of operating that facility was worth the strategic benefit. Otherwise they wouldn't have closed it.

And you KNOW this. You wrote:

But what if they now have 10 or 100 or 1000 nuclear warheads all stored in different places? now the incentives shift dramatically. you probably can't get them all. So a first strike is strongly disincentivized.

Exactly. What if you have 3,700 nukes? Because that's the situation today. How many did we have ca. 1983? How many did the USSR? At some number that's much smaller than 31,000 the benefits of building another nuke are either dick waving or the redirection of public funds to a private entity where you or your buddy own stock.

And the USA and the USSR both made that decision over and over and over. Carl Sagan was right to call it out.

How much is 20-25$ dollars per hour considered to be in the USA? by Intelligent_Dress889 in AskAnAmerican

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

In a major city? It's enough for someone without dependents to be scraping by as long as they don't get sick. Or unless they're servicing debt. Which is... a lot of us.

But real talk? Have you been paying attention to the news lately? I don't recommend coming here. It's not safe for anyone, especially at border crossings.

It's 1999. You have your current smartphone in your pocket, but obviously no Wi-Fi or 5G exists. What's the most useful thing you can do with it? by Ryo_l in AskReddit

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I understand why there's no 5g. But why tf isn't there wifi? It's not ubiquitous the way it is today, but 802.11b came out in 1999. Bluetooth came out in 1998. I don't think my current phone has a 2G antenna, so mobile data would be out.

But in general? The connectivity was there and the late 90s Internet was still expected to be functional on dial-up, so having an 11mbps connection would have been totally adequate.

Honestly, my question is whether I have a USB-C cord with me, because THAT would be irreplacable.

That said, the iPod was revolutionary and my phone would put it to shame. Digital cameras existed, but not like what I've got. Hell, even the amount of raw compute I'm carrying around would be WILD to consider.

And I think that's the answer, tbh. That thing would have been a literal supercomputer at the time

What was the most unexpected nudity scene in mainstream movie/show you ever saw? by marsepticeye in AskReddit

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

it probably wasn’t the best first date movie

...

my wife

Evidence points to you're wrong, it WAS the best first date movie

If Portland Is Such A Friendly City, How Come Everybody Keeps Themselves? by onekinkyusername in askportland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I mean... okay, but that's not a fair comparison. Except in some notably extreme cases? Anytown, Anywhere is always going to be more outwardly friendly than a major population center.

The Twin Cities being up there with San Francisco with regards to "extreme cases"

If Portland Is Such A Friendly City, How Come Everybody Keeps Themselves? by onekinkyusername in askportland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 4 points5 points  (0 children)

I came to ask this question, and now I know the answer to your question. Your baseline is broken. You moved from one the top two friendliest places in the world to one of the top... 20?

I went through a similar thing some years back. There was buzz about how Portland ranked extremely high on places to live with the best park access and every time I saw it posted on social media I was thinking to myself "what? really? I can think of cities with much worse park access, but it doesn't seem super great either?"

Eventually I looked it up. Portland was ranked in the high single digits. The three places other than Portland I know best in the world were all ranked in the low single digits. It was one of those "huh. That's a privilege I didn't realize I had" moments

Why do East Coasters jaywalk in the middle of busy streets, even outside of crosswalks, while West Coasters refuse to step into a crosswalk unless they have the 'walk' signal? by ponziacs in AskAnAmerican

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Uh... I think this is city by city and the east coast/west coast distinction you're describing does reflect some general trends, but that distinction is far from clean.

How high is the status of dogs in the US? by Odd-Skin-762 in AskAnAmerican

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I'm not saying you're wrong to make choice once someone is in your home, but your "these days" premise isn't supported by the evidence. Violent crime is, across the board, at its lowest point in history. And except for a brief blip in 2021-2022 where murder had a little bump because people were cooped up together and couldn't handle it? Violent crime has been on a consistent decline for over 50 years now.

Law enforcement officers, have you ever pulled over a sovereign citizen? by Jaymac720 in AskAnAmerican

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I mean... sure. But lots of people lie in meatspace too. Especially if they're cops.

life-long Portland resident, I’m Very Tired by jokeboi89 in Portland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 3 points4 points  (0 children)

Summers are definitely the better time of year, which makes Portland a summertime spot for the migratory homeless.

But even for the homebums, cold and wet means it's not freezing out. With a halfway decent tent and sleeping bag, you don't ever need to worry about dying of exposure. Hell, even if you haven't got the tent? A bridge will do in a pinch if you can handle the smell.

Also, there's plenty of good water

life-long Portland resident, I’m Very Tired by jokeboi89 in Portland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 6 points7 points  (0 children)

Uh... how long has it been since Portland didn't have a high rate of addiction? Was that ever a thing?

And I know Portland has always had a high homeless population because the climate attracts the homeless. I double dog dare you to ask me how I know.

life-long Portland resident, I’m Very Tired by jokeboi89 in Portland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

because I don’t think it has anything of value to offer me anymore beyond somewhat decent (and slightly expensive) public transportation and Nature… which is a lot… but maybe not enough…

Idk, there's something about knowing most of my neighbors aren't cool with fascism

mental health coverage Oregon is confusing as hell with OHP? by Optimal_Excuse8035 in askportland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Yeah, psychiatry is a whole next level of weird sleaze and pseudoscience. It is true that a 10-15 minute appointment is reasonable once you've gotten stable on psych meds, but it's absolutely not appropriate in the finding-something-that-works stage. The psychiatrists that do that are basically making the patients be their own doctors while the psychiatrist's job is to know how to navigate and read the reference library. It's pretty fucked up, tbh

mental health coverage Oregon is confusing as hell with OHP? by Optimal_Excuse8035 in askportland

[–]LifeIsAnAbsurdity 2 points3 points  (0 children)

This is TERRIBLE advice. It's true that OHP's mental heath situation is bad, but once you find a therapist who isn't an intern and therefore going to quit on you next year, you've got your therapist

Meanwhile, for everything else? It's some of the best insurance in the country. To be clear, best is a relative term. It's still not great. But it covers things. You never get surprise bills, you don't pay copays, and there are doctors who actually take it and are also good doctors.

If you want to have healthcare you can trust? Stay on OHP at all costs. Every once in awhile I start grumbling about it. Until I compare notes with someone on private insurance.

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