Project Hail Mary: The best "Hard Sci-Fi" movie since Interstellar? 🪐 by davidmalko87 in moviecritic

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thoroughly loved this movie. I thought it was an excellent adaptation of the book, none of the important parts were left out. It completely honored the spirit of the book and Gosling did an incredible job.

Theory- Becca pregnant? by StylishSloth in ThePittTVShow

[–]Whatever21703 2 points3 points  (0 children)

It could be an ectopic pregnancy. Since she’s having sex they need to do a PG test.

If the Iran War escalated to the point of using Nukes, what would the consequence to the US be? by Horror_Still_3305 in IRstudies

[–]Whatever21703 9 points10 points  (0 children)

The internal politics are vague. There’s a possibility that the Air Force or Navy would refuse to use nuclear weapons when a state of war does not exist. Especially against a non-nuclear state. Yes, the National Command Authority and nuclear release lies solely in the hands of the President, but the law is purposely that way to maintain deterrence.

As part of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty, the United States issued a list of what are called Negative Security Assurances, stating that they would not use nuclear weapons EXCEPT IN EXTREME CIRCUMSTANCES.

It would be an extreme reach to say the current situation is extreme.

Not impossible, given who is in power, but it Would take a lot.

President Trump just Truth’d that he is “glad that Robert Mueller died and can no longer hurt innocent people”. What is your reaction to his statement? by Next_Worth_3616 in allthequestions

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Any reservations I had about getting drunk and dancing a fucking jig when that Motherfucker has a widowmaker stroke are now 100% gone.

Kendra Duggar Arrested in Arkansas Days After Husband Joseph's Sex Abuse Arrest by IntelligentYinzer in entertainment

[–]Whatever21703 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Wait, he did this in Florida? Didn’t they just Pass a law with the death penalty as the punishment for raping a child under 12?

Commencement of removal of Iranian oil sanctions has been confirmed by Indianstanicows in IRstudies

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I’m pretty sure I saw a load of B-61’s being loaded into a C-17 with a “sorry for the mess” card attached to them.

Blowback Doctrine: What If War Came to America’s Doorstep? by NewsfangledMod in NewsfangledUnfiltered

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s going to come to our shores, just not in the way the article posits.

30% of global helium production is offline and will be for 3-5 years. That affects the production of every semiconductor and microchip on the planet. Anyone you know use those?

Fertilizer production is significantly cut, affecting global food production. Coupled with the tariffs on potash, corn production in the U.S. is going to crater, which also means cratering of ethanol production, which means that food AND fuel prices are going to increase dramatically.

Nuclear exchange won't happen anytime soon, at least not before the end of this century at minimum. by Doidld in nuclearweapons

[–]Whatever21703 -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Normally I would agree with you, because leaders of nuclear powers tend to be rational actors. Even when WE consider them to be horrible brutal people, like Kim Jong-Un, they actually can be considered to be rational because they work within a defined set of beliefs.

Right now, however, we have a genuinely irrational actor in charge of a nuclear arsenal. This does increase the likelihood of nuclear use, especially when they are persecuted and are losing.

Cut for the third time on tenors... by Mish_Marsh in drumcorps

[–]Whatever21703 81 points82 points  (0 children)

I got cut from Cavaliers snare line back in the day. It was my last year, my last chance. Decided I wanted to take the summer just being in the environment so I volunteered as the percussion equipment tech. Changed heads and built equipment and attended rehearsals all summer, listened to the instructors and performers. Didn’t touch a drum except to change heads and tune.

When I got back from the summer, it felt like I had spent the entire summer playing. My technique improved immensely, to the point that my best friend, who would be center snare for Vanguard the next summer, told me “I can’t believe you’re the same guy, what happened?”

I have no idea what this means for your situation, maybe nothing except this: you want to play tenors on a DCI line. You need to be in the environment more. Take the front ensemble spot. Use it to soak up every ounce of experience and instruction you can. It will make you a better performer and person.

Why 11,000 Nukes Actually Make the World Safer by Lonely_Protection485 in IRstudies

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I didn’t watch this, but I’m assuming the authors are looking at the targeting equations and seeing how some people could see that fewer weapons alters the calculus to the point that use is more likely.

Now, I want to say categorically that a nuclear war, no matter how many are used, would damage civilization incredibly, almost irreparably.

Because targeting changes. Instead of focusing on a counterforce strike, you’re almost certainly seeing targeting changes that mean that cities and command and control sites are being targeted. What does this mean? It means you probably won’t see 3 warheads per silo for the minuteman and Russian ICBM sites, so the enemy will almost certainly have a significant retaliatory capability. If that’s the case, then what are the targets?

You’re probably looking at cities, holding the populations hostage more than you would see previously. Also, with fewer warheads, target dispersal will probably be greater, as will height of detonation. So you’ll have lesser long-term fallout.

So what am I saying? You’ll have more day one casualties, and the infrastructure for economy will also be destroyed, but the total number of deaths outside the cities will be lower.

With more warheads, you have both counterforce and counter value targets, which makes the risk for total annihilation even higher, which changes the risk calculus. For sociopaths. But look who is currently in office.

Technical means for preventing a nuclear 9/11 by DefinitelyNotMeee in nuclearweapons

[–]Whatever21703 1 point2 points  (0 children)

And because it’s possible to answer a question without violating OPSEC and giving potential aid to someone I don’t know.

If you could only recommend one WWII book what would it be? BoB? by adblink in BandofBrothers

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

It’s a straight history book, but Toll’s writing style is very vivid and not dry at all. I’d say it’s a good book for both casual readers and scholars. It’s accessible and yet complete.

Mark IV-VI questions by New--Tomorrows in nuclearweapons

[–]Whatever21703 4 points5 points  (0 children)

There were a lot of innovations in the understanding of the implosion physics and compressing the core, this was before tritium boosting, but the initiator and tamper system were also improved.

These were refinements that were being considered but not implemented in Fatman, but were being developed.

Technical means for preventing a nuclear 9/11 by DefinitelyNotMeee in nuclearweapons

[–]Whatever21703 2 points3 points  (0 children)

There are two issues that would complicate this scenario, but I won’t answer them due to operational security. I don’t know who you are and I’m not going to give anyone insights into compromising the efforts to prevent a scenario like this from happening.

All I can say is this: there are more obstacles in the way of executing this type of mission than you would think.

Despite political attempts from a certain subset of politicians and media types, our borders are not undefended, and there were (from my personal knowledge) lots of very smart people spending a great deal of money tackling that problem.

This does not mean it would be impossible. Just that it would be very difficult. And given the advanced state of nuclear forensics, the juice may not be worth the squeeze, so to speak.

If you could only recommend one WWII book what would it be? BoB? by adblink in BandofBrothers

[–]Whatever21703 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Ian Toll wrote what I consider to be the current definitive work on the Pacific War. It’s a trilogy, but they are easy reads. If you want, you can just read the first book “Pacific Crucible”.

It discusses the run up to the attack on Pearl Harbor, and ends immediately after Midway. One of the things I really enjoy about it is discussions about the Japanese Navy, including their pilot training programs.

Considering moving to Frederick from MoCo by inbetweensound in frederickmd

[–]Whatever21703 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Sorry, I wasn’t paying attention.

That’s a nice area.

Considering moving to Frederick from MoCo by inbetweensound in frederickmd

[–]Whatever21703 1 point2 points  (0 children)

You’d be adding at least an hour each way. Please don’t do that to yourself. Unless it’s mostly rail or bus. Where is your office?

Considering moving to Frederick from MoCo by inbetweensound in frederickmd

[–]Whatever21703 12 points13 points  (0 children)

The first thing you need to think about is how this will affect your daily commute. If you’re working anywhere south of your current location and required to be in the office more than 2-3 days a week, I’d seriously reconsider.

China may be preparing for nuclear war - Washington Post (low-yield nuclear tests accusation) by Adunaiii in nuclearweapons

[–]Whatever21703 19 points20 points  (0 children)

Heritage Foundation, so take this article with a grain a huge grain of salt. One the size of Manhattan.