Atomic bomb nearly exploded over North Carolina in 1961, report says

Aw, man!
We could have been rid of a Carolina?
Fucking inefficient government!

More importantly, they missed their chance to irradiate Washington and New York.

I almost posted this, then decided the headline wasn't quite right. Basically, these bombs had a mechanism to disarm, coupled with three fail-safes. One of the two had faulty mechanisms and 2 failed fail-safes, but the final one worked. Seems to, if anything, validate the safety engineering.

Now if that last one hadn't worked, I het we would have blamed the Cubans, and nuked the shit out of them, just to be sure.

This is some Dr. Strangelove level farce.

There is no justification whatsoever for this having remained a secret.

I think it was part of the government's urban improvement plan.

You're kidding right? They would've blamed the Russkies and gave em hell.

Basically the Spanish/American War redux.

What was pointless about trying to halt the spread of communism?

It's still a good idea. Gomer should have been spayed before he reproduced.

Several hundred dollars adjusted for inflation?

As far as I'm concerned, Dr. Strangelove was a documentary.

So North Carolina was nearly nuked?


Would anyone have noticed?

Dan: Possibly the most arrogant and condescending person I know with the least reason to be arrogant and condescending.

Would anyone have noticed this?

Much of what is labelled "The Cold War" was just a cover for the US doing whatever it liked to achieve dominance. The same policies more or less continued after it ended, on different pretexts.

Yep, like when we invaded Hungary in 1956, Czechoslovakia in 1968, Afghanistan in 1980, put ICBMs in Cuba in 1962, fomented revolution throughout the Third World, blockaded West Berlin, armed the North Vietnamese, Syrians, Egyptians, North Korea, et al, put Poland uner martial law, etc.

Oh, wait.

Well I'll be

Carl Sagan was a hack science popularizer and serial adulterer who got into political activism because he wanted to get laid by Ann Druyan. He had virtually nonexistent political activism before her.

He then prostituted and corrupted his and others scientific reputations by promoting the ridiculous "nuclear winter" concept which he later fully admitted he did NOT HAVE EVIDENCE to support.

Finally, his continual open disrespect for President Reagan caused the Reagan Admin. NOT to agree to a joint U.S.-Mars manned mission.

Sagan was wrong about nuclear winter.
Sagan was wrong about nuclear weapons.
Sagan was wrong about the Cold War.
Sagan was wrong about his concept of marriage.

Source. Read his OFFICIAL biography. That is, the one his beloved third wife and his sons signed off on.

I'm not sure how Soviet interference in those places undermines the point I made. I did not deny the existence of the Cold War.

No. You basically blamed the United States for it.

How do you explain the Soviets keeping control over East Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, and Romania for 40 years after the end of World War Two?

If you think that, then you can't read.

Well, they installed their stooges and had their big army next door, didn't they? What's to explain? This has nothing to do with the United States using the Cold War as a convenient justification for its own ends when it suited.

So you do not believe that the U.S. "ends" were far,far, far, far more moral and justifiable than those of the Soviets?

You're deliberately trying to walk back you statements Henry. Because you know full well that you can't seriously compare the horrendous bloodthirstiness of the Soviets with the mild self interest promotion of the United States.

The propaganda version of peace and democracy for all, or the support for murderous dictators and the crushing of independence movements?

That isn't what I did, but now you mention it - yes, you can. I can list US crimes, for you to excuse and justify yet again, if you wish.

Oh yes. The occasional dictator like Pinochet of Chile who IIRC killed 3,000 people....over 20 years.

The Soviet invasion of Czechoslovakia alone killed that many according to the Black Book of Communism in a matter of days...despite the fact that the Czechs were not even resisting.

Not to mention the tens of thousands killed in Hungary.

Or the millions in Korea when Stalin gave the North Koreans the go ahead for the invasion of the south.

Or the millions in Vietnam which was only possible with Soviet support for the North Vietnamese.

Face it Rick, there is no possible way you can equate U.S. "crimes" in the Cold War with those of the Soviets.

It is like comparing a beleaguered sheriff who has occasionally killed a bystander while enforcing the law with a serial or mass murderer.

Well, certainly if you're determined to insist that the Soviets made you do it, including in Vietnam, you can't compare them. But that, and the 4 million people who died, is largely at your door. As are the innocent victims of Laos, Cambodia, Cuba, Indonesia, Nicaragua, Guatemala, El Salvador, Chile, Iran and Lebanon - all among the countries where the US directly or indirectly ran up very large casualty lists for very dubious purposes.