patrick.net

Odd that grads started leaving in that particular year. I wonder what could possibly have started happening that year to drive them out? Bad weather? No. Bad food? No. The “million dollar” scenery? No way. Might have something to do with a perceived declining quality of life for some, or the odd reluctance of incomes to keep up with the cost of living (for proles, that is).

I heard that Howard Jarvis and the AARP are going to propose Son of Prop 13 to solve this: institute a new Exit Tax for People Under 65, with the proceeds going to a "guarantee that when you sell your home, you'll break even" fund.

eburbed,

WOW! For real? I heard of anything so ridiculous since that little Nevada exit tax in the 1800s.

Vegas Crash, turn off Rush Limbaugh and join modern society in the 21st century.

BTW, that Internet thing that you're using for your stupid rant was a public project :)

If you really are in Vegas, you might want to remember that little public project just up the way from you that is powering your computer right now. Hint, it's really big and starts with Hoover.

I had no idea there were that many that post here are familiar with the nuke weaponry. Even though I was active (and reserve) military most of my exposure was to conventional weapons. Everything was on a "need to know" basis. I had a secret (but not TOP SECRET) security clearance.

The stuff you learn here (along with cutlery and different types of Tequila) is just amazing! :)

"Son of Prop 13"

Oy vey! You have got to be kidding me right? AARP has lost it's collective mind.

"it’s really big and starts with Hoover."

Now that is an incredible piece of engineering. I was in Vegas last Oct and made a point to visit Hoover Dam. It is worth a look just to appreciate what those depression era guys were able to accomplish.

Kinda scary to see how far the waterline has fallen, though.

"With any luck, they won’t even detonate."

I don't think either side has tested a nuke rocket by actually firing one to a target and detonating the warhead. Perhaps neither side wanted to test, since if it did not work, the other side would have a virtual victory by extortion.

Even so, after the Soviet Union fell and we had access to new intel, we were surprised by the disrepair of Soviet military hardware, including the nukes.

WOW! For real? I heard of anything so ridiculous since that little Nevada exit tax in the 1800s.

No no, I was just kidding, but it wouldn't surprise me. I mean, we're the same state that passed Prop 13...

If anyone gets the chance, rent "Threads". It was a British made film about what life "post strike" would REALLY look like. It was shown on BBC only once and taken off. Unlike the dignified characters in the MadMax genre we bypass trying to scavenge for "petrol" and..... free fall right into the stone age. The producers took great pains to show the human impacts and the authorities total inability to provide order (let alone basic service).

When you're done watching you'll pray for (2) things. (1) That it never happens OR (2) If it does happen, please let me be at ground freaking ZERO! Warning! (Not for the squeamish). :(

I second KT and add the following:
The largest unmanned rocket the U.S. ever produced (to date) was the Titan IV. It has a payload of 47,800 lbs (approx. 24 tons), or just shy of the B-52's 30-ton capacity: http://www.lockheedmartin.com/wms/findPage.do?dsp=fec&ci=15525&rsbci=5&fti=0&ti=0&sc=400
I don't think this particular model has ever been used as a high-yield nuke ICBM, but there's no reason it couldn't be if we needed it.

Atlas V has maximum payload of 22 tons:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atlas_V

(2) If it does happen, please let me be at ground freaking ZERO! Warning! (Not for the squeamish). :(

That's one of the strategies that makes me feel I should move to NY, or some place generally important.

RE:Threads

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Threads

This would probably NOT be the feel good movie of the summer.

eburbed,

Even better: move to a small town right next to a missile silo. That way you get to live in a rural or exurban area with all the advantages and don't have to worry about surviving WWIII.

If WWIII comes, I will feel regret that I did not eat more endangered sea animals balanced by satisfaction that I didn't have kids, at least.

I'm such a bad person sometimes.

"regret that I did not eat more endangered sea animals" LOL!

I hear ya! If it must be... can it be right after I'm done at the Orleans seafood buffet? :)

No, "Threads" (as in the only thing that holds our "global society" together) is not the feel good movie of the summer. Yet still worth your time. The main character is a young unwed teen forced to bring a child into the "nuke winter" world of a sun blotted out from the sky. Then things get grim.

"I don’t think either side has tested a nuke rocket by actually firing one to a target and detonating the warhead. "

Actually we did once have a complete end-to-end test of a SLBM. A fully-armed SLBM was launched from a sub off the American coast, went west across the Pacific, and successfully detonated over an island. IIRC this was around 1964. Sorry I don't have the link for this right handy.

Ah, yes, the Frigate Bird test in 1962.
www.navy.mil/navydata/cno/n87/usw/issue_24/frigate_bird.htm

When I was in the Navy we had a "Beep-uh-deem-us" or Basic Point Missle Defense System. Talk about dated. Some poor schmuck was supposed to stand on the flight deck with this MST3K looking surplus backpack with a pointer and cone to aim it at the incoming missile!

Let's face facts. Trying to knock a missile out of the sky is like throwing up a tennis ball and then trying to hit it with another tennis ball! Our Plan "B" was an air driven blower that pumped shards of aluminum to cover the ship in a cloud of reflective debris to "confuse" the missile's tracking capability! And this was the 80's!

I've always thought that the Navy is in truth defenseless against things like cruise missiles and MIRVs. The AEGIS system can't possibly work. If someone launched a couple of hundred missiles at a carrier group, the carrier would sink, the countermeasures could not possibly keep up with that many targets.

Fortunately not too many nations have this capability, but I would not want to sail too close to one that does.

SQT, your link doesn't work for me.

DennisN,

Good point about the Frigate Bird test, very interesting.

On the Atlas and Titan IV....

Yes, they have big payloads, as does the Saturn series, but neither are ICBMs. These heavy lift space vehicles did not sit in silos ready to launch at a moments notice. Too large with too much launch prep, such as adding strap-ons to get the payloads you guys mentioned.

To be a nuclear deterrent, you must be able to launch as soon as you detect the incoming attack. Cape Canaveral and Vandenburg AFB would be destroyed long before they could set up and fire those huge Atlas Vs and Titans IVs.

None of the rockets actually used as ICBM/SLBMs (Atlas I, Titan II, Minuteman, Polaris, Posieden, Trident) could match the accuracy and punch of the B-52. Not even close.