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[smeeprocket]

isn't that always the way...

[Graknorke]

rip in pepperoni smeeprocket
you probably made some okay memes

[Defacto]

To continue on the nuclear weapon subject (which I am creepily fascinated by), we also have to consider that most practical nuclear weapons are way weaker than what is possible. The Topol-M is a lot weaker than the Tsar Bomba, but it's still the weapon in service in Russia. Some of the warheads that can be carried on minutemen barely have a higher yield than the Hiroshima bomb.
I think the biggest danger from a nuclear weapon detonation today would be being killed by debris or structures falling on top of you. Secondary to that, the overpressure's effect on your own body (up to a few kilometers with a Topol). Not being protected form the flash would lead to serious burn injuries up to several kilometers away, and while I'm not sure what the blinding effect would be, staring into a nuclear detonation simply sounds like a really bad idea. I don't think the burns would kill you, though. If you are close enough to get lethal burns, you are probably also close enough to get something vital broken by the overpressure.

I don't think there's a very large risk of something failing and the bomb going off at ground level. The attacker would not gain anything from it since the blast is weakened, and there's some pretty accurate safeguards to stop this form happening. More likely would probably be that the warhead simply doesn't explode.

[Lagslayer]

Honestly, all this fear of getting nuked is completely irrational. You act as if you can't just get up and walk away from them, twice even.

[Helgoland]

I just read Colonel Cassad's posts about the new Ukrainian government torturing people and I have no reason to not believe them. Jesus Christ, people. I am seriously thinking about getting bodily involved in the whole crisis, I don't think I will be able to forgive myself if I don't.

Knit, are you aware of this term? You're too valuable to be wasted running against a wall of bullets. Stop thinking about it. I managed to as well.
Have you read Homage to Catalonia? It might help.

[Knit tie]

I just read Colonel Cassad's posts about the new Ukrainian government torturing people and I have no reason to not believe them. Jesus Christ, people. I am seriously thinking about getting bodily involved in the whole crisis, I don't think I will be able to forgive myself if I don't.

Knit, are you aware of this term? You're too valuable to be wasted running against a wall of bullets. Stop thinking about it. I managed to as well.
Have you read Homage to Catalonia? It might help.

Helgo, ask Sheb, he will tell you some useful things about Russian culture, like how self-sacrifice and defence of Motherland, irregardless of underlying politics of conflict, are integral parts of our cultural identity. In fact, I consider this one of the biggest differences between Russian and modern Anglo-American mentality: a Russian is not naturally disinclined towards all violence, for him, to fight and kill can be a great virtue in some cases, the major one being when his people's safety is at stake, and whatever you tell me, the poor bastards in Donbass really are in danger, what with the whole conflinct long being institutionalised and ideologically infused by the Ukrainian government. So I really don't care who started or who benefits from this conflict - I am capable of helping those on my side in need and I am doing nothing, goddammit!

[Jervill]

A friend invited me to her place for Thanksgiving, and I'm going.  Now, to try and not freeze up completely as I'm with her family who are almost all complete strangers to me.

Social anxiety, ho!

[Knit tie]

A friend invited me to her place for Thanksgiving, and I'm going.  Now, to try and not freeze up completely as I'm with her family who are almost all complete strangers to me.

Social anxiety, ho!

Try dressing up nicely - it works for me!

[Helgoland]

I just read Colonel Cassad's posts about the new Ukrainian government torturing people and I have no reason to not believe them. Jesus Christ, people. I am seriously thinking about getting bodily involved in the whole crisis, I don't think I will be able to forgive myself if I don't.

Knit, are you aware of this term? You're too valuable to be wasted running against a wall of bullets. Stop thinking about it. I managed to as well.
Have you read Homage to Catalonia? It might help.

Helgo, ask Sheb, he will tell you some useful things about Russian culture, like how self-sacrifice and defence of Motherland, irregardless of underlying politics of conflict, are integral parts of our cultural identity. In fact, I consider this one of the biggest differences between Russian and modern Anglo-American mentality: a Russian is not naturally disinclined towards all violence, for him, to fight and kill can be a great virtue in some cases, the major one being when his people's safety is at stake, and whatever you tell me, the poor bastards in Donbass really are in danger, what with the whole conflinct long being institutionalised and ideologically infused by the Ukrainian government. So I really don't care who started or who benefits from this conflict - I am capable of helping those on my side in need and I am doing nothing, goddammit!

I get what you're saying - I firmly believe that Western individualism has hit a dead end, and that concepts such as 'self-sacrifice' will once again become more popular. We'll once again start thinking in terms of collectives, with all the good and bad things that will bring.
I've been thinking similar thoughts, Knit. Back in 2012 when Syria's revolution was still largely secular and I thought nothing of throwing my life away, being badly depressed at the time, I considered going there to fight. Luckily I never got off my lazy ass. The same thing went through my head with Ukraine, with precisely the same reasoning you use: But 'my people' aren't 'your people', of course. And I guess if I was a bit more fit and a bit more crazy, I'd have gone through with it. But would it have done any good? My corpse with a bullet between the eyes makes for good fertilizer, but little else. My point is that believing there are things worth dying for is not a distinctly Russian thing; and one should weigh very carefully what one is trying to accomplish. Because dying senselessly for one thing means not living for a more prosperous cause.
And seriously, read Homage to Catalonia. You seem like the kind of guy who'd enjoy Orwell's style of writing.

[Knit tie]

I just read Colonel Cassad's posts about the new Ukrainian government torturing people and I have no reason to not believe them. Jesus Christ, people. I am seriously thinking about getting bodily involved in the whole crisis, I don't think I will be able to forgive myself if I don't.

Knit, are you aware of this term? You're too valuable to be wasted running against a wall of bullets. Stop thinking about it. I managed to as well.
Have you read Homage to Catalonia? It might help.

Helgo, ask Sheb, he will tell you some useful things about Russian culture, like how self-sacrifice and defence of Motherland, irregardless of underlying politics of conflict, are integral parts of our cultural identity. In fact, I consider this one of the biggest differences between Russian and modern Anglo-American mentality: a Russian is not naturally disinclined towards all violence, for him, to fight and kill can be a great virtue in some cases, the major one being when his people's safety is at stake, and whatever you tell me, the poor bastards in Donbass really are in danger, what with the whole conflinct long being institutionalised and ideologically infused by the Ukrainian government. So I really don't care who started or who benefits from this conflict - I am capable of helping those on my side in need and I am doing nothing, goddammit!

I get what you're saying - I firmly believe that Western individualism has hit a dead end, and that concepts such as 'self-sacrifice' will once again become more popular. We'll once again start thinking in terms of collectives, with all the good and bad things that will bring.
I've been thinking similar thoughts, Knit. Back in 2012 when Syria's revolution was still largely secular and I thought nothing of throwing my life away, being badly depressed at the time, I considered going there to fight. Luckily I never got off my lazy ass. The same thing went through my head with Ukraine, with precisely the same reasoning you use: But 'my people' aren't 'your people', of course. And I guess if I was a bit more fit and a bit more crazy, I'd have gone through with it. But would it have done any good? My corpse with a bullet between the eyes makes for good fertilizer, but little else. My point is that believing there are things worth dying for is not a distinctly Russian thing; and one should weigh very carefully what one is trying to accomplish. Because dying senselessly for one thing means not living for a more prosperous cause.
And seriously, read Homage to Catalonia. You seem like the kind of guy who'd enjoy Orwell's style of writing.

I read Homage to Catalonia, it contained nothing I didn't expect from a man who wrote "1984", but it was nicely written nevertheless.

Helgo, I think we are talking about different things here. I am not depressed, neither am I trying to accomplish anything. What I am considering doing (and I am going to start slow, with humanitaian aid convoys and such, if only because of my parents) I do not consider particularly attractive or fun, but rather a grim necessity and my duty. I, like most Russians, was raised on WW2 stories that exalted the whole "a hero is whoever goes into battle even after seeing his buddy get torn in half by a shell" angle of war, and so, frankly, I don't really care if my death will be meaningful - it's the fact itself of going to war and fighting, of being able to look people in the eyes when they ask me about what I've done to help, of not sitting here and doing nothing, that matters.

But I am really curious here: you said you consider Ukrainians to be your people?

[Tiruin]

-snip-

This could be a related idea to how culture generally orients (and such).
Knit tie seems to be in a very collective culture :O I can extremely relate, as its a thing that's so common here that...I thought it was the norm everywhere at a very young age (before I got into History and the World...)...along with many other ideals that support aid of the fellowman.

[Knit tie]

-snip-

This could be a related idea to how culture generally orients (and such).
Knit tie seems to be in a very collective culture :O I can extremely relate, as its a thing that's so common here that...I thought it was the norm everywhere at a very young age (before I got into History and the World...)...along with many other ideals that support aid of the fellowman.

An absolutely correct observation, Tiruin! I once conducted a sort of psychological experiment: asked my friends from all over the world today what they think would be the right thing for a young man to do if his country is fighting over territory with a neighbouring country, with both of the countries having equally valid moral and political reasons for waging war? My friends from the western 1st world countries and, surprisingly, Hong-Kong, replied, mostly, along the lines of "stop the war". My friends from Eastern Europe, Asia and Brazil replied, mostly, "go fight".

What if a young man's country is being attacked? Individualists said "defend", with some being uncertain. Collectivists - "I die but I do not surrender!"

And if a young man's country is instead invading another country for no clear reason? Individualists were steadfastly against fighting. Collectivists were divided, about half said that they would fight, because whether or not their country was wrong, it was their country, while the rest said that they would oppose the war if it was clearly criminal in nature.

So yeah, different values galore.

EDIT: Is there a thread BTW? I am so itching to write textwall to how living in UK is different from living in Russia on a deep, personal level.

[Lagslayer]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-snip-

This could be a related idea to how culture generally orients (and such).
Knit tie seems to be in a very collective culture :O I can extremely relate, as its a thing that's so common here that...I thought it was the norm everywhere at a very young age (before I got into History and the World...)...along with many other ideals that support aid of the fellowman.

An absolutely correct observation, Tiruin! I once conducted a sort of psychological experiment: asked my friends from all over the world today what they think would be the right thing for a young man to do if his country is fighting over territory with a neighbouring country, with both of the countries having equally valid moral and political reasons for waging war? My friends from the western 1st world countries and, surprisingly, Hong-Kong, replied, mostly, along the lines of "stop the war". My friends from Eastern Europe, Asia and Brazil replied, mostly, "go fight".

What if a young man's country is being attacked? Individualists said "defend", with some being uncertain. Collectivists - "I die but I do not surrender!"

And if a young man's country is instead invading another country for no clear reason? Individualists were steadfastly against fighting. Collectivists were divided, about half said that they would fight, because whether or not their country was wrong, it was their country, while the rest said that they would oppose the war if it was clearly criminal in nature.

So yeah, different values galore.

EDIT: Is there a thread BTW? I am so itching to write textwall to how living in UK is different from living in Russia on a deep, personal level.

Interesting. Do you still have all the data you collected?

[Knit tie]

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

-snip-

This could be a related idea to how culture generally orients (and such).
Knit tie seems to be in a very collective culture :O I can extremely relate, as its a thing that's so common here that...I thought it was the norm everywhere at a very young age (before I got into History and the World...)...along with many other ideals that support aid of the fellowman.

An absolutely correct observation, Tiruin! I once conducted a sort of psychological experiment: asked my friends from all over the world today what they think would be the right thing for a young man to do if his country is fighting over territory with a neighbouring country, with both of the countries having equally valid moral and political reasons for waging war? My friends from the western 1st world countries and, surprisingly, Hong-Kong, replied, mostly, along the lines of "stop the war". My friends from Eastern Europe, Asia and Brazil replied, mostly, "go fight".

What if a young man's country is being attacked? Individualists said "defend", with some being uncertain. Collectivists - "I die but I do not surrender!"

And if a young man's country is instead invading another country for no clear reason? Individualists were steadfastly against fighting. Collectivists were divided, about half said that they would fight, because whether or not their country was wrong, it was their country, while the rest said that they would oppose the war if it was clearly criminal in nature.

So yeah, different values galore.

EDIT: Is there a thread BTW? I am so itching to write textwall to how living in UK is different from living in Russia on a deep, personal level.

Interesting. Do you still have all the data you collected?

Sorry, I don't know how to copy Excel sheets as pictures 

      Western 1st world + Hong Kong   China and Japan   Brazil, Chile and Venezuela   Eastern europe
   Total   22   17   15   27
War with both sides justified.   Fight!   1   5   4   4
   Fight if conscripted   3   6   5   10
   Unsure/ it depends   3   1   2   4
   Avoid fighting    4   4   2   6
   Protest against the war   11   1   2   3
Invasion by an aggressor.   Fight!   6   5   6   8
   Fight if conscripted   6   9   5   16
   Unsure/ it depends   7   0   3   3
   Avoid fighting    3   3   0   0
   Protest against the war   0   0   1   0
Attack on a neighbouring country.   Fight!   0   2   1   4
   Fight if conscripted   2   2   3   4
   Unsure/ it depends   5   6   4   11
   Avoid fighting    7   5   2   6
   Protest against the war   8   2   5   2


   

[Orange Wizard]

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