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This is fantastic. Safety in public places will increase and increase over time. I cannot wait. Surveillance is the new fear of nuclear weapons. In both cas

by codex 13y ago

This is fantastic. Safety in public places will increase and increase over time. I cannot wait. Surveillance is the new fear of nuclear weapons. In both cases, new technology generates a huge frothy paranoia among the public which does not, in the end, amount to anything. This is because the public feeds on fear and discounts reassuring information. The net effect of nuclear weapons has been, instead, quite positive--bringing about a cessation of world wars.

nathancahill 13y ago
Very true. One of the things I love about Dr. Strangelove is how it's increasingly relevant today. Soon: "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Surveillance"
5sdd09f 13y ago
not-sure-if-troll-or-just-really-really-stupid.jpg
- nkurz 13y ago
  Here's some excerpts from his recent comments that suggest sincerity by someone who has a very different worldview than many of the participants here. Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize: "Given that Snowden has undermined Pax Americana, I find this nomination surprising." Stallman on GCC, LLVM, and copyleft: "Sure, I'll take cheaper parts for my car, and I love getting something for nothing, but on the list of humanity's problems, non-GPL software is very, very low." Watchdog Report Says N.S.A. Program Is Illegal and Should End: "They're not committing crimes against the American people. Not one American has been found who has been demonstrably harmed by any NSA program. Without harm, there no criminal act." Startup failure post-mortems: "If you can't create a successful company, what makes you think you know why a company was unsuccessful? It's just more mental masturbation." Ask PG: Is HN Expired Link Eventual Fix Planned?: "I suspect the fix will result in a large change to the code base and you want to always own/understand the code for some reason. So if you can't fix it yourself, nobody is allowed to, either." NSA statement does not deny 'spying' on members of Congress: "The real question is: has an human looked at Congressional metadata, or are they likely to do so? This question was not asked because, given the data protections in place, the answer is likely no." Bzr is dying; Emacs needs to move: "If Emacs moves to git, can we call it by its proper name: git/Emacs?" It's not a worldview I understand at all, but it's good to have diversity. And I'll admit, the last one is genuinely funny.
- algorias 13y ago
  nkurz, you are hellbanned. Can't see why, given that your account is clearly legitimate.
ericd 13y ago
Oof. Have you read the accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis? The cases where people were ordered to fire their missiles by faulty warning systems but refused and got canned, or where 2/3 keyholders on a boomer wanted to fire their payloads and it was down to the last man who refused? I don't think you should be so blasé about our history with nukes as though it was always a paper tiger. Human civilization came extremely close to destruction at least a few times, and it came down to a few individuals that talked others down. It could have very easily gone the other way. I highly recommend you read Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F. Kennedy for a largely first hand account, parts of it are chilling.
- twoodfin 13y ago
  After you read Thirteen Days, you should probably read The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths versus Reality by Sheldon Stern[1], former historian at the JFK Library. He argues convincingly that Thirteen Days perpetuated a number of (largely RFK-serving) myths about the crisis that are readily disprovable by listening to the tapes JFK made of ExComm meetings. These were only available to the public within the last decade or so. TL;DR: RFK was far more hawkish and pro-air strikes/invasion than he later portrayed himself. There was no brilliant gambit to "accept" Khrushchev's earlier offer in place of his later one: The trade of the Jupiter missiles in Turkey was viewed as an acceptable way out by JFK essentially as soon as it was proposed. President Kennedy actually comes off rather well, without over-committing to military engagement early in the crisis and by managing the post-blockade diplomatic dance while avoiding avenues of potential escalation. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Missile-Crisis-American-Memory/dp/0804783772 http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Missile-Crisis-American-Memory/d...
  - ericd 13y ago
    Thanks for the recc, I'll take a look. Based on the reviews, though, it seems like they don't disagree that it looked pretty bleak at certain points, regardless of how much whitewashing RFK did of his own part in the crisis. Maybe it was just gamesmanship and negotiation in the case of the missile crisis, but it seems as though it could have escalated beyond their control very quickly.

by codex 13y ago

nathancahill 13y ago

Very true. One of the things I love about Dr. Strangelove is how it's increasingly relevant today. Soon: "How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love The Surveillance"

5sdd09f 13y ago

not-sure-if-troll-or-just-really-really-stupid.jpg

nkurz 13y ago
Here's some excerpts from his recent comments that suggest sincerity by someone who has a very different worldview than many of the participants here. Edward Snowden nominated for Nobel peace prize: "Given that Snowden has undermined Pax Americana, I find this nomination surprising." Stallman on GCC, LLVM, and copyleft: "Sure, I'll take cheaper parts for my car, and I love getting something for nothing, but on the list of humanity's problems, non-GPL software is very, very low." Watchdog Report Says N.S.A. Program Is Illegal and Should End: "They're not committing crimes against the American people. Not one American has been found who has been demonstrably harmed by any NSA program. Without harm, there no criminal act." Startup failure post-mortems: "If you can't create a successful company, what makes you think you know why a company was unsuccessful? It's just more mental masturbation." Ask PG: Is HN Expired Link Eventual Fix Planned?: "I suspect the fix will result in a large change to the code base and you want to always own/understand the code for some reason. So if you can't fix it yourself, nobody is allowed to, either." NSA statement does not deny 'spying' on members of Congress: "The real question is: has an human looked at Congressional metadata, or are they likely to do so? This question was not asked because, given the data protections in place, the answer is likely no." Bzr is dying; Emacs needs to move: "If Emacs moves to git, can we call it by its proper name: git/Emacs?" It's not a worldview I understand at all, but it's good to have diversity. And I'll admit, the last one is genuinely funny.
algorias 13y ago
nkurz, you are hellbanned. Can't see why, given that your account is clearly legitimate.

ericd 13y ago

Oof. Have you read the accounts of the Cuban Missile Crisis? The cases where people were ordered to fire their missiles by faulty warning systems but refused and got canned, or where 2/3 keyholders on a boomer wanted to fire their payloads and it was down to the last man who refused? I don't think you should be so blasé about our history with nukes as though it was always a paper tiger. Human civilization came extremely close to destruction at least a few times, and it came down to a few individuals that talked others down. It could have very easily gone the other way. I highly recommend you read Thirteen Days: A Memoir of the Cuban Missile Crisis by Robert F. Kennedy for a largely first hand account, parts of it are chilling.

twoodfin 13y ago
After you read Thirteen Days, you should probably read The Cuban Missile Crisis in American Memory: Myths versus Reality by Sheldon Stern[1], former historian at the JFK Library. He argues convincingly that Thirteen Days perpetuated a number of (largely RFK-serving) myths about the crisis that are readily disprovable by listening to the tapes JFK made of ExComm meetings. These were only available to the public within the last decade or so. TL;DR: RFK was far more hawkish and pro-air strikes/invasion than he later portrayed himself. There was no brilliant gambit to "accept" Khrushchev's earlier offer in place of his later one: The trade of the Jupiter missiles in Turkey was viewed as an acceptable way out by JFK essentially as soon as it was proposed. President Kennedy actually comes off rather well, without over-committing to military engagement early in the crisis and by managing the post-blockade diplomatic dance while avoiding avenues of potential escalation. [1] http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Missile-Crisis-American-Memory/dp/0804783772 http://www.amazon.com/Cuban-Missile-Crisis-American-Memory/d...
- ericd 13y ago
  Thanks for the recc, I'll take a look. Based on the reviews, though, it seems like they don't disagree that it looked pretty bleak at certain points, regardless of how much whitewashing RFK did of his own part in the crisis. Maybe it was just gamesmanship and negotiation in the case of the missile crisis, but it seems as though it could have escalated beyond their control very quickly.