Almost Everything in "Dr. Strangelove" Was True

The arguments are the same as today: We don't want more controls and oversight, because our enemies could use our limitations against us to neutralize our capability, and in any case strict military discipline and comprehensive personnel screening will eliminate abuse. Sound familiar?

The book from which this is adapted (Command & Control) is fascinating and terrifying. Everyone should read it. You'll wonder how it is that we've managed to escape truly catastrophic accidents with these weapons.

I think we&#x27;re well overdue for a surveillance DrStrangelove.<p>Is it impotence that causes people to surveil? Some other voyeuristic impulse? Could be fun to explore.

Our Looking Glass aircraft(EC-135C) flew 24x7 for many years with 2 launch officers. They could launch the minuteman missiles from the air and didn&#x27;t require NCA approval. It also could contact the subs via LF&#x2F;VLF and tell them to launch.<p>Their mission assumed DC and SAC HQ were already taken out.

The Cold War in general was full of all sorts of insanity no one would ever imagine to be possible. Prime example of truth being stranger than fiction.<p>That and all good satire has truth in it. The more truth and the better illustrated, the better the satire. Kubrick was a visionary for a reason.

I dunno - I think we were safer with dedicated airmen manning Minuteman silo switches. Morale dropped after the PALs were installed. They disrespected the whole idea - entered a launch code of 0000-0000. Still they knew they&#x27;d become administrators (alcoholism, spousal- and drug-abuse etc) and not the last link in the chain preventing nuclear war. How was that an improvement?

Problems with poor morale on missile bases? The second in command at Stratcom[1] with gambling problems? Looks like we need to take humans out of the loop when it comes to nuclear decision making. We need something that will not be subject to emotions. Something that makes decisions based only on cold hard logic. . .<p>[1] Strategic Command - in charge of, amongst other things, global strike and strategic deterrence. <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Strategic_Command" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;en.wikipedia.org&#x2F;wiki&#x2F;United_States_Strategic_Command</a>

They lost me at this:<p>&gt;Force pilots were allowed to fire their nuclear anti-aircraft rockets to shoot down Soviet bombers heading toward the United States.<p>Nuclear anti-aircraft rockets?

I think it&#x27;s heartening, in a sense - and this goes beyond nuclear weapons - that as close as we are to danger, dangerous events are pretty rare.<p>Of course, whenever I have that thought, part of me fears that I&#x27;ll ironically be vaporized by an errant nuclear weapon, moments later. I reassure myself that, at least, it will be a quick end.

How about &quot;Everything in Dr. Stangelove was Plausible in Hindsight&quot;<p>Less link-baity of a title but much more accurate.

There&#x27;s an interesting chapter on Nuclear Command and Control in Ross Anderson&#x27;s <i>Security Engineering</i>: <a href="http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/~rja14/Papers/SEv2-c13.pdf" rel="nofollow">http:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.cl.cam.ac.uk&#x2F;~rja14&#x2F;Papers&#x2F;SEv2-c13.pdf</a>

Sounds like DRM (Digital Rights Management) problem. We have these locks on things so you wouldn&#x27;t do anything questionable, but of course we can&#x27;t send MPAA representative everytime you try to watch a movie, so here are the keys as well..

And how was it on the Sovjet side? The article failed to explore that part. Genuinely asking.

Except of course dropping a bomb on Russia (with a guy riding it).

Hopefully Russia doesn&#x27;t have a doomsday machine.

You can&#x27;t fight in here, this is the war room!

Colonel Batguano - man, that guy was crazy. Like, seriously bat-shit crazy!

I used to use this movie to test out prospective girlfriends. If they found humor in it, they were worth a second look. If it was WTF face all the way, there was never going to be any compatibility.