What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country?

Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by mstade on Monday July 19, 2021 @07:59PM (#27888655)

Hate to burst your bubble but we don’t actually live in a movie. I think.

That being said, the quoted line kind of raises the question: how do we know?

I suppose given the use of the word “feel” the GP doesn’t actually know, but that’s not really my point anyway. My point is rather – if there in fact were incidents involving these nuclear material couriers, would it make the news or remain secret as a matter of national security?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by rodgerd on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @01:07AM (#27890268)

> I think.

I dunno, I feel like I'm living in a future designed by folks who looked at Robocop, Starship Troopers, and a few other bits of dystopian sci-fi and instead of treating it as a warning decided that it would make a swell instruction manual.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by RalfWausE on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @02:24AM (#27890638)

Hmm... maybe its my german heritage, but i don't see Starship Troopers as THAT dystopian:

Every politican has skin in the game (mandatory military service for gaining the right to vote or be voted for)

No racism or sexism or other discrimination, at least there are no traces for that in either the movie nor the novel.

If you don't want to join the military: No problem, you don't have any major disadvantages (besides no political participation), see the wealthy family of the protagonist.

Science seems to flourish

Ehm... sorry for the digression... what were we talking about?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by hutzlibu on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:07AM (#27890839)

Well, the book by Heinlein certainly wasn't meant to be dystopian, so there are sane elements in it.

But the movie was a bit different - maybe you watched the german version? That was a bit softer - the teacher didn't made jokes about the anhilation of Hiroshima there.

It was a deeply militarized society. Brutal. Top down. But yes, at least the politicians had to be part of that, too. (but in reality ... I think you can be in the military and be far away from any danger, like Bush was a fighter pilot, but not deployed at Vietnam.)

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by RalfWausE on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:56AM (#27891070)

Interesting... i think i have to do a rewatch of the movie (this time in english), yes, i have watched the german version, which was "over-the-top", but not THAT "over-the-top"...

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by rodgerd on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @05:45PM (#27899796)

> Well, the book by Heinlein certainly wasn't meant to be dystopian

It literally starts out by re-contexualising the ex-millitary putsch attempts in Weimar Germany as a Good Thing.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by hutzlibu on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @07:38PM (#27900584)

Ok, I have to admit I did not read the full book, just the beginning, but do not remember this. But I was told it was not meant to be dystopian. On the other hand, Heinlein did had some extreme views, though, so I am not sure, what the message of the book actually is.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by hutzlibu on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:03AM (#27890819)

I think 1984 was used more as a manual, than a warning, despite so many people throw the name around, despite never having read it.

And I always kind of assumed, that Bush watched Swordfish (where the bad guys are only bad, so they can fight terrorism, so are the "good guys") and would have gone on a war on terror, even if 911 would not have happened.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by dylan604 on Monday July 19, 2021 @08:47PM (#27888972)

>Hate to burst your bubble

Burst all you want, but it doesn't mean my comment wasn't true. You can want this conversation to only go one direction (real life), but it's the internet and conversations can diverge. The fact that it has been involved in plots is still relevant. Some people might actually find it interesting even if it steers the convo in a manner you don't approve.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by scubbo on Monday July 19, 2021 @09:51PM (#27889314)

A: I wonder how often event X occurs? I imagine it's not very often. B: It happens in movies a lot.

To me, as a native English speaker, B is clearly implying (with their "technically true" statement) the statement "Event X happens a lot in fiction, therefore I infer that Event X happens a lot in real life". Statements are read in the context of the preceding conversation.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by Kye on Monday July 19, 2021 @07:55PM (#27888633)

Fiction writers often create a compelling story by making something reality-shaped out of low-probability dangers.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by AnimalMuppet on Monday July 19, 2021 @10:05PM (#27889397)

By "happen", most of us mean "happen in reality", not "happen in fiction".

Although, it might be a bit relevant. You feel cooler when you tell people what you do if it's fictionally cool, even if in real life it's not all that great.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by ALittleLight on Monday July 19, 2021 @07:52PM (#27888611)

Any that were non-fiction?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by bdowling on Monday July 19, 2021 @08:13PM (#27888761)

The documentary Command and Control [0] included a small part about the recovery and transport of a warhead after an accident in which they missile it was mounted on exploded.

[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Command_and_Control_(film)

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by AnimalMuppet on Monday July 19, 2021 @10:07PM (#27889412)

That still wasn't an attack, though. (Though it might have been as dangerous as if it were...)

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by ALittleLight on Monday July 19, 2021 @11:47PM (#27889854)

And it was also caused by a maintenance accident at a silo if I understood the wiki correctly. Not a transport incident at all.

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