Two minutes to midnight

This is a very old fact sheet DF5. I am sure modern technology has reduced the risk of accidents a lot.

Thanks for this graph DF5 that is very interesting indeed.

What jumps out at me is the political situation when the clock was closest to midnight. Might just be a coincidence but it seems Conservative governments are more scary than Labour ones.:)

So we were last this close during the Thatcher/Reagan years. 

FWIW my grandparents lived through WWII. They were bombed out. Grandma was out the first time around, which was lucky because the whole house was destroyed. After the second time, my father recalled laying in his bed but looking up and seeing the stars in the sky(!)

laddie49 said:

That clock has been close to midnight my whole life. 69 years.

I Post this in great support of this being a very good answer... although I am personally some Twenty Years younger. I suspect there to be no-one upon this Forum who has actually lived through WW1 and/or WW2, and all of the "anxiousness" that occurred...? (To give practical/genuine support/advice, I mean...)

As far as I've understood it, we're nowhere near in range of N.K's missiles and those who do have us in range (Russia for instance) are nowhere near considering it. 

I don't think 'The End Is Near' re. war / mass destruction / total societal breakdown but I do think it's to be expected that, in the long term, localised infrastructures will temporarily break down as resources either run low temporarily (electricity, water, imported foods) or become too expensive to use / waste in the way that we do now. 

...and this is also relevant:

https://www.ucsusa.org/sites/default/files/attach/2015/04/Close%20Calls%20with%20Nuclear%20Weapons.pdf

Well, of course the clock has always been close to midnight. Maybe this'll help:

The point is, it's as close to midnight now as it has ever been.  

1953: Two minutes to midnight.

1960: America nearly launches unprovoked nuclear strike on Russia when NORAD early warning system mistakes the rising moon for a Soviet first-strike

1962: Cuban Missile Crisis

1983: Operation Able Archer. Stanislav Petrov saves the world & is court-martialled.  

That clock has been close to midnight my whole life. 69 years.

If they do start throwing nukes about I would hope one hit me on the head rather than a close miss killing me by a slow death from radiation.

In other circumstances such as an epidemic or climate change I am in a location where a subsistence existence could be possible for a time.

Private water supply gravity fed, sewage system , solar panels which could be modified to provide DC power in daylight hours, wood burner with back boiler for hot water and a gravity fed radiator. Problem is when other survivors notice that I (or whoever is living here)  would be run off or killed without doubt. When push comes to shove I would do the same but I am too old to put up much of a fight. I have no weapons apart from axes and knives.

I would hope my wine cellar was well stocked. :)

im way to prepared food drink armor vehicles and weapons

What makes you say that?

The accuracy part I can understand, but it looks to me like they already have the range? 

However, I wasn't prepared to bet that Nork guidance systems would inadvertently hit France (or wherever) instead, hence the basic prep and indeed this thread. 

I sincerely hope I'm wrong about the likelihood, and I can handle being an object of fun for the folk here.

No real harm done, and the stuff I have slowly amassed can be put to use equally well in the event of some other major interruption to the grid, such as a major CME event. As far as possible I think I have a need to know I don't have to rely on anyone else, but perhaps that's something that life has taught me as a consequence of ASD.

On the other hand, I don't think I would handle things actually kicking off and knowing I'd lost my chance to prepare for the sake of the family. So I guess it all boils down to anxiety really (which of course surprises me because as I've previously stated, I was generally unaware of my feelings, and never thought of myself as the anxious type).

I have been turning nuclear war over in my mind since the 1980s, and in the 1990s had the view that humanity might survive until about 2012, by which time somebody, probably Iran or North Korea, would have chucked a warhead about, and things would then kick-off. I felt more of a grim determination than anxiety.  

I was very happy to be proved wrong by the arrival of 2013, but I am also keenly aware that I am quite often about 2-5 years too pessimistic about things.

If it was just me, I would probably be getting those Jaffa cakes in, but of course I have a little lad now. I had thought we were safe to have him, but global politics has now gone South. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this. I hate being right.

I don't think it will happen for a whole host of reasons, least not that the Norks are a long way of getting a missile that could hit the UK, either in terms of range or accuracy.

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

your encouraging certain answers from myself and

Guilty as charged, DC.

I wanted to know what you all think. 

I shall look up some of your suggestions, since there are some that I cannot recall seeing before. 

Yes, I am well aware that humanity always seems to think it is living in the end-times, and that no one ever seems to be predicting annihilation beyond the short term, so they can sell you some guaranteed solution, such as a book(!).

Even in 1000A.D., it seems folk were "a bit edgy".

People on my doorstep brandishing "watchtower" and asking me if I've thought about the end of the world always look at me strangely and decide they can't stay after all when I cheerfully tell them that I have, and attempt to debate the consequences of our Sun exhausting its fuel.

Do you visit the ocean often? It sounds like it is a special place for you?

I am very glad to hear you are aware that Tuesday is Soylent Green day. Did you ever read the short story "The Food of the Gods", by Arthur C. Clarke? I had wondered if you were hinting at an intent to make use of whatever protein might be found...(!). I think I would rather stick to rabbit that has been sheltering in its burrow. 

Who wants to fill Stanislav Petrov's shoes this time around? Anyone?

Loving the sardonic wit.

I've bored people unconscious, according to my (then) teenage children. It wasn't in self defence. I'm not even sorry, I'll probably do it again. I'm probably doing it right now!  

There's loads, it's very seasonal and much harder in winter, spring, summer and autumn you can pretty much eat for free. You can eat everything from acorns to nettles provided you know how to prepare them. There's a couple of really good Ray Mears bushcraft guides that tell you all you'll need to know.

In my case I know how to and have successfully choked someone unconscious (in self defense), if you punch someone in the throat they will be incapacitated (don't punch them in the head, you'll just fracture knuckles or break fingers), bull whips are very effective if you can use one. I have a crossbow which is powerful enough to go through someone so that would incapacitate fairly well. 

The thing is if you get involved into physical violence you'll probably get injured evening you "win", you're better off winning before it even starts.

Good Fortune to yourself Mr.Chinese-ICBM, and/or MotorCar Company...

...I was going to reply to certain queries, yet now that this Thread is a bit longer, I notice - thus far - your encouraging certain answers from myself and MattBucks quite a bit...? Thus I attempt this Post, which, please be aware, may disappoint you, and I apologise and do not mean to so much...

There may be a few Internet Keywords which you might like to try: Survivalism, Prepping, SAS Survival... Financial Times (The), Pole Reversal, Carrington Event 1859, Solar Storm/Solar Flare, Apocalypse...
...This is, um, "stuff" which I grew up upon and have managed to live through so-far, which are always "on the brink of occurring" and are still pertinent... Unlike the numerous Asteroid Strikes, Solar Flares, Religious discussions, Cold War, Nuclear Threat, Global Warming, and updated "End of the Worlds" in 1999, Y2K, and 2016...

Concerning "NK"... this is a Political Topic, and so I have little interest in discussing such discussions, sorry.

Concerning the OCEAN (** Yay! The Ocean! **) ... this was an initial reply and you did not mention being "vaporised" in the first place? Yes due to food, no due to "serenity" (...?), and yes to get away from the masses...

Concerning "methods of incapacitating people" and the topic of, um, "killing"... I do not appreciate such a turn of subject and so I shall not answer, sorry. However, I suspect that (typically with myself) that my last Post may have been misunderstood. To whit, I may suggest more Internet Keywords which you may know: Self Defence, Incapacitation... and Soylent Green!

To close this Post, I know that this is long, and that I do bring up a lot of other Topics... and for a change, this is quite deliberate on my part. Good luck, for the topic of "Apocalypses" is a very varied and interesting digression, an attitude all of its own, which is nothing at all like that which is portrayed in Fictional Films or Mainstream Media.

Have a nice day (!).

I don't think it will happen

I am hoping that the whole thing is to keep NK on a war-footing without actually fighting, until they are all exhausted and/or run out of money... That would appear to be the one option which no one actually mentions, but would nevertheless fit what we have been seeing.

Unfortunately, I am not sure the Americans (or at least some of the ones that matter in this case) are quite that smart.

www.youtube.com/watch

Which plants would you recommend, as long as there isn't fallout to deal with?

Disambiguating Cynosure said:

very many and a-plenty, of methods towards incapacitating

This sounds like one of your areas of expertise? Could you be persuaded to enumerate some so that we can get the gist?