OK, I now expect war to break out between India and Pakistan.
India just suspended the Indus Water Treaty with Pakistan and the PPP's leader accuses Sharif of scapegoating Pakistan to distract from it's own internal security lapses.
In earlier years the USA would have taken an international lead to cool things off but Trump obviously won’t give a fuck about two nuclear powers going to the mattresses unless he can make bank on it.
I actually wondered if we would see increased international instability with US isolationism. I figured Middle East. But it can also be Pakistan/India, Eastern Europe, China/Taiwan, etc. The cockroaches may indeed win.
@cstross I have no idea if this is the case, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Modi’s govt had not gained the idea from its general discussions with Trump that it could afford to try it on.
Possible tragedy ahead if Modi thinks he’s sent obvious signals to Washington, but everyone at State or Defense was too drunk or fired to notice.
@lp0_on_fire @BashStKid @cstross Both sides have had a very delicate relationship since their conception at the hand of British rule, and require mediation now more than ever.
Indians are (rightfully in my perspective) enraged, and our media doesn't help at all. And we have a weird acceptance across the aisle which never happens usually on anything. So unless a more powerful country intervenes, we probably might go into a dangerous game of retaliatory strikes.
@cstross Deterrence only works when people think they can live.
Agriculture is collapsing. (The actual problem.)
US power depends on the US economy, which won't recover from the USD not being the reserve currency.
No problem is solvable with the oligarchy in place; they've fucked up beyond the ability of words to describe and are terrified and panicky and willing to do anything to maintain _their_ status quo, the one they experience.
Which is impossible, but acceptance isn't widespread.
This is the reason that the British Empire created the forms of independence that they used for the ex-colonies.
Leave a situation where they can always come back to place a thumb on the scales.
aberdeen
Airburst
100000 kilotons
Fireball radius: 6.71 km (141 km²)
Maximum size of the nuclear fireball; relevance to damage on the ground depends on the height of detonation. If it touches the ground, the amount of radioactive fallout is significantly increased. Anything inside the fireball is effectively vaporized. Minimum burst height for negligible fallout: 5.49 km.
Moderate blast damage radius (5 psi): 32.6 km (3,350 km²)
At 5 psi overpressure, most residential buildings collapse, injuries are universal, fatalities are widespread. The chances of a fire starting in commercial and residential damage are high, and buildings so damaged are at high risk of spreading fire. Often used as a benchmark for moderate damage in cities. Optimal height of burst to maximize this effect is 14,490 m.
Thermal radiation radius (3rd degree burns): 73.7 km (17,080 km²)
Third degree burns extend throughout the layers of skin, and are often painless because they destroy the pain nerves. They can cause severe scarring or disablement, and can require amputation. 100% probability for 3rd degree burns at this yield is 13.9 cal/cm².
Light blast damage radius (1 psi): 91.8 km (26,450 km²)
At around 1 psi overpressure, glass windows can be expected to break. This can cause many injuries in a surrounding population who comes to a window after seeing the flash of a nuclear explosion (which travels faster than the pressure wave). Often used as a benchmark for light damage in cities. Optimal height of burst to maximize this effect is 21,690 m.
*Detonation altitude: 14,490 m. (Chosen to maximize the 5 psi range.)
The bhangmeter results and other data suggested the bomb yielded around 58 Mt (243 PJ),[15] which was the accepted yield in technical literature until 1991, when Soviet scientists revealed that their instruments indicated a yield of 50 Mt (209 PJ).[4] As they had the instrumental data and access to the test site, their yield figure has been accepted as more accurate.[4][14] In theory, the bomb would have had a yield over 100 Mt (418 PJ) if it had included the uranium-238[16] tamper which featured in the design but was omitted in the test to reduce radioactive fallout.[16] As only one bomb was built to completion, that capability has never been demonstrated.[16] The remaining bomb casings are located at the Russian Atomic Weapon Museum in Sarov and the Museum of Nuclear Weapons, All-Russian Scientific Research Institute Of Technical Physics, in Snezhinsk.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tsar_Bomba
The name is derived from the Punjabi word "bhang", a locally grown variety of cannabis which is smoked or drunk to induce intoxicating effects, the joke being that one would have to be on drugs to believe the bhangmeter detectors would work properly.
i thought it was just a funny way to spell bang.
before these idiots are done with us we may see them again.
Let's say goodbye with a smile, dear
Just for a while dear we must part
Don't let this parting upset you
I'll not forget you, sweetheart
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
Keep smiling through
Just like you always do
'Til the blue skies chase those dark clouds far away
And I will just say hello
To the folks that you know
Tell them you won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as I saw you go
You were singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
And I will just say hello
To the folks that you know
Tell them you won't be long
They'll be happy to know
That as I saw you go
You were singing this song
We'll meet again
Don't know where
Don't know when
But I know we'll meet again some sunny day
@Robo105 Plausible. And if China gets involved, that risks pulling in the USA and/or Russia.
In previous decades they’d have been the peacemakers/negotiators. Now? Who the fuck knows.
Terry Pratchett, and others, have used it, but apparently it was Joseph Chamberlain, and or his son. YMMV.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/May_you_live_in_interesting_times
Charlie Stross
Uilebheist
Passenger
Some other time?
BashStKid
lp0 on fire 
cynical melomaniac 
Graydon
Medea Vanamonde🏳️⚧️ ♀
William B Peckham
Billy Smith
Kierkegaanks regretfully
ℒӱḏɩę 
paul
Greengordon
Robin Barton
Wilhelm Gere
Tess Arnold
Ms. Denie