RE: [MLUG - DISCUSSION] speaking of apocalyptic horsemen...

["Matthew Ross" <EMAIL:PROTECTED>]

> > If it causes our downfall, it will be because of who these 
> people vote
> > into office.  I kinda doubt it will get that bad, but I am 
> living in a
> > state that just had a former pro wrestler as its governor!!
> 
> We're too late!!!!!!

Nonsense aside, what I meant is that we wouldn't have the genetic base for any more Oppenheimers. We had to import brains back then, I don't think we could pull that off again.

Oppenheimer got a lot of bad press, but he saved an estimated 20,000 lives in WW2, and who knows how many since. Nobody wants all-out war when entire cities can now disappear off a map in a single bombing run. The two bombs dropped in WW2 killed a total of about 17,000 people, whereas a land war like we're doing in Iraq now was the alternative, and it was estimated based on our losses in the pacific that we would lose as many as 20,000 soldiers (and presumably as many or more enemy soldiers on the opposing side, hence my estimate on how many lives Oppenheimer saved).

But consider the world without nukes. USSR looked downright passive compared to how it would have been had they no threat of nuclear strikes. I doubt we could have defeated USSR in a land war if they agressively communized countries in the manner Hitler conquered Europe. They feared we would nuke Moscow and dozens of other cities, so they were cautious instead.

I like WMD's, myself. So long as my country has them ;-)

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