A bleak topic, but do you have a plan if the **** hits the fan (Besides duck)

hollydolly said:
Ever since I was little ..my mother talked about Nuclear war .. she was sure it was coming.. (no sweet little red riding hood stories for us.. all Atom Bombs and terror)... and she would always say that if we were to have a nuclear war, ( atom bomb at the time).. she would want it to land right on her head... because the alternative would be too awful.. I agree..
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Oh holly, I relate. Kind of the same with my mother. Having lived through the bombings of Dresden and I heard about it at much too young an age. She should have taken a damn direct hit herself.

But yeah, the bleep hits the fan, I'm done. I'm not going to be the one running around hiding from zombies.
 
davey said:
gulp ;gulp and third gulp - and I haven't even my third morning coffee yet!!
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Ya, the outcome was not a pretty sight.
That was at a time (70's) when surgical attacks were executed by aluminum mobilized 155 Howitzers with a limited range. Very tactical, very fast, setting up in minutes, executing fire missions, and moving on to the next position.

We did a simulation exercise once (not knowing it was a simulation). It was 2:00am, in one of the southern US states, we were woken up by captain and lieutenants coming through yelling to get up and pack our duffle bags for deployment.
Bleary eyed, we all clamored in APC's (armored personnel carriers) and was heading to the airfield, loaded into C130's, with jeeps and other equipment.
As we lifted off, we were all confused, thinking something happened overnight that caused the military to deploy. For around 6 hours we flew over the Atlantic petrified, thinking a war was about to begin.

When we reached the airfield in Germany, we had to form a perimeter around the plan as supplies were unloaded. All indications this was serious and we were all scared but conditioned enough to pay attention and follow orders.
We were issued tanks, howitzers, Jeeps, and was headed to the ammunitions depot to load up with missiles. Once we got there and was ready for battle, they informed us it was a training mission. We spent the next 3 months moving around Germany simulating fire missions.

A couple of things that came out of this that was eye opening for me and others;
1) I had a new found appreciation for those that went through this and it wasn't a simulation. The human brain is not easily wired to a) accept what was happening, b) be able to process the carnage that comes from this type of engagement.
2) We did lose soldiers, but not the way you think. When we were still in the US some went AWOL (Absent without leave) prior to getting on the plane. They thought it was real and decided it was easier to run, than fight. Personally, that would haunt me forever, it would weigh on my mind for the rest of my life, could never do that.
 
bobcat48 said:
Just wondering if you have put much thought into what you might do if there were a catastrophe (Nuclear winter, deadly pandemic, societal revolt)
If so, what's your plan, or will you just jump in the toilet, hold your nose, and flush.
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I spend most of the mornings sat on the throne (loo), so I wouldn't be able to jump in it.
It might collapse, in which case I guess I'd be pretty sore in that region. o_O

I often wonder where people are and what they're doing when catastrophes/natural disasters suddenly happen. 😟
 
hollydolly said:
Ever since I was little ..my mother talked about Nuclear war .. she was sure it was coming.. (no sweet little red riding hood stories for us.. all Atom Bombs and terror)... and she would always say that if we were to have a nuclear war, ( atom bomb at the time).. she would want it to land right on her head... because the alternative would be too awful.. I agree..
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That's because Government leaflets were shoved through our doors, starting in the 50s and then in the 60s on how the UK was primed for nuclear attacks and how to survive them.
I remember a particular Public Informarion film they aired on the TV too about what it would be like. Pretty frightening. I'll see if I can find it online somewhere.

Edited: See here:
Public Information Films | 1964 to 1979 | Film index | Protect & Survive – Action After Warnings

..............................................................


Sinister yet pathetic: how the UK was primed for nuclear war​

'Sinister yet pathetic': how the UK was primed for nuclear war

Extracts:
'The first pamphlet distributed to the public was Civil Defence and the Atom Bomb, published in 1952. In 1955, the Strath report – a government-commissioned investigation into how Britain would cope after a nuclear war – found that the country would be left on the brink of collapse with millions dead. This made the next pamphlet, 1957’s The Hydrogen Bomb, hugely popular.'

By 1963, Advising the Householder on Protection Against Nuclear Attack had a print run of 500,000 copies. Meanwhile, councils across the UK were producing localised guides that imagined nuclear war decimating their high streets, with everywhere from Hull to Bristol getting their own dedicated pamphlets.

1960s
Civil defence advice - The National Archives
Civil Defence Advice
A Home Defence Review in 1960 looked into the policy on Civil Defence in the event of a nuclear war and the survival of the British public through planned evacuation of major population centres, the building of shelters and public education. This leaflet is aimed at raising public awareness.
 
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Murrmurr said:
An improved educational system would solve that problem.
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Yes. I don't think there's ever a ceiling on education. One thing the net has ushered in is complete disregard to sources and truth. It seems hardly anyone wants to do even a tiny bit of research into who is writing something, broadcasting it, or telling the tale. It just all gets taken in an digested. It means half or more what some people believe is demonstrably false, but they don't even care. Looks at the constant attacks on science, as though there's a better alternative to the scientific process. Madness.

But yes, education can help. The trouble is, we have schools these days that don't want to teach evolution, or insist creationism is taught alongside it as though they're somehow equal theories. I just can't quite get my head around it, I'm afraid. But then, we're old. :D
 
VaughanJB said:
Yes. I don't think there's ever a ceiling on education. One thing the net has ushered in is complete disregard to sources and truth. It seems hardly anyone wants to do even a tiny bit of research into who is writing something, broadcasting it, or telling the tale. It just all gets taken in an digested. It means half or more what some people believe is demonstrably false, but they don't even care. Looks at the constant attacks on science, as though there's a better alternative to the scientific process. Madness.

But yes, education can help. The trouble is, we have schools these days that don't want to teach evolution, or insist creationism is taught alongside it as though they're somehow equal theories. I just can't quite get my head around it, I'm afraid. But then, we're old. :D
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My nephew graduated from a high school that was unaware he was functionally illiterate. A year before graduation I met with the school's principal to tell him my 17yr-old nephew was reading at about the 3rd or 4th-grade level, and to request a student tutor.

That was in the very late 90s. High schools (that one, at least) didn't use student tutors anymore. In fact, there was no type of extra help at all for students who lagged behind. Not through the school district, anyway. Parents could only hire private tutors. I asked the principal if he had a list of tutors or maybe an agency. He didn't.

He did offer some ...ehhh... comforting advice, though: "You really shouldn't worry about it. I mean, that's what Spell-Check is for." And then he chuckled at my silliness.

My nephew's diploma is a joke. He's getting his *real* education now, at a state penitentiary. His 2nd term, this time for armed robbery, larceny, and car theft.

Maybe things would have been different if he'd have been able to get a decent job, idk. Most employers probably do prefer workers who can read.
 
Murrmurr said:
My nephew graduated from a high school that was unaware he was functionally illiterate. A year before graduation I met with the school's principal to tell him my 17yr-old nephew was reading at about the 3rd or 4th-grade level, and to request a student tutor.

That was in the very late 90s. High schools (that one, at least) didn't use student tutors anymore. In fact, there was no type of extra help at all for students who lagged behind. Not through the school district, anyway. Parents could only hire private tutors. I asked the principal if he had a list of tutors or maybe an agency. He didn't.

He did offer some ...ehhh... comforting advice, though: "You really shouldn't worry about it. I mean, that's what Spell-Check is for." And then he chuckled at my silliness.

My nephew's diploma is a joke. He's getting his *real* education now, at a state penitentiary. His 2nd term, this time for armed robbery, larceny, and car theft.

Maybe things would have been different if he'd have been able to get a decent job, idk. Most employers probably do prefer workers who can read.
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Sorry to hear that, Murmur. I've worked in many businesses that have KPI's (key performance indicators). That is, success of failure was measured by specific criteria. I've never seen it do good.

I'll give you a real world example. There was a KPI in the NHS here that basically counted the speed at which someone was seen when visiting Emergency. Sounds reasonable, but what was the end result? The end result was, they moved in an admin person to process patients, they had nurses see them initially, and then quickly moved those that needed it to beds placed in corridors. The net result being, people got "seen" far more quickly. Numbers were great, and everyone was happy. But the time it took for these patients to get actual treatments got WORSE. But hey, the KPI didn't specify.......

It'd difficult. So many choices are made because people are funneled into things. If you have a poor education - for whatever reason - then earning a grand a day selling drugs is a godsend. They won't ever have a career, and jail is an occupational hazard. I totally see their point (though I'd never sell drugs!) Poverty breeds crime. Not so much because those in poverty are bad people, but because their choices are limited. They're excluded from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps".

Sadly, your nephew will need a miracle to truly recover, and he may never manage it. I wish it were otherwise.
 
VaughanJB said:
Sorry to hear that, Murmur. I've worked in many businesses that have KPI's (key performance indicators). That is, success of failure was measured by specific criteria. I've never seen it do good.

I'll give you a real world example. There was a KPI in the NHS here that basically counted the speed at which someone was seen when visiting Emergency. Sounds reasonable, but what was the end result? The end result was, they moved in an admin person to process patients, they had nurses see them initially, and then quickly moved those that needed it to beds placed in corridors. The net result being, people got "seen" far more quickly. Numbers were great, and everyone was happy. But the time it took for these patients to get actual treatments got WORSE. But hey, the KPI didn't specify.......

It'd difficult. So many choices are made because people are funneled into things. If you have a poor education - for whatever reason - then earning a grand a day selling drugs is a godsend. They won't ever have a career, and jail is an occupational hazard. I totally see their point (though I'd never sell drugs!) Poverty breeds crime. Not so much because those in poverty are bad people, but because their choices are limited. They're excluded from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps".

Sadly, your nephew will need a miracle to truly recover, and he may never manage it. I wish it were otherwise.
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A poor education limits choices far more than being poor can. There are many ways to lift yourself out of poverty even if you don't have a good parent or two, though you're likely to be more motivated if you do. And while it's never too late, as they say, to get some training for a decent job or even a career, with a good education while you're young, when you're supposed to get one, you are far more likely to make better choices.

Today, our lower education system in particular is so inadequate, so unrelatable and tedious, too many students stop caring about it at around 4th or 5th grade no matter where their family sits financially. These kids simply lose interest.

My nephew comes from an upper-middle class home. Both parents work. They knew he was struggling with his studies, but the school kept advancing him each year. They didn't know that he was ditching classes and paying another student to do a lot of his school work.

In his words, "The school doesn't care."
 
hollydolly said:
Ever since I was little ..my mother talked about Nuclear war .. she was sure it was coming.. (no sweet little red riding hood stories for us.. all Atom Bombs and terror)... and she would always say that if we were to have a nuclear war, ( atom bomb at the time).. she would want it to land right on her head... because the alternative would be too awful.. I agree..
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Oh, that is sad. I could not give a toss on a personal basis if they wipe out the world, nobody lives forever and the earth would be a better place without the human race which is not fit to live on it.

 
Gemma said:
I don't think anyone knows what their plan would actually be until something really happened. I would never 'jump in the toilet and flush.' lol I take what comes at me and use common sense to deal with the situation at hand.
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Exactly. Nobody can make a plan regarding ‘what if’s.’ That type of thinking is so unhealthy. The best plan is to handle each day as it comes and make decisions accordingly. We could all start building underground shelters for something that might never happen and if this type of thing did ever happen I’d rather walk into it and meet my creator.
 
VaughanJB said:
Sorry to hear that, Murmur. I've worked in many businesses that have KPI's (key performance indicators). That is, success of failure was measured by specific criteria. I've never seen it do good.

I'll give you a real world example. There was a KPI in the NHS here that basically counted the speed at which someone was seen when visiting Emergency. Sounds reasonable, but what was the end result? The end result was, they moved in an admin person to process patients, they had nurses see them initially, and then quickly moved those that needed it to beds placed in corridors. The net result being, people got "seen" far more quickly. Numbers were great, and everyone was happy. But the time it took for these patients to get actual treatments got WORSE. But hey, the KPI didn't specify.......

It'd difficult. So many choices are made because people are funneled into things. If you have a poor education - for whatever reason - then earning a grand a day selling drugs is a godsend. They won't ever have a career, and jail is an occupational hazard. I totally see their point (though I'd never sell drugs!) Poverty breeds crime. Not so much because those in poverty are bad people, but because their choices are limited. They're excluded from the "pull yourself up by your bootstraps".

Sadly, your nephew will need a miracle to truly recover, and he may never manage it. I wish it were otherwise.
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If/when things go south, good people will have to rethink how to feed their families. And bad people will turn to more violent crime in a way that younger generations can't imagine.
 
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