So there was Russian president Vladimir Putin the other day sounding uncomfortably similar to the mentally unstable leaders of North Korea, ISIS, and, oh yes, the United States.
He could bomb the world back into the Stone Age, he wants everyone to know, and there’s nothing anyone can do about it if he, says, gets stupidly drunk one night to the point that he thinks he might actually be able to wipe out 350 million Americans without any repercussions for his country and the rest of the world. Press the button, Igor, and let’s see what happens.
Of course, nobody thinks a sober Putin would ever unleash the bombs of Armaggeddon, because he knows that it would be the end of civilization. So most people around the world simply shrugged off his adolescent dick-waving comments as sabre rattling designed to impress his home audience just weeks before an election he is guaranteed to win, anyway.
You have to know, though, there are several terrorist groups who would like nothing more than to reduce civilization to rubble, and if they can get their index fingers on Russia’s missile buttons, they will do it without sober second thought. Putin has created an abomination that one day will be beyond his control, and it will only take one mad man to obliterate the human race.
How did we get to the point that one man can, while sitting on his living room sofa sipping vodka, end the world as we know it?
And why aren’t people worried about this prospect?
We eat, drink and be merry — at least, those who can afford to — knowing in the back of our minds that the human race is potentially only a moment away from extinction. Putin’s missiles, or somebody else’s missiles, could strike us today, tomorrow, the day after. Who knows? Yet we all carry on as if it will never happen.
Perhaps we give it little thought because we are all mortal beings, anyway. If we were each able to live for thousands of years on planet Earth, maybe we would have more fear of nuclear destruction. But, hey, we’re all going to die soon enough. So, dear Vladimir, you can’t take away something we’re going to lose, anyway. The joke is on you. We’re not afraid of dying from your missile attacks any more than we are already afraid of dying. Period.
What about the future of the human race, you might be asking. Shouldn’t we all be concerned about that? Shouldn’t we all want future generations to be born into a peaceful world?
Well, yes, of course. But the human race is doomed no matter what. Extinction is guaranteed, one way or another. So dreams of eternal bliss in a garden of Eden are just that: dreams. And we all know it.
So, come what may.
Verily I say unto Vladimir, eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die whether it be by your hand or another’s.
— Jillian
Jillian Page 
Vlad doesn’t have all the technology he claims in the speech. There was just one audience- Trump.
NASA has been working on a nuclear-powered rocket since the 1960’s, with limited success. Their main problems are heat and weight. The nuclear rocket develops thrust by passing hydrogen gas through a superheated nuclear core. And it is only feasible in space where the heat is less of a problem. A cooling system and external radiator for terrestrial use just adds to the weight. Also adding to the weight is the shielding from the radiation which would fry any electronics on the aircraft (such as an autopilot). The idea that a nuclear-powered drone can fly at relatively low-altitudes to escape defenses is laughable.
Another indefensible weapon in Putin’s speech is the MIRV (multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle). The MIRV has been in our arsenals since 1970.
The nuclear-powered torpedo is technically more feasible since cooling is not a problem in the ocean. But it is far from undetectable as it leaves a very obvious heat trail and nuclear propulsion is extremely expensive. (Another reason NASA has all but abandoned nuclear rocket research). The US has had nuclear-tipped torpedoes since 1963 based on conventional torpedo technology.
In other words, Putin is simply blowing smoke up Trump’s dumb ass.
What SHOULD scare us is Trumps total non-response. Putin is just testing his puppet’s strings. Again.
LikeLike
Yup. Trump’s non-response doesn’t surprise me. What does surprise me is Putin’s sudden schoolyard bravado. I thought he had more class and brains than that.
LikeLike
Why aren’t people worried by the prospect?
Welcome to Cold War II. Why worry about something I, an individual peasant, can do nothing about and doesn’t directly affect my life? I’ll put my worry effort into family, work and the supermarket run, things I can do something about.
LikeLike