Trump and the nuclear "football"

[Nick Thompson]

Hi, everybody,

 

At Friday’s gathering, one of the things we discussed was that Trump’s accession, given his impulsiveness, could easily lead to a nuclear war.  The readiness level of the US nuclear “deterrent” currently allows 4 minutes between determining that an enemy attack is in progress and US launch.  Because of the submarine fleet, this level of hair-trigger readiness is totally unnecessary, even if one buys into all the assumptions of US nuclear doctrine. 

 

I am frightened for myself, my family, and grandchildren.  I think Trump is crazy enough to imagine a future in which he and his “unbelievably beautiful” women live out a life of luxury in a bunker somewhere, while the rest of us … well, you know, “Sacrifices had to be made to preserve our way of life”.  Obama has the power increase the threshold to hours or even days before leaving office.  I had understood that there was a concerted effort to get him to do so, but when I went to the net to find it, I could not.  To my surprise,  the Union of Concerned Scientists seems to be totally mellow about the situation, suggesting only that Obama negotiate away some of our backup nukes before his term expires, leaving everything else mostly in place.    

 

Are any of you aware of such an effort?  Can you provide me with details? 

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

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[John Dobson]

Nick:

I heard about this effort on the Amy Goodman show.  The Ploughshares fund is the group circulating the petition.

Here's a link to the story:

https://www.democracynow.org/2016/12/29/obama_urged_to_take_us_nukes

Here's a link to the petition:

http://www.ploughshares.org/keep-donald-trumps-finger-off-nuclear-button

Ciao!

John

On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 1:20 PM, Nick Thompson <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi, everybody,

 

At Friday’s gathering, one of the things we discussed was that Trump’s accession, given his impulsiveness, could easily lead to a nuclear war.  The readiness level of the US nuclear “deterrent” currently allows 4 minutes between determining that an enemy attack is in progress and US launch.  Because of the submarine fleet, this level of hair-trigger readiness is totally unnecessary, even if one buys into all the assumptions of US nuclear doctrine. 

 

I am frightened for myself, my family, and grandchildren.  I think Trump is crazy enough to imagine a future in which he and his “unbelievably beautiful” women live out a life of luxury in a bunker somewhere, while the rest of us … well, you know, “Sacrifices had to be made to preserve our way of life”.  Obama has the power increase the threshold to hours or even days before leaving office.  I had understood that there was a concerted effort to get him to do so, but when I went to the net to find it, I could not.  To my surprise,  the Union of Concerned Scientists seems to be totally mellow about the situation, suggesting only that Obama negotiate away some of our backup nukes before his term expires, leaving everything else mostly in place.    

 

Are any of you aware of such an effort?  Can you provide me with details? 

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
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FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Nick Thompson]

Thanks, John,

 

This is exactly the information I was looking for.  They are asking for money to help in their petition effort, so I sent some.  If you can think of more substantial things to do, please let me know.  I am a little poorer, but not a lot less scared.

 

Nick

 

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

From: Friam [mailto:[hidden email]] On Behalf Of John Dobson
Sent: Saturday, December 31, 2016 5:27 PM
To: The Friday Morning Applied Complexity Coffee Group <[hidden email]>
Subject: Re: [FRIAM] Trump and the nuclear "football"

 

Nick:

 

I heard about this effort on the Amy Goodman show.  The Ploughshares fund is the group circulating the petition.

 

Here's a link to the story:

https://www.democracynow.org/2016/12/29/obama_urged_to_take_us_nukes

 

Here's a link to the petition:

http://www.ploughshares.org/keep-donald-trumps-finger-off-nuclear-button

 

Ciao!

 

John

 

On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 1:20 PM, Nick Thompson <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi, everybody,

 

At Friday’s gathering, one of the things we discussed was that Trump’s accession, given his impulsiveness, could easily lead to a nuclear war.  The readiness level of the US nuclear “deterrent” currently allows 4 minutes between determining that an enemy attack is in progress and US launch.  Because of the submarine fleet, this level of hair-trigger readiness is totally unnecessary, even if one buys into all the assumptions of US nuclear doctrine. 

 

I am frightened for myself, my family, and grandchildren.  I think Trump is crazy enough to imagine a future in which he and his “unbelievably beautiful” women live out a life of luxury in a bunker somewhere, while the rest of us … well, you know, “Sacrifices had to be made to preserve our way of life”.  Obama has the power increase the threshold to hours or even days before leaving office.  I had understood that there was a concerted effort to get him to do so, but when I went to the net to find it, I could not.  To my surprise,  the Union of Concerned Scientists seems to be totally mellow about the situation, suggesting only that Obama negotiate away some of our backup nukes before his term expires, leaving everything else mostly in place.    

 

Are any of you aware of such an effort?  Can you provide me with details? 

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

 

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

[Alfredo Covaleda Vélez-2]

From Aljazeera

Small hands big missiles: Trump's dangerous adolescence

http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2017/01/small-hands-big-missiles-trump-dangerous-adolescence-170109061803090.html?utm_source=Al+Jazeera+English+Newsletter+%7C+Weekly&utm_campaign=86f19af83c-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2017_01_15&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_e427298a68-86f19af83c-224147101

On Sat, Dec 31, 2016 at 3:20 PM, Nick Thompson <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi, everybody,

 

At Friday’s gathering, one of the things we discussed was that Trump’s accession, given his impulsiveness, could easily lead to a nuclear war.  The readiness level of the US nuclear “deterrent” currently allows 4 minutes between determining that an enemy attack is in progress and US launch.  Because of the submarine fleet, this level of hair-trigger readiness is totally unnecessary, even if one buys into all the assumptions of US nuclear doctrine. 

 

I am frightened for myself, my family, and grandchildren.  I think Trump is crazy enough to imagine a future in which he and his “unbelievably beautiful” women live out a life of luxury in a bunker somewhere, while the rest of us … well, you know, “Sacrifices had to be made to preserve our way of life”.  Obama has the power increase the threshold to hours or even days before leaving office.  I had understood that there was a concerted effort to get him to do so, but when I went to the net to find it, I could not.  To my surprise,  the Union of Concerned Scientists seems to be totally mellow about the situation, suggesting only that Obama negotiate away some of our backup nukes before his term expires, leaving everything else mostly in place.    

 

Are any of you aware of such an effort?  Can you provide me with details? 

 

Nick

 

 

Nicholas S. Thompson

Emeritus Professor of Psychology and Biology

Clark University

http://home.earthlink.net/~nickthompson/naturaldesigns/

 

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove

============================================================
FRIAM Applied Complexity Group listserv
Meets Fridays 9a-11:30 at cafe at St. John's College
to unsubscribe http://redfish.com/mailman/listinfo/friam_redfish.com
FRIAM-COMIC http://friam-comic.blogspot.com/ by Dr. Strangelove