XPost: alt.fan.rush-limbaugh, alt.politics.republicans, talk.politics.guns   
   XPost: alt.survival   
   From: rachel-madcow@msnbc.com   
      
   In article    
   forging asshole  wrote:   
   >   
      
   Two days after the July 11 release of a public service   
   announcement by New York City’s office of emergency management   
   (OEM) for the case of a nuclear attack, there has been no   
   serious explanation given for this extraordinary step taken by   
   the administration of America’s largest city, which is home to   
   almost 8.5 million people and the country’s financial center,   
   Wall Street.   
      
   The 90 second long video, which has now been watched by over   
   half a million people, was issued without any political   
   explanation or context. In what appeared like a parody on the   
   Cold War-era advice to children to “hide under your desk” in   
   case a nuclear bomb is dropped, the video recommended the public   
   to “get inside,” “shower with soap or shampoo,” and then “stay   
   put” and check their “safety alerts” from the city for more   
   information. To top it all, the presenter ended the video with a   
   reassuring smile, stating, “You’ve got this.”   
      
   The utter irrationality of the content was almost as disturbing   
   as the very fact of the release of the video itself. Of course,   
   all of these recommendations would be worthless in case of an   
   actual nuclear detonation, which would incinerate the city and   
   surrounding area and turn much of the East Coast uninhabitable   
   for generations.   
      
   A 2015 article published by the Bulletin of the Atomic   
   Scientists noted that Russia at the time had an estimated 700   
   strategic nuclear warheads each with an explosive power of   
   800,000 tons of TNT that, if fired, could hit the US within less   
   than half an hour. If such a warhead exploded over midtown   
   Manhattan, it would create a gigantic fireball which would   
   “vaporize the structures directly below it and produce an   
   immense blast wave and high-speed winds, crushing even heavily   
   built concrete structures within a couple miles of ground zero.   
   …Within tens of minutes, everything within approximately five to   
   seven miles of Midtown Manhattan would be engulfed by a gigantic   
   firestorm.”   
      
   The article continues to describe the apocalyptic scenario as   
   follows: “Those who tried to escape through the streets would   
   have been incinerated by the hurricane-force winds filled with   
   firebrands and flames. Even those able to find shelter in the   
   lower-level sub-basements of massive buildings would likely   
   suffocate from fire-generated gases or be cooked alive as their   
   shelters heated to oven-like conditions. The fire would   
   extinguish all life and destroy almost everything else. Tens of   
   miles downwind of the area of immediate destruction, radioactive   
   fallout would begin to arrive within a few hours of the   
   detonation.”   
      
   The response in the national and local media to the public   
   service announcement has been marked by extreme complacency and   
   indifference, with most outlets limiting themselves to   
   perfunctory reports. The New York Times, which just found that   
   “people around the world are better off than ever,” has not   
   published a single article on it, as of this writing.   
      
   By contrast, thousands took to social media to express their   
   shock and profound discomfort, with many correctly asking, “is   
   there something I should know about?” Clearly, there is.   
      
   But no serious answer to this question has been given by either   
   New York City or White House officials. In a press conference   
   that was almost as bizarre as the video itself, Democratic Mayor   
   Eric Adams defended the video, saying, “I don’t think it was   
   alarmist. I’m a big believer in better safe than sorry. I take   
   my hat off to OEM. This was right after the attacks in the   
   Ukraine, and OEM took a very proactive step to say let’s be   
   prepared. And it doesn’t mean just a nuclear attack, it’s any   
   natural disaster. Pack a bag. Know where your medicines are   
   located. These are just smart things to do.”   
      
   Adams then insisted that the decision to publish this video was   
   made by his administration alone, stating, “it was of my   
   briefing, because when I saw it and heard it, I thought it was a   
   great idea. My understanding is that it was really taking   
   necessary steps after what happened in Ukraine to give   
   preparedness.”   
      
   At a White House briefing on Wednesday, US National Security   
      
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