Pretty clever. Didn’t even know there was a Stanislav Petrov Day. He certainly deserved it.
What has the world come to, celebrating someone for not following orders. *SMH*
Like in Nürnberg, you mean?
@Sili, totally invalid comparison: The Nuremberg trials were for war crimes. Following a legitimate order to retaliate for an attack is not a war crime.
B.A.: A comparison doesn’t need to be the same in every way to be accurate. I think the relevant point of the comparison is that there are circumstances in which it’s appropriate to disobey orders. (And I think Singapore Bill was being tongue-in-cheek.)
I do have to say that I find your distinction a little circular though. How is someone receiving an order to know if they’re receiving a legitimate order, or order for a war crime?
Reportedly there were false alarms on the UK-US side of things as well.
Jethro Tull’s “Fylingdale Flier” from their 1980 album “A” reflected the tension of the time:
Thanks to WW for expressing a point that I wanted to make, and for wording it much better than anything I had been able to compose so far.
The mid-80’s tune “99 Red Balloons” (for English speakers) is about a false alarm, and also offers the potential side topic of exploring the difference in lyrics between the German original and the English version.
Winter, I think most people can recognize the difference.
B.A. Can you elaborate on how? It actually seems quite difficult to me.
There are many clear cases at the two ends, but a lot of cases in between that seem very difficult.
I second Kilby praising Winter Wallaby.
Winter, I have to go with Potter Stewart on that one.
B.A. With all respect to Potter Stewart the government is going to put someone in prison (or even execute them), they need to be able to articulate clearly the basis for that decision.
Interesting that this happened about 3 months after the Matthew Broderick movie “War Games” was released. It’s highly unlikely that he’d seen it in the Soviet Union, but I picture him saying “But I saw this same thing happen in a movie!”
Comics I Don't Understand 
(https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanislav_Petrov)
Oh, so the joke is “false alarm”!
Pretty clever. Didn’t even know there was a Stanislav Petrov Day. He certainly deserved it.
What has the world come to, celebrating someone for not following orders. *SMH*
Like in Nürnberg, you mean?
@Sili, totally invalid comparison: The Nuremberg trials were for war crimes. Following a legitimate order to retaliate for an attack is not a war crime.
When in doubt, there’s always the explainxkcd page: http://www.explainxkcd.com/wiki/index.php/2052:_Stanislav_Petrov_Day
B.A.: A comparison doesn’t need to be the same in every way to be accurate. I think the relevant point of the comparison is that there are circumstances in which it’s appropriate to disobey orders. (And I think Singapore Bill was being tongue-in-cheek.)
I do have to say that I find your distinction a little circular though. How is someone receiving an order to know if they’re receiving a legitimate order, or order for a war crime?
Reportedly there were false alarms on the UK-US side of things as well.
Jethro Tull’s “Fylingdale Flier” from their 1980 album “A” reflected the tension of the time:
The song was inspired by an early-warning facility on Fylingdale Moor in northern England.
https://yorkshirecnd.org.uk/campaigns/fylingdales/fylingdales-false-alarms/
Thanks to WW for expressing a point that I wanted to make, and for wording it much better than anything I had been able to compose so far.
The mid-80’s tune “99 Red Balloons” (for English speakers) is about a false alarm, and also offers the potential side topic of exploring the difference in lyrics between the German original and the English version.
Winter, I think most people can recognize the difference.
B.A. Can you elaborate on how? It actually seems quite difficult to me.
There are many clear cases at the two ends, but a lot of cases in between that seem very difficult.
I second Kilby praising Winter Wallaby.
Winter, I have to go with Potter Stewart on that one.
B.A. With all respect to Potter Stewart the government is going to put someone in prison (or even execute them), they need to be able to articulate clearly the basis for that decision.
Interesting that this happened about 3 months after the Matthew Broderick movie “War Games” was released. It’s highly unlikely that he’d seen it in the Soviet Union, but I picture him saying “But I saw this same thing happen in a movie!”