Characterising opinion, even self-criticism, as "bitching" is just a way of stigmatising thought, without having to answer its questions honestly.
Characterising opinion, even self-criticism, as "bitching" is just a way of stigmatising thought, without having to answer its questions honestly.
Can't you picture Eric Morecambe writing those leaflets?
You can be proud of where you live without being "patriotic". I think York's great, but would I like it any less if it was in Holland, or Germany, or Norway, or... ? I suppose realistically it would change the character of the place, but I'm sure I'd be just as happy to live in Barcelona or Bern.
"Protect and Survive" & "Duck and Cover" [the film not the clothing label] were the U.K and U.S government's attempts to be seen to be doing something to advise their populations about what might happen if nuclear confict ever occured.
They are both somewhat risible granted, but a population expects its leadership to offer some advice on matters like war/epedemic etc. Thus the programmes were devised by governments who knew that in the event of nuclear war it was likely that a)the population and all public insititions would be ill prepared and equipped to deal with the consequences. b) The M.A.D [Mutually Assured Destruction an appropriate acronym if ever there was one] principle of nuclear defence strategy meant that unless something exceptional happened to prematurely end the conflict then the vast majority of the urban population and all the insititutions of governement would be quickly eliminated.
Ultimately Threads is so frightening not because it makes a fairly convincing fist of what might happen based on hypothesis, but because it focusses at the macro level. It has few characters and the only time it strays outside Sheffield is when the surviving characters do. There's no infomation about what happens to the rest of the world. Nor would there be if those events happened for real. Thus not only does it force the viewer to try to rationalise the whole catastrophe from a very limited perspective it also cleverly creates the notion of isolation of the individual survivors precisely through what it does not show. An extra dimension of fear is added through the notion that draconion measures will be taken by the miltary units to control the survivors - such as shooting looters.
The pseudo official statistics which it bandies about and the clips from protect and survive serve to lend a little authenticity to the production.
Its message is "If that siren goes off you've got 4 minutes until the world as you know it ceases to exist, and you'll never know for sure where it all went. If you're "lucky" enough to survive you'll be on your own - not only that but everyone else who survives is likely to be against you"
They are both somewhat risible granted, but a population expects its leadership to offer some advice on matters like war/epedemic etc. Thus the programmes were devised by governments who knew that in the event of nuclear war it was likely that a)the population and all public insititions would be ill prepared and equipped to deal with the consequences. b) The M.A.D [Mutually Assured Destruction an appropriate acronym if ever there was one] principle of nuclear defence strategy meant that unless something exceptional happened to prematurely end the conflict then the vast majority of the urban population and all the insititutions of governement would be quickly eliminated.
Ultimately Threads is so frightening not because it makes a fairly convincing fist of what might happen based on hypothesis, but because it focusses at the macro level. It has few characters and the only time it strays outside Sheffield is when the surviving characters do. There's no infomation about what happens to the rest of the world. Nor would there be if those events happened for real. Thus not only does it force the viewer to try to rationalise the whole catastrophe from a very limited perspective it also cleverly creates the notion of isolation of the individual survivors precisely through what it does not show. An extra dimension of fear is added through the notion that draconion measures will be taken by the miltary units to control the survivors - such as shooting looters.
The pseudo official statistics which it bandies about and the clips from protect and survive serve to lend a little authenticity to the production.
Its message is "If that siren goes off you've got 4 minutes until the world as you know it ceases to exist, and you'll never know for sure where it all went. If you're "lucky" enough to survive you'll be on your own - not only that but everyone else who survives is likely to be against you"
Just watched 'Threads'... :jawdrop:
Still haven't got round to watching Threads yet, but I remember having to read a book back in middle school called Brother In The Land by Robert Swindells which seems to be along the same lines.
Well worth a read if you can find a copy.
Well worth a read if you can find a copy.
Cute...reading some of the replies, I see that the internet is very much populated by wet liberals....and waiting to see how many will get their noses out of shape for me saying so. BTW, do not take my politics personally.
Isn't that like saying that the sky is blue?
Isn't that like saying that the sky is blue?
Saw in the paper today that the Russians have started flying their Bears over Europe again. One was intercepted and escorted back by Norwegian F-16s yesterday.
Threads... I remember that movie. It was like The Day After, only a little more realistically thought out. Actually if there was an all out nuke fest, there wouldn't be any survivors anywhere. not even on the S. Pole. The amount of kilotons we have in explosives is more than enough to turn the planet into a big melting mass of goo. you might survive... about an hour longer than the people at the original ground zero point, but that's about it.
Oh and @ P5YcHoM4N: LOL it wasn't a propaganda tool, it was a ratings tool.
Wasn't Threads just like The Day After as in it being a made for TV movie?
Do they show Jericho on TV in the UK? It's a little melodramatic for me but it's about people surviving some sort of nuclear attack (they don't really explain exactly what happened)
You know sometimes I sorta miss the cold war - beats the hell outta global warming.
Oh and @ P5YcHoM4N: LOL it wasn't a propaganda tool, it was a ratings tool.
Wasn't Threads just like The Day After as in it being a made for TV movie?
Do they show Jericho on TV in the UK? It's a little melodramatic for me but it's about people surviving some sort of nuclear attack (they don't really explain exactly what happened)
You know sometimes I sorta miss the cold war - beats the hell outta global warming.
I thought I said paranoia, I can't be bothered to check, but if I didn't, that too.
The problem with this generation, we had no great war, so we need to make up issues so they have something to protest.
Yes I have, and it rocks. Remind me to make a UK vs Russia map.
Bump.
Now they are harassing the Americans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6938856.stm
Cold war and USSR (there is only one real party, opposition is dead) are coming back for good. I don't feel that happy living 24 kilometers from the border.
Now they are harassing the Americans.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/6938856.stm
Cold war and USSR (there is only one real party, opposition is dead) are coming back for good. I don't feel that happy living 24 kilometers from the border.
I have seen Threads earlier, it did not contain much of any new stuff for me.
Jericho is Bold and the Beautiful with just different scene, über boring chit chatting and nuke thing is really some minor thing based to that series. Realism is as good as it is in NFS series, well actually worse
Jericho is Bold and the Beautiful with just different scene, über boring chit chatting and nuke thing is really some minor thing based to that series. Realism is as good as it is in NFS series, well actually worse
I love the fact that they are just doing fly-bys in old crappy planes to spook everyone. What would they do? Drop Lada's on us? They might get away with trying something against America, its a big place, but the UK...we could send up Spitfires and they would still shoot them down before they even got close.
I guess its a good excuse to carry on making more nuclear submarines that never get used, rather than investing that money into the under manned and poorly equipt army.
I guess its a good excuse to carry on making more nuclear submarines that never get used, rather than investing that money into the under manned and poorly equipt army.
OMG!!! Y'all get The Bold and the Beautiful over there too? Gheesh! no wonder y'all hate us so much. If you're subjected to reruns of The Golden Girls, then I wouldn't blame y'all a bit if you organized mass protests and tried us for war crimes or something.
Yeah, I feel that way about Jericho as well. But if people wanna see post whiny depressing apocalyptic nuclear aftermath shows....
Oh well, I guess it beats reality shows. Hell, half the infomercials do too.
Propably been re-runned 467 239 times. We. Hate. You.
2 episodes every day at worst and then they started to show that Young and something which was practically same show just different actors, I guess old ones did die or something
Also old episodes of Oprah and Conan O'Brian show, no wonder we think you are so behind of everything
But I don't really watch much of TV as most that there comes is such crap.
But this whole cold war issue just reminds me never to underestimate stupidity of human beings, I mean one dude is killed and most logical thing is to get on course that might lead thousands to die? WTF?
But then, same goes on in war of terror and nobody can't give up, not even an inch. Why acts of goverments are something at level of 5 year old kids?
I'll say idiots, that is what are running our countries...
One of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them: It is a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. Anyone who is capable of getting themselves into a position of power should on no account be allowed to do the job. Another problem with governing people is people.
Personally, I'm an anarchist (please don't identify me with those G-8 camera whores, I believe in individual property ownership) but I'm also a realist. People as a whole are just too damn stupid to be allowed self determination... and I agree about the ruler types. To me, politicians are right up there with pedophiles, lawyers, environmentalists and used car salesmen. Then you got religious nuts, law enforcement, educators and consultants.
Whel it's just like what ive been told by dad don't realy on politicians that much.
Take the war in Iraq thats not a war for peace its a war for oil and money not like Bush sas with his peacecorp this peacecorp that, sereously why do politicians keep on lying about the trough just admit for one single time
Take the war in Iraq thats not a war for peace its a war for oil and money not like Bush sas with his peacecorp this peacecorp that, sereously why do politicians keep on lying about the trough just admit for one single time
Cold war FTW!!!
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