I've been considering posting a link to this article for a while. I thought it might be a little lame to make an entire post just linking to an article but, in the end, I decided that this one was just too good not to share. It turns out that during the Cold War, the launch codes on *all* of our nuclear missiles was set to, brace yourself, 00000000. That's eight zeros in a row. Apparently, this was because the Strategic Air Command was worried that a more complicated code might slow down nuclear armageddon just a tad. Kudos to Sean for pointing out the similarity to President Skroob's luggage code.
Make sure you read all the way to the bottom of the article, when it's revealed that the end of the Earth was narrowly averted by a Russian's love of vodka.
Posted by dr_v at June 15, 2004 09:46 AMGood lord, that's horrifying.
But I like that Petrov guy. Clearly he's a man who knows how to ask the right questions, such as, "What the fuck am I doing?"
And "Drinking myself into a day-long stupor" is a much better answer than "Pushing the end of the world button".
Posted by: Dianna on June 15, 2004 10:23 AM00000000?
That's the stupidest combination I've ever heard in my life! The kind of thing an idiot would have on his luggage!
Posted by: sean on June 15, 2004 01:26 PMThat is pretty damned scary. I think I've been too hard on vodka in the past. So, although I'm not taking it back, I'll definitely stop talking shit about it. Here's to you, vodka!
Posted by: Kristina on June 15, 2004 04:58 PMFrom a supposed "inside source":
http://www.metafilter.com/mefi/33464#680146