Military censors decided this May 1944 US Army/Warner Bros. training cartoon for troops returning home (directed by Chuck Jones and featuring the voice of Mel Blanc as Private Snafu) came too close to inadvertently revealing the Top Secret atomic bomb and shelved it. archive.org/details/Priv...

One baby Trump is more than enough, no thanks.

At 1: 35 AM PDT Wed., the US conducted a flight test (Glory Trip 254) of an unarmed Minuteman III ICBM from Vandenberg Space Force Base, CA. The missile (from Warren AFB, WY) was launched by a crew on a Navy E-6B using the Airborne Launch Control System. www.vandenberg.spaceforce.mil/News/Article...

Today in 1971, the United States conducted CANNIKIN, its largest-ever underground nuclear test. A Spartan antiballistic missile carrying a W71 thermonuclear warhead was lowered into a 7.5-foot-wide, 5,873-foot-deep shaft beneath Amchitka Island, Alaska, and detonated. The yield was about 5 Megatons.

Today in 1961, former Manhattan Project Nobel Prize-winning chemist, Atomic Energy Commission member, and fallout shelter advocate Willard Libby’s highly-publicized, do-it-yourself $30 hillside shelter—made out of railroad ties and sandbags of dirt—burned down in the Bel Air wildfire in Los Angeles.

WAR IS PEACE FREEDOM IS SLAVERY IGNORANCE IS STRENGTH WINNING IS LOSING

As we endure Day 36 of the Trump-Republican Government Shutdown™—the longest ever—don’t forget that way back on September 19, Republicans voted to keep the federal government funded for only seven weeks because the majority of their own members would not support anything more. They’re the problem.

The White House Military Office Army aide is on “Football” duty for Trump’s flight to Florida to address the America Business Forum Miami. The ~45-lb. satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

It looks like Trump is preparing to further deface the White House (from a live feed of his departure this morning for Miami, Florida):

Today in 1946, Admiral William H.P. Blandy created significant controversy when he, his wife Roberta, and Rear Admiral Frank J. Lowry were photographed with this cake in the Officers’ Club at the Army War College in Washington, DC, celebrating the conclusion of Operation Crossroads at Bikini Atoll.

Dick Cheney did enormous and lasting damage as VP from 2001-09. But we shouldn’t overlook the fact that under two Bush presidencies—as secretary of defense (1989-93) and then as VP—he also supported the largest unilateral elimination of US nuclear weapons in history—almost 15,000 bombs and warheads.

Today in 1983, “Testament” opened in multiple US cities after premiering at the Telluride Film Festival on September 3. Unlike “The Day After,” first broadcast nationwide on ABC 16 days later, this more intimate film explores the devastating effects of a distant nuclear war on a single family.

Today in 1962, the United States conducted TIGHTROPE—its last fully-atmospheric nuclear test—as part of Operation Fishbowl. A Nike Hercules SAM was fired 69,000 feet into the sky, where its W31 warhead exploded 2 miles south-southwest of Johnston Island with a reported yield of 10 kilotons.

Today in 1958—Election Day—a B-47 bomber carrying a 3.8-Megaton Mark-39 Mod 1 thermonuclear gravity bomb became engulfed in flames on takeoff and crashed from a height of 1,500 feet into private land about 4.5 miles southwest of Dyess AFB, near Abilene, Texas. Three crewmen ejected, one was killed.

Same vibes.

Today in 1974, the missile submarine USS James Madison (SSBN-627) collided with a Soviet attack submarine in shallow waters as it departed the sub base at Holy Loch, Scotland, leaving a 9-foot scratch on the Madison’s hull. The United States did not report the accident to avoid embarrassing the UK.

The White House Military Office Coast Guard aide was on “Football” duty Sunday evening for Trump’s return from his Mar-a-Lago club/home. The ~45-pound satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

60 years ago today, “The Bedford Incident” opened in New York City. Director James B. Harris—who helped finance and produce “Dr. Strangelove”—strongly disagreed with Stanley Kubrick’s decision to make that film a satire rather than a thriller, leading him to direct this dramatic film (his first).

Fifteen years ago today in Chicago, I spent an afternoon in the presence Laurence Fishburne, Bryan Cranston, Jennifer Ehle, and Steven Soderbergh What was I doing?

Today in 1951, ~3,700 US Army troops at the Nevada Proving Ground (Camp Desert Rock) observed the DOG test 6 miles from ground zero, in which a B-50 dropped a 21-kiloton Mark-4 atomic bomb that detonated 1,417 feet in the air. This was the first nuclear test to include post-shot military maneuvers.

At this moment in 1952 (7:14:59 AM November 1, local time), the United States tested the first true (albeit undeliverable, weighing a massive 82 tons) hydrogen bomb at Enewetak Atoll. The 10.4-Megaton MIKE explosion vaporized Elugelab Island, leaving behind a crater 1.2 miles wide and 164 feet deep.

The White House Coast Guard aide was on “Football” duty this morning for Trump’s trip to his Mar-a-Lago club/home in Palm Beach, Florida. The ~45-lb. satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

For best results while trick-or-treating, use nuclear compellence, _not_ nuclear deterrence. (CAUTION: Your results may vary. Side effects may include rattling saber syndrome, fear of escalation ladders, loss of nuclear control, and premature detonation. Void where prohibited by international law.)

Here’s something really graphic for Halloween:

Boo(m)! Today in 1959, the first squadron of three SM-65D liquid-fueled Atlas ICBMs—each armed with a 1.4-Megaton W49 thermonuclear warhead—went on combat alert at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, in the very vulnerable “D” configuration (barely-protected aboveground launch pads).

25 years ago today, Congress passed and President Bill Clinton signed the Energy Employees Occupational Illness Compensation Act, providing long-overdue payments and medical benefits to people who mined, milled, or transported uranium for nuclear weapons, or who built, tested, or maintained them.

Today in 1966, this brief announcement of a new federal construction contract appeared in the Baltimore Sun. It probably didn’t attract much attention, but the facility it referenced would go on to become an integral if inconspicuous part of elaborate US government plans to survive a nuclear war.

Today in 1961, the Soviet Union tested the largest-ever thermonuclear bomb—a 50-Megaton RDS-220 (originally designed for a 100 Megaton yield). The device, later dubbed “Tsar Bomba,” was dropped by a Tu-95 Bear bomber and exploded about 13,123 feet over Novaya Zemlya above the Arctic Circle.

Today in 1958, at RAF Sculthorpe, about 3 miles west of Fakenham, England, USAF atomic bomb technician Master Sergeant Leander Cunningham, 41, suffered a mental breakdown, locked himself in the bomb maintenance building, and threatened to detonate a Mark-5 bomb by shooting it with his .45 pistol.

Today in 1958, the United States conducted four final nuclear tests (all in Nevada) before entering into a mutual testing moratorium with the Soviet Union during negotiations on a nuclear test ban treaty: — SANTA FE: a W54 prototype under a tethered balloon 1,500 feet above Yucca Flat, 1.3 kilotons

Nothing in this post by Trump is correct. Russia has a few hundred more nuclear weapons than the United States (and has for years). Trump did not accomplish “a complete update and renovation of existing weapons” during his first term. China is building more but is unlikely to “be even” in 5 years.

The White House Space Force aide was on “Football” duty for Trump’s meeting with China’s President Xi Jinping Thursday in Busan, South Korea. The ~45-lb. satchel follows Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

So was Trump squinting here to try and look stereotypically “Asian” or did the camera just catch him with his eyes nearly closed? And, no, I can’t believe I even have to ask that question.

Name that band!

OTD nine years ago—10 days before the 2016 election—CNN reporter @ddale8.bsky.social tweeted this and said he heard similar sentiments from many Trump voters who were nevertheless willing to risk electing him over Clinton. What does Crystal, the partially perceptive purple prognosticator, think now?

It’s true. I don’t want to live next to—or be represented by—someone who uses his public platform to speak in racist dogwhistle.

I currently pay $18,646/yr (no subsidies) for privately purchased Blue Cross/Blue Shield silver tier PPO health insurance with a $7,000/pp deductible for myself and my daughter. We are both healthy. In 2026, silver becomes bronze _and_ increases by 30.6% to $24,354—an extra $475/mo or $5,708/yr. 🤯

Yesterday, Japan’s Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi shared this photo on X as she and Trump flew on Marine One to Yokosuka for an event aboard the aircraft carrier USS George Washington. In the background (left) is the Marine Corps aide responsible for the “Football” (which is stowed and not visible).

The White House Military Office Navy aide was on “Football” duty for Trump’s departure today from Tokyo for Busan, South Korea. The ~45-pound satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.

Ex-college football coach doesn't rule out or oppose Trump end run around the US Constitution.

New START, the last bilateral treaty imposing verifiable legal constraints on the maximum number of US and Russian operational strategic nuclear delivery systems and warheads, expires in 100 days. On February 5, 2026, Trump and Putin will be able to deploy as many nuclear weapons as they want.

Today in 1999, Ambassador Paul Nitze—an early architect of hawkish Cold War policies and a former director of State Department policy planning, secretary of the Navy, deputy secretary of defense, and arms control negotiator—advocated the United States “unilaterally get rid of our nuclear weapons.”

Can government-sanctioned secret death squads be far behind? Asking for what’s left of our country.

The “Football” gets namechecked in @tomtomorrow.bsky.social’s satirical cartoon strip “This Modern World” this week:

Today in 1981, Soviet Whiskey-class coastal patrol diesel-electric submarine S-363 hit an underwater rock and ran aground about 6.2 miles from the large Swedish naval base at Karlskrona. This international incident—which wags dubbed “Whiskey on the Rocks”—occurred during a Swedish naval exercise.

Today in 1966, China launched a Dong Feng-2 medium-range ballistic missile carrying a live 12-kiloton nuclear warhead from its Shuangchengzi Missile Test Center. The missile flew 556 miles west across China before detonating 1,867 feet above the Lop Nor Nuclear Test Base in Xinjiang Province.

October 27, 1962, was arguably the most dangerous day of the Cuban Missile Crisis, a day when human error, rushed preparations, aggressive tactics, and sky-high tensions could have set off World War III intentionally or by accident at least four separate times. Here’s what happened (a long thread):

Today in 1961, the Soviet Union conducted the first two of a series of five high-altitude nuclear tests, with missiles launched from Kapustin Yar across central Kazakhstan to detonate warheads (1.2 kt each) above Sary Shagan. The other three tests (300 kt each) were on Oct. 22, 28, and Nov. 1, 1962.

80 yrs ago tonight at the Los Angeles Coliseum, 100,000 people watched a star-studded spectacle reenacting the war with Japan, including kamikaze attacks on an aircraft carrier, firebombing Tokyo, and the atomic bombing of Hiroshima—all simulated by Hollywood SFX artists and Army explosives experts.

The White House Military Office Navy aide was on “Football” duty for Trump’s departure earlier today from Kuala Lumpur for Tokyo. The ~45-pound satchel accompanies Trump 24/7, enabling him alone to authorize the use of any of our ~1,770 deployed nuclear weapons—up to 900 on alert—at any time.