Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2011 19:16:34 -0400
From: mark <whitroth at 5-cent.us>
To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>
Subject: [WSFA] Re: Stanislav Petrov day
Reply-To: WSFA members <WSFAlist at KeithLynch.net>

Tamar Lindsay wrote:
> Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov On 26th September, 1983, at the nadir
> of= the Cold War, =0Athis man =E2=80=94 Stanislav Yevgrafovich Petrov
> =E2=80= =94 made a =0Ajudgement call that saved my life. (I was then
> living five = =0Amiles from the Vickers Tank Factory in Leeds and
> about =0Aten miles from= the M1/M62 intersection =E2=80=94 both major
> =0Astrategic targets.) If you= 're over 25 years old and live in
> =0Athe UK, he saved your life, too. If yo= u're over 25 years old
> =0Aand lived in the USA, there's about a 70% probabi= lity that =0Ahe
> saved you. And so on. Iterate for everyone in every =0ANATO= and
> Warsaw Pact country, all 750 million of us.=0A=0AHe lost his job for
> i= t, and suffered a nervous breakdown. =0AHe doesn't consider
> himself to be a= hero. Nevertheless, =0Ahe bent the regulations and
> risked punishment to pr= event =0Aa disaster from overwhelming us
> all.=0AI'm going to raise a glass = to him tonight. How about
> you?=0A=0Aoriginally Posted by Charlie Stross on = September 26, 2008
>
If that's who I think it is, *yes* we *all* owe him, for not launching
at the ducks.

mark

--
To a fanatical libertarian, our [law] code is just.  If a poor man can
afford a four hundred dollar an hour lawyer, he can get the same
protection as a rich man. - schwepes