I noticed someone in another thread  making the remark that the first half of 2012 seems distant. Well I will not say ages ago but I will say is this the first time in a long time that  the earlier part of a year  seems old compared to the second half of the year.  This is not one of those ZOMG  1966 feels like 1967 threads  ( those are so played out))  . But yeah things def feel different.  Maybe it was hurricane sandy ,the obama reelection ,windows  8,ipad mini, Carly Rey Jespen, One Direction  but who knows =)

Yes, because January 1, 2010 was so long ago.

I was listening to Carly Rae Jepsen before the 2012s.  She's come along way because she took a break from the boring A/C songs she started with (not that I hated them; the stuff she does now is better)

In the early 2010s, OneDirection were still in diapers

It feels like ages ago to me, but that largely has to do with me studying abroad in Japan at the time whereas now I am not.  As far as the pop culture goes, I can't really comment on that too much since I was more immersed in Japanese pop culture at the time.  However, it doesn't seem that long ago to me.  Now, if we were talking about the first half of 2010, then I'd agree with you.  That feels like forever ago.

So much has happened in my personal life this year, and top that with the fact that there was a presidential election going on, that I can agree that 2012 dragged.

I was listening to Carly Rae Jepsen before the 2012s.  She's come along way because she took a break from the boring A/C songs she started with (not that I hated them; the stuff she does now is better)



Yeah, I've heard her older material, I don't really like it. Reminds me too much of Colbie Caillat. I think her new music is a lot more fun. :)

To answer your question though. To me personally, this has been a long year. I went to Toronto in April and it already feels like a long time ago. I also got really f*cked up on New Years Eve and that seems like a really long time ago.  ;D

Your personal life can really effect how you feel about time because after all, time is an illusion. 2012 was an eventful year for me (in mostly a good way). I did a lot of traveling. Overall, this year seems to be flying by as its almost over.

Yeah, I already feel nostagia for June 2012.  ::) :o 8)

Good old days.

Yeah, I already feel nostagia for June 2012.  ::) :o 8)

Good old days.

;D

Good thing my parents took all those home movies and all those black & white photos way back in the first half of 2012, otherwise I'd have nothing to remember the 1st half of 2012 by.

Seriously , for me 1995 does not seem like that long ago, so it's really hard for me to relate to the topic. Honestly at first I thought it was a joke. But I guess not.  The 1st half of 2012 feels like yesterday for me. Maybe coz I'm older?  Generation gap? Maybe.

;D

Good thing my parents took all those home movies and all those black & white photos way back in the first half of 2012, otherwise I'd have nothing to remember the 1st half of 2012 by.


If you can remember the first half of 2012, you're a 2012-late 49er and I am a 2012- 25/26 transitional kid.  :P

Actually it does seem like this year is dragging a little more slowly than previous years.

I think maybe that's because everyone is anticipating 12/21/12 and just wants to get it over with. :P

Not to me. 2012 literally feels like the fastest year I've ever had. It just zoomed by. However, 2011 feels like the longest year I've ever had and it felt like two years instead of one because so much happened and it just felt really long. 2012 went by so fast I can't believe it's almost finished!

So much has happened in my personal life this year, and top that with the fact that there was a presidential election going on, that I can agree that 2012 dragged.



I just feels different.  Like 2012 was 2 separate eras in one year. Im sure once 2013 we will be talking about how 2012 felt very long

Actually it does seem like this year is dragging a little more slowly than previous years.

I think maybe that's because everyone is anticipating 12/21/12 and just wants to get it over with. :P


Yeah, should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it. Will probably drink a lot of Pabst Blue Ribbon.  :D

It's probably because from July 1st on, there was this 2013 mid 00s vibe creeping in. The first half was more like 2011. That's why it looks so old.  :P

Yeah, should be interesting. I'm looking forward to it. Will probably drink a lot of Pabst Blue Ribbon.  :D


Ah, you like the old school brew. Have you tried the Schlitz Classic 60's Formula yet?

I just feels different.  Like 2012 was 2 separate eras in one year. Im sure once 2013 we will be talking about how 2012 felt very long
Not trying to start something, but the terminology being thrown out there and not fitting the circumstance is really starting to grate me. 

Since when did an era consist of only 1 year????  Let alone 6 months?  Seriously!  A year is only a year, an era has a something significant starting and specifically ending.  (i.e.  The Reagan Era; Civil War Era; The Great Depression Era; Vietnam Era; Disco Era)

Maybe I am just old and hardened liked Warped, but there is nothing significantly changed since the first 1/2 of 2012. The year is dragging, it was an election year, the election is over and now the possible end of the world as we know it is predicted (same as Jan 2000, and the numerous dates since then that I have lived through).  But nothing significantly different in my book. 

Not trying to start something, but the terminology being thrown out there and not fitting the circumstance is really starting to grate me. 

Since when did an era consist of only 1 year????  Let alone 6 months?  Seriously!  A year is only a year, an era has a something significant starting and specifically ending.  (i.e.  The Reagan Era; Civil War Era; The Great Depression Era; Vietnam Era; Disco Era)

Maybe I am just old and hardened liked Warped, but there is nothing significantly changed since the first 1/2 of 2012. The year is dragging, it was an election year, the election is over and now the possible end of the world as we know it is predicted (same as Jan 2000, and the numerous dates since then that I have lived through).  But nothing significantly different in my book.


I always feel like sh!t in the morning, but about halfway through the day I usually start feeling better.

Dayology, anyone?  :o :o :o

How does January 1, 2012 seem so long ago?

We are still in this year. ;\

Ah, you like the old school brew. Have you tried the Schlitz Classic 60's Formula yet?


No never heard of it. Can you get it at 7-11?  ;D

How does January 1, 2012 seem so long ago?

We are still in this year. ;\


Yeah it's exactly crap like this that makes the long-timers here get angry when people even have legitimate discussions of pop culture.

No never heard of it. Can you get it at 7-11?  ;D


No but you can probably get it at a liquor store. Little more hoppy than your average domestic beer but it goes down smooth.

Some old-timers I've talked to say it's faithful to the original recipe (as opposed to the swill they'd been selling since the 1970's), and I can see why Schlitz was the #2 beer behind Budweiser in the 1960's.

Yeah it's exactly crap like this that makes the long-timers here get angry when people even have legitimate discussions of pop culture.


:P

How does January 1, 2012 seem so long ago?

We are still in this year. ;\
That is my point...  8)

No never heard of it. Can you get it at 7-11?  ;D
only in Wisconsin, or very remote parts of Northern Iowa or Illinois. I haven't seen it anywhere else.  But it makes me laugh when I see it.


BUT MY FAVORITE OF ALL TIME -

  STAG beer!

Yeah it's exactly crap like this that makes the long-timers here get angry when people even have legitimate discussions of pop culture.
This is a discussion of pop culture???  My mistake, I thought it was just on the front half of the year being a different era than the later half.  ::)

This is a discussion of pop culture???  My mistake, I thought it was just on the front half of the year being a different era than the later half.  ::)


True.

True.
The beer conversation is the most pop culture in the whole thread.  8)

It's 2012?  When did that happen?  I thought it was 1985.  I have to start paying attention.

It's 2012?  When did that happen?  I thought it was 1985.  I have to start paying attention.


And just think...you forgot to party like it's 1999.

It's 2012?  When did that happen?  I thought it was 1985.  I have to start paying attention.
With all the movie remakes...  I could believe it, why can't they just leave them alone  :-\\

And just think...you forgot to party like it's 1999.
I partied like it was 1999, cause I got married Dec. 18, 1999.  You know, before the end of the world as of 01-01-00

I partied like it was 1999, cause I got married Dec. 18, 1999.  You know, before the end of the world as of 01-01-00


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z0GFRcFm-aY

Who's Carly Rey Jespen?  ;D

It's 2012?  When did that happen?  I thought it was 1985.  I have to start paying attention.


There's a theory we're actually still in the 1700s!

http://blog.jcole.us/2011/01/02/are-we-really-living-in-the-1700s/

There's a theory we're actually still in the 1700s!

http://blog.jcole.us/2011/01/02/are-we-really-living-in-the-1700s/


There are times..............

There are times..............


Well, since you've been asleep since 1985, did you hear they finally captured Whitey Bulger?

They decided to get hard on crime.

Who's Carly Rey Jespen?  ;D

Some pop singer from Canada. I heard she's releasing a song called "Call Me Maybe." I don't think it will be very successful. We will have to wait until around  November 26th to find out.

It's so fast for me that I know that very soon I'll be dead. Well, not really that soon, but it will feel that way.

How does January 1, 2012 seem so long ago?


There is however something true about it. When I think of some moments, especially from January or February, it's sometimes hard to believe that the stuff happened this year. But I think it's also due to the fact that the terms at my university are going from October-February and April-July and they are both strictly seperated. No wonder that I sort the stuff from early 2012 more into 2011.

January is still not that far away to think of another era - and it's definetly not that much of a big deal to start a thread about it. It still seems to interest some people (including myself (admitted))  :D

In the early 2010s, OneDirection were still in diapers


Still are, aren't they?


I noticed someone in another thread  making the remark that the first half of 2012 seems distant. Well I will not say ages ago but I will say is this the first time in a long time that  the earlier part of a year  seems old compared to the second half of the year.

Wait 'til you get older, son...years will fly by before you can blink!

In other words, quit worrying about how long time's taking to go by and just enjoy the moment...

Well, since you've been asleep since 1985, did you hear they finally captured Whitey Bulger?

They decided to get hard on crime.


WOWZEE!  Whitey!  Don't get me started....to late....I live in the Boston area and have been a Whitey Watcher for some time, even in a coma I was able to get news on what was going on.  As a matter of fact, we were in Santa Monica some years ago and I made a joke that we should keep an eye out in case we see Whitey, that million dollar reward would have been sweet.  Whitey lived in Southie in St. Monica's parish he was hiding in plain sight.

People here often talk about the first half of 2008 being different from the later half (the first half being the end of the core-00's and the later half is the start of the Lady Gaga―era.) Maybe its elections that cause the media to bring forth a deluge of new issues, causing the general "zeitgeit" to shift.

I must admit, it seems like a long time ago when I visited my parents in March and the topic of the day was how pathetic Santorum and Cain were, compared to when I visited this summer and all the talk was about "racist" Romney, the GOP convention and not-Obama-supporters in general were.

There is however something true about it. When I think of some moments, especially from January or February, it's sometimes hard to believe that the stuff happened this year. But I think it's also due to the fact that the terms at my university are going from October-February and April-July and they are both strictly seperated. No wonder that I sort the stuff from early 2012 more into 2011.

January is still not that far away to think of another era - and it's definetly not that much of a big deal to start a thread about it. It still seems to interest some people (including myself (admitted))  :D


Well I was in university in January and now I am not, but it still doesn't seem all so long ago to me. XD

Whitey lived in Southie in St. Monica's parish he was hiding in plain sight.


With a name like Whitey Bulger, I imagine he had a hard time hiding in plain sight, especially when he was in co-ed gym class in the 8th grade.

With a name like Whitey Bulger, I imagine he had a hard time hiding in plain sight, especially when he was in co-ed gym class in the 8th grade.


;D 

the second half of 2012 50 cent is back with a #1 song on itunes

50 Cent - My Life ft. Eminem, Adam Levine

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  50 cent is back


NO NO N O NO NO NO NO N O NO NO NO NO NO N O


NO NO NO N ON NO NONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO





JUST NO

Your personal life can really effect how you feel about time because after all, time is an illusion. 2012 was an eventful year for me (in mostly a good way). I did a lot of traveling. Overall, this year seems to be flying by as its almost over.


2012 was eventful for me too.

the second half of 2012 50 cent is back with a #1 song on itunes

50 Cent - My Life ft. Eminem, Adam Levine

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO  50 cent is back


NO NO N O NO NO NO NO N O NO NO NO NO NO N O


NO NO NO N ON NO NONOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO





JUST NO

That's awesome! His song "My Life" is great and Eminem is awesome in it as well.

I think the beginning seems ages ago.

Am I the only one that sees 2012 as just another year?  ???

Am I the only one that sees 2012 as just another year?  ???


It was a big year for me personally. I did a lot of things this year.

It was a big year for me personally. I did a lot of things this year.

Yeah personally I found 2011 more hectic and lasting long and 2012 very quick, like a continuation of 2011. 2013 should be an interesting year, that is if we make it in 9 days.  :P

Am I the only one that sees 2012 as just another year?  ???


It was a very interesting year.

With a name like Whitey Bulger, I imagine he had a hard time hiding in plain sight, especially when he was in co-ed gym class in the 8th grade.


Actually, I watched a documentary about him a month or so ago, and apparantly he is hung like a horse.  :o

It was a very interesting year.


2012 def feels like it had 2 parts

2012 def feels like it had 2 parts


It certainly had: a) January-June b) July-December

And a lot of other parts:

- 366 days
- ~52 weeks
- 12 months

It certainly had: a) January-June b) July-December

And a lot of other parts:

- 366 days
- ~52 weeks
- 12 months



the first half ended in July

the first half ended in July


June 30th, 11:59 PM.

June 30th, 11:59 PM.


LOL

LOL


anything to add?  ::)

nope ;D

2012 def feels like it had 2 parts


you had the crazy weather first half then you had shootings the other half.

you had the crazy weather first half then you had shootings the other half.



tru

It's that so much has happened this past year and in 2011, from devastating natural disasters(Japan earthquake, drought, Hurricane Sandy) the Arab Spring and occupations, tragic spree shootings, continuing economic crisis and fiscal cliff showdown,  man are we living in some tumultuous times.

It's that so much has happened this past year and in 2011, from devastating natural disasters(Japan earthquake, drought, Hurricane Sandy) the Arab Spring and occupations, tragic spree shootings, continuing economic crisis and fiscal cliff showdown,  man are we living in some tumultuous times.


indeed

It's that so much has happened this past year and in 2011, from devastating natural disasters(Japan earthquake, drought, Hurricane Sandy) the Arab Spring and occupations, tragic spree shootings, continuing economic crisis and fiscal cliff showdown,  man are we living in some tumultuous times.


I know this year was terrible but I think Hurricane Sandy took it's toll on many people living without electricity and down trees along with loss of power as well.

indeed


Can't we just have a year of good stuff? I mean I can't open the newspaper unless I see someone shooting somebody or car crashes or getting run over with a vehicle.

Can't we just have a year of good stuff? I mean I can't open the newspaper unless I see someone shooting somebody or car crashes or getting run over with a vehicle.


That's every year, to be fair. 

That said, look on the bright side.  On a worldwide scale, the new millennium hasn't been that bad.  More people have been lifted out of poverty in such a short time than at any other period in human history.  Life expectancy is on the rise while death from disease is on the decline.  Aside from Africa and portions of the Muslim world, most of the world has gone without a true war for at least a generation.

So, for all the trials that the United States, and arguably the First World, have experienced in recent years, the story worldwide is one of great progress.  One country's troubling time period is another country's golden age.

I know this year was terrible but I think Hurricane Sandy took it's toll on many people living without electricity and down trees along with loss of power as well.
  i agree

That's every year, to be fair. 

That said, look on the bright side.  On a worldwide scale, the new millennium hasn't been that bad.  More people have been lifted out of poverty in such a short time than at any other period in human history.  Life expectancy is on the rise while death from disease is on the decline.  Aside from Africa and portions of the Muslim world, most of the world has gone without a true war for at least a generation.

So, for all the trials that the United States, and arguably the First World, have experienced in recent years, the story worldwide is one of great progress.  One country's troubling time period is another country's golden age.


I'd like to see some evidence for the highlighted quote. Africa isn't improving, parts of the Middle East are getting worse. Hunger isn't really getting worse but it's not getting much better either. China has gotten richer but at the expense of great damage to their environment, and their human rights situation has not improved much if at all.

I'd like to see some evidence for the highlighted quote. Africa isn't improving, parts of the Middle East are getting worse. Hunger isn't really getting worse but it's not getting much better either. China has gotten richer but at the expense of great damage to their environment, and their human rights situation has not improved much if at all.


He didn't say there wasn't some collateral damage, nor did he say they were any more free, but yes, the standards of living of a billion-odd people in the former Soviet republics, China, India, Brasil, have improved dramatically.  We've just been too caught up in our own self-induced recession (arising in part from the hangover from a trillion-dollar failed expansionist military policy) to notice.  World's doing fine, relatively speaking.  We're boned, but the world's doing OK, and as long as Europe's more boned than we are, we still might muddle through.

He didn't say there wasn't some collateral damage, nor did he say they were any more free, but yes, the standards of living of a billion-odd people in the former Soviet republics, China, India, Brasil, have improved dramatically.  We've just been too caught up in our own self-induced recession (arising in part from the hangover from a trillion-dollar failed expansionist military policy) to notice.  World's doing fine, relatively speaking.  We're boned, but the world's doing OK, and as long as Europe's more boned than we are, we still might muddle through.


I hate the term collateral damage. It actually sums up everything that's wrong with capitalism. Okay I admit, I'm a filthy commie but hey, I admit it openly!  :P 8)

A lot of the Soviet Union, especially Russia itself is actually in worse shape than it was in the Soviet days. And yes while a few hundred million Chinese and Indians are now wealthy enough to enjoy cheesy reality shows, big TVs and the rat race, it's at a great price and they will pay for it later. Not to mention many of them are exploited in sweatshops to make toys for us Westerners, the Far East of the early 21st century is very much like our own Gilded Age a century in the past.

Brazil is a success story. I am elated that they are finally succeeding in stopping the destruction of the Amazon. But isn't it actually a pretty socialist country?

Okay I admit, I'm a filthy commie but hey, I admit it openly!  :P 8)


For a "commie" you sure seem to dislike the environmental destruction communism invites.

I hate the term collateral damage. It actually sums up everything that's wrong with capitalism. Okay I admit, I'm a filthy commie but hey, I admit it openly!  :P 8)

A lot of the Soviet Union, especially Russia itself is actually in worse shape than it was in the Soviet days.


Yeah, because they were so much better off when Stalin was slaughtering them by the tens of millions.  :P

For a "commie" you sure seem to dislike the environmental destruction communism invites.


Nah, I'm not a state communist, I think the Soviet Union was in many ways a disaster because it was physically too large and the leadership were not true communists.

Yeah, because they were so much better off when Stalin was slaughtering them by the tens of millions.  :P


I wasn't comparing modern Russia to that period :P I was more thinking of the last generation of the Soviet Union.

By the way did you know apparently Russia still has prison camps?

In the concious (excuse my spelling) sense, yes early 2012 seems like a while ago.
But in the historical sense, it's still new.

2011 and 2010 are historically still new.
2009 and 2008 are kind of hard to judge.
2007 is when things start to show clear datedness.
2002/2003 is when things start to show strong datedness.
1997/1998 is when things start to show retroness.

1999 will become 14 years ago next year. The 90s is getting old.

I wasn't comparing modern Russia to that period :P I was more thinking of the last generation of the Soviet Union.

By the way did you know apparently Russia still has prison camps?


Well, of course. Putin is an old school hard-line KGB man.

Russia and the West have always had an antagonistic relationship, going back to the days of Napoleon and perhaps even before then.

Well, of course. Putin is an old school hard-line KGB man.

Russia and the West have always had an antagonistic relationship, going back to the days of Napoleon and perhaps even before then.


I think worker-owned private cooperatives is a better system than both free enterprise and state communism. With free enterprise, Walmart and Facebook become our masters, with state communism the Red Party become our masters. Same sh*t I say!

Yeah, because they were so much better off when Stalin was slaughtering them by the tens of millions.  :P


Maybe that's the essential difference in perspective between a Silent/Boomer/Xer and a Yer/Millenial/Whoeversnext. 

We grew up living in existential fear of an enemy who'd killed tens of millions of his own people (we let this slide because he threw another 10 million of his own troops into the meat grinder while he was on our side -- because this was less evil than the guy we were both fighting) and who's successors were willing to take a similar hit (and we weren't willing to let that slide :), and vice versa, because they were just as convinced that we were every bit as crazy.  Best-case scenario when I was growing up was a "misunderstanding" that lead to a few cities and a few million dead on each side, with 15 minutes' warning.  Worst-case scenario was the end of human civilization, a blockbuster for every family on the planet, a World War II, every second, for the length of a lazy afternoon.

After the Cold War ended, subsequent generations grew up with their best-case scenario being trying not to get shot by a the one gunman per decade who got a body count into the double-digits, and the worst-case scenario ending up as one of the 3000 dead on a 9/11-scale event.  Nation's been on a 15+-year lockdown since Columbine.

/The difference between "thousands" and "millions" is why when I was a kid, "lockdown" was a word reserved for prisons, not schools
//and we wore onions on our belts, which was the style at the time

Maybe that's the essential difference in perspective between a Silent/Boomer/Xer and a Yer/Millenial/Whoeversnext. 

We grew up living in existential fear of an enemy who'd killed tens of millions of his own people (we let this slide because he threw another 10 million of his own troops into the meat grinder while he was on our side -- because this was less evil than the guy we were both fighting) and who's successors were willing to take a similar hit (and we weren't willing to let that slide :), and vice versa, because they were just as convinced that we were every bit as crazy.  Best-case scenario when I was growing up was a "misunderstanding" that lead to a few cities and a few million dead on each side, with 15 minutes' warning.  Worst-case scenario was the end of human civilization, a blockbuster for every family on the planet, a World War II, every second, for the length of a lazy afternoon.

After the Cold War ended, subsequent generations grew up with their best-case scenario being trying not to get shot by a the one gunman per decade who got a body count into the double-digits, and the worst-case scenario ending up as one of the 3000 dead on a 9/11-scale event.  Nation's been on a 15+-year lockdown since Columbine.

/The difference between "thousands" and "millions" is why when I was a kid, "lockdown" was a word reserved for prisons, not schools
//and we wore onions on our belts, which was the style at the time


But another difference between say, pre and post 1980 born people is that you didn't face the threat of environmental doom, which by the way I think is overhyped to some extent the same way the fears of the Cold War were, and you didn't face the mass uncertainties of globalization. At least not to the extent my generation does and the generations after likely will.

I'm actually not a communist I support cooperative economics as a 'third system'. I don't support the Democratic or Republican parties either, I support a free Cascadia (look it up if you haven't heard of it) and re-arranging the world away from nation-states into bioregional commonwealths.

But if I had to support an American political party it would most definitely be the Greens. I voted for Jill Stein!

But another difference between say, pre and post 1980 born people is that you didn't face the threat of environmental doom,


Different kind of doom altogether.  Like fusion power, it's never tomorrow, it's always the day after tomorrow :)

Environmental catastrophes are slow-moving phenomena.  Bangladesh is submerged under the oceans in 50 years?  Well, it sucks to be them.  You live on the coast and your home might be underwater in 50 years?  Well, sell your house today to some derper who denies the reality of climate change and move few miles inland, because that'll be prime oceanfront property by the time you pass it down to your kids.  A hurricane hits New Orleans or New York and a few hundred people die because they refused to evacuate even though they had a week's worth of warning?  Dude, they could have walked out of harm's way.  If it starts happening every few years, you build a frickin' seawall or levee system, because you still have several years between events in which to prepare!  Environmental catastrophes are so slow-moving that nobody can be bothered to prevent them, because the consequences won't happen until after they're dead, at which time it's somebody else's problem!

Try this on for size.  The Cold War doom was that one day, you'd be sitting in class, or at your day job, or at home on a night just like this and the phone would ring, or there'd be an announcement, or in modern terminology everyone's phones would ring and someone would say "TURN ON CNN RIGHT NOW" and you'd turn on CNN, and instead of seeing an airplane smashing into the World Trade Center, you'd see shaky camera footage of the entire city wiped out.  Instead of smoke over the Pentagon, there'd be no communication with the Washington Bureau.  For people in very rural areas, every rumor about a hijacked airplane (on 9/11, it turned out only one rumor was true, and that plane removed itself from the equation promptly) headed for some other city would have been met with a flash and a blank screen, and a stunned reporter trying to reconnect with a desk that no longer existed.  A few minutes later, Atlanta would have been hit, and CNN would have gone off the air.  Most of the population would have stopped watching TV when the flash over their hometown hit.  This all happens in the time it takes you to read this post. 

Hit F5.  Now.  Pretend this website is still loading, and eveutally times out.  Get bored/confused.  Notice that half the other sites you frequent are down from overload.  Every board, every thread, is talking about OMG WTF!  Then you see a flash.  If you're lucky, you dive behind the nearest wall.  Then the power goes out.  Ten seconds later, there's a "BANG" sound - maybe the glass shatters.  Everyone building in your city, including the one you live in, was ground zero at 9/11.  Unlike a hurricane or a tornado, it doesn't just hit one city (so the neighbors can pour in to help), it's every city, at the same time, within the space of a few minutes.  Because someone (and you'll never know who started the game) decided to play DEFCON, you, lucky survivor of the first half hour, get to play Fallout: The 00ze, in hardcore mode: no health packs and no save/restore, for the rest of your life.

You can defend against that kind of doom about as well as you can against a school shooter.  That is, you have no effective defense against it whatsoever beyond knowing that if you see a flash, you duck and cover to avoid shrapnel from the window that may be about to shatter, cover your eyes, protect your head, and hope you're not underneath anything too heavy if the building collapses.

It's a difficult kind of thing to express to those who didn't grow up in it.  9/11 and the stereotypical school shooting are the closest analogies: it was just something that might happen, someday, any day, with no warning, and no reason.  But unlike those catastrophes that were limited in scope, this one would happen everywhere, to everyone, at the same time.

Pleasant dreams.