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 I've always laughed at the bad 50's propaganda that they showed in classrooms, like the infamous "Duck and Cover" films to keep kids sleeping at night... But have you ever been near an explosion, and felt the shockwave? Now multiply that by 25 Kilotons... None of what I described before is surprising under those conditions. 
 I know there are big bombs and I have felt shockwaves from explosions, the biggest was a factory that blew up not too far from me once upon a time, it was quite something considering the distance. 

If nukes happened, nothing could be done about it anyway. It's just not something I worry about. Other attacks can be mitigated to some degree with prep. 
 Well apparently I don't worry about it either or I wouldn't live within 5 miles of both a Raytheon and a Northrup Grumman factory. ;)  

But if you know that shockwaves & radioactivity exist, why is the rest of what I described hard to swallow? 
 I don't have a strong opinion about it, I just think that based on what I've seen them present, I doubt the veracity of their claims overall. Big bomb, sure, but exaggerated. 
 I only persist because I see your Gadsden flag-themed logo and assume you're no fan of governments. I'm having trouble understanding exactly what exactly you're doubting since you seem to know that governments do bad things. 

My position is that if a big bomb exists that could do this, having such a sociopathic government is a surefire recipe for it getting used and therefore starting armageddon. 

The only thing keeping nukes from flying at each other is MAD game theory... And our leaders don't seem competent enough to me to respect that anymore.