It took me 4 days on and off to read this, but it was highly rewarding just in terms of its writing and how compactly such a large amount of background and new information was conveyed. Thanks for posting.

I understand the argument that from a balance-of-terror perspective, submarine yields intended for decapitation strikes might dissuade or physically incapacitate (theoretical) cooler heads from (somehow?) de-escalating the conflict once nukes were in the air, but by the same token, I don't quite get it, because submarines are second-strike. One would think that a second-strike decapitation threat is exactly what might give a madman hiding in a bunker second thoughts about launching in the first place.

As far as my own personal preparations for surviving a nuclear holocaust, it probably makes no difference that I now understand the fusion lie, aside from a having a new bit of trivia to amuse myself with while I wait to die. In a way, though, the thought that there is no bunker deep enough to be safe is comforting. If everyone I know is going to die, I would like to think that the people responsible for it will die, too.