From owner-traveller@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM  Wed Dec  4 22:46:07 1996
Return-Path: owner-traveller@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Received: from phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (Phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM [206.66.87.5]) by emin17.mail.aol.com (8.6.12/8.6.12) with ESMTP id WAA21708; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:46:03 -0500
Received: from localhost (daemon@localhost) by phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (8.7.3/8.6.9) with SMTP id WAA11226; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:45:30 -0500
Received: by phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (bulk_mailer v1.5); Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:43:55 -0500
Received: (from majordom@localhost) by phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM (8.7.3/8.6.9) id WAA11127 for traveller-digest-outgoing; Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:43:54 -0500
Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:43:54 -0500
Message-Id: <199612050343.WAA11127@phaser.Showcase.MPGN.COM>
From: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com (Traveller-digest)
To: traveller-digest@Phaser.ShowCase.MPGN.COM
Subject: Traveller-digest V1996 #718
Reply-To: traveller@mpgn.com
Sender: owner-traveller-digest@mpgn.com


Traveller-digest     Wednesday, December 4 1996     Volume 1996 : Number 718



(R)1996. Traveller is a registered trademark of FarFuture Enterprises.
All rights reserved.

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: Nuclear Dampers
Re: Drop tanks
[none]
Re: Rebellion: Diplomacy, Democracy and the New World Order (Long)
Re: [T96#713] Ine Givar
RE: Dulinor Dissing!
Re: Alan's back!
Re: It's here!
Re: On Nuclear Dampers...
RE: Rebellion: Diplomacy, Democracy and the New World Order (Long)
Re: Democracy possible at interstellar distances
Re: Traveller Computer Wargame
Off topic
Imperial Power
Re: Singed Hardbacks
Re: Traveller-digest V1996 #709
Re: "Basic Traveller"
I can hear You knocking.
Re: Traveller-digest V1996 #717
Landing ships.
Re: Rebellion: Diplomacy, Democracy and the New World Order (Long)
Re: Democracy possible at interstellar distances

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 14:43:57 -0800 (PST)
From: "John R. Snead" <jsnead@netcom.com>
Subject: Re: Nuclear Dampers

Robert Flammang <FLAMMANG@vms.cis.pitt.edu> wrote:

>Hi.

>I've thought about these nuclear damper thingies quite a bit, and it
>seems to me that, as postulated, they are open to a lot of abuse.
>So I came up with a quick fix.

>I say (contra canon) that the dampers increase or decrease the strength
>of /weak-force/ nuclear interactions (and not of strong-force nuclear
>interactions). This allows them still to be used in their original
>mission. The heavy nuclei in a warhead's fissionables undergo beta decay
>and become less neutron rich; when the damper field remits, these nuclei
>decay to stable (and harmless) isotopes via alpha decay. The advantage
>of this new postulate is that it gets rid of some of the more err...
>interesting spin-off technologies that would result from control of the
>strong force.

I *love* this idea, it clears up all sorts of possible problems.  However,
it has one big problem, it is of limited usefulness.  This type of ND
works great against fission warheads.  However, by TL 12 I would expect
there to also be various types of direct fusion warheads which don't
require a fission trigger.  Laser pumped fusion, some type of *very*
high-powered, short-term magnetic pinch...  A weak force ND would (as I
understand it with my decade-old knowledge of physics) have no effect on
such warheads. 

So, is there any way to save the weak force damper other than (to me)
unrealistic rulings that non-fission pumped fusion warheads are
impossible. 

Comments?

- -John Snead jsnead@netcom.com   

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 14:50:42 -0800
From: bmac@astro.ucla.edu (Bruce Alan Macintosh)
Subject: Re: Drop tanks

>The monkey-wrench in the whole thing is that even the areas between spiral
>arms are not devoid of stars: it's just that the hot, bright, but short-
>lived O and B stars that highlight the spiral arms don't live long enough 
>to travel from those areas of star formation into the rest of the galactic
>disk.  Remember those hard-to-see red dwarfs?  The "rifts" between spiral
>arms are chock-full of 'em: they're just much harder to see next to their
>more glorious cousins.  There's no particular mechanism for clearing such
>a wide swath of space.


There's some argument about this; some models have the spiral arms being
significant overdensity regions (with more stars of all types, as well as 
all the blue stars), and some have them, as stated above, just being the
regions where star formation happens. Imaging of other galaxies is surprisingly
inconclusive on this matter.

Still, even the most creative density wave model still has plenty of stars
in between the arms. However, since most of these will be late-type stars,
one could argue that late m-dwarfs tend not to have planets or comets or 
oort clouds or anything that could be used for refuelling. (Current planet-d
detection results don't rule this possibility out - in fact, there do seem
to be fewer giant planets around m-dwarfs, though Marcy et al haven't looked
at as many m-dwarfs as g-stars.) So the "rifts" are full of stars, just
not stars you can refuel at, or find materials to build a base at, or anything
like that.

Bruce

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 17:59:19 -0500 (EST)
From: Charles Collin <charles@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca>
Subject: [none]

Joseph "Chepe" Lockett <jlockett@io.com> sez:

> For that matter, Traveller's "Great Rift", "Windhorn Rift," et al. are a
> bit dodgy under current astronomical knowledge.

I agree.  In my campaigns the rifts are the result of the final war of the
Ancients.  The rifts are full of drifting stellar matter (and the
occasional Ancients artifact) left over from thousands of super-novae.

Charles.

________
Can anything truly meaningful be said in just a single line?  Maybe, maybe
not.    -Charles Collin. (charles@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca)
        -Psych. Dept., McGill U., 1205 Dr. Penfield, Montreal, QC. H3A 1B1
        -http://www.psych.mcgill.ca/labs/cvl/home.html   

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 16:56:32 -0600 (CST)
From: "Joseph E. Walsh" <ransom@connect.iconnect.net>
Subject: Re: Rebellion: Diplomacy, Democracy and the New World Order (Long)

On Wed, 4 Dec 1996, Douglas E. Berry wrote:

> In my Imperium the real power is the subsector Duke.  Each subsector is
> unique enough to make anything but the longest range planning impossible for
> the Sector and Imperial offices.  The Duke's men handle the day-to-day
> crisis management, taxes, and defence operations.

Makes sense to me.  The amount of power available to an individual 
increases as you go up the Imperial heirarchy.  At the same time, the 
amount of time it takes to bring that power to bear also increases as you 
go up the heirarchy.  So, while the subsector dukes don't have anywhere 
near as much power as, say an Archduke (let alone the Emporer), they are 
able to apply their power much more swiftly (and therefore, effectively).

Also, of course, as was mentioned before, these "lesser nobles" are going 
to have permission to take action without permission anyway - it's a 
necessity.  An emperor who insisted on micromanagement would bring the 
Imperium to its knees - if he wasn't assassinated first. ;)


- -Joe
______________________________________________________________________________
Joseph E. Walsh      |  Atari 8-Bit User and Programmer Since 1982
ransom@iconnect.net  |  Classic Traveller Referee Since 1983
Stuck in the '80s    |  Microsoft-Free and Loving It! :)
       .....Official Reporter of Imperium Games Product Info.....

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 96 18:27:00 -0500
From: jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com (JEFF ZEITLIN)
Subject: Re: [T96#713] Ine Givar

Mused <marz@hotstar.net> hath scriven...

T::>Andrew Boulton wrote:
 ::>>
 ::>> In-Reply-To: <961130220408_1520272622@emout06.mail.aol.com>
 ::>>
 ::>> << > Ine Givar -- not even a
 ::>> >  library data entry.  I'm not even sure how the name is intended to be
 ::>> > pronounced.  Is
 ::>> >  the "e" silent or voiced?  Is the "g" hard or soft?
 ::>> >  Ein Ghivar?  Inay Zhivar?  you pick
 ::>>
 ::>> I've always pronounced it Ein Ghivhahr.  It sounds suitably terrorist to me
 ::>> that way. >>
 ::>>
 ::>> I say it EYE-nuh gi-VAR.

T::>For what its worth, I pronounce it Eye-n Guh-Var

 Somehow, it always looked like "EE-nay gi-VAR", except that I
 sometimes apply some strange (but reasonable) linguistic
 transformations to it.  On at least one world in my campaign,
 it was the "Ih-neh ki-PAR", pronounced as though it were one
 word - Inneckippar.

==========================================================================
Jeff Zeitlin                                      jeff.zeitlin@execnet.com
- ---
  OLXWin 1.00b  I'm pink therefore I'm spam.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 17:51:21 -0600
From: "K.C. Komosky" <kc@mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: RE: Dulinor Dissing!

>>> I don't think that Dulinor's daughter is any nicer than her dad, and if
>historical rulers are   anything to go by, female monrachs are not nicer and
>kinder than their male counterparts. <<
>
>Ey! Dulinor wasn't nasty; he did what he genuinely thought was the right thing
>for the Imperium as a whole. Unlike Lucan who looked out for No.1 and Margaret
>who didn't want to go out of business.

Thank you! At least I'm not alone in thinking Dulinor was not either a complete imbecile or the devil incarnate.

While I'm not sure I totally agree with his actions, what he did was:

A: motivated by the best of intentions (yeah, I know - the road to hell...)
B: in reaction to some very real and serous problems in the Imperium
C: even (somewhat) legal under Imperial law!

K.C. Komosky
kc@mb.sympatico.ca

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 20:11:03 -0100
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: Re: Alan's back!

Kenneth Bearden wrote:

>
>On  3 Dec 96 at 8:47, Roderick Darroch Elliott wrote:
>
>
>>         But guess what!  It's Tuesday!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back,
>> Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!
>> Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome
>> Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!
>> Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome
>> Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan!  Welcome Back, Alan! :).
>
>I think we all--and I mean everyone on the TML--should send Alan a
>message like this.  Maybe, we should all send him a message like this
>everyday for a week!
>
>:)
>
>Kenneth.

        Naw... after all, his ISP is this wonky little FirstClass BBS run
by the alternative newsweekly he works for.  It might turn into an
accidental mailbombing :).

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 19:34:08 -0500
From: Bill Rutherford <worj@topgun.cinecom.com>
Subject: Re: It's here!

Singed???  What happened to it? - Bill




At 02:30 PM 12/2/96 EST, you wrote:
>
>My singed hardback finally arrived this morning. Do I win the prize for 
>the longest wait?
>
>    ---------=========oooooooooOOOOOOOOooooooooo=========---------
>Andrew M J Boulton                  http://www.compulink.co.uk/~fubar/
> "Please allow me to introduce myself, I'm a man of wealth and taste"
>

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 20:22:41 -0100
From: rellio@po-box.mcgill.ca (Roderick Darroch Elliott)
Subject: Re: On Nuclear Dampers...

Jon Goff wrote:

>
>Roderick Darroch Elliott wrote:
>>
>>         Perhaps it's because I used to play SFB a lot, but one thing that
>> has struck me about Trav is a relative paucity of different ship-mounted
>> weapons...  which got me thinking:
>>
>>         OK: it's possible to dampen the Strong Nuclear Force... what about
>> a weapon system that has the _opposite_ effect?  Things go boom?
>
>That is a road you really don't want to go down.  Yes, it is physically
>possible, it would drop the required critical mass, and you could focus
>it into the reactor of a starship, and it would go nova, or detonate the
>missles early,etc,etc.
[snip]

       Not quite: I was thinking of negating the force that holds atomic
nuclei together; so that the particles that make up the nucleus go flying
off, splitting neighbouring nuclei, which go on to split their neighbours,
and so on...  Basically, you aim, fire, and get a fission
explosion...atlhough if the same range limitations that apply to dampers
also apply to "enhancers", triggering massive nuclear explosions (like a
fission explosion with the whole of the target ship's mass as fissile
material) at close range might not be a good idea :).  Even if you don't
get a big boom, you'd still get mondo radiation...

        Another alternative weapons system: if it's possible to manipulate
gravity, why not use it as a weapon: say simply hit the target with a
massive boosted g-field over a small portion of its surface... so that you
yank out or push through a core section of the ship...  or alternatively ,
just stress the hell out of it causing structural damage.

        What about rapidly alternating tractor/repulsor beams (Ok, ok, so I
ripped that one off from SFB: let'em sue me).

        I should stop now... I've got a closed-book labour law exam on
Monday and the casebook is still in its shrinkwrap...

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 18:24:00 -0600
From: "K.C. Komosky" <kc@mb.sympatico.ca>
Subject: RE: Rebellion: Diplomacy, Democracy and the New World Order (Long)

Okay, I have a bunch of comments, so I thought I'd conglomerate them in 1 
message:

Tim Peter wrote:

>>  2. Since most of the worlds are non-democratic, how are they going to
>>  elect a representative?

>This actually isn't a problem.  They don't need to elect a representative,
>they could simply appoint one.  The Imperium is so large that it is
>implausible, of not impossible, to monitor "democratic elections" on each 
of
>the 11,000 worlds.  Which brings us to the next problem:

Unfortunately, as I read Dulinor's plans, he did want the Imperium to 
interfere more in the internal affairs of individual worlds to promote 
greater democracy - indeed, he got into trouble in the Federation of 
Ilelish when he didn't do this.

Of course, Tim's answer is exactly how the Solomani Confederation 
Secretariat works - the various member states select their representatives 
in whatever method works for them (the democracies elect them, the 
dictatorships appoint them, etc.)

>>  3. With a travel time from frontier to Capital of >1yr, just how
>>  representative is it going to be?
>>
>
>This is something I have wondered about for years.  Given the scale of the
>Imperium, forget democratic reforms, how is diplomacy carried out?  Think
>about this for a moment.  The Aslan Yerlyaruiwo ambassador is sitting next 
to
>Strephon on the family dias when Dulinor decides to enact his "brilliant"
>plan to "save the Imperium."  He gets caught in the crossfire and the 
Aslan
>are understandably ticked off.  Well, ticked off once they hear about it,
>approximately 7 *months* later.  (Assuming the message traveled at jump-6, 
no
>less.)  So just how much authority must this, or any, ambassador have had?
> Can you imagine the negotiations?

Oh, how soon we forget. Humanity certainly hasn't had instantaneous 
communications for all that long.

In some ways, the best historical example to the Imperium may be the 
British Empire. Remember, several parts of it were months away from London.

While I'm a history buff, I haven't studied in any exacting detail. But my 
impression is that yes, local governors/military generals/ ambassadors had 
some broad outlines of policy set by London, but other than that were given 
a great deal of latitude.

>No sir.  I don't buy it.  The Emperor, and his assassination, should have
>made very little difference in the long run. <snip> I know I am a vocal 
supporter of >Classic Traveller here on TML, but the likelihood of the war 
playing out as it did, or >even
>getting going for that matter, doesn't jibe with the picture of the 
Imperium
>as a largely bureaucratic entity with fuedal chains of command centered at
>subsector and sector capitals.

Well, it SHOULDN'T have made such a big difference. Remember the Imperial 
Civil Wars didn't make any big difference - the bueraucracy kept going 
about its business the same as before.

The problem was is that the combatants early on decided to make this a 
total war. They didn't just attack each others fleets - they attacked each 
others worlds, and citizens, and shipping. Instead of just the I.N. picking 
sides, EVERYONE picked sides.

Douglas Berry wrote:

>In my Imperium the real power is the subsector Duke.  Each subsector is
>unique enough to make anything but the longest range planning impossible 
for
>the Sector and Imperial offices.  The Duke's men handle the day-to-day
>crisis management, taxes, and defence operations.

This is probably true to a certain extent, but even the Sector Duke would 
be months away from a lot of the action.

There is no one real power in the Imperium.



Allright, since no one seems to believe a democratic Imperium could work 
(and everyone has ignored my example of the Zhodani consulate), here is one 
possibility, given only for the purpose of discussion:

Every world has some sort of world ruling council. This is easy enough to 
imagine.

Each world elects several representatives to a subsector-sized ruling 
council. These representatives home worlds would be one or two months 
travel away from the seat of government, allowing them to get back and 
touch base one a year or so.

Each subsector council then elects a representative to the Imperial 
Parliament. This could be for something like a 10 year period. The election 
would probably occur up to 2 years before the old representative's term is 
up, to give the new representative time enough to travel to Capitol. Once 
there, the representative would a great deal a latitude in his actions, but 
anyone elected to this position is going to be powerful enough, and 
responsible enough, not to go completely off the deep end.

And of course, the Imperial Parliament has very, very limited range of 
powers. Probably have authority over the I.N., foreign relations, 
interstellar trade and commerce, etc.

K.C. Komosky
kc@mb.sympatico.ca
 

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 16:06:22 -0900
From: Peter Newman <pnewman@alaska.net>
Subject: Re: Democracy possible at interstellar distances

> From: "Stuart L. Dollar" <sdollar@goodnet.com>
> Subject: RE: Rebellion
> 
> On  3 Dec 96 at 13:01, K.C. Komosky spewed:
> > p.s. is there anyone who believes that democratic reforms in the
> > Third Imperium are NOT a good idea?
> 
> While romantic, its harder than hell to envision a democratic
> government whose communications range a couple of years from border
> to border becoming anything more than pure anarchy.  Perhaps concern
> about basic human rights on a local level would be a nice touch, but
> I can't see a democracy in the Western Civilization sense really
> working.

What about the Zhodani Consulate ? Their interstellar government IS a 
democracy and it seems to work just fine for them. (AM 4 Zhodani pg11) 
"The Zhodani Consulate is a democracy. Representatives (called consuls) 
are elected to ruling councils for a specific peeriod of time,with those 
councils responsible for specific responsibilities within the 
government....Each of the lowest councils elects two of its members to 
the next highest council...A hierarchy of councils extends all the way 
frim the local community council to the Supreme Council responsible for 
ultimately shaping Consulate policy."
	It is true that the Zhodani limit the right to vote to nobles 
only, but if you wanted to have a universal franchise you would only 
have to change 1 thing - who gets to vote for the lowest council - and 
the rest of the details would work themselves out. In their government 
councils serve until their replacement arrives.  While the Zhodani 
Consulate is overall somewhat smaller than the Imperium it extends much 
farther in one direction, Coreward, than the maximum dimensions of the 
Imperium "Chtierabl: Chtierabl includes Chrietabl sector, a single 
Zhodani sector located over 250 parsecs (8 sectors) coreward of Zhdant. 
Chtierabl is well-established and over 800 years old (circa 1100)." AM 4 
Zhodani pg10.  At Jump 4 and averaging 10 days per Jump (including 
refuling etc) it would take about 800 days to get from here to Zhdant 
but apparently the Consulate has been managing this just fine for 800 
years (and earlier when their TL was lower & they did not have J4 it 
took even longer) therefore we KNOW that democracy can work just fine at 
Interstelllar distances.
	It is possible, maybe even probable, that this system would not 
work for the Third Imperium becase the Consulate is much more culturally 
homogenious than the Imperium.  This does not mean that the system would 
not work at interstellar distances only that it would not work for THEM. 
I could easily see democracy as possible in a more stable culture.

	I am a long time Travellar fan who has only been on this list 
for a little while.  This is my first post.

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 20:35:07 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller Computer Wargame

Christopher Weuve wrote:
> 2) _Dark Nebula_: Modified _Imperium_ system.  Don't remember the combatants.

Solomani vs Aslan

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 20:37:19 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Off topic

How does everyone pronounce the Vargr Archduke Brzk's name

I pronounce it Bar-Zack

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 17:24:19 -0800
From: "Glenn M. Goffin, Esq." <sudet@well.com>
Subject: Imperial Power

>From: Harry <paharris@postoffice.newnham.utas.edu.au>

>Glenn wrote:
>>Why does a campaign have to involve a threat to the Imperium?  A threat to a single

>I agree, but it does depend on the threat. But just about any threat to
>a single world could be overcome by the massive power the Imperium could
>bring to bear, either medical, military or economic. Large scale threats

I don't think that the Imperium can always bring its massive power to bear, and to bear 
timely, especially out in the marches.  There is still considerable room for 
role-playing, e.g., in carrying an appeal to the Imperial government at the subsector 
capital, and possibly competing with other emergencies (which may or may not be real 
- -- as your PCs' problem may or may not be real; maybe you're trying to defraud the 
Imperial government in some way), or dealing with the emergency until the Imperials 
arrive.

Nevertheless, I do find

>smaller scale threats.  Assassinations, local medical emergencies, disasters, etc.

to be more fun to play and to referee.  For one thing, they're a lot more manageable.

- --Glenn

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 20:42:50 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: Singed Hardbacks

Michael.Barry@FINANCE.ausgovfinance.telememo.au wrote:
> 
>      Joe
> 
>      I think something is very wrong with Imperium Games. I can understand
>      a little bit of damage from postage, but this is about the fourth time
>      I have heard of somebody actually getting a *singed* hardback.
> 
>      Slight crumples are excusable, but actual burns are not.

Actually, someone else had the same thing.....I am still wondering if it was supposed to 
have been singing?

(Tra-la-la-la-la-la-laveller, Mil-yoooooooooooo Zeeeeee-roe)
everybody sing
There once was a game put out by Marc
Iffy shipping schedules frequently in park

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 20:43:49 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1996 #709

Marska3@aol.com wrote:
> 
> unscribe traveller
> unscribe traveller - digest

Unscribe? What is this personage doing? trying to unwrite the list?

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 20:45:50 +0000
From: Mused <marz@hotstar.net>
Subject: Re: "Basic Traveller"

Joseph E. Walsh wrote:
> 
> Hi folks,
> 
> I've got a really dumb question, but it's been bugging me for about a
> dozen years now (I was just reminded of it last night as I was re-reading
> Belters), so I thought I'd throw it out to you:
> 
> In a lot of the later CT products, the Traveller basic rules versions
> are listed (i.e., "This requires one of the Traveller rules sets.  These
> include...").  They list Deluxe Traveller (I know what that is - it says
> it right on the box), The Traveller Book (no problem there), and Starter
> Traveller (again, it says "Starter Edition" right on the box).
> 
> The question comes when they list a fourth version: "Basic Traveller" -
> to what are they referring?  Which version of the Traveller rules was
> "Basic Traveler?"
> 
> Was it the three little black books (the products that list these
> four are all from the era when TTB and the two-book (Rules, Forms &
> Charts) verson were dominant)?  I don't believe I've seen a boxed set of
> the three black books that is designated "basic traveller."  Was there a
> third boxed set that I don't know about?  Or was this just something used
> internally at GDW, but not on an actual product box?
> 
> Thanks in advance for any info,


While not 100% sure, I think basic traveller was the first 3 books, a spinward marches 
mini-supplement in a Striker (first version) sized box

------------------------------

Date: Sun, 03 Nov 1996 18:53:47 -0500
From: Charlie <Brreclus@spectra.net>
Subject: I can hear You knocking.

I am working on a Corsair, It all works out but I just cant pin down
boarding. Is it lock to lock, through hull breaches or what. I worked up
a 30 Ton specialty boat for boarding but it is just seems to make
Corsairs too large for many occasions. What You think Folks.
                                                                Charlie

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 04 Dec 1996 18:45:32 -0800
From: "Brian A. Howard" <Bruadh@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: Traveller-digest V1996 #717

> I say (contra canon) that the dampers increase or decrease the strength
> of /weak-force/ nuclear interactions (and not of strong-force nuclear
> interactions)

<Sniparooni>

> So, waddaya say? Who votes that that the first reference to dampers in
> Book 4 had a typo? ("Strong," when it should have been "weak.") You know
> my vote. 8^)
> 

Wow! Rob, this sounds like you hiti the technology right on the head. I
vote VERY much in the yes.

Brian Howard

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 19:32:59 -0800
From: "David P. Summers" <DSummers@Mail.ARC.NASA.gov>
Subject: Landing ships.

If you look at the description of ships it seems as if they should
be able to land at any reasonably level surface (say a nice open
meadow).

However, if you look at other material (adventures, etc.) you
see that one is often expected to land a ship and then use an
auxilary vessel to get around and the ISS has gone to the
trouble of clearing off at least a patch of bed rock on every
system in the Spinward Marches.

Now I have decided that the point is a) it takes a while to
properly get a ship ready for takeoff and b) since they
weigh a "lot" even grass over hard packed dirt can be
assumed to be sufficient to safely support a ship.

I was just wondering what other people's takes on this
were?


____________________________
(Disclaimer: Would NASA have ME speak for them?)
DSummers@Mail.ARC.NASA.gov

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:42:18 -0500
From: TPeterAZ@aol.com
Subject: Re: Rebellion: Diplomacy, Democracy and the New World Order (Long)

In a message dated 96-12-04 19:43:43 EST, K.C. Komosky wrote:

> In some ways, the best historical example to the Imperium may be the 
>  British Empire. Remember, several parts of it were months away from
London.
>

Months, yes.  Years?  Not so much.  I don't object to, or disagree with, the
plausability of a lag of six months or so, but beyond that, government gets
fairly hard to administer.  At least not without people in positions of
significant authority along the way.
  
>  While I'm a history buff, I haven't studied in any exacting detail. But my

>  impression is that yes, local governors/military generals/ ambassadors had

>  some broad outlines of policy set by London, but other than that were
given 
>  a great deal of latitude.

Exactly my point.  Strephon probably told Norris, "Don't let the Aslan run
all over the place."  After that it was up to Norris to see that he followed
that directive as best as he saw fit.  And Norris probably told the Duke of
the Trin's Veil subsector, "Hey, Strephon wants us to do something about the
Aslans.  Maybe you should try to negotiate something with them. If they start
shooting, shoot back.  Otherwise, try not to make 'em too mad."  The
subsector duke, meanwhile, must have a tremendous amount of authority to
negotiate treaties, veto agreements, and call in "the big stick," when
necessary, since Norris won't find out about it for a couple of months (at
best.)  This, BTW, is the crux of my problem with the Rebellion.  The
subsector dukes and admirals could not have been slouches at running the
show, given the latitude they must have enjoyed pre-Rebellion.  Why all of a
sudden did they automatically fall in line when this wet-behind-the-ears
little jerk we all know and despise as Lucan started barking out orders from
Capital?  'Cause it came from the Iridium Throne?!?  I bet most military and
political leaders throughout the Imperium had a pretty good feel for which
orders required more adherence after years of dealing with the Imperial
bureaucracy.  Hell, Dukes Craig and Norris knew enough to take charge, and
had the resources to make it work, at least for a while.  So, while I agree
with the analogy to the UK to a degree, the sheer size of the Imperium, and
the travel times associated wit that size, relative to the UK just doesn't
equate.  If it took a year and a half for messages to get from London to
India, the kingdom would not have lasted as long as it did.  If anyone knows
the true travel times at the time of the British Empire, I would be curious
to know what they were.  I doubt they were as long as we've come to accept in
the Imperium.

Tim Peter
<TPeterAZ@aol.com>
"Never let your schooling get in the way of your education."--- Mark Twain

------------------------------

Date: Wed, 4 Dec 1996 22:42:24 -0500
From: TPeterAZ@aol.com
Subject: Re: Democracy possible at interstellar distances

In a message dated 96-12-04 20:13:55 EST, Peter Newman wrote:

> It is possible, maybe even probable, that this system would not 
>  work for the Third Imperium becase the Consulate is much more culturally 
>  homogenious than the Imperium.  This does not mean that the system would 
>  not work at interstellar distances only that it would not work for THEM. 
>  I could easily see democracy as possible in a more stable culture.

Not only are the "Joes" more culturally homogenous, they all think similarly.
 Anyone remember the Thought Police?  I'm not suggesting that Zhodani are
programmed to believe everything the government tells them, but that the
government has less to fear from radical elements than would a government
whose citizens are all free to think about killing their leader (or
overthrowing the government, or seceding) without being "fixed" by the
Thought Police.  The United States, France, England, et al contained far
fewer individuals when they decided to give folks the vote than they do
today, yet now they rarely can acheive a majority on most issues.  I don't
know much about India, besides the fact that they are a republic, but here in
the States we've only got a quarter billion people to contend with, but
acheiving a plurality, much less a majority, is turning into a major issue.


Tim Peter
<TPeterAZ@aol.com>
"Never let your schooling get in the way of your education."--- Mark Twain

------------------------------

End of Traveller-digest V1996 #718
**********************************

To unsubscribe to Traveller-Digest, send the command:

unsubscribe traveller-digest

in the body of a message to "traveller-request@MPGN.COM".  If you want
to subscribe something other than the account the mail is coming from,
such as a local redistribution list, then append that address to the
"subscribe" command; for example, to subscribe "local-traveller":

subscribe traveller-digest local-traveller@your.domain.net

A non-digest (direct mail) version of this list is also available; to
subscribe to that instead, replace all instances of "traveller-digest"
in the commands above with "traveller".
