
Traveller-digest    Wednesday, October 27 1999    Volume 1999 : Number 1265



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

The following topics are covered in this digest:

Re: TML Members as resources
Re: Fellow Traveller
Re: Fellow Traveller
Re: TML Members as resources
RE: Taxation
Re: Fellow Traveller
Re: Taxation (off topic)
RE: I-WAR (independence war): Traveller??
Re: Honoring J. Andrew Keith
Re: Taxation (off topic)
Re: Norris the Man
Re: Nobles
Just say "no" to lhy for Jump drives
Re: TML Members as Resources
Re: Norris the Man
Email goof-ups
Re: A Keith planet???
Antimatter drives
Re: TML Members as Resources
Re: Norris the Man
RE: Antimatter drives
Re: Norris the Man

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 14:13:57 +0100
From: Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk
Subject: Re: TML Members as resources

>>>Well, as an Atheist and Archaeologist, I would guess that it's in Exodus

>> Exodus 20, to be precise.

>Interestingly, anyone with a smattering of Greek could guess one place to
>find the Commandments.  'Deuteronomy' comes from words meaning 'second'
>and 'law' because it's the second book (after Exodus) in which the
>Commandments appear.  Interestingly, the two forms are slightly different,
>though only in wording, not intent.



Good grief.  Is there any subject concerning which someone on this list
*doesn't* possess erudite knowledge?

:-)

tc

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 23:18:31 +1000
From: "Alan Bradley" <alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au>
Subject: Re: Fellow Traveller

> From: "Douglas E. Berry" 
> To be honest, I've never seen any application of socialism or communism
> that didn't require extensive centralized controls to function.  That
> disqualifies Gov 0 as a true contender, once again IMHO.

Hmm.  Memo to Traveller Socialist Conspiracy:  
I recommend that the Cheka should have a word with Comrade Berry.  He seems
to be experiencing difficulties understanding the concept of the withering
away of the state.

Seriously, though, there's not a whole lot of point in us going off onto an
OT discussion of this.  There's not reason why we shouldn't take the
Anarchists a little seriously, for the sake of the game, but then again, we
don't have to if it's not interesting.

There could be a lot of fun, though, when PCs land on a Law Level 0 world,
and discover that they can't buy guns.  Of course, you would need to brush
up on your Monty Python skills before you tried to run an
Anarcho-syndicalist commune...

Alan Bradley
alanb@elf.brisnet.org.au

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 07:48:22 -0600
From: cos 90 <cos90@powersurfr.com>
Subject: Re: Fellow Traveller

>In any case, I doubt we would go so far as this in Traveller games, if only
>because it's hard to write decent stories set in Utopia. 

Going OT here... this is of course why Star Trek: The Next Generation 
was so lacklustre. :)

- -- g


     Glenn St-Germain  Edmonton, Alberta, Canada 
cos90@powersurfr.com  http://plaza.powersurfr.com/glenn
        "There is no longer any normal to be"
                                 -- Gary Numan

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:48:00 -0400
From: "Sword Worlder" <swordworlder@clinic.net>
Subject: Re: TML Members as resources

- ----- Original Message ----- 
From: <Timothy.Collinson@solent.ac.uk>
> Good grief.  Is there any subject concerning which someone on this list
> *doesn't* possess erudite knowledge?


Um... maybe.  Keep trying!

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
The TRAVELLER Domain
http://www.downport.com
Colin Michael, WebDev

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 21:58:00 -0700
From: "Antony Farrell" <Skaran@bigpond.com>
Subject: RE: Taxation

Just thought I'd mention this to frighten people. In Western Australia,
where I live, the state government is considering raising Stamp Duty (A
State Tax) on the forthcoming Goods and Services Tax (A 10% across the board
Federal Tax) In other words if this goes through we here in Western
Australia will be paying a tax for the priviledge of paying another tax.
If this was in Traveller I could imagine a mass revolt.

Antony Farrell

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 10:06:21 -0000
From: "Chris Seamans" <semo@pil.net>
Subject: Re: Fellow Traveller

From: Douglas E. Berry <gridlore@pop.mindspring.com>


>Gov 0, IMHO, is best modeled by group like the Scottish clans.  Each family
>tends to it's own affairs until there's a threat to the common good.  When
>that happens you'll see a very temporary and loose alliance to oust the
>invaders.  Then everybody goes back to minding their own business.


A very similar fashion to how Heinlein's colony ran at its peak in "The Moon
is a Harsh Mistress." I don't really think that it's the only way for a
world with a Government Code code 0 to function.

>To be honest, I've never seen any application of socialism or communism
>that didn't require extensive centralized controls to function.  That
>disqualifies Gov 0 as a true contender, once again IMHO.


Fair enough, in the real world, but not in theory. Personally, I feel that I
might as well hit theory for a little variety now and again. ;)

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 08:08:28 -0600
From: Erwin Fritz <efritz@GLJA.com>
Subject: Re: Taxation (off topic)

Antony Farrell wrote:
> 
> Just thought I'd mention this to frighten people. In Western Australia,
> where I live, the state government is considering raising Stamp Duty (A
> State Tax) on the forthcoming Goods and Services Tax (A 10% across the board
> Federal Tax) In other words if this goes through we here in Western
> Australia will be paying a tax for the priviledge of paying another tax.
> If this was in Traveller I could imagine a mass revolt.

Here in Canada we pay a surtax on our income tax. If your provincial income tax
(which is a percentage of federal income tax) is above a certain amount, the
surtax of 4 or 5 percent of your provincial tax kicks in, and is added to your
bill.

Gotta love it.  :-(

- -- 
Erwin Fritz
Gilbert Laustsen Jung Associates Ltd.
http://www.glja.com

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:30:08 -0500 ()
From: "Joseph R. Dietrich" <yikes@evansville.net>
Subject: RE: I-WAR (independence war): Traveller??

I'd just be happy with a tile-based version of Brilliant Lances, Battle
Rider, or High Guard. Maybe something like the combat in that grand old
shareware game "Stars!".

Tschuess,

Joseph R. Dietrich
yikes@evansville.net

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:29:56 -0500 ()
From: "Joseph R. Dietrich" <yikes@evansville.net>
Subject: Re: Honoring J. Andrew Keith

>If the latter is chosen, can I add weight to the AHL choice? I think it is
>*the*
>canonical "large Traveller vessel", even more so than the Tigress - it is more
>detailed, had complete plans done, and has a full history. This attention to
>detail is a hallmark of the Keith brothers' work, and here is a way it can be
>honoured.

In that case, we should to develop and entire culture in Andrew's name, so
we can call the vessel the "Andrew High Lightning."

A planet called Andrew's World, discovered before the Long Night by a
Terran scout named [whatever Andrew's other pen name was].

Tschuess,

Joseph R. Dietrich
yikes@evansville.net

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 09:44:31 -0500 ()
From: "Joseph R. Dietrich" <yikes@evansville.net>
Subject: Re: Taxation (off topic)

>> In other words if this goes through we here in Western
>> Australia will be paying a tax for the priviledge of paying another tax.
>> If this was in Traveller I could imagine a mass revolt.
>
>Here in Canada we pay a surtax on our income tax. If your provincial
>income tax
>(which is a percentage of federal income tax) is above a certain amount, the
>surtax of 4 or 5 percent of your provincial tax kicks in, and is added to your
>bill.

Here in Indiana, U.S., we pay a 6% state sales tax on our auto licenses --
which are essentially a state tax on automobile ownership, tied to the
value of the car.

>Gotta love it.  :-(

No we don't. Viva la revolution!!! ;-)

Tschuess,

Joseph R. Dietrich
yikes@evansville.net

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:51:55 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Norris the Man

Keven R. Pittsinger writes:

>>Just to keep this straight, we are talking about some Aslan clan lord in,
>>say, Dark Nebula sector, who sends off an _ihatei_ fleet that is a threat
>>to the Domain of Deneb, right? That means that he is sending them off on
>>a journey where the ships he wants back is away for 3 to 4 years if they
>>are jump-3. Effectively they are able to defend him for, let's be
>>generous, 3-4 months out of every 3 years, or 10% of the time. If that
>>doesn't put him at a disadvantage against a neighbor who keeps his ships
>>at home, I don't know what does. 
> 
>Considering that the 4 border clans on Reavers' Deep aren't gonna let ihatei 
>rimward unless they're organised as a mercenary company, and the clans on the 
>trailing border of Dark Nebula are bound by the same agreement (the Peace of 
>Ftahalr, to be exact), they don't have much choice.

No, the choice they have is between sending off a tiny number of their
_ihatei_ and have adequate defenses or sending off a small number of their
_ihatei_ and be vulnerable to any neighboring clan lord who didn't. 

>...But what I *do* see as the most likely scenario is the clan lords cut a
>deal with their neighbors to transport their ihatei to the neighbor's
>territory, pay them off a bit with some cash & future considerations 

There's the joker right there. 'Pay them off'. Any money spent on _ihatei_
is money not available for defense. My argument is not that clan lords do
not send off _ihatei_; they do. My argument is about how many they send
off and how powerful they are.

>...to be named later, and the neighbor passes them through to the *next*
>clan lord in line with the same deal.

The payment the neighbor gives his neighbor has to be deducted from the
profit he makes from the original clan lord, which means the original
clan lord must pay enough to compensate his neighbor for that. However
long the chain is, it's the original clan lord who pays in the end.

>Say, Clan A has an abundance of ihatei, and has a deal with Clan B to allow
>them to pass through Clan B's space in Clan B's shipping. They get to Clan
>C space with a fraction of the ships that originally went to Clan B; the old
>clunkers that weren't worth bringing back to top spec. The rest of the ships
>come home. And they only leave Clan A's space for a couple weeks.  

Of course, that's not the way canon says _ihatei_ are sent off. All the
information we have states that the original clan lord gives his _ihatei_
some ships and sends them off into the wild blue yonder. But let's say
they do it your way. Now they arrive at Clan L or P or Z or XX, located at
the edge of Aslan space in Trojan Reach, about a dozen parsecs from
Imperial space. How do they get the rest of the way? Do they book passage
an interface liner (and what do they pay with) or does the lord of Clan XX
give them a dozen starships? Who compensates him for their loss? And what
does he give to the next bunch of _ihatei_? Believe me, the original clan
lord still has to pay.

>Keep in mind that Clan A and Clan B number in the *millions*, possibly
>*billions*, so a few ships leaving aren't going to hurt them much.

No, but a few ships isn't going to carry very many _ihatei_ either. It's
not the existense of _ihatei_ I dispute. It's the existence of _ihatei_
in numbers and with equipment enough to pose a credible threat to a
political entity the size of the Domain of Deneb.

>>If a clan lord gives away his military ships when they are 30 years old,
>>he has to replace them more often than his Imperial oppo. That means he
>>can't afford as many. The fact that his shipbuilding section will be
>>burning incense in his praise doesn't alter that.
>
>First off, the 29 major clans number in the *millions*, if not *billions*.  

Actually, IMO many of the big clans number in the billions and the 29
numbers in the tens of billions. But no matter how powerful a clan is, it
is less powerful than a coalition of its peers. And we know from canon
that there's always a couple of clan wars going on somewhere in the
hierate. I don't say a clan won't spend any money on its _ihatei_. I'm
saying that it will spend more, much more, on its military.

>That's why they're the *major* clans.  Second off, not *all* of the obsoleted 
>and surplussed ships are going to be warships.  Most of them would be armed 
>merchants and scout ships, relatively cheap to knock out.

And relatively cheap to knock off. If an _ihatei_ ship is an armed merchant
or a scout, what chance does it have against even an obsolete, second-line
Imperial colonial navy cruiser, let alone a regular fleet unit? Once again,
I'm not saying _ihatei_ won't exist, I'm saying they won't be able to 
present a serious threat to the Domain.

>>Finally, consider how likely it is that the Marches didn't go all the way
>>back to 1% spending on the day of the armistice, but instead only down to,
>>say, 2%.
>
>I think they'd want to keep it above 2% for awhile.  Remember, there wasn't
>a *lot* of time between the 4th Frontier War and the 5th.  And there's no 
>guarantee at the end of the 5th Frontier War that things won't flare up at a 
>moment's notice.

well, at double the normal peacetime budget, they could have been wiped out
completely and by TCS rules they could still replace the complete peacetime
navy in 6 years.
  
>>>True.  But all the Vargr had to do was cut off the high pop worlds and 
>>>blockade them a bit until they geeked.
>> 
>>It takes large forces to blockade a high-population world. It is also
>>boring, unprofitable, and unglamorous. Are the Vargr who keeps up such a
>>blockade really the same Vargr we've seen described in _Vargr_? Not IMO.
> 
>High pop worlds get a lot of shipping. That means the Vargr gunners get a 
>*lot* of target practice.

High pop worlds have massive defenses. That means the Vargr gunners would
get even more practice being targets unless they have LARGE forces. We're
back to the canonical fact that Vargr corsairs are only a tiny (though
highly visible) fraction of Vargr society.

>And the ones who want to really jack their charisma up do runs against
>the planetary defense systems to grind it down a bit.

That's a recipe for evolution in action if ever I heard one. Eventually all
the ones who wanted to jack up their charisma would be dead.


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "The referee should determine the nature of subsequent
         events based on the individual situation."
                                _76 Patrons_, p. 8

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:58:25 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Nobles

Douglas E. Berry writes:

>I've always ruled that not all SOC B+ people are actually nobles.  You can
>be filthy rich and powerful just being a majority shareholder in a large
>corporation, and not have that fancy title.  

Fair enough. But that still squeezes a number of what I consider should
have been separate social classes (_especially_ considering that the lower
and middle classes have 9 separate levels to themselves) into one or at
most two Traveller social classes.

>Or your wealth and influence make you SOC F, but your "real" title is
>Baron Pacifica.

If you're SOC F, you can hobnob with people like Duchess Delphine. How
many people per planet do you think would qualify by that test?


      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "The referee should determine the nature of subsequent
         events based on the individual situation."
                                _76 Patrons_, p. 8

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 10:01:49 -0500 ()
From: "Joseph R. Dietrich" <yikes@evansville.net>
Subject: Just say "no" to lhy for Jump drives

In my upcoming, abberrant Traveller game I am considering dropping the lhyd
fuel requirement for jump drives. Ships will only be required to fill their
capacitors with energy before jumping. All jumps will require a
sufficiently large (stellar-sized) gravity well of at least .01 g as a
destination and will more or less take one week.

Okay, how can I expect this to change the Traveller setting? This is what I
can think of:

1.) Faster transit times for ships in a big hurry.
    No need to stopover for fuel.
2.) No jumping to the Oort cloud of a system.
3.) No microjumps to the outsystem.
4.) Smaller ships, or more free space for cargo and
    other things in existing ships (although this can be
    counteracted somewhat by increasing the volume of the
    jump drive itself.
5.) No High Guard -- except in describing ortillery for
    planetary assault.

What else. Poke holes in this idea please.

Ciao,

Joseph R. Dietrich
yikes@evansville.net

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

Date: Mon, 27 Sep 1999 09:05:06 -0600
From: "Eric T. Holmes" <eholmes@lanl.gov>
Subject: Re: TML Members as Resources

Fellow Travellers:

Here's my take on this thread.  I've made some modifications to what
can also be viewed at:

http://www.downport.com/understanding/TML.html

My UPP Takes into account the older, wiser, fattening and balding syndrome.
I probably should reduce the PDF Gunner to "0" now that there have been
numerous upgrades to the US missile forces.   I reduced the "unpracticed"
skills
to "1" and "0" as I am finding myself forgetting more and more. 
 "OldTimers" disease :-(

The Vacc Suit skill I have to recertify every 6 months, and I use this pretty
much on a weekly basis.  The same with most of the others.

My Edu is somewhere between a Master Degree and a PhD.



UPP: 5 9 5 9 C 7*         *previously 9 while in COAC  (USAF)

Skills: 

Planetary Defense Gunner 6  (Missile Launch Officer)
Administration 2
Gun Combat (Pistol) 1
		(Shotgun) 1*
		(Musket) 2
Interrogation 2
Chemical Warfare 0*
Leadership 1
Tactics 1 
Land Navigation 2 
Biologist 1*
Mathematics 1*
Chemistry 1 *
Research 2 
Streetwise 1 
Outdoor Survival 3 
Vacc Suit 3    (SCBA and Type A Enclosed Chemical Suit)
Swimming 3
Instruction 1

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:15:34 +0200 (METDST)
From: Hans Rancke-Madsen <rancke@diku.dk>
Subject: Re: Norris the Man

Cynthia Higginbotham writes:

>>You are 100% correct. That's how an Imperial Warrant is described in _The
>>Kinunir_. The part I take issue with is the 'bearer' bit. There's no good
>>reason for it, and the potential for disaster in case it fell into
> 
>Of course there is a reason for it; re-read the scene in "The Three
>Musketeers" where the Countess de Winter gets Cardinal Richelieu to
>issue her the original inspiration for the Imperial Warrant.  The
>reason: plausible deniability.  De Winter wanted the warrant to CYA
>herself against Richelieu later having her hanged for the assassination
>he was commissioning, and Richelieu didn't want to explicitly spell
>out that he was commissioning an assassination on paper. "the bearer"
>allows him to shaft de Winter later, anyway, by claiming that the warrant
>obviously fell in the wrong hands. (If he'd wanted to--it never got that
>far) It also provided the plot device for D'Artagnan to get away with
>his actions when he got his hands on the warrant.
> 
>To sum up: two reasons for "bearer-warrants": plausible 
>deniability, and plot device.  One in-game, one game mechanic.

Yes, I realize the source of the original, but the analogy is a false one.
The 'warrant' that Richelieu gave Mylady was not the 17th Century counterpart
of an Imperial warrant. It didn't empower Mylady to go down to Le Havre and
commandeer a squadron of ships and sail off to seize a Spanish treasure
fleet or some such. Athos himself said it best: "That is absolution as good
as any". It was a pardon, a "get out of jail free" card. An Imperial Warrant
is so much more than that.

If you want to give your players a "Three Musketeer" type plot device, you
can do it, and you don't need an imperial warrant to do so. "In case of
any legal entanglements, please refer the bearer of this to the Office of
the Duke of Glisten" Signed <Name unreadable>.
 
>(And it was a cool bit in "The Three Musketeers"...)

It sure was. In a Paranoia campaign I once gave one of the players a note
with the words: "It is with my knowledge and for the good of Alpha Complex
that the bearer of this has done what he has done. The Computer". The poor
sap was so pleased. At first...
 

      Hans Rancke
University of Copenhagen
     rancke@diku.dk
- ------------
        "Kettelman bristled. Nothing got him angrier than when
         people implied that he was paranoid. It made him feel
         persecuted."
                                --Robert Sheckley

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:24:14 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Collin <charles@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Email goof-ups

Ahem.  We have a few people (including one or two who claim to have
computer 3+ :-) who do not seem to know how to use their email progs. I
think the culprits mostly are using MS Outlook Express.  If you are using
MSOE, change the setting to 'text only'.  No HTML. No digital sigs.  No
attachments.  These things show up as massive blobs of nonsense text in
the digest version of the TML.

Sorry the above sounds a little crochety, need more coffee.... :-)

Have a good one,
Charles C.

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:27:33 -0400
From: "Alan M. Nuss" <amnuss@earthlink.net>
Subject: Re: A Keith planet???

I have no problem with renaming the planet>

Alan

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:29:00 -0400 (EDT)
From: Charles Collin <charles@hebb.psych.mcgill.ca>
Subject: Antimatter drives

Hi all. 

I've been thinking about antimatter drives.  How would they work?  Let's
say you somehow have access to fairly large amounts of antimatter, what
would be the best way to use it to send a ship forward?  Would simply
allowing it to react with an equal mass of normal matter be efficient?  I
mean, my basic view of an antimatter rocket is just that:  You feed a
stream of antimatter into a chamber where it encounters a stream of normal
matter.  They annihilate and you direct the energy out the back of the
ship.  

But then I got to wondering, isn't most of the energy produced going to be
in the form of gamma rays and other "high energy" forms?  How easy is it
to "redirect" this?  How much thrust would you get by forcing this out the
back of the ship? Do you need reaction mass?  Then I thought "I have no
idea, I'll ask the friendly folks at the TML!"  And here we are... :-)

Charles C.

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 11:34:08 -0400 (EDT)
From: Kenji Schwarz <schwarz@fas.harvard.edu>
Subject: Re: TML Members as Resources

Hello, everyone.  I'd just like to say it's wonderful to be back, now that
I'm a well-adjusted person doing what I love and enjoying life to the
fullest, and not a snide, mouthy juvenile with ridiculous politics and so
forth cluttering up the list.  I am so ashamed of my prior behavior.  From
now on, I'm going to take things seriously; as seriously as I take my
studies, as seriously as I take my life.  

So, speaking of which -- UPP per the "Do-it-yourself Stat Test" posted
here a year or two ago, and CT-oid skills:

638AD4  Scientist    2.5 terms   Age 28 

History-3, anthropology-3, research-3, admin-2, linguistics-2,
archeology-1, streetwise-1, medical-1, psychology-1.

- ----------
Now that the reindroduction's formally over, I'd like to make a few
contributions to some ongoing threads.  I hope I can make a meaningful
contribution to discussion this time around.  I mean, it's all such
important stuff, and it's not like this is just science-fiction!  This is
science.

1)  Everyone with a BRAIN in their head knows that Strephon only gave
Imperial Warrants to degenerate liberal-policy-children intent only on
furthering their homosexual agenda, like Norris. 

2)  Battledress certainly can withstand crushing pressures of many
thousands of atmospheres, because they have to:  Imperial Marines are so
incompetent there's no other way they can survive.

3)  Communism is not only feasible, but is inevitable.  I continue to be
amazed that the crypto-fascist slaveholding mentality of the Third
Imperium is so virulently defended by the otherwise stellar thinktank that
is the TML.  Really, it's time to close the books on mercantilism in
Traveller.  Private property is yesterday's neurosis.  The future lies
with the progressive "races" -- the Zhodani, the Sayat, etc.

I'm sure there are other threads besides these underway, all of which I
look forward to participating in with all my new-found maturity and peace
of mind that I can muster.

Kenji

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 17:56:44 +0200
From: "Mark Seemann" <dko3835@vip.cybercity.dk>
Subject: Re: Norris the Man

Tue, 26 Oct 1999 15:19:26 -0500 (CDT) Cynthia Higginbotham <cyhiggin@pipeline.com> wrote:

> Hasn't Keynes been discredited yet??  Sheeshi! His theories did enough
> damage
> to the U.S. economy before the Fed came to its collective senses.

Well, also not trying to start a flamewar, I realize that my former comment may have been oversimplified. What I meant was just that Keynes' theory has had a huge impact on how governments think about government spending.

I won't go into whether Keynes has been discredited or not, just observe that even to this day, many governments use deficit funding just for this purpose - the current Danish one springs to mind (because I'm a Dane), but most Social Democratic European governments (and there's a lot of those around these days) adhere to the principle one way or the other.

But this really has nothing to do with Traveller...

Mark Seemann
mark@dk-online.dk (home)
marks@rainier.com (work)
20985193@note.sonofon.dk (SMS)
http://seemann.homepage.dk

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 16:38:20 +0100
From: "Trevor, Peter" <Peter.Trevor@rb.cwplc.com>
Subject: RE: Antimatter drives

Charles Collin wrote:
> But then I got to wondering, isn't most of the energy produced
> going to be in the form of gamma rays and other "high energy"
> forms?  How easy is it to "redirect" this?  How much thrust
> would you get by forcing this out the back of the ship? Do you
> need reaction mass?  Then I thought "I have no idea, I'll ask
> the friendly folks at the TML!"  And here we are... :-)

Dr Robert Forward came up with a solution called  the  FAM  drive
(Dr Forward's AntiMatter drive).  A small amount of antimatter is
dropped into a large amount  of  normal  matter  fluid.  A  small
amount  of  matter  (equal  to  the  amount  of  antimatter)   is
annihilated and what's left is superheated by the reaction.  This
superheated matter expells itself from the ship  in  conventional
thruster fashion.  (At least that's how I understood it.)



Regards PLST
"Rome wasn't burned in a day."

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

Date: Wed, 27 Oct 1999 18:09:14 +0200
From: "Mark Seemann" <dko3835@vip.cybercity.dk>
Subject: Re: Norris the Man

Tue, 26 Oct 1999 17:37:52 -0400 (EDT)  jmaclean@ix.netcom.com wrote:

> >Hmm... Well, the "SOMEBODY ALWAYS PAYS" part is actually a subject of much
> debate in today's 
> politics, and has been at least since (in the thirties or forties, IIRC)
> John Maynard Keynes 
> first put forth his theory about the benefits of government spending.
> > According to this theory, an expansive financial policy not only means
> that the government 
> employees earn money, but they pay taxes and buy other goods, which helps
> put more people into 
> work, who pay taxes and buy other goods, etc.
> 
> Keynes' point was that an economy does not necessarily quickly return to its
> long-run, full-
> employment equilibrium.  A little government deficit-spending "pump priming"
> could stimulate it 
> and move it to that equilibrium more quickly, thus saving everyone a lot of
> economic pain.  
> 
> Keynesianism does _not_ say that government spending can somehow create a
> "free lunch" where 
> nobody pays.

Trying to keep this somewhat Traveller, let me first state that I've never been good with labels, but there sure is a whole bunch of economic theory (steady state growth), which states that (in theory, at least), it can be beneficial to run with a slight defecit in government spending, because the rate of return of investment will outperform the interest payments (or something like that).

So Aslan females may actually be trying to maneuver their clan in other directions than the males. Who has the most power? Well, first, the females outnumber the males three to one, so there's an advantage already. Second, as the Aslan do have a society run (more or less) on economy, fiscal issues may be more crucial to military decisions than the other way around.

I'm not going to say anything more about current economic theory...There are obviously people on the list far more skilled in that department than me - I haven't worked as an economist for four years now (being a developer), so my knowledge is probably a little rusty.

Sorry about the noise...

Mark Seemann
mark@dk-online.dk (home)
marks@rainier.com (work)
20985193@note.sonofon.dk (SMS)
http://seemann.homepage.dk

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

End of Traveller-digest V1999 #1265
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