_Dispatches_ (The Perseid Collapse Series) (Volume 4) by Steven Konkoly

[Lynn McGuire]

_Dispatches_ (The Perseid Collapse Series) (Volume 4) by Steven Konkoly
http://www.amazon.com/Dispatches-Perseid-Collapse-Series-Volume/dp/1507646623/

Book number five of a five book series. This is actually a four book series plus a prequel book, _The Jakarta Pandemic_. The book
is a POD, print on demand, printing in trade paperback (my favorite!).

Six years after the Jakarta Pandemic in 2013 that killed 30 million people in the USA and one billion people worldwide, the USA
economy has mostly recovered from the pandemic. Then, an asteroid entered the atmosphere traveling low over Boston and crashed into
the Atlantic. The author never explained where the asteroid came from but that it was "as large as a city business center". The USA
government did not detect the asteroid which seems a little far fetched to me. The kicker is that the PRC used the satellite event
to explode a large nuclear bomb in LEO over the eastern USA. The resulting asteroid passover over Boston, 60 foot tsunami, and EMP
practically destroy the entire eastern seaboard of the USA. Please note that this explanation is not consistent over the books.

The first book in this series is the prequel flu pandemic that happens in 2013 with severe loss of life across the world. The second
book is the first 48 hours after the EMP event in 2019. The third book is the second 48 hours after the EMP event. The fourth book
is the next two weeks, starting at four days after the EMP event.

The fifth book, this book, is basically two novellas put together. The first portion of the book is what happens to the rest of the
world while the USA puts itself back together. China invades Taiwan, Russia invades Ukraine and Poland, are a few items. The USA
deals a little revenge of its own, EMPing China using two submarine launched nuclear bombs at 65,000 meters (200,000 feet) over
Beijing and Shanghai.

The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
starving refugees from Boston. The award for surviving the winter is that you get to survive the summer with high tensions between
the state government and the RRZ (regional recovery zone) governor.

My rating: 4 out of 5 stars
Amazon rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars (129 reviews)

Lynn

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
wrote:

>The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>starving refugees from Boston.

WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.




--
My webpage is at http://www.watt-evans.com

---
This email has been checked for viruses by Avast antivirus software.
https://www.avast.com/antivirus

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 11/23/2015 12:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
> wrote:
>
>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>> starving refugees from Boston.
>
> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>

One suspects Maine was chosen by the author because he/she thinks that's
the nearest concentration of non-urban Survivalists and/or Militias to
Boston.

--
Even Confucius complained about the younger generation's music.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:01:39 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 11/23/2015 12:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>
>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>>
>One suspects Maine was chosen by the author because he/she thinks that's
>the nearest concentration of non-urban Survivalists and/or Militias to
>Boston.

No, it's New Hampshire; I know that, too.

If the author lives in New England (which seems more unlikely the more
I think about it), he isn't paying attention.

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 11/23/2015 1:42 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:01:39 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> On 11/23/2015 12:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>>
>>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>>>
>> One suspects Maine was chosen by the author because he/she thinks that's
>> the nearest concentration of non-urban Survivalists and/or Militias to
>> Boston.
>
> No, it's New Hampshire; I know that, too.
>
> If the author lives in New England (which seems more unlikely the more
> I think about it), he isn't paying attention.
>

Well, the "isn't paying attention" part was a given I thought. :)

I kind of suspect the author is someone who should be wearing a foil hat
but won't since aluminum is used in military aircraft which makes the
aluminum foil industry part of the World Government's
Military-Industrial Complex. :P

[Lynn McGuire]

On 11/23/2015 2:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
> wrote:
>
>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>> starving refugees from Boston.
>
> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.

Three million other people went west and south. Actually, the author
has one million leave for Maine. 400,000 survive the journey and the
first winter.

Lynn

[Lynn McGuire]

On 11/23/2015 3:42 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:01:39 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> On 11/23/2015 12:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>>
>>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>>>
>> One suspects Maine was chosen by the author because he/she thinks that's
>> the nearest concentration of non-urban Survivalists and/or Militias to
>> Boston.
>
> No, it's New Hampshire; I know that, too.
>
> If the author lives in New England (which seems more unlikely the more
> I think about it), he isn't paying attention.

The author lives in central Indiana according to his Amazon bio.
http://stevenkonkoly.com/about-2/
http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Konkoly/e/B0047MCYNI/

Lynn

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:33:12 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>

wrote:

>On 11/23/2015 3:42 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:01:39 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
>> <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On 11/23/2015 12:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>>>> wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>>>
>>>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>>>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>>>>
>>> One suspects Maine was chosen by the author because he/she thinks that's
>>> the nearest concentration of non-urban Survivalists and/or Militias to
>>> Boston.
>>
>> No, it's New Hampshire; I know that, too.
>>
>> If the author lives in New England (which seems more unlikely the more
>> I think about it), he isn't paying attention.
>
>The author lives in central Indiana according to his Amazon bio.
> http://stevenkonkoly.com/about-2/
> http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Konkoly/e/B0047MCYNI/

Figures. Midwesterners usually get New England wrong.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:29:21 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>

wrote:

>On 11/23/2015 2:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>
>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>
>Three million other people went west and south. Actually, the author
>has one million leave for Maine. 400,000 survive the journey and the
>first winter.

Honestly, that's silly. No one in his right mind would go to Maine.
New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New
Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, even Nova Scotia, but not Maine. There's
a REASON Maine's been losing population for ages. It's cold and poor
and rocky and generally hostile terrain; half of it is uninhabited and
owned by lumber companies. Anyone fleeing Boston to the north would
go up I-93 to New Hampshire, not up the coast -- especially not after
a tsunami.

[Anthony Nance]

Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:33:12 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
> wrote:
>
>>On 11/23/2015 3:42 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:01:39 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
>>> <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 11/23/2015 12:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>>>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>>>>
>>>>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>>>>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>>>>>
>>>> One suspects Maine was chosen by the author because he/she thinks that's
>>>> the nearest concentration of non-urban Survivalists and/or Militias to
>>>> Boston.
>>>
>>> No, it's New Hampshire; I know that, too.
>>>
>>> If the author lives in New England (which seems more unlikely the more
>>> I think about it), he isn't paying attention.
>>
>>The author lives in central Indiana according to his Amazon bio.
>> http://stevenkonkoly.com/about-2/
>> http://www.amazon.com/Steven-Konkoly/e/B0047MCYNI/
>
> Figures. Midwesterners usually get New England wrong.
>

Aye, but that's okay - due to Conservation of Wrongness,
New Englanders usually get the Midwest wrong.

Tony

[Dimensional Traveler]

The 4 day winter covered by the first two books, right?

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

True enough. And they both mess up when the South is involved.

[Lynn McGuire]

I forgot to mention that there is six months between books 4 and 5.

Lynn

[Lynn McGuire]

On 11/24/2015 12:13 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 23:29:21 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
> wrote:
>
>> On 11/23/2015 2:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>>
>>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I refuse
>>> to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater Boston.
>>
>> Three million other people went west and south. Actually, the author
>> has one million leave for Maine. 400,000 survive the journey and the
>> first winter.
>
> Honestly, that's silly. No one in his right mind would go to Maine.
> New Hampshire, Vermont, Rhode Island, Connecticut, New York, New
> Brunswick, Quebec, Ontario, even Nova Scotia, but not Maine. There's
> a REASON Maine's been losing population for ages. It's cold and poor
> and rocky and generally hostile terrain; half of it is uninhabited and
> owned by lumber companies. Anyone fleeing Boston to the north would
> go up I-93 to New Hampshire, not up the coast -- especially not after
> a tsunami.

Boston is under the control of the militia groups after being smoked and tsunamied by the asteroid. No one in his right mind would
stay there.

Lynn

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Tue, 24 Nov 2015 16:28:37 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>

Right. They'd head to New Hampshire.

[J. Clarke]

In article <n32o68$5qt$3...@dont-email.me>, l...@winsim.com says...

Why would militia groups want a flooded burnt out city?

Nothing that I am seeing posted here makes me want to read this--I fear
that if I did start reading it I would be unable to put it down for the
same reason that it is difficult to look away from a train wreck in
progress.

[Dimensional Traveler]

The train wreck would make more sense I'm pretty sure.

[Dimensional Traveler]

I think I prefer my version. :)

[Kevrob]

After a tsunami, one of the only reasons I could think of for staying
near the coast would be for sea transport, and that could be
dangerous. Your charts, if you have any, could be well out of
date, and you could run aground easily on shoals or obstructions
that weren't there before the cataclysm. You aren't going to
have access to accurate weather forecasts, either.

The other reason would be fishing. Line and pole or seine net fishing
inshore would probably be a good source of protein, either to eat or
to use as bait for larger fish. The changes in the undersea geography
might make finding fishing grounds offshore difficult, though.
Cursory web searching did not bring me conclusive info on whether the
fisheries were harmed after tsunamis like the one that hit Aceh
resulted in long-term damage to the fisheries. Damage to coral reefs
seemed to be the main problem. That could change where the fish
congregate to feed. Similar spots off the NE US coast wouldn't
be coral reefs, but shoals and wreck sites fish normally visit
could have been moved or destroyed.

One would have to be very brave, if not foolhardy, to venture out of
site of land to fish without the type of experience fisher folk who were
not raised with GPS, LORAN and fish finders had. There might be cod
off the Grand Banks to net, but I wouldn't have any faith I could
find them. My boating experience is confined to coastal waters, and
I never learned to sail. I could row a dinghy out into the middle of
a harbor and drop lines or a net, but beyond that I'd be clueless.

Kevin R

[J. Clarke]

In article <132f6695-6be8-4259...@googlegroups.com>,
kev...@my-deja.com says...

So militia groups are heavily into fishing?

And why would fish finders not work--oh, right, EMP magically destroys
all electronic devices, even those powered down sitting on a shelf in
metal boxes.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 08:21:30 -0800 (PST), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

>After a tsunami, one of the only reasons I could think of for staying
>near the coast would be for sea transport, and that could be
>dangerous.

Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.

[Kevrob]

On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 11:53:35 AM UTC-5, J. Clarke wrote:
> In article <132f6695-6be8-4259...@googlegroups.com>,
> kev...@my-deja.com says...

I have talked to people who were tangentially acquainted with
the militia folks near Tigerton, WI in the early 1980s, using the
name "Posse Comitatus." Very creepy. My sense is that they were
all pretty big on the huntin' and fishin'. They were certainly
incensed when the native tribes exercised their treaty rights to
spear fish from lakes without limit.

I don't believe any were taking fishing boats out on Lake Michigan
to haul in whitefish to sell to Smith Brothers, though.

I do imagine everyone in the Northeast is interested in eating.
Stirling's ISOT/Nantucket series starts with everyone subsisting
on fish, fish and more fish at the start.

> And why would fish finders not work--oh, right, EMP magically destroys
> all electronic devices, even those powered down sitting on a shelf in
> metal boxes.

I was trying to "play fair" with the author's premises. I've never used
a fish finder. If the electronics survived, one would still need to power
it. A commercial fisherman is most likely going to have a craft that
is diesel powered, and if there is a source of fuel he'd be able to
keep it running, as long as it didn't rely on fancy-shmancy tech the
Magic EMP Fairy has placed under a geas. On the other hand, the tsunami
has probably sunk or smashed a boat like that and its dock, too.

I live in Connecticut. There isn't one facility for refining
fuel in the whole state. Even if all our car electronics worked after
a calamity like the one in these books, eventually we would run out of
fuel for motor vehicles and home heating oil. I'm not sure about natural
gas. Some of that infrastructure is buried, but some is above ground
in this rocky state, and might be vulnerable to storm damage, if not to
the EMP. The controls, per the author's version of "science," might
crash from the EMP, though.

[Visions of hobos roasting road kill too close to leaky natgas
lines and flaming off......{sfx: "FOOONT!"}]

As Bobby London once wrote,

"Can we burn some more winos, Mister Duck?"

Kevin R

[lal_truckee]

On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.

Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place" ripe
for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All American militia
world savers.

[Don Kuenz]

Metal. See how intelligent you are? You answered your own question.
Militia groups always need more metal for knives, guns, and bullits. :)
And the fishing's not bad, no?

ObSF: "The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous"
- George Orwell.

--
Don Kuenz KB7RPU

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

That's stupid.

That's New Hampshire, not Maine. Anyone who thinks Maine's a suitable
choice hasn't been there.

[J. Clarke]

In article <072beb19-4435-4549...@googlegroups.com>,
kev...@my-deja.com says...

Your average fish finder runs off of either internal batteries or a car
battery. If you don't have another means you can rig a solar charger
using parts that can be looted from the nearest Harbor Freight.

> I live in Connecticut. There isn't one facility for refining
> fuel in the whole state. Even if all our car electronics worked after
> a calamity like the one in these books, eventually we would run out of
> fuel for motor vehicles and home heating oil. I'm not sure about natural
> gas. Some of that infrastructure is buried, but some is above ground
> in this rocky state, and might be vulnerable to storm damage, if not to
> the EMP. The controls, per the author's version of "science," might
> crash from the EMP, though.

Refining doesn't do you a bit of good if you don't have something to
refine. As far as I know there are no reserves of oil or natural gas in
Connecticut so a refinery would be pointless.

However since oil and gas move in pipelines, they are a lot less
vulnerable than the chicken littles want one to believe.

[J. Clarke]

In article <2015...@crcomp.net>, gar...@crcomp.net says...

I remember one survivalist book I read in which some guy having duly
flogged his two girlfriends then picked off a platoon of Federal agents
from a few hundred yards with his varmint rifle, because of course he
can shoot accurately and _NOBODY_ in the employ of the Federal
Government can do so.

[Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy]

Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
news:qgcc5btcubsj43fri...@reader80.eternal-september.
org:

> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:06:51 -0800, lal_truckee
> <lal_t...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>>On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
>>
>>Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place"
>>ripe for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All
>>American militia world savers.
>
> That's stupid.
>
> That's New Hampshire, not Maine. Anyone who thinks Maine's a
> suitable choice hasn't been there.

And knows absolutely nothing about either state.

(Montana is a better choice for milita types anyway.)

--
Terry Austin

"Terry Austin: like the polio vaccine, only with more asshole."
-- David Bilek

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

[Kevrob]

On Wednesday, November 25, 2015 at 5:13:36 PM UTC-5, J. Clarke wrote:
> In article <072beb19-4435-4549...@googlegroups.com>,
> kev...@my-deja.com says...

> > I was trying to "play fair" with the author's premises. I've never used
> > a fish finder. If the electronics survived, one would still need to power
> > it. A commercial fisherman is most likely going to have a craft that
> > is diesel powered, and if there is a source of fuel he'd be able to
> > keep it running, as long as it didn't rely on fancy-shmancy tech the
> > Magic EMP Fairy has placed under a geas. On the other hand, the tsunami
> > has probably sunk or smashed a boat like that and its dock, too.
>
> Your average fish finder runs off of either internal batteries or a car
> battery. If you don't have another means you can rig a solar charger
> using parts that can be looted from the nearest Harbor Freight.
>

So, since a diesel engine can run on cooking oil, if need be,
you could rig the boat to run on that and keep the battery charged,
and find fish?

> > I live in Connecticut. There isn't one facility for refining
> > fuel in the whole state. Even if all our car electronics worked after
> > a calamity like the one in these books, eventually we would run out of
> > fuel for motor vehicles and home heating oil. I'm not sure about natural
> > gas. Some of that infrastructure is buried, but some is above ground
> > in this rocky state, and might be vulnerable to storm damage, if not to
> > the EMP. The controls, per the author's version of "science," might
> > crash from the EMP, though.
>
> Refining doesn't do you a bit of good if you don't have something to
> refine. As far as I know there are no reserves of oil or natural gas in
> Connecticut so a refinery would be pointless.
>

New Jersey has refineries and gasoline storage facilities, and
pipelines that bring in oil and gas. CT has a link to the
national natgas network, but not to oil.

Oil could come into several harbors by tanker to be refined,
but that isn't done for several reasons: need to keep harbors
dredged for deep-draft vessels, concern over leaks and VOC air
pollution, to start. People just swear at the extremely expensive
gasoline, compared to even neighbors like Massachusetts.

> However since oil and gas move in pipelines, they are a lot less
> vulnerable than the chicken littles want one to believe.
>

True.

Kevin R

[Cryptoengineer]

Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote in
news:565550bf$0$1636$742e...@news.sonic.net:

I'm not sure what the rules are in this thread - how much WSOD we're
supposed to be extending to the author. I ran out a very long time
ago.

We already have a single nuclear device exploding 400km up to create
widespread EMP, as an airburst to devastate Boston, and underwater
to create an improbably large tsunami, simultaneously.

But, even if all that *did* happen, all of this is a local problem.
The rest of the world - the rest of the United States even, is still
intact. Relief supplies, rescue crews, National Guard units, and
rebuilding crews would start to arrive within hours, days at worst.

The notion that Six Months Later, the US Government *still* hasn't
reestablished authority, and started rebuilding, is as unbelievable
as the Magick Nuke that does three things at once.

pt

[Moriarty]

On Thursday, November 26, 2015 at 11:59:05 AM UTC+11, Cryptoengineer wrote:

<snip>

> I'm not sure what the rules are in this thread - how much WSOD we're
> supposed to be extending to the author. I ran out a very long time
> ago.
>
> We already have a single nuclear device exploding 400km up to create
> widespread EMP, as an airburst to devastate Boston, and underwater
> to create an improbably large tsunami, simultaneously.
>
> But, even if all that *did* happen, all of this is a local problem.
> The rest of the world - the rest of the United States even, is still
> intact. Relief supplies, rescue crews, National Guard units, and
> rebuilding crews would start to arrive within hours, days at worst.
>
> The notion that Six Months Later, the US Government *still* hasn't
> reestablished authority, and started rebuilding, is as unbelievable
> as the Magick Nuke that does three things at once.

What's the rule about handwavium and WSOD? Do it once, get away with it. Do it twice and it wears very thin.

The premise of this book sounds daft, but no dafter than, say, "The crew of a crashed spaceship decide to reinvent themselves as Hindu gods" or "Magical wormshit gives humans the ability to travel FTL".

Like most people, I'll WSOD my way to accepting a daft premise, but I WON'T allow an author much leeway in compounding said daftness.

-Moriarty

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 11/25/2015 4:59 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote in
> news:565550bf$0$1636$742e...@news.sonic.net:
>
>> On 11/24/2015 9:28 AM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>> On 11/24/2015 9:44 AM, Dimensional Traveler wrote:
>>>> On 11/23/2015 9:29 PM, Lynn McGuire wrote:
>>>>> On 11/23/2015 2:41 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>>>> On Mon, 23 Nov 2015 13:57:25 -0600, Lynn McGuire <l...@winsim.com>
>>>>>> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> The second portion of the book deals with Alex Fletcher and his
>>>>>>> family / friends surviving the winter in Maine along with 400,000
>>>>>>> starving refugees from Boston.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> WTF? As a Bostonian, I'd know better than to flee to MAINE. I
>>>>>> refuse to believe there are 400,000 people THAT stupid in Greater
>>>>>> Boston.
>>>>>
>>>>> Three million other people went west and south. Actually, the
>>>>> author has one million leave for Maine. 400,000 survive the
>>>>> journey and the first winter.
>>>>>
>>>> The 4 day winter covered by the first two books, right?
>>>
>>> I forgot to mention that there is six months between books 4 and 5.
>>>
>> I think I prefer my version. :)
>
> I'm not sure what the rules are in this thread - how much WSOD we're
> supposed to be extending to the author. I ran out a very long time
> ago.

Some of us were smart enough to not extend any in the first place. ;)

>
> We already have a single nuclear device exploding 400km up to create
> widespread EMP, as an airburst to devastate Boston, and underwater
> to create an improbably large tsunami, simultaneously.
>
> But, even if all that *did* happen, all of this is a local problem.
> The rest of the world - the rest of the United States even, is still
> intact. Relief supplies, rescue crews, National Guard units, and
> rebuilding crews would start to arrive within hours, days at worst.
>
> The notion that Six Months Later, the US Government *still* hasn't
> reestablished authority, and started rebuilding, is as unbelievable
> as the Magick Nuke that does three things at once.
>

And this is where we start discussing New Orleans' date with Katrina....

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 11/25/2015 2:22 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
>
> I remember one survivalist book I read in which some guy having duly
> flogged his two girlfriends then picked off a platoon of Federal agents
> from a few hundred yards with his varmint rifle, because of course he
> can shoot accurately and _NOBODY_ in the employ of the Federal
> Government can do so.
>

Oh heck, I read one survivalist series where _every single time_ the
hero drew his sidearm the author lovingly spent 5 pages describing every
microsecond of the quick draw.

I'm absolutely serious.

[Dimensional Traveler]

I can't help but think its possible more people are aware of Maine
because its where Stephen King sets so many of his books.

[J. Clarke]

In article <56566587$0$1650$742e...@news.sonic.net>, dtr...@sonic.net
says...

>
> On 11/25/2015 2:22 PM, J. Clarke wrote:
> >
> > I remember one survivalist book I read in which some guy having duly
> > flogged his two girlfriends then picked off a platoon of Federal agents
> > from a few hundred yards with his varmint rifle, because of course he
> > can shoot accurately and _NOBODY_ in the employ of the Federal
> > Government can do so.
> >
> Oh heck, I read one survivalist series where _every single time_ the
> hero drew his sidearm the author lovingly spent 5 pages describing every
> microsecond of the quick draw.
>
> I'm absolutely serious.

Survivalist literature will be very useful in a fall-of-civilization
apocalypse. It will be good kindling.

[Lynn McGuire]

On 11/25/2015 6:59 PM, Cryptoengineer wrote:

> We already have a single nuclear device exploding 400km up to create
> widespread EMP, as an airburst to devastate Boston, and underwater
> to create an improbably large tsunami, simultaneously.

Wrong. It was a combination asteroid and nuclear bomb. Here is what I wrote:

"Six years after the Jakarta Pandemic in 2013 that killed 30 million people in the USA and one billion people worldwide, the USA
economy has mostly recovered from the pandemic. Then, an asteroid entered the atmosphere traveling low over Boston and crashed into
the Atlantic. The author never explained where the asteroid came from but that it was "as large as a city business center". The USA
government did not detect the asteroid which seems a little far fetched to me. The kicker is that the PRC used the satellite event
to explode a large nuclear bomb in LEO over the eastern USA. The resulting asteroid passover over Boston, 60 foot tsunami, and EMP
practically destroy the entire eastern seaboard of the USA. Please note that this explanation is not consistent over the books."

Lynn

[Don Kuenz]

Magick Yanks mission accomplish faster than a looter in New Orleans
after Katrina. :)

"The war is not meant to be won, it is meant to be continuous"
- George Orwell.

--
Don Kuenz KB7RPU

[Cryptoengineer]

Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote in

news:56566601$0$1650$742e...@news.sonic.net:

Despite the clusterf*ck that turned out to be, it still
took less than a week to re-establish government authority.
Recovery took a lot longer.

August 29, Katrina hits
Sept 1, 6500 Nation Guard arrive
Sept 3, 82nd Airborne arrives

By September 19, 82nd Division military engineers had cleared 185 city
blocks of debris, cleared 113 streets, and removed 218 trees. They'd
moved far beyond just establishing who controlled the streets.

pt

[David DeLaney]

On 2015-11-25, J. Clarke <j.clark...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Your average fish runs off of either internal batteries or a car

> battery. If you don't have another means you can rig a solar charger
> using parts that can be looted from the nearest Harbor Freight.

I read this as the above, and am now imagining a rather odd steampunk setting.
And/or a purified version of James P. Hogan...

Dave, maybe clockwork?
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://gatekeeper.vic.com/~dbd/ -net.legends/Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[David DeLaney]

On 2015-11-26, Cryptoengineer <treif...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote in

Well, we might as well have the nuclear device hitting a resonant frequency
that destabilizes the Earth's axis, creating, in fact, a 4-day winter during
the time it's 'hunting' for a new stable position, and this would also explain
WHY both the rest of the world and the US were still highly befuddled after it
ended. Yes?

Dave

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:49:29 -0700, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
<taus...@gmail.com> wrote:

>Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
>news:qgcc5btcubsj43fri...@reader80.eternal-september.
>org:
>
>> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:06:51 -0800, lal_truckee
>> <lal_t...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>
>>>On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
>>>
>>>Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place"
>>>ripe for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All
>>>American militia world savers.
>>
>> That's stupid.
>>
>> That's New Hampshire, not Maine. Anyone who thinks Maine's a
>> suitable choice hasn't been there.
>
>And knows absolutely nothing about either state.

Probably.

There are a few militia types in New Hampshire. So far as I know,
it's the only state in New England that has 'em.

>(Montana is a better choice for milita types anyway.)

Well, yeah, but it's too far from Boston.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:55:02 -0800 (PST), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
wrote:

>Oil could come into several harbors by tanker to be refined,
>but that isn't done for several reasons: need to keep harbors
>dredged for deep-draft vessels, concern over leaks and VOC air
>pollution, to start. People just swear at the extremely expensive
>gasoline, compared to even neighbors like Massachusetts.

That's because Connecticut has some of the highest gas taxes in the
U.S. -- maybe the highest, I haven't kept track.

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 17:47:29 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
<dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:

>On 11/25/2015 1:06 PM, lal_truckee wrote:
>> On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
>> Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place" ripe
>> for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All American militia
>> world savers.
>
>I can't help but think its possible more people are aware of Maine
>because its where Stephen King sets so many of his books.

Huh. That's a good thought; you could be right.

[Robert A. Woodward]

In article
<i46d5btd3ho7gtvap...@reader80.eternal-september.org>
,

Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:55:02 -0800 (PST), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
> wrote:
>
> >Oil could come into several harbors by tanker to be refined,
> >but that isn't done for several reasons: need to keep harbors
> >dredged for deep-draft vessels, concern over leaks and VOC air
> >pollution, to start. People just swear at the extremely expensive
> >gasoline, compared to even neighbors like Massachusetts.
>
> That's because Connecticut has some of the highest gas taxes in the
> U.S. -- maybe the highest, I haven't kept track.

Sixth out of 50 states + the District of Columbia, see
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States>.

--
Robert Woodward <robe...@drizzle.com>
<http://robertaw.drizzlehosting.com>

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

Okay. Connecticut was #1 at one point in the late 20th century.

[Dimensional Traveler]

On 11/25/2015 9:28 PM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:49:29 -0700, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
> <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
>> news:qgcc5btcubsj43fri...@reader80.eternal-september.
>> org:
>>
>>> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:06:51 -0800, lal_truckee
>>> <lal_t...@yahoo.com> wrote:
>>>
>>>> On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
>>>>
>>>> Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place"
>>>> ripe for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All
>>>> American militia world savers.
>>>
>>> That's stupid.
>>>
>>> That's New Hampshire, not Maine. Anyone who thinks Maine's a
>>> suitable choice hasn't been there.
>>
>> And knows absolutely nothing about either state.
>
> Probably.
>
> There are a few militia types in New Hampshire. So far as I know,
> it's the only state in New England that has 'em.
>
>> (Montana is a better choice for milita types anyway.)
>
> Well, yeah, but it's too far from Boston.
>

Somehow this seems appropriate:
https://what-if.xkcd.com/8/

[J. Clarke]

In article <n35q50$l9r$4...@dont-email.me>, l...@winsim.com says...

In other words the author is indulging in typical survivalist paranoid
fantasy.

I admire the patience of anybody who can get through that sort of dreck
without throwing it at the wall.

[J. Clarke]

In article <ss5d5bhal9gt279fi...@reader80.eternal-
september.org>, l...@sff.net says...

>
> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:49:29 -0700, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
> <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
> >news:qgcc5btcubsj43fri...@reader80.eternal-september.
> >org:
> >
> >> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:06:51 -0800, lal_truckee
> >> <lal_t...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>>On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> >>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
> >>>
> >>>Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place"
> >>>ripe for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All
> >>>American militia world savers.
> >>
> >> That's stupid.
> >>
> >> That's New Hampshire, not Maine. Anyone who thinks Maine's a
> >> suitable choice hasn't been there.
> >
> >And knows absolutely nothing about either state.
>
> Probably.
>
> There are a few militia types in New Hampshire. So far as I know,
> it's the only state in New England that has 'em.

Every so often I see a pickup truck driving down the road in the
Hartford-Springfield area with a huge Confederate flag flying. I don't
know with certainty whether I'm seeing the same truck or multiple
trucks, and have no idea what it is all about, nor am I sure I want to
know, howeever I provide this as a data point.

[Kevrob]

On Thursday, November 26, 2015 at 1:16:55 AM UTC-5, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 22:12:27 -0800, "Robert A. Woodward"
> <robe...@drizzle.com> wrote:
>
> >In article
> ><i46d5btd3ho7gtvap...@reader80.eternal-september.org>
> >,
> > Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:
> >
> >> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:55:02 -0800 (PST), Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com>
> >> wrote:
> >>
> >> >Oil could come into several harbors by tanker to be refined,
> >> >but that isn't done for several reasons: need to keep harbors
> >> >dredged for deep-draft vessels, concern over leaks and VOC air
> >> >pollution, to start. People just swear at the extremely expensive
> >> >gasoline, compared to even neighbors like Massachusetts.
> >>
> >> That's because Connecticut has some of the highest gas taxes in the
> >> U.S. -- maybe the highest, I haven't kept track.
> >
> >Sixth out of 50 states + the District of Columbia, see
> ><https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fuel_taxes_in_the_United_States>.
>
> Okay. Connecticut was #1 at one point in the late 20th century.

A few years ago there was a repeal of a tax imposed at the wholesale
level, which was distinct from the per gallon federal and state
excises that still apply.

CT towns which get their gas delivered from depots on the shoreline
still pay more for gas than those in the northern part of the state,
where the market is integrated with that in, say, Springfield MA.
The same taxes apply, but as you drive north from New Haven towards
Hartford you hit a border of some gasoline marketing zone, and
prices drop noticeably.

Any time you can save money on a commodity by crossing the state line
_into_ Massachusetts, because the Bay State taxes it less, the universe
is telling you your rates are too high.

Kevin R

[Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)]

On 11/26/15 12:32 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 17:47:29 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
> <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>
>> On 11/25/2015 1:06 PM, lal_truckee wrote:
>>> On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
>>> Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place" ripe
>>> for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All American militia
>>> world savers.
>>
>> I can't help but think its possible more people are aware of Maine
>> because its where Stephen King sets so many of his books.
>
> Huh. That's a good thought; you could be right.
>

It's certainly why I'm aware of Maine -- that and the word "Lobster".


--
Sea Wasp
/^\
;;;
Website: http://www.grandcentralarena.com Blog:
http://seawasp.livejournal.com

[Don Bruder]

In article
<ss5d5bhal9gt279fi...@reader80.eternal-september.org>,

Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:

> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 14:49:29 -0700, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy
> <taus...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote in
> >news:qgcc5btcubsj43fri...@reader80.eternal-september.
> >org:
> >
> >> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 13:06:51 -0800, lal_truckee
> >> <lal_t...@yahoo.com> wrote:
> >>
> >>>On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
> >>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
> >>>
> >>>Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place"
> >>>ripe for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All
> >>>American militia world savers.
> >>
> >> That's stupid.
> >>
> >> That's New Hampshire, not Maine. Anyone who thinks Maine's a
> >> suitable choice hasn't been there.
> >
> >And knows absolutely nothing about either state.
>
> Probably.
>
> There are a few militia types in New Hampshire. So far as I know,
> it's the only state in New England that has 'em.
>
> >(Montana is a better choice for milita types anyway.)
>
> Well, yeah, but it's too far from Boston.

I'm quite certain there are more than a few people who think that a
place that's "too far from Boston" is purely imaginary...

--
Security provided by Mssrs Smith and/or Wesson. Brought to you by the letter Q

[Cryptoengineer]

Kevrob <kev...@my-deja.com> wrote in
news:6c5dad6c-d986-4c93...@googlegroups.com:

Bizarrely, the sales tax on liquor in MA was abolished a few years
ago by ballot initiative. Bay Staters used to load up on booze in
NH, but the flow is now reversed.

pt

[Cryptoengineer]

"J. Clarke" <j.clark...@gmail.com> wrote in
news:MPG.30c0aa6c1...@news.eternal-september.org:

I also have a problem with the notion that (1) the US didn't notice
the asteroid coming, and (2) the Chinese did, with enough notice *and*
accuracy to figure out just where it would hit, and giving them the
time to conceive and set up the attack.

My understanding of these things is that while we can pretty accurately
figure out *when* we'll encounter an near-earth asteroid, figuring out
*where* it will strike can't be done until just hours before impact.

pt

[David Harmon]

On Tue, 24 Nov 2015 01:13:12 -0500 in rec.arts.sf.written, Lawrence
Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote,
>Honestly, that's silly. No one in his right mind would go to Maine.

Not while surviving the winter is a big issue.

[Greg Goss]

Cryptoengineer <treif...@gmail.com> wrote:

>I also have a problem with the notion that (1) the US didn't notice
>the asteroid coming, and (2) the Chinese did, with enough notice *and*
>accuracy to figure out just where it would hit, and giving them the
>time to conceive and set up the attack.
>
>My understanding of these things is that while we can pretty accurately
>figure out *when* we'll encounter an near-earth asteroid, figuring out
>*where* it will strike can't be done until just hours before impact.

Finding it is pretty much luck. A lot of them are missed. If they're
coming from the sun side, we see them after they've passed so we now
see the bright side.

There are comets (and comet fragments) and Asteroid (and other rocks).
Comets are active thrusters, so are very hard to predict. Rocks are
very stable and predicting them is no big deal. But ice crystals
refreezing in a tail make comets much easier to see from a distance,
so we hear more about comets.
--
We are geeks. Resistance is voltage over current.

[Lynn McGuire]

On 11/26/2015 7:45 AM, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) wrote:
> On 11/26/15 12:32 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>> On Wed, 25 Nov 2015 17:47:29 -0800, Dimensional Traveler
>> <dtr...@sonic.net> wrote:
>>
>>> On 11/25/2015 1:06 PM, lal_truckee wrote:
>>>> On 11/25/15 9:22 AM, Lawrence Watt-Evans wrote:
>>>>> Right. New Hampshire, not Maine. Nobody would go to Maine.
>>>> Maine is a stand-in for "generic underpopulated backwoods place" ripe
>>>> for picking by the gun-nut brigades, oops, I mean All American militia
>>>> world savers.
>>>
>>> I can't help but think its possible more people are aware of Maine
>>> because its where Stephen King sets so many of his books.
>>
>> Huh. That's a good thought; you could be right.
>>
>
> It's certainly why I'm aware of Maine -- that and the word "Lobster".

I love lobster.

Lynn

[Dimensional Traveler]

This is why the Militias hate you. You'd sell out America for a
lobster. :D

[Lynn McGuire]

Me and thee both. Although, there was a bus sized rock that went
between the moon and earth a few weeks ago and we only noticed when it
was leaving. i can't find the article but it was close to this:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-3279668/Nasa-predicts-near-miss-scary-asteroid-Halloween-don-t-panic-310-000-miles-away.html

Lynn

[Lawrence Watt-Evans]

On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 12:02:19 -0800, David Harmon <sou...@netcom.com>
wrote:

My daughter came down from New England for Thanksgiving; she tells me
that there ARE a few militia-type nutjobs in Maine now, though still
only a tiny fraction of what you'll find in New Hampshire.

Anyway, if the New England coast has been hit by a tsunami, there
won't be any roads to Maine. At least, none that don't involve going
to south-central New Hampshire first, then making a right-angle turn
to the east, and why would you do that? Portland would be gone. So
would Hampton Beach, New Hampshire, and the only sensible routes from
Boston to Maine go through Hampton Beach.

I told her about this discussion (obviously), and as soon as I
explained the premise, before I could get to my own reaction, she
said, "Who the fuck would go to MAINE?" So it's not just me.

[J. Clarke]

In article <n38vth$s9r$1...@dont-email.me>, l...@winsim.com says...

For some reason people have the notion that ever item in the solar
system larger than a grain of sand is being constantly tracked. It just
plain isn't so. Currently the goal, according to NASA, is to find 90
percent of the near earth and earth crossing objects larger than 1 km.
They do not believe they have achieved this goal. Once they've hit that
objective they might start looking for smaller objects. Note that this
doesn't mean that their efforts to find objects larger than 1 KM will
ignore smaller objects when found, just that that's not the main
objective.

[Dimensional Traveler]

Personally my disbelief about the asteroid stops hovering in the air
when it trips over the idea that ONLY the Chinese would know about it.
The search for NEOs is done primarily by amateur astronomers and almost
entirely by civilians. As I understand it the first thing they do if
they think they've found something is to send their data to a worldwide
network of observatories to see if any of them can confirm it.

[J. Clarke]

In article <56588808$0$1679$742e...@news.sonic.net>, dtr...@sonic.net
says...

It was until recently but now there are several professional
observatories that make it a significant part of their observing program
and are going after it with more capable instruments than are available
to most amateurs. They even have put a mothballed space telescope back
online.

[Dimensional Traveler]

I'm not trying to downplay the capabilities of the university and
science institutes observatories but the initial sitings are still
usually done by the tens or hundreds of thousands of amateurs. That
many pairs of eyeballs simply cover more viewing area than a few dozen
big telescopes, especially when the observatories have many demands on
their viewing time.

[Robert Carnegie]

So maybe it wasn't NEO until the Chinese found it
and found out how to steer it??

Let's see - they'd have to send up a rocket that
would apparently fail and just drift off into space.
But its course is actually carefully aimed...

Also one of the jobs of the work crew would be
to paint it black...

[Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)]

That's for a "lobstah".

[William December Starr]

In article <5655511b$0$1636$742e...@news.sonic.net>,
Dimensional Traveler <dtr...@sonic.net> said:

> J. Clarke wrote:
>
>> Nothing that I am seeing posted here makes me want to read
>> this--I fear that if I did start reading it I would be unable to
>> put it down for the same reason that it is difficult to look away
>> from a train wreck in progress.
>
> The train wreck would make more sense I'm pretty sure.

I don't know... I'm getting the impression that the train wreck
would set off a volcanic mega-eruption in Iowa or something.

(Yeah I know, I'm piling on.)

-- wds

[William December Starr]

In article <MPG.30bfb2191...@news.eternal-september.org>,
"J. Clarke" <j.clark...@gmail.com> said:

> So militia groups are heavily into fishing?

Or maybe they've decided that their slaves will be.

-- wds

[William December Starr]

In article <6a8eea68-1762-48b8...@googlegroups.com>,
Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:

> The premise of this book sounds daft, but no dafter than, say,
> "The crew of a crashed spaceship decide to reinvent themselves as
> Hindu gods" or "Magical wormshit gives humans the ability to
> travel FTL".

Was there an indication in LORD OF LIGHT that the _Star of India_
had crashed, generations back??

-- wds

[J. Clarke]

In article <5658c655$0$1715$742e...@news.sonic.net>, dtr...@sonic.net

According to NASA, the overwhelming majority of near earth asteroids
were discovered between 1996 and 2014 by LINEAR, Catalina, and Pan
STARRS, with "all others" which would include amateurs, making a
relatively small contribution.

LINEAR uses a purpose-made telesecope funded by DARPA. Catalina uses
three insturments indlucing a 1.5 meter Schmidt and has 100 percent of
the observing time on all of them.

Pan-STARRS has 100 percent of the observing time on the Panoramic Survey
Telescope at Mauna Kea.

This isn't a haphazard available-time project anymore. And eyeballs
don't help--the days of staring into a blink microscope are long over.

[Don Kuenz]

Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:
> On Thu, 26 Nov 2015 12:02:19 -0800, David Harmon <sou...@netcom.com>
> wrote:
>
>>On Tue, 24 Nov 2015 01:13:12 -0500 in rec.arts.sf.written, Lawrence
>>Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote,
>>>Honestly, that's silly. No one in his right mind would go to Maine.
>>
>>Not while surviving the winter is a big issue.
>
> My daughter came down from New England for Thanksgiving; she tells me
> that there ARE a few militia-type nutjobs in Maine now, though still
> only a tiny fraction of what you'll find in New Hampshire.

Mass media led me to believe that Montana Militia goes together like
Democratic Republican or Republican Democratic. (What's the difference?)

But something's rotten in Denmark. There's a site [1] that enumerates
militia websites by state. The list indicates that militias may be more
popular in New England than previously thought.

Wyoming - 0
Idaho - 0
Kansas - 0
Rhode Island - 0
Montana - 1
New Hampshire - 1
Massachusetts - 2
Vermont - 2
Connecticut - 3
Maine - 5

Note.

1. http://www.constitution.org/mil/link2mil.htm

--
Don Kuenz KB7RPU

[Dimensional Traveler]

But not as much as the author did.

[J. Clarke]

In article <2015...@crcomp.net>, gar...@crcomp.net says...

Checking the links, the only one that actually works is the one for
Vermont and New Hampshire (same site), "Rogers Rangers", which blathers
about "New World Order" and the like.

Looks like the "militia movement" has either gone underground or gotten
bored and found something else to play at.

[Greg Goss]

Don Kuenz <gar...@crcomp.net> wrote:

>Lawrence Watt-Evans <l...@sff.net> wrote:

>> My daughter came down from New England for Thanksgiving; she tells me
>> that there ARE a few militia-type nutjobs in Maine now, though still
>> only a tiny fraction of what you'll find in New Hampshire.
>
>Mass media led me to believe that Montana Militia goes together like
>Democratic Republican or Republican Democratic. (What's the difference?)
>
>But something's rotten in Denmark. There's a site [1] that enumerates
>militia websites by state. The list indicates that militias may be more
>popular in New England than previously thought.
>
>Wyoming - 0
>Idaho - 0

Hold it right there! I thought that Idaho used to be the national HQ
for these nutjobs? They don't build websites?

[Greg Goss]

"J. Clarke" <j.clark...@gmail.com> wrote:

>This isn't a haphazard available-time project anymore. And eyeballs
>don't help--the days of staring into a blink microscope are long over.
>

Eyeballs help with COMETS, not asteroids.

[Dimensional Traveler]

The New World Order Goburment controls the Internet.

[Moriarty]

I thought so, but I haven't read it in years and I don't have a copy on hand to check.

Maybe s/crashed/stranded ?

-Moriarty

[William December Starr]

In article <4e18b8fe-9a8e-4bc8...@googlegroups.com>,
Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:

> William December Starr wrote:
>> Moriarty <blu...@ivillage.com> said:
>>
>>> The premise of this book sounds daft, but no dafter than, say,
>>> "The crew of a crashed spaceship decide to reinvent themselves as
>>> Hindu gods" or "Magical wormshit gives humans the ability to
>>> travel FTL".
>>
>> Was there an indication in LORD OF LIGHT that the _Star of India_
>> had crashed, generations back??
>
> I thought so, but I haven't read it in years and I don't have a
> copy on hand to check.
>
> Maybe s/crashed/stranded ?

My impression -- and I probably haven't read it any more recently
than you have -- was that the physical mission had gone according to
plan, it was just the social engineering that had malfunctioned.

That is, they weren't so much "stranded" as "completely isolated
from the rest of the human race, exactly as they'd known they would
be when they set out from Earth, assuming they got there alive."

And while I'm pointlessly splitting hairs, in DUNE (which I read
once, at least three decades ago) did the drug give humans the
ability to travel FTL, or just the ability to _navigate_ while doing
so?

-- wds

[William December Starr]

In article <MPG.30c2e4951...@news.eternal-september.org>,

"J. Clarke" <j.clark...@gmail.com> said:

> Pan-STARRS has 100 percent of the observing time on the Panoramic
> Survey Telescope at Mauna Kea.

Let's see... "Panoramic Survey Telescope and Rapid Response System."

Rats, I was hoping it'd provide a cool backronym for my name.

-- wds

[Greg Goss]

wds...@panix.com (William December Starr) wrote:

>And while I'm pointlessly splitting hairs, in DUNE (which I read
>once, at least three decades ago) did the drug give humans the
>ability to travel FTL, or just the ability to _navigate_ while doing
>so?

I'm of the impression that the drug gave certain people supernatural
insight. To some people that insight allowed them to navigate
whatever they called their subspace.

[Jaimie Vandenbergh]

On Sun, 29 Nov 2015 08:38:29 -0700, Greg Goss <go...@gossg.org> wrote:

>wds...@panix.com (William December Starr) wrote:
>
>>And while I'm pointlessly splitting hairs, in DUNE (which I read
>>once, at least three decades ago) did the drug give humans the
>>ability to travel FTL, or just the ability to _navigate_ while doing
>>so?
>
>
>I'm of the impression that the drug gave certain people supernatural
>insight. To some people that insight allowed them to navigate
>whatever they called their subspace.

Precognition, yes. From Dune -

"The finest Guild navigators, men who can quest ahead through time to
find the safest course for the fastest Heighliners, all of them seeking
me ... and unable to find me. How they tremble! They know I have their
secret here!" Paul held out his cupped hand. "Without the spice they're
blind!"

Cheers - Jaimie
--
"If we do not change the direction we are going, we are likely to
end up where we are headed." - anon

[Don Bruder]

In article <n3f3h8$4v8$1...@panix2.panix.com>,

wds...@panix.com (William December Starr) wrote:

Navigate - Pretty much - Spice gives prescience, letting the guild
steersmen "pick a safe path through the dangers of FTL travel".

So far as I can tell from what gets said, anybody and his dog could
"plot a course" for an FTL trip, there are many possible courses that
can be followed for a given trip, and anybody with a functioning
finger/tentacle/other appendage of manipulation can push the buttons to
make it happen, but only the steersmen have the prescience to know that
a given course is actually safe to travel. (I would *GUESS* that a
Reverend Mother or the/a Qwisatz Haderach could probably perform the
same function, but for reasons never explicitly stated, choose not to)

(I just finished a re-run of Dune over the weekend, and Dune Messiah
Yesterday. Children of Dune is in the queue and will probably play
sometime around mid-week)

--
Security provided by Mssrs Smith and/or Wesson. Brought to you by the letter Q

[Lynn McGuire]

Nice conspiracy theory. Ever thought about writing a book?

My apocalypse book occurs in the 24th century about 100 years after we started throwing long term radioactives into the sun. At some
point the sun got tired of it.

The story went into the ditch in the first chapter.

Lynn

[Robert Carnegie]

Hmm. I guess if your survivalist story hook is the sun
misbehaving, you don't really need to give it a reason.
It's literally over readers' heads. But making it the
fault of climate protection agitators or responsible
waste disposal processes plays to the intended market,
going by the works of that kind that you've already
described. Of course you also have to involve China.

Now a title... is _Red Sky At Night_ taken?

The Chinese have altered the orbit of the Sun so that
now it only comes out at night, when it's dark...

[Kevrob]

Is the Fixx in?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZCM4_5uB1ww

> The Chinese have altered the orbit of the Sun so that
> now it only comes out at night, when it's dark...

Traditionally it's

"Red sky at morning, sailor take warning
Red sky at night, sailor's delight."

http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/gmd/grad/about/redsky/

What's the sequel, "The Moon Is In Its House"?

Kevin R

[David DeLaney]

On 2015-11-27, Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
> Let's see - they'd have to send up a rocket that
> would apparently fail and just drift off into space.
> But its course is actually carefully aimed...
>
> Also one of the jobs of the work crew would be
> to paint it black...

"I see a space rock and I want to paint it bla-ack / no colors anymore, I want
it to turn bla-ack..."

Dave, the chromaticity out of space
--
\/David DeLaney posting thru EarthLink - "It's not the pot that grows the flower
It's not the clock that slows the hour The definition's plain for anyone to see
Love is all it takes to make a family" - R&P. VISUALIZE HAPPYNET VRbeable<BLINK>
http://gatekeeper.vic.com/~dbd/ -net.legends/Magic / I WUV you in all CAPS! --K.

[David DeLaney]

On 2015-11-29, William December Starr <wds...@panix.com> wrote:
> And while I'm pointlessly splitting hairs, in DUNE (which I read
> once, at least three decades ago) did the drug give humans the
> ability to travel FTL, or just the ability to _navigate_ while doing so?

Navigate. They couldn't travel FTL with the drug alone, they needed the space
drive; the drug, used by certain people who became the Navigator's Guild,
helped ensure the spaceships didn't ... disappear ... on the way, by letting
the navigator presciently search for a future where the ship arrived safely
and at the correct place (and time).

Dave

[Brian M. Scott]

On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 21:23:10 -0600, David DeLaney
<davidd...@earthlink.net> wrote
in<news:3q6dne3PmooDj8DL...@earthlink.com> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

> On 2015-11-27, Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:

>> Let's see - they'd have to send up a rocket that would
>> apparently fail and just drift off into space. But its
>> course is actually carefully aimed...

>> Also one of the jobs of the work crew would be to paint
>> it black...

> "I see a space rock and I want to paint it bla-ack / no
> colors anymore, I want it to turn bla-ack..."

<http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/06/garden/what-you-can-do-with-vantablack-the-darkest-material-ever-made.html?_r=1>

Or for domestic use,

<http://mashable.com/2015/11/18/blacker-than-black-clothes/#TLTm41fb3aqB>

Brian
--
It was the neap tide, when the baga venture out of their
holes to root for sandtatties. The waves whispered
rhythmically over the packed sand: haggisss, haggisss,
haggisss.

[Kevrob]

On Monday, November 30, 2015 at 11:15:34 PM UTC-5, Brian M. Scott wrote:
> On Mon, 30 Nov 2015 21:23:10 -0600, David DeLaney
> <davidd...@earthlink.net> wrote
> in<news:3q6dne3PmooDj8DL...@earthlink.com> in
> rec.arts.sf.written:
>
> > On 2015-11-27, Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> wrote:
>
> >> Let's see - they'd have to send up a rocket that would
> >> apparently fail and just drift off into space. But its
> >> course is actually carefully aimed...
>
> >> Also one of the jobs of the work crew would be to paint
> >> it black...
>
> > "I see a space rock and I want to paint it bla-ack / no
> > colors anymore, I want it to turn bla-ack..."
>
> <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/06/garden/what-you-can-do-with-vantablack-the-darkest-material-ever-made.html?_r=1>
>
> Or for domestic use,
>
> <http://mashable.com/2015/11/18/blacker-than-black-clothes/#TLTm41fb3aqB>

"None more black."

Kevin R

[Scott Lurndal]

Why would you throw perfectly useful material into the sun?

Do you have any idea just how _big_ the sun is?

[Kevrob]

In the latest ANSIBLE

http://news.ansible.uk/a341.html

...we read of the passing of "K. Cassandra O'Malley_ (1942-2015),
US sf poet whose story 'Red Sky at Night' as by Jean Charlotte
appeared in _New Worlds 7_ (1974; US _New Worlds #6_, 1975), died
in mid-October; she was 72. [DL/RB]"

So, while you can't copyright titles, "Red Sky At Night" does
seem to have been taken.

Kevin R

[William December Starr]

In article <047a0274-0c85-4aec...@googlegroups.com>,

Robert Carnegie <rja.ca...@excite.com> said:

> Hmm. I guess if your survivalist story hook is the sun
> misbehaving, you don't really need to give it a reason.
> It's literally over readers' heads. But making it the
> fault of climate protection agitators or responsible
> waste disposal processes plays to the intended market,
> going by the works of that kind that you've already
> described. Of course you also have to involve China.

Related: THE SWORD OF ALLAH, by Richard Elliott (pseudonym for
Richard E. Geis and Elton T. Elliott writing together), Ballantine
Books, 1984. A perhaps-not-entirely-sane but very rational mad
scientist figured out a way to make the Sun flare, but all he had
was the theory on paper so he went out and found an America-hating
ayatollah/dictator of a oil-super-wealthy Middle Eastern country --
I can't remember if it was a fictional nation or was explicitly Iran
-- who'd fund the project.

(Iirc, the bare-bones of it was that if you fire a powerful enough
laser into the Sun ***in just the right way*** you can get tune it
to get a resonance-thing going that gets strong enough to trigger an
instability in the star and ZORCH!)

I think the ayatollah-type just wanted the weapon for its threat
value ("Invade or nuke us and..."), but the mad scientist was a
fanatic communist with a secret plan to burn the burn off the
biggest obstacle to a commie takeover of the world, i.e., the United
States. Of course, he'd also have to burn the rest of the western
hemisphere with it, but oh well. (Tough luck, glorious communist
state of Cuba, but hey, omelets, eggs.)

Long story short, a U.S. secret agent managed to _partially_ upset
the mad scientist's operation, and the weapon fired at the wrong
time and the _eastern_ hemisphere got fried instead. Rest of the
story was about the United States trying to survive, with bonus
internal power struggle because the President had been in
Switzerland on the big day and the female Vice President was hated
within his administration and... actually, I don't think I finished
the book.

Had a sequel in 1985, THE BURNT LANDS, by the same authors under the
same pseudonym.

-- wds

[William December Starr]

In article <1gul1otyjucp1.a27kge5tuap2$.d...@40tude.net>,

"Brian M. Scott" <b.s...@csuohio.edu> said:

> <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/06/garden/what-you-can-do-with-vantablack-the-darkest-material-ever-made.html?_r=1>
>
> Or for domestic use,
>
> <http://mashable.com/2015/11/18/blacker-than-black-clothes/#TLTm41fb3aqB>

Fulign?

(The "darker than black" color of the garb of the Torturers Guild
in Gene Wolfe's Book of the New Sun series. Wolfe being Wolfe, I
assume that it's a real, if perhaps archaic, word.)

-- wds

[Brian M. Scott]

On 9 Dec 2015 08:15:37 -0500, William December Starr
<wds...@panix.com> wrote
in<news:n499hp$hkm$1...@panix2.panix.com> in
rec.arts.sf.written:

Not so far as I know, and the OED isn’t aware of it,
either. It looks to me like a coinage based on Latin
<fuligo> 'soot' (cf. <fuliginous> 'pertaining to,
consisting of, containing, or resembling soot;
soot-colored').