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Groups > rec.arts.sf.written > #423869 > unrolled thread

Can anyone remember...?

Started byRonald Bruck <rbruck@gmail.com>
First post2015-09-29 17:53 -0700
Last post2015-10-03 16:39 +0000
Articles 20 on this page of 153 — 39 participants

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Contents

  Can anyone remember...? Ronald Bruck <rbruck@gmail.com> - 2015-09-29 17:53 -0700
    Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-09-30 01:31 +0000
      Re: Can anyone remember...? Adamastor Glace Mortimer <nospam@no.invalid> - 2015-10-02 18:09 +0200
        Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-02 16:24 -0400
          Re: Can anyone remember...? Steve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org> - 2015-10-02 14:43 -0600
          Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-02 22:17 +0000
            Re: Can anyone remember...? "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-10-02 18:56 -0400
              Re: Can anyone remember...? David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2015-10-02 20:36 -0500
            Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 16:06 -0700
              Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 02:24 +0000
                Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 23:08 -0400
                  Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 05:29 +0000
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 22:35 -0700
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? "nuny@bid.nes" <Alien8752@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 23:19 -0700
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-02 23:38 -0700
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? Kay Shapero <kay@invalid.net> - 2015-10-03 00:23 -0700
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-10-03 10:09 -0400
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? lal_truckee <lal_truckee@yahoo.com> - 2015-10-03 08:59 -0700
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:39 -0700
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 21:49 +0000
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? "nuny@bid.nes" <Alien8752@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 22:53 -0700
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 13:16 +0000
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? "nuny@bid.nes" <Alien8752@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 09:59 -0700
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-04 13:30 -0700
                                      Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 21:41 +0000
                                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-04 15:10 -0700
                                        Re: Can anyone remember...? "Raymond Daley" <raymond.daley@ntlworld.com> - 2015-10-07 14:50 +0100
                                          Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-07 13:58 +0000
                                            Re: Can anyone remember...? petertrei@gmail.com - 2015-10-07 07:21 -0700
                                              Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-08 04:36 +0000
                                                Re: Can anyone remember...? petertrei@gmail.com - 2015-10-08 07:40 -0700
                                            Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-07 18:20 -0700
                                            Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-08 00:22 -0700
                                              Re: Can anyone remember...? Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2015-10-08 02:55 -0700
                                                Re: Can anyone remember...? "John F. Eldredge" <john@jfeldredge.com> - 2015-10-09 02:03 +0000
                                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-10-09 19:38 -0700
                                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-10 08:17 -0400
                                          Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-07 23:15 -0400
                                            Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-08 04:41 +0000
                                            Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-08 00:29 -0700
                                              Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-08 08:24 -0400
                                                Re: Can anyone remember...? petertrei@gmail.com - 2015-10-08 07:31 -0700
                                          Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-08 00:19 -0700
                                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Walter Bushell <proto@panix.com> - 2015-10-19 18:26 -0400
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 16:49 -0400
                                      Re: Can anyone remember...? "nuny@bid.nes" <Alien8752@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 13:24 -0700
                                        Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 17:53 -0400
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 21:37 +0000
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 10:45 -0700
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 15:47 -0400
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? Walter Bushell <proto@panix.com> - 2015-10-19 17:57 -0400
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 06:53 -0400
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-10-04 09:25 -0400
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-04 13:32 -0700
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 10:52 -0700
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? leif.roar@dimnakorr.com - 2015-10-04 21:58 -0500
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan) - 2015-10-05 03:15 +0000
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 00:10 -0700
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-05 05:31 -0400
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-10-06 19:48 -0700
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-06 21:54 -0700
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-07 09:27 -0700
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-10-07 11:50 -0700
                                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-07 13:49 -0700
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 13:52 -0400
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 19:10 +0000
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-10-05 08:14 -0700
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:41 -0700
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? Walter Bushell <proto@panix.com> - 2015-10-19 18:37 -0400
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-03 15:34 -0700
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 02:38 -0400
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2015-10-04 03:38 -0500
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 06:26 -0400
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 13:19 +0000
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? jgd@cix.co.uk (John Dallman) - 2015-10-04 15:26 +0100
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 16:20 +0000
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-10-04 10:46 -0400
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? David DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net> - 2015-10-05 04:30 -0500
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-04 08:26 -0700
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? "Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu> - 2015-10-04 12:54 -0400
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 13:49 -0400
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-04 13:37 -0700
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 21:43 +0000
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-04 18:12 -0400
                                      Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 22:06 +0000
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-04 15:08 -0700
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Steve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org> - 2015-10-05 17:18 -0600
                                    Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-07 07:53 -0400
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? Gene Wirchenko <genew@telus.net> - 2015-10-06 20:11 -0700
                                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-07 04:26 -0600
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2015-10-04 15:38 -0700
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? Wayne Brown <fwbrown@bellsouth.net> - 2015-10-13 16:15 +0000
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:38 -0700
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? "Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> - 2015-10-03 09:09 -0400
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 13:54 -0400
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-10-03 11:24 -0700
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? William Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:35 -0400
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 17:27 -0400
                Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 22:28 -0700
                  Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 14:47 +0000
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:45 -0700
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 07:22 -0400
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 13:20 +0000
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 13:51 -0400
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 21:54 +0000
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? news{@bestley.co.uk (Mark Bestley) - 2015-10-05 11:38 +0100
                              Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-05 11:56 +0000
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-05 14:35 +0000
                                Re: Can anyone remember...? "Michael R N Dolbear" <me@privacy.net> - 2015-10-05 23:08 +0100
                Re: Can anyone remember...? Butch Malahide <fred.galvin@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 01:03 -0700
                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-03 09:39 -0700
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 16:59 +0000
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 16:49 -0400
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 14:42 -0700
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 21:51 +0000
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Dimensional Traveler <dtravel@sonic.net> - 2015-10-03 15:32 -0700
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? patmpowers@gmail.com - 2015-10-05 08:38 -0700
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 16:48 -0400
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? ted@loft.tnolan.com (Ted Nolan) - 2015-10-03 22:29 +0000
                Re: Can anyone remember...? patmpowers@gmail.com - 2015-10-03 06:31 -0700
                  Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 14:57 +0000
                  Re: Can anyone remember...? Lawrence Watt-Evans <lwe@sff.net> - 2015-10-03 16:19 -0400
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 18:50 -0400
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 19:14 -0400
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? - Slight thread drift BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> - 2015-10-04 13:54 -0700
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Wayne Brown <fwbrown@bellsouth.net> - 2015-10-13 16:15 +0000
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com> - 2015-10-13 10:33 -0700
                          Re: Can anyone remember...? Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-10-13 13:25 -0700
                            Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-13 17:57 -0400
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? patmpowers@gmail.com - 2015-10-05 08:45 -0700
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? Quadibloc <jsavard@ecn.ab.ca> - 2015-10-05 11:54 -0700
                        Re: Can anyone remember...? Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-06 01:10 -0600
            Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-02 22:30 -0400
              Re: Can anyone remember...? Kay Shapero <kay@invalid.net> - 2015-10-03 00:30 -0700
                Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-10-03 06:53 -0400
                Re: Can anyone remember...? Robert Carnegie <rja.carnegie@excite.com> - 2015-10-03 14:37 -0700
                  Re: Can anyone remember...? wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) - 2015-10-04 06:34 -0400
                    Re: Can anyone remember...? Magewolf <Magewolf@nc.rr.com> - 2015-10-04 15:04 -0400
                      Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-04 21:57 +0000
            Re: Can anyone remember...? Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-02 23:58 -0600
              Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 15:08 +0000
          Re: Can anyone remember...? Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-10-02 23:52 -0600
            Re: Can anyone remember...? djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) - 2015-10-03 15:10 +0000
              Re: Can anyone remember...? patmpowers@gmail.com - 2015-10-05 08:34 -0700
    Re: Can anyone remember...? Stumpy <perilmung@spamnet.con> - 2015-09-29 19:07 -0700
      Re: Can anyone remember...? Greg Goss <gossg@gossg.org> - 2015-09-30 13:42 -0600
        Re: Can anyone remember...? goldfarb@ocf.berkeley.edu (David Goldfarb) - 2015-10-01 03:25 +0000
    Re: Can anyone remember...? Butch Malahide <fred.galvin@gmail.com> - 2015-09-29 19:22 -0700
    Re: Can anyone remember...? "J. Clarke" <j.clarke.873638@gmail.com> - 2015-09-29 23:03 -0400
      Re: Can anyone remember...? David Johnston <David@block.net> - 2015-09-29 21:15 -0600
      Re: Can anyone remember...? Don Bruder <dakidd@sonic.net> - 2015-09-29 22:20 -0700
        Re: Can anyone remember...? Kevrob <kevrob@my-deja.com> - 2015-09-30 13:46 -0700
    Re: Can anyone remember...? "John F. Eldredge" <john@jfeldredge.com> - 2015-10-03 16:39 +0000

Page 1 of 8  [1] 2 3 4 5 6 7 8  Next page →


#423869 — Can anyone remember...?

FromRonald Bruck <rbruck@gmail.com>
Date2015-09-29 17:53 -0700
SubjectCan anyone remember...?
Message-ID<296b5f03-7f89-4198-8c51-b6c99c3fefcc@googlegroups.com>
Sometime around 1955 or a little later there appeared a SF book with the following plot:

     The scene is sometime in the future.  Nuclear war has destroyed civilization, but
     unbeknownst to most of humanity, the cities are becoming habitable again.  The
     main protagonist(s) of the novel are a boy and his cougar (or some similar animal).
    They are able to communicate telepathically.  The pair are forced to enter a city,
     which is considered forbidden territory.  They encounter rat-like, intelligent creatures
     who hunt them.  They seek safety in the upper floors of skyscrapers, but the rats
     follow them.

Yeah, I know, not very good.  I read it in about the seventh or eighth grade.  Does anybody
know the title or author?

Another one, MUCH better, was called something like Level 7, or maybe Level 9.  This is a hardened refuge where (some) humans go when there is a nuclear war.  There are seven (or nine) underground  layers to the facility, with Level 7 being the lowest and most secure; the levels are sealed off from each other, although of course they can communicate.  I remember one feature of the complex was a tape loop playing a vast selection of the world's music (it took several months for the tape to loop).  By the end of the novel  everyone has memorized the order of every composition on the tape, and knows exactly what follows what, and it nearly drives them crazy.

Radiation slowly seeps into the layers, until everyone dies above level seven, which waits with bated  breath to see if they will follow.  No!  The spread of the radiation stops, and they are saved!!

Until, one night, the reactor alarm bells start ringing...Man's most peaceful use of atomic energy has turned on him...

I'm reasonably sure this was titled Level Seven, but I can't find it in the Library of 
Congress or anywhere else.  Does anyone else remember it?  Title?  Author?

--Ron Bruck
  bruck@math.usc.edu (preferred)
  rbruck@gmail.com

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#423870

Fromdjheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Date2015-09-30 01:31 +0000
Message-ID<nvGuwH.1HqK@kithrup.com>
In reply to#423869
In article <296b5f03-7f89-4198-8c51-b6c99c3fefcc@googlegroups.com>,
Ronald Bruck  <rbruck@gmail.com> wrote:
>Sometime around 1955 or a little later there appeared a SF book with the
>following plot:
>
>     The scene is sometime in the future.  Nuclear war has destroyed
>civilization, but
>     unbeknownst to most of humanity, the cities are becoming habitable
>again.  The
>     main protagonist(s) of the novel are a boy and his cougar (or some
>similar animal).
>    They are able to communicate telepathically.  The pair are forced to
>enter a city,
>     which is considered forbidden territory.  They encounter rat-like,
>intelligent creatures
>     who hunt them.  They seek safety in the upper floors of
>skyscrapers, but the rats
>     follow them.
>
Sounds like something by Andre Norton, whom I haven't read in
decades.  
>
>Another one, MUCH better, was called something like Level 7....

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_7_(novel)

I read that back in the day; didn't care for it at all.
Post-nuclear-holocaust dystopia, everybody dies.  But that's the
title.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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#423997

FromAdamastor Glace Mortimer <nospam@no.invalid>
Date2015-10-02 18:09 +0200
Message-ID<b82ad1f2ca742922cb2b4b070c158fb4@msgid.frell.theremailer.net>
In reply to#423870
-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----
Hash: SHA512

In article <nvGuwH.1HqK@kithrup.com>
djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote:
>
> In article <296b5f03-7f89-4198-8c51-b6c99c3fefcc@googlegroups.com>,
> Ronald Bruck  <rbruck@gmail.com> wrote:
> >Sometime around 1955 or a little later there appeared a SF book with the
> >following plot:
> >
> >     The scene is sometime in the future.  Nuclear war has destroyed
> >civilization, but
> >     unbeknownst to most of humanity, the cities are becoming habitable
> >again.  The
> >     main protagonist(s) of the novel are a boy and his cougar (or some
> >similar animal).
> >    They are able to communicate telepathically.  The pair are forced to
> >enter a city,
> >     which is considered forbidden territory.  They encounter rat-like,
> >intelligent creatures
> >     who hunt them.  They seek safety in the upper floors of
> >skyscrapers, but the rats
> >     follow them.
> >
> Sounds like something by Andre Norton, whom I haven't read in
> decades.
> >
> >Another one, MUCH better, was called something like Level 7....
>
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Level_7_(novel)
>
> I read that back in the day; didn't care for it at all.
> Post-nuclear-holocaust dystopia, everybody dies.  But that's the
> title.

I read "Level 7" in either late grammar school or some time in high
school. I forget if I read it before or after the Cuban Missile
Crisis, when we damned near got to go through that entire scenario
in real life, or in real death.

I found "Level 7" sobering. It really did impress on me that the
nuclear weapons of the superpowers could destroy all human life on
the planet. I was a kid, but this seemed like a pretty adult book
to me then. I have not re-read it in the half century plus since
that first reading. I took it seriously and considered it a good
book.


Adamastor Glace Mortimer

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#424015

Fromwdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr)
Date2015-10-02 16:24 -0400
Message-ID<mump6q$5d5$1@panix3.panix.com>
In reply to#423997
In article <b82ad1f2ca742922cb2b4b070c158fb4@msgid.frell.theremailer.net>,
Adamastor Glace Mortimer <nospam@no.invalid> said:

> I read "Level 7" in either late grammar school or some time in
> high school. I forget if I read it before or after the Cuban
> Missile Crisis, when we damned near got to go through that entire
> scenario in real life, or in real death.

File this under Stuff I Should Know But Don't:

Has there ever been a competent and not-hopelessly-biased study,
based on what the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had by way of warheads and
delivery systems at the time, of what the worst-case scenario was
for damage to (a) the human race and (b) the biosphere in general,
had the Crisis gone maximally critical?  Was there a real
possibility of extinction?

(I'm kind of glad that I wasn't quite five years old yet in October
1962 and had no idea of what was going on.)

-- wds

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#424021

FromSteve Coltrin <spcoltri@omcl.org>
Date2015-10-02 14:43 -0600
Message-ID<m2oaghq9w0.fsf@kelutral.omcl.org>
In reply to#424015
begin  fnord
wdstarr@panix.com (William December Starr) writes:

> Has there ever been a competent and not-hopelessly-biased study,
> based on what the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had by way of warheads and
> delivery systems at the time, of what the worst-case scenario was
> for damage to (a) the human race and (b) the biosphere in general,
> had the Crisis gone maximally critical?

If there has been, I would be very disappointed if its title was not
_World Targets in Megadeaths_.

-- 
Steve Coltrin    spcoltri@omcl.org   Google Groups killfiled here 
  "A group known as the League of Human Dignity helped arrange for Deuel 
  to be driven to a local livestock scale, where he could be weighed." 
  - Associated Press 

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#424026

Fromdjheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Date2015-10-02 22:17 +0000
Message-ID<nvM5wt.1sIK@kithrup.com>
In reply to#424015
In article <mump6q$5d5$1@panix3.panix.com>,
William December Starr <wdstarr@panix.com> wrote:
>In article <b82ad1f2ca742922cb2b4b070c158fb4@msgid.frell.theremailer.net>,
>Adamastor Glace Mortimer <nospam@no.invalid> said:
>
>> I read "Level 7" in either late grammar school or some time in
>> high school. I forget if I read it before or after the Cuban
>> Missile Crisis, when we damned near got to go through that entire
>> scenario in real life, or in real death.
>
>File this under Stuff I Should Know But Don't:
>
>Has there ever been a competent and not-hopelessly-biased study,
>based on what the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had by way of warheads and
>delivery systems at the time, of what the worst-case scenario was
>for damage to (a) the human race and (b) the biosphere in general,
>had the Crisis gone maximally critical?  Was there a real
>possibility of extinction?

I've read studies since that concluded that they couldn't have
wiped out all life, not even all human life, but civilization
would've taken something of a hit.

Looking back on it all, I'm of the opinion that the time World
War III was not only averted, but taken off the list of
possibilities by both major and several powers, was not the Cuban
missile crisis but the Hungarian revolutio of, was it 1957?  It's
the kind of situation that had started both WWI and WWII, but the
US *didn't* intervene, because the idea of a full-scale nuclear
war had both sides sufficiently scared.
>
>(I'm kind of glad that I wasn't quite five years old yet in October
>1962 and had no idea of what was going on.)

I was just about to turn twenty-one.  We were all pretty scared,
and Bertrand Russell was saying "By the end of the week we shall
all be dead."  However, by the end of the week Kennedy and
Khrushkhov went eyeball to eyeball and Khrushkhov blinked first.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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#424028

From"Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor)" <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com>
Date2015-10-02 18:56 -0400
Message-ID<mun1vd$blf$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#424026
On 10/2/15 6:17 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <mump6q$5d5$1@panix3.panix.com>,
> William December Starr <wdstarr@panix.com> wrote:
>> In article <b82ad1f2ca742922cb2b4b070c158fb4@msgid.frell.theremailer.net>,
>> Adamastor Glace Mortimer <nospam@no.invalid> said:
>>
>>> I read "Level 7" in either late grammar school or some time in
>>> high school. I forget if I read it before or after the Cuban
>>> Missile Crisis, when we damned near got to go through that entire
>>> scenario in real life, or in real death.
>>
>> File this under Stuff I Should Know But Don't:
>>
>> Has there ever been a competent and not-hopelessly-biased study,
>> based on what the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had by way of warheads and
>> delivery systems at the time, of what the worst-case scenario was
>> for damage to (a) the human race and (b) the biosphere in general,
>> had the Crisis gone maximally critical?  Was there a real
>> possibility of extinction?
>
> I've read studies since that concluded that they couldn't have
> wiped out all life, not even all human life, but civilization
> would've taken something of a hit.
>
> Looking back on it all, I'm of the opinion that the time World
> War III was not only averted, but taken off the list of
> possibilities by both major and several powers, was not the Cuban
> missile crisis but the Hungarian revolutio of, was it 1957?  It's
> the kind of situation that had started both WWI and WWII, but the
> US *didn't* intervene, because the idea of a full-scale nuclear
> war had both sides sufficiently scared.
>>
>> (I'm kind of glad that I wasn't quite five years old yet in October
>> 1962 and had no idea of what was going on.)
>
> I was just about to turn twenty-one.

	I was three months old.


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

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#424036

FromDavid DeLaney <daviddelaney@earthlink.net>
Date2015-10-02 20:36 -0500
Message-ID<38idnbo0iYydrJLLnZ2dnUU7-YX46u6z@earthlink.com>
In reply to#424028
On 2015-10-02, Sea Wasp (Ryk E. Spoor) <seawasp@sgeinc.invalid.com> wrote:
> On 10/2/15 6:17 PM, Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> William December Starr <wdstarr@panix.com> wrote:
>>> (I'm kind of glad that I wasn't quite five years old yet in October
>>> 1962 and had no idea of what was going on.)
>>
>> I was just about to turn twenty-one.
>
> 	I was three months old.

And I was just under minus two.

Dave
-- 
\/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.

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#424032

FromGutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com>
Date2015-10-02 16:06 -0700
Message-ID<XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>
In reply to#424026
djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote in
news:nvM5wt.1sIK@kithrup.com: 

> In article <mump6q$5d5$1@panix3.panix.com>,
> William December Starr <wdstarr@panix.com> wrote:
>>In article
>><b82ad1f2ca742922cb2b4b070c158fb4@msgid.frell.theremailer.net>, 
>>Adamastor Glace Mortimer <nospam@no.invalid> said:
>>
>>> I read "Level 7" in either late grammar school or some time in
>>> high school. I forget if I read it before or after the Cuban
>>> Missile Crisis, when we damned near got to go through that
>>> entire scenario in real life, or in real death.
>>
>>File this under Stuff I Should Know But Don't:
>>
>>Has there ever been a competent and not-hopelessly-biased study,
>>based on what the U.S. and U.S.S.R. had by way of warheads and
>>delivery systems at the time, of what the worst-case scenario
>>was for damage to (a) the human race and (b) the biosphere in
>>general, had the Crisis gone maximally critical?  Was there a
>>real possibility of extinction?
> 
> I've read studies since that concluded that they couldn't have
> wiped out all life, not even all human life, but civilization
> would've taken something of a hit.
> 
> Looking back on it all, I'm of the opinion that the time World
> War III was not only averted, but taken off the list of
> possibilities by both major and several powers, was not the
> Cuban missile crisis but the Hungarian revolutio of, was it
> 1957?  It's the kind of situation that had started both WWI and
> WWII, but the US *didn't* intervene, because the idea of a
> full-scale nuclear war had both sides sufficiently scared.
>>
>>(I'm kind of glad that I wasn't quite five years old yet in
>>October 1962 and had no idea of what was going on.)
> 
> I was just about to turn twenty-one.  We were all pretty scared,
> and Bertrand Russell was saying "By the end of the week we shall
> all be dead."  However, by the end of the week Kennedy and
> Khrushkhov went eyeball to eyeball and Khrushkhov blinked first.
> 
Both sides had reason to believe the other side was batshit crazy 
enough to push the button. Neither side was, as it turns out. 
Kennedy was, perhaps, closer to that crazy, but from accounts 
published since, neither side really willing.

Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and 
military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated that 
could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military commanders 
_never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the other side doing 
so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do so, even with other 
clear paths to resolve the crisis being available.

-- 
Terry Austin

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

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

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#424039

Fromdjheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Date2015-10-03 02:24 +0000
Message-ID<nvMHD7.5sJ@kithrup.com>
In reply to#424032
In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and 
>military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated that 
>could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military commanders 
>_never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the other side doing 
>so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do so, even with other 
>clear paths to resolve the crisis being available.

Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might have been
used after 1945.

It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it.  MacArthur
told everyone what a stupid President Truman was, he didn't
understand military matters.  Truman recalled him.

I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to remember
when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I was in fourth
grade."

They made it as easy on him as possible, under the circumstances,
and he made a speech to Congress: "They say old soldiers never
die, they just fade away; I am an old soldier, and now I shall
fade away."

But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been used, it
was the military man who wanted to use them, and the lifelong
civilian who wouldn't let him.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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#424043

FromWilliam Vetter <mdhangton@gmail.com>
Date2015-10-02 23:08 -0400
Message-ID<mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#424039
Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
>> 
>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and 
>> military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated that 
>> could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military commanders 
>> _never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the other side doing 
>> so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do so, even with other 
>> clear paths to resolve the crisis being available.
>
> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might have been
> used after 1945.
>
> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it.  MacArthur
> told everyone what a stupid President Truman was, he didn't
> understand military matters.  Truman recalled him.
>
> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to remember
> when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I was in fourth
> grade."
>
> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the circumstances,
> and he made a speech to Congress: "They say old soldiers never
> die, they just fade away; I am an old soldier, and now I shall
> fade away."
>
> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been used, it
> was the military man who wanted to use them, and the lifelong
> civilian who wouldn't let him.

No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of the French 
at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

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#424047

Fromdjheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Date2015-10-03 05:29 +0000
Message-ID<nvMpww.L4n@kithrup.com>
In reply to#424043
In article <mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>,
William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
>> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
>>> 
>>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and 
>>> military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated that 
>>> could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military commanders 
>>> _never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the other side doing 
>>> so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do so, even with other 
>>> clear paths to resolve the crisis being available.
>>
>> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might have been
>> used after 1945.
>>
>> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
>> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it.  MacArthur
>> told everyone what a stupid President Truman was, he didn't
>> understand military matters.  Truman recalled him.
>>
>> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to remember
>> when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I was in fourth
>> grade."
>>
>> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the circumstances,
>> and he made a speech to Congress: "They say old soldiers never
>> die, they just fade away; I am an old soldier, and now I shall
>> fade away."
>>
>> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been used, it
>> was the military man who wanted to use them, and the lifelong
>> civilian who wouldn't let him.
>
>No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of the French 
>at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.

There may have been talk.  Nobody used them.

In similar fashion, poison gas was used in WWI and prepared
against during WWII ... but nobody ever actually used it.  They
had learned that gas had an unpleasant habit of following a
change in the wind and poisoning your own troops, not the
enemy's.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

[toc] | [prev] | [next] | [standalone]


#424048

FromGutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com>
Date2015-10-02 22:35 -0700
Message-ID<XnsA527E5DE3DE18taustingmail@69.16.179.43>
In reply to#424047
djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote in
news:nvMpww.L4n@kithrup.com: 

> In article <mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>,
> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>>Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
>>> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> 
>>>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and 
>>>> military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated
>>>> that could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military
>>>> commanders _never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the
>>>> other side doing so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do
>>>> so, even with other clear paths to resolve the crisis being
>>>> available. 
>>>
>>> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might have
>>> been used after 1945.
>>>
>>> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
>>> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it. 
>>> MacArthur told everyone what a stupid President Truman was, he
>>> didn't understand military matters.  Truman recalled him.
>>>
>>> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to remember
>>> when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I was in
>>> fourth grade."
>>>
>>> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the
>>> circumstances, and he made a speech to Congress: "They say old
>>> soldiers never die, they just fade away; I am an old soldier,
>>> and now I shall fade away."
>>>
>>> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been used,
>>> it was the military man who wanted to use them, and the
>>> lifelong civilian who wouldn't let him.
>>
>>No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of the
>>French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
> 
> There may have been talk.  Nobody used them.
> 
> In similar fashion, poison gas was used in WWI and prepared
> against during WWII ... but nobody ever actually used it.  They
> had learned that gas had an unpleasant habit of following a
> change in the wind and poisoning your own troops, not the
> enemy's.
> 
And was dangerous to handle when not in actual use, and really 
pissed off the enemy, and a variety of other reasons aginst it.

The Nazis made, literally, tons of chlorine triflouride at one 
point, to use as both a weapon and a rocket fuel. But the stuff is 
so dangerous, and a better oxidizer than pure oxygen[1], that they 
decided that wasn't a good idea.

[1]If you spill it in your lab, whatever you spill it on, including 
the concrete floor, will catch on fire. If you grab your handy 
bucket of sand (no chem lab is complete without several) and dump 
that on it, the sand will catch on fire. If you douse it with 
water, the water will catch on fire. If you scoop it into a vacuum 
chamber and smother it in asbestos, the asbestos will catch on fire 
_in the absence of any atmostphere at all_. There is no known way 
to extinguish it. And the main byproducts of it reacting with stuff 
is chlorine and fluorine gas. (And it's not *nearly* as dangerous 
as dioxygen diflouride, which causes ice to catch on fire at 270 
degrees below zero.)

-- 
Terry Austin

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

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

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#424053

From"nuny@bid.nes" <Alien8752@gmail.com>
Date2015-10-02 23:19 -0700
Message-ID<fa2213b2-99a8-4cc3-917c-6fcb1599d6df@googlegroups.com>
In reply to#424048
On Friday, October 2, 2015 at 10:35:48 PM UTC-7, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:
> djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote in
> news:nvMpww.L4n@kithrup.com: 
> 
> > In article <mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>,
> > William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
> >>> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
> >>> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
> >>>> 
> >>>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and 
> >>>> military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated
> >>>> that could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military
> >>>> commanders _never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the
> >>>> other side doing so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do
> >>>> so, even with other clear paths to resolve the crisis being
> >>>> available. 
> >>>
> >>> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might have
> >>> been used after 1945.
> >>>
> >>> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
> >>> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it. 
> >>> MacArthur told everyone what a stupid President Truman was, he
> >>> didn't understand military matters.  Truman recalled him.
> >>>
> >>> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to remember
> >>> when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I was in
> >>> fourth grade."
> >>>
> >>> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the
> >>> circumstances, and he made a speech to Congress: "They say old
> >>> soldiers never die, they just fade away; I am an old soldier,
> >>> and now I shall fade away."
> >>>
> >>> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been used,
> >>> it was the military man who wanted to use them, and the
> >>> lifelong civilian who wouldn't let him.
> >>
> >>No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of the
> >>French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
> > 
> > There may have been talk.  Nobody used them.
> > 
> > In similar fashion, poison gas was used in WWI and prepared
> > against during WWII ... but nobody ever actually used it.  They
> > had learned that gas had an unpleasant habit of following a
> > change in the wind and poisoning your own troops, not the
> > enemy's.
> > 
> And was dangerous to handle when not in actual use, and really 
> pissed off the enemy, and a variety of other reasons aginst it.
> 
> The Nazis made, literally, tons of chlorine triflouride at one 
> point, to use as both a weapon and a rocket fuel. But the stuff is 
> so dangerous, and a better oxidizer than pure oxygen[1], that they 
> decided that wasn't a good idea.
> 
> [1]If you spill it in your lab, whatever you spill it on, including 
> the concrete floor, will catch on fire. If you grab your handy 
> bucket of sand (no chem lab is complete without several) and dump 
> that on it, the sand will catch on fire. If you douse it with 
> water, the water will catch on fire. If you scoop it into a vacuum 
> chamber and smother it in asbestos, the asbestos will catch on fire 
> _in the absence of any atmostphere at all_. There is no known way 
> to extinguish it. And the main byproducts of it reacting with stuff 
> is chlorine and fluorine gas. (And it's not *nearly* as dangerous 
> as dioxygen diflouride, which causes ice to catch on fire at 270 
> degrees below zero.)

  And then there's the appropriately named FOOF. This guy details those and other truly terrifying chemicals:

http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/

  It's the sort of stuff some hard SF author ought to use, but editors would probably not believe it.


  Mark L. Fergerson

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#424056

FromBCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com>
Date2015-10-02 23:38 -0700
Message-ID<muntak$8pu$1@speranza.aioe.org>
In reply to#424053
On 10/2/15 11:19 PM, nuny@bid.nes wrote:
> On Friday, October 2, 2015 at 10:35:48 PM UTC-7, Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote:
>> djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote in
>> news:nvMpww.L4n@kithrup.com:
>>
>>> In article <mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>,
>>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
>>>>> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian and
>>>>>> military leadership, in which a political crisis is simulated
>>>>>> that could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the military
>>>>>> commanders _never_ fire their nukes, even in response to the
>>>>>> other side doing so. And the civilian commanders _always_ do
>>>>>> so, even with other clear paths to resolve the crisis being
>>>>>> available.
>>>>>
>>>>> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might have
>>>>> been used after 1945.
>>>>>
>>>>> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
>>>>> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it.
>>>>> MacArthur told everyone what a stupid President Truman was, he
>>>>> didn't understand military matters.  Truman recalled him.
>>>>>
>>>>> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to remember
>>>>> when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I was in
>>>>> fourth grade."
>>>>>
>>>>> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the
>>>>> circumstances, and he made a speech to Congress: "They say old
>>>>> soldiers never die, they just fade away; I am an old soldier,
>>>>> and now I shall fade away."
>>>>>
>>>>> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been used,
>>>>> it was the military man who wanted to use them, and the
>>>>> lifelong civilian who wouldn't let him.
>>>>
>>>> No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of the
>>>> French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
>>>
>>> There may have been talk.  Nobody used them.
>>>
>>> In similar fashion, poison gas was used in WWI and prepared
>>> against during WWII ... but nobody ever actually used it.  They
>>> had learned that gas had an unpleasant habit of following a
>>> change in the wind and poisoning your own troops, not the
>>> enemy's.
>>>
>> And was dangerous to handle when not in actual use, and really
>> pissed off the enemy, and a variety of other reasons aginst it.
>>
>> The Nazis made, literally, tons of chlorine triflouride at one
>> point, to use as both a weapon and a rocket fuel. But the stuff is
>> so dangerous, and a better oxidizer than pure oxygen[1], that they
>> decided that wasn't a good idea.
>>
>> [1]If you spill it in your lab, whatever you spill it on, including
>> the concrete floor, will catch on fire. If you grab your handy
>> bucket of sand (no chem lab is complete without several) and dump
>> that on it, the sand will catch on fire. If you douse it with
>> water, the water will catch on fire. If you scoop it into a vacuum
>> chamber and smother it in asbestos, the asbestos will catch on fire
>> _in the absence of any atmostphere at all_. There is no known way
>> to extinguish it. And the main byproducts of it reacting with stuff
>> is chlorine and fluorine gas. (And it's not *nearly* as dangerous
>> as dioxygen diflouride, which causes ice to catch on fire at 270
>> degrees below zero.)
>
>    And then there's the appropriately named FOOF. This guy details those and other truly terrifying chemicals:
>
> http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/
>
>    It's the sort of stuff some hard SF author ought to use, but editors would probably not believe it.
>
>
>    Mark L. Fergerson
>
I have read the link, and a bunch of other stuff there. There seems to 
be a recurring theme there: fluorine. Nasty stuff. I got the impression 
that FOOF would explode if someone in the next room even thought about 
it. At least ClF3 has an industrial use.

-- 
Dave Scruggs
Captain, Boulder Creek Fire

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#424057

FromKay Shapero <kay@invalid.net>
Date2015-10-03 00:23 -0700
Message-ID<MPG.30792238d6c34cfe989937@news.eternal-september.org>
In reply to#424056
In article <muntak$8pu$1@speranza.aioe.org>, bcfd36@cruzio.com says...
> 
> On 10/2/15 11:19 PM, nuny@bid.nes wrote:

> I have read the link, and a bunch of other stuff there. There seems to 
> be a recurring theme there: fluorine. Nasty stuff. I got the impression 
> that FOOF would explode if someone in the next room even thought about 
> it. At least ClF3 has an industrial use.

Two fluorine atoms joined with two oxygen atoms into one hungry molecule 
drooling green drool and looking around for something to kill.  Not 
Good.  Seriously Not Good.  But then I wouldn't take up fluorine 
chemistry anyway - really not good for your longevity.

-- 

Kay Shapero
Address munged, try my first name at kayshapero dot net.

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#424065

From"Brian M. Scott" <b.scott@csuohio.edu>
Date2015-10-03 10:09 -0400
Message-ID<1y0n5c7q0rv61.9ogcvha35cmw$.dlg@40tude.net>
In reply to#424057
On Sat, 3 Oct 2015 00:23:05 -0700, Kay Shapero
<kay@invalid.net> wrote
in<news:MPG.30792238d6c34cfe989937@news.eternal-september.org>
in rec.arts.sf.written:

[...]

> But then I wouldn't take up fluorine chemistry anyway -
> really not good for your longevity.

Whereas working with mercaptans (thiols) and selenium and
tellurium compounds is merely hard on your family.  (My
father worked with them early in his career; I don’t
actually remember the odors after all these years.)

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.

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#424070

Fromlal_truckee <lal_truckee@yahoo.com>
Date2015-10-03 08:59 -0700
Message-ID<muott7$t6c$1@dont-email.me>
In reply to#424056
On 10/2/15 11:38 PM, BCFD36 wrote:
> I got the impression that FOOF would explode if someone in the next room
> even thought about it.

PyrE
It's back.

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#424092

FromGutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy <taustinca@gmail.com>
Date2015-10-03 14:39 -0700
Message-ID<XnsA528951D7A943taustingmail@69.16.179.42>
In reply to#424056
BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote in
news:muntak$8pu$1@speranza.aioe.org: 

> On 10/2/15 11:19 PM, nuny@bid.nes wrote:
>> On Friday, October 2, 2015 at 10:35:48 PM UTC-7, Gutless
>> Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote: 
>>> djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote in
>>> news:nvMpww.L4n@kithrup.com:
>>>
>>>> In article <mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>>> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
>>>>>> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com>
>>>>>> wrote: 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian
>>>>>>> and military leadership, in which a political crisis is
>>>>>>> simulated that could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the
>>>>>>> military commanders _never_ fire their nukes, even in
>>>>>>> response to the other side doing so. And the civilian
>>>>>>> commanders _always_ do so, even with other clear paths to
>>>>>>> resolve the crisis being available.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might
>>>>>> have been used after 1945.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
>>>>>> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it.
>>>>>> MacArthur told everyone what a stupid President Truman was,
>>>>>> he didn't understand military matters.  Truman recalled
>>>>>> him. 
>>>>>>
>>>>>> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to
>>>>>> remember when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I
>>>>>> was in fourth grade."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the
>>>>>> circumstances, and he made a speech to Congress: "They say
>>>>>> old soldiers never die, they just fade away; I am an old
>>>>>> soldier, and now I shall fade away."
>>>>>>
>>>>>> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been
>>>>>> used, it was the military man who wanted to use them, and
>>>>>> the lifelong civilian who wouldn't let him.
>>>>>
>>>>> No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of
>>>>> the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
>>>>
>>>> There may have been talk.  Nobody used them.
>>>>
>>>> In similar fashion, poison gas was used in WWI and prepared
>>>> against during WWII ... but nobody ever actually used it. 
>>>> They had learned that gas had an unpleasant habit of
>>>> following a change in the wind and poisoning your own troops,
>>>> not the enemy's.
>>>>
>>> And was dangerous to handle when not in actual use, and really
>>> pissed off the enemy, and a variety of other reasons aginst
>>> it. 
>>>
>>> The Nazis made, literally, tons of chlorine triflouride at one
>>> point, to use as both a weapon and a rocket fuel. But the
>>> stuff is so dangerous, and a better oxidizer than pure
>>> oxygen[1], that they decided that wasn't a good idea.
>>>
>>> [1]If you spill it in your lab, whatever you spill it on,
>>> including the concrete floor, will catch on fire. If you grab
>>> your handy bucket of sand (no chem lab is complete without
>>> several) and dump that on it, the sand will catch on fire. If
>>> you douse it with water, the water will catch on fire. If you
>>> scoop it into a vacuum chamber and smother it in asbestos, the
>>> asbestos will catch on fire _in the absence of any atmostphere
>>> at all_. There is no known way to extinguish it. And the main
>>> byproducts of it reacting with stuff is chlorine and fluorine
>>> gas. (And it's not *nearly* as dangerous as dioxygen
>>> diflouride, which causes ice to catch on fire at 270 degrees
>>> below zero.) 
>>
>>    And then there's the appropriately named FOOF. This guy
>>    details those and other truly terrifying chemicals: 
>>
>> http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/
>>
>>    It's the sort of stuff some hard SF author ought to use, but
>>    editors would probably not believe it. 
>>
>>
>>    Mark L. Fergerson
>>
> I have read the link, and a bunch of other stuff there. There
> seems to be a recurring theme there: fluorine. Nasty stuff. I
> got the impression that FOOF would explode if someone in the
> next room even thought about it. At least ClF3 has an industrial
> use. 
> 
It's used to clean circuit boards in some kinds of electronics 
manufacturing, and to clean uranium oxides from the inside of 
reactor chambers. Industrial use, but not in industrial quantities 
(thankfully).

-- 
Terry Austin

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

Jesus forgives sinners, not criminals.

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#424101

Fromdjheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt)
Date2015-10-03 21:49 +0000
Message-ID<nvnzAo.152L@kithrup.com>
In reply to#424092
In article <XnsA528951D7A943taustingmail@69.16.179.42>,
Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com> wrote:
>BCFD36 <bcfd36@cruzio.com> wrote in
>news:muntak$8pu$1@speranza.aioe.org: 
>
>> On 10/2/15 11:19 PM, nuny@bid.nes wrote:
>>> On Friday, October 2, 2015 at 10:35:48 PM UTC-7, Gutless
>>> Umbrella Carrying Sissy wrote: 
>>>> djheydt@kithrup.com (Dorothy J Heydt) wrote in
>>>> news:nvMpww.L4n@kithrup.com:
>>>>
>>>>> In article <mungof$da1$1@dont-email.me>,
>>>>> William Vetter  <mdhangton@gmail.com> wrote:
>>>>>> Dorothy J Heydt wrote:
>>>>>>> In article <XnsA527A3CE39C94taustingmail@69.16.179.43>,
>>>>>>> Gutless Umbrella Carrying Sissy  <taustinca@gmail.com>
>>>>>>> wrote: 
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Interesting note: in wargames that involve both civilian
>>>>>>>> and military leadership, in which a political crisis is
>>>>>>>> simulated that could conceivably lead to nuclear war, the
>>>>>>>> military commanders _never_ fire their nukes, even in
>>>>>>>> response to the other side doing so. And the civilian
>>>>>>>> commanders _always_ do so, even with other clear paths to
>>>>>>>> resolve the crisis being available.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Interesting.  Considering the one time when nukes might
>>>>>>> have been used after 1945.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> It was the Korean War; it wasn't getting anywhere; General
>>>>>>> MacArthur wanted to nuke Beijing.  Truman forbade it.
>>>>>>> MacArthur told everyone what a stupid President Truman was,
>>>>>>> he didn't understand military matters.  Truman recalled
>>>>>>> him. 
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> I was in fourth grade, and the teacher told us all to
>>>>>>> remember when "General MacArthur came home.  You can say, I
>>>>>>> was in fourth grade."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> They made it as easy on him as possible, under the
>>>>>>> circumstances, and he made a speech to Congress: "They say
>>>>>>> old soldiers never die, they just fade away; I am an old
>>>>>>> soldier, and now I shall fade away."
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> But, in that one instance when nukes *might* have been
>>>>>>> used, it was the military man who wanted to use them, and
>>>>>>> the lifelong civilian who wouldn't let him.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> No, there was talk about the US using tacnukes on behalf of
>>>>>> the French at the battle of Dien Bien Phu.
>>>>>
>>>>> There may have been talk.  Nobody used them.
>>>>>
>>>>> In similar fashion, poison gas was used in WWI and prepared
>>>>> against during WWII ... but nobody ever actually used it. 
>>>>> They had learned that gas had an unpleasant habit of
>>>>> following a change in the wind and poisoning your own troops,
>>>>> not the enemy's.
>>>>>
>>>> And was dangerous to handle when not in actual use, and really
>>>> pissed off the enemy, and a variety of other reasons aginst
>>>> it. 
>>>>
>>>> The Nazis made, literally, tons of chlorine triflouride at one
>>>> point, to use as both a weapon and a rocket fuel. But the
>>>> stuff is so dangerous, and a better oxidizer than pure
>>>> oxygen[1], that they decided that wasn't a good idea.
>>>>
>>>> [1]If you spill it in your lab, whatever you spill it on,
>>>> including the concrete floor, will catch on fire. If you grab
>>>> your handy bucket of sand (no chem lab is complete without
>>>> several) and dump that on it, the sand will catch on fire. If
>>>> you douse it with water, the water will catch on fire. If you
>>>> scoop it into a vacuum chamber and smother it in asbestos, the
>>>> asbestos will catch on fire _in the absence of any atmostphere
>>>> at all_. There is no known way to extinguish it. And the main
>>>> byproducts of it reacting with stuff is chlorine and fluorine
>>>> gas. (And it's not *nearly* as dangerous as dioxygen
>>>> diflouride, which causes ice to catch on fire at 270 degrees
>>>> below zero.) 
>>>
>>>    And then there's the appropriately named FOOF. This guy
>>>    details those and other truly terrifying chemicals: 
>>>
>>> http://pipeline.corante.com/archives/things_i_wont_work_with/
>>>
>>>    It's the sort of stuff some hard SF author ought to use, but
>>>    editors would probably not believe it. 
>>>
>>>
>>>    Mark L. Fergerson
>>>
>> I have read the link, and a bunch of other stuff there. There
>> seems to be a recurring theme there: fluorine. Nasty stuff. I
>> got the impression that FOOF would explode if someone in the
>> next room even thought about it. At least ClF3 has an industrial
>> use. 
>> 
>It's used to clean circuit boards in some kinds of electronics 
>manufacturing, and to clean uranium oxides from the inside of 
>reactor chambers. Industrial use, but not in industrial quantities 
>(thankfully).
>
Hmmmm.  Saved to disk, because I may have fictional use for this.

-- 
Dorothy J. Heydt
Vallejo, California
djheydt at gmail dot com
Should you wish to email me, you'd better use the gmail edress.
Kithrup's all spammy and hotmail's been hacked.

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