Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 10:02:01 -0700
   From: Thane Walkup <inthane@oz.net>

   >LH REPORT - EYES ONLY - 456370 - CHINA AND THE US AT HIGN NOON.
   >------------------------------------------------------------------------

   [Lotsa really scary stuff about Chinese and American warheads deleted.]

Now, if you want scary, read up on nanotechnology; watching Neon
Genesis Evangelion would also be instructive....

   >------------------------END REPORT - LH LEOFRC---------------------------

   Thanks.  Ya know, when I was a kid, I was always afraid that a
   nuclear war was going to start, and soon.  So, every time I heard a
   jet go overhead, I'd turn on the radio and listen for the emergency
   announcements.  Considering that we lived directly below a flight
   pattern, I didn't get much sleep.  Thanks to you, I won't be
   getting any tonight, either...

You needn't, it's pretty much all lies and propaganda.   

Don't Panic.

   If you'll excuse me for a second, I'll go quietly freak out in the corner
   now.

   Date: Fri, 12 Apr 1996 21:31:26 -0700 (PDT)
   From: COLIN LOADER <loaderc@nevada.edu>

   (Harolds message clipped.)

   Hmm.

      Obviously, there are differences of opinion on this.

In matters of hard science or verifiable fact (e.g. how many warheads
does an MX have) "opinion" has minimal weight.  Now, since we're not
about to do controlled experiments on multiple inhabited planets to
prove any particular hypothesis, this is a matter of opinion *backed
up by facts, math, etc.* which can themselves be verified (e.g. how
much forest does the US and USSR have, what sort of soot do fires
produce, etc. etc. (just a few of the failings of the TAPPS study)).

   And admittedly, the results of a nuclear war vary depending on
   which expert you talk to.
   
Your posting was orders of magnitude beyond that of any credible
experts (and a lot of not terribly credible "experts" as well).  TAPPS
is the only thing I can think of in your league, and it didn't survive
scrutiny (despite Sagan et. al.'s refusal to release a lot of their data).

Given your unwillingness to defend a single one of your propositions,
I'm not going to loose too much sleep over the opinions of your
"experts."

      I personally feel that widespread belief in the potetial for humanity 
   to commit suicide is a good thing, as it serves as yet another reason NOT 
   to push the button.

Brutalizing a generation or three of children with outright lies as the
anti-nuclear activists did from the '50s to the '80s does not strike
me as a good thing.

The anti-defense posture of Mutual Assured Destruction (with the
appropriate acronym of MAD) which your opinion is part and parcel of
has kept us without protection of nuclear weapons, and that will make
the casualties all the worse when they are used again someday.

   Again, that's my opinion, and Harold probably has a different one,
   which is cool.
   
While toleration of demonstrably incorrect opinion is necessary in a
free society, it isn't something I can view as being "cool".

      However, I don't think that "Aftermath" did anything to influnce the 
   world opinion of nuclear war,

Let me recast this into a different time and situation:

"My personal anti-Semitic speech did not do 'anything to influence'
the outcome of the Final Solution" (the Nazi genocide of Europe's
Jewish population).

Immoral action (e.g. knowingly spreading lies, which I do not belive
you've done quite yet) which has no directly discernible and traceable
effect is still wrong.  And if we take Thane Walkup's message at face
value, you've caused at least one member of this list a sleepless
night.

Ideas have consequences, and your willing membership in a movement
that spreads incorrect ideas will have consequences.  The blood of any
future victims of an avoidable nuclear attack will be on your hands.
(Avoidable through civil or strategic defenses.)

      and was rather entertaining. I rather liked the revision; showing
   the intitial encounter with Mousse was something that needed to be
   done.

I haven't read the revision yet, but I will say that Mousse has always
struck me as being the most ruthless and evil of the regular Ranma
characters (Happy and Cologne included).  That part of this fanfic rings
absolutely true.

					- Harold