Drinking Heavy Water

At left, little Nikita.

It is "Kennedy Day" and while I am partial to Jello and the boys, I'll give pause for the "almost was."

The saving grace in a system which harshly punishes failure is that it immobilizes free action and without compulsion, nothing is done. As much as any other factor, this gave the Soviets pause from launching a nuclear exchange that would have degraded to a near-conventional war . They would have gained all of Europe, the middle east, and North Africa.

Of course, being master of the cinder has some small consequence. The extensive studies by the Soviets during the 1950's on the scientific ramifications of contaminated coal being used for firing power plants had something to do with hesitation. Unfortunately, our targeting patterns did not generally favor the targeting of fossil fuel resources. No one told the Sovs that fact.

The early cold war is characterized by mis-interpretation and the over-estimation of resources and processes.

Exporting world-wide communism? Not so easy. Also, not so desirable without massive economic support from an already strained motherland.

Turns out, the places where revolution does best are also those sorts of places without the infrastructure to see everyone eats well, children go to school and emerge better than their parents, disease and strife are minor issues, sanitation and public health are effectively deployed.

I really am past the point where the politics of the matter are foremost. I'm concerned with the difference between what one wants to do and what can be done. I am a mechanic to the machine of state.

It would be good to consider your characters in light of Kennedy and Khrushchev. One speaks and the other hears something else. Incited to action, he replies against the first who in turn hears something entirely different and interprets the posturing attitude in a light completely different from that intended..

We see this when the animal opens its mouth and slowly wags its tail. Is it a gesture of play? Of contentment? A greeting? A threat?

Those sci-fi folks have all the fun.

"Look - it's a cuddly scaled kitten! Must be like their version of a cat around here."

Then, the screaming. Story title? "Lefty."

Think of the cold war first for your communication problems. It's easier to understand than your mother's hostility and a reader's first guess is always wrong. There's something in that for us.

I'm off to write. You should do so as well.