Honorverse ramblings and musings

Weird Harold wrote:

cthia wrote:Does anyone know what happened to Judith, who was returned to Grayson because of the Sisterhood and their escape?

She married Prince Micheal and her daughter Ruth is Torch's Head Geek

Wiki wrote:
A doomsday device is a hypothetical construction — usually a weapon, or collection of weapons — which could destroy all life on a planet, particularly the Earth, or destroy the planet itself, bringing "doomsday", a term used for the end of planet Earth. Most hypothetical constructions rely on the fact that hydrogen bombs can be made arbitrarily large assuming there are no concerns about delivering them to a target (see Teller–Ulam design) or that they can be "salted" with materials designed to create long-lasting and hazardous fallout (e.g., a cobalt bomb).

Doomsday devices have been present in literature and art especially in the 20th century, when advances in science and technology made world destruction (or at least the eradication of all human life) a credible scenario. Many classics in the genre of science fiction take up the theme in this respect.

After the advent of nuclear weapons, especially hydrogen bombs, these technologies have usually been the dominant components of doomsday devices. RAND strategist Herman Kahn proposed a "Doomsday Machine" in 1960 that would consist of a computer linked to a stockpile of hydrogen bombs, programmed to detonate them all and bathe the planet in nuclear fallout at the signal of an impending nuclear attack from another nation. The key aspect of the doomsday device's deterrent factor is that it would go off automatically without human aid and despite human intervention, providing a highly credible threat that would dissuade attackers and avoid the dangerous game of brinkmanship that brought the United States and the Soviet Union closer to nuclear war during the Cuban Missile Crisis. With a doomsday device on the planet, neither side would suspect the other of launching a sneak attack in attempt to destroy the opposing country's infrastructure before they could retaliate.

For many, the scheme epitomized the extremes of the suicidal logic behind the strategy of mutual assured destruction, and it was famously parodied in the Stanley Kubrick film from 1964, Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb (while the alliterative term "doomsday device" has subsequently become much more popular, Dr. Strangelove itself consistently refers to such a weapon as a "doomsday machine").

Examples:
The Dead Hand (or "Perimeter") system built by the Soviet Union during the Cold War has been called a "doomsday machine" due to its fail-deadly design and nuclear capabilities.

Dead Hand (Russian: Система «Периметр», Systema "Perimetr", 15Э601),[1] known also as Perimeter,[2] is a Cold-War-era nuclear-control system used by the Soviet Union. General speculation from insiders alleges that the system remains in use in post-Soviet Russia. An example of fail-deadly deterrence, it can automatically trigger the launch of the Russian intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBMs) if a nuclear strike is detected by seismic, light, radioactivity and overpressure sensors. By most accounts, it is normally switched off and is supposed to be activated during dangerous crisis only; however, it is said to remain fully functional and able to serve its purpose whenever needed.[3][1]

Dieu_Le_Fera wrote:
I don't disagree with it, but at the same time I am far from saying we as a race as a whole are ready for it. That depresses me, but I can still look onward.

cthia wrote:Does anyone know what happened to Judith, who was returned to Grayson because of the Sisterhood and their escape?

Weird Harold wrote:She married Prince Micheal and her daughter Ruth is Torch's Head Geek

cthia wrote:She married Prince Michael? Why the heck wasn't I invited? I mean, which book is that? Thanks Harold.

Yow wrote:

cthia wrote:Does anyone know what happened to Judith, who was returned to Grayson because of the Sisterhood and their escape?

Weird Harold wrote:She married Prince Micheal and her daughter Ruth is Torch's Head Geek

cthia wrote:She married Prince Michael? Why the heck wasn't I invited? I mean, which book is that? Thanks Harold.

"Ruthless" WoH#5 also mentioned in CoS

Yow wrote:"Ruthless" WoH#5 also mentioned in CoS

Weird Harold wrote:

Yow wrote:"Ruthless" WoH#5 also mentioned in CoS

Although, the actual wedding is off-screen, that is the continuation of the romance begun in Service of the Sword/Promised Land.

David Weber wrote:
For example, I knew that Hamish and Honor were going to wind up together. Originally, I planned on their not marrying and on Emily realizing what was going on and essentially covering for them. Eventually Emily would die, and Honor would marry Hamish.

David Weber wrote:
Then, of course, probably, I think, I suspect that if Andrew had not been a Grayson armsman and if he had been a Prolong recipient, then his relationship with Honor might have been much closer to her relationship with Hamish.

cthia wrote:Taken from an interview with David Weber. If you missed this very informative interview, then unmiss it. Hyper out into cyberspace via this junction...
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/weber_interview/