20061128

The Principles of Universal Worship

I. All faiths are equally valid.

It is right to respect the faith and beliefs of others.

It is right to obey the tenets of one’s own faith.

II. All faiths agree that there exists a Divine Universal Guiding Principle.

To different faiths, this Priciple has different Names and Attributes.

It is right to respect and venerate the Universal Principle, under whatever Name.


III. All faiths agree on certain moral canons. To willfully break these canons is sin.

1. One must honor and respect the Universal Principle.
2. One must honor and respect the faiths and beliefs of others.
3. One must honor, respect, and obey the tenets of one’s own faith.
4. One must respect and obey those in authority.
5. One must be honest.
6. One must be faithful to one’s promises.
7. One must not commit murder.
8. One must not steal.
9. One must not abuse power or authority.
10. One must not cause others needless harm.

— Council of Theologians
Colorado Springs, 2048 C.E.



Find out more in Hunt for the Dymalon Cygnet by Don Sakers Digg!

20061121

CAN YOU BUILD THIS ROOM?

If you can, then you may have the talent to be a virtreal designer.

The need for talented virtreal designers is greater than ever before. All areas of cyberspace are expanding exponentially— Cyberbia, El Juego, and Virtua. Someone has to design and build the landscapes and environments to fill all this virtreality; why not you?

Virtreal designers are respected and valued. They command top salaries and royalties. Shouldn’t you be one of them? The talents aren’t as rare as you might think.

So go ahead, build this room, or one like it. Use any virtual-design tool you wish. Send us your virtreal creation, and our panel of experienced cybersmiths will critique your work for free. If you show promise, you’ll be given a chance to enroll in the oldest and most prestigious school in Cyberbia: the Coates Academy.

Reply to eval@coatesacademy.biz



Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers Digg!

20061115

Sten Koleno

Foreign Secretary Extraordinaire

(from Across the Hegemony, Fyeevahr 26, 2437 Hegemonic Date; transmitted by Tatiavionna News Service, Silchar, Escen.)

STEN KOLENO loves his job, his family, and the Escen Hegemony…not necessarily in that order.

Koleno, 51, comes from an old Escen family with a tradition of government service. His great-great grandmother, Bohdana Koleno, served as Prime Minister from 2299 to 2321, and there have been Kolenos in the Hegemony's government since the very beginning.

Sten, who holds advanced degrees in Mathematical Sociology and Comparative Economics from Moulmein Interstellar University's School of Government, was named Foreign Secretary in 2434. His accomplishments in the position have been stellar, including the Non-Intrusion Treaty with Geled and several agreements for cross-cultural exchange with the Independent Traders and four other major Galactic states.

Koleno received the Distinguished Service Award, the Hegemony's highest honor. The government of Odegaard awarded him the Knight Commanders Cross for his role in developing Hegemony strategy toward Dovanian splinter states.

Prior to assuming his current post, Koleno was Under Secretary of Economics in the Sudarijo Administration. He served as the lead Hegemony official in negotiations on the Sagittarius Arm Free Trade Agreement and the creation and launch of the Sagittarius Economic Cooperation Group.

From 2411 to 2416, Koleno served at the Department of Nonhuman Affairs in various positions, including Counselor to Secretary Corobaji, Executive Secretary of the Department, and Deputy Assistant Secretary for Alien Institutions Policy. Koleno received the Hedeon Dusya Award, the Department of Nonhuman Affairs' highest honor.

Despite his impressive credentials and evident dedication to his job, there is another side to Sten Koleno—the devoted spouse and father.

Sten and Emele Koleno were espoused in 2430. Emele held the Yurik Nyunt Chair in Political Studies at Arakan University until she retired to become Sten's chief assistant in 2434. The couple had their first child, Fenelia, in Syeentyahbr.

When he is not at work or caring for Fenelia, Sten relaxes by playing the guitar. For a time, he joined with Secretary of Transportation Tasenka and Resource Secretary Perla in charity performances as "The Singing Secretaries." Since Fenelia's arrival, however, he has not been able to devote time to the group.

Have the responsibilities of parenthood slowed Sten down any? We caught up to him at his office in the Hegemonic Palace, and here's what he had to say: "Since Fenelia was born, we've been to sixteen interstellar conferences on twelve planets. I expect that she'll have visited most of the worlds of the Hegemony by the time she's two." He sighs. "But yes, Emele and I are trying to arrange things so we don't have to leave Escen so much, or at least not for days at a time. My staff has been fantastic."

And are there prospects for any other children? Sten Koleno laughs. "Maybe when Fenelia's ten or so, we'll consider submitting an application. Right now, we have enough on our boards just keeping up with her."




Find out more in The Leaves of October: a novel of the Scattered Worlds by Don Sakers Digg!

20061108

This Morning's Headlines

Date: Sat, 26 Jul 2042 11:39:24 (GMT)

GRAIN NET 6+ HOURS OFFLINE
Indonesian Shortages Predicted

U.S. SPENDING BILL COMPROMISE AGAIN DERAILED IN CHAMBER
Emergency Authorization Enters Thirteenth Year

MARS RESCUE A SUCCESS
Chinese Return Stranded Cosmonauts Safely to Gagarin Town

U.N. CENSURES LATVIA
No Nexus Action Expected Yet

GIANT METEOR GRAZES EARTH
Skims by at less than 1,000 km. Spacewatch says no repeat of 2039 impact.

ANTI-SEMITISM ON THE RISE, ARAB UNION REPORTS: 16,000 More Incidents This Year

AUSTRALIAN ZYGOMYCOSIS OUTBREAK CONTAINED
Alice Springs Quarantine To Be Lifted

ALABAMA QUAKE KILLS HUNDREDS
Relief Efforts Hampered By Fundamentalists

EMIGRATION TO MARS UP 250% THIS YEAR
Most emigrants from Umoja

OPHIR TEAM REPORTS SUSTAINABLE FUSION REACTION
Breakthrough At Last?




Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers Digg!

20061101

Disunited States

from Disunited States: Twilight of the American Century
by Charles G. Fleming, Sankore University, 2035
histserv.sankore.ed.umj/fleming/pubs/disunited/des.storm

In 1990, the United Nations missed their chance to establish a new world order and break the cycle of armed conflict that had dominated international relations at least since the Council of Vienna. Had they not blundered so, the modern world order would have arrived 20 years before the Nexus made its stand at Indonesia.

When Iraq invaded and occupied neighboring Kuwait in August of 1990 (details), cooler heads proposed a total economic boycott of Iraq, with U.N. peacekeeping troops to enforce it. In hindsight, we can see that this strategy—a clear precursor to Nexus Interdict—would almost certainly have resulted in the downfall of the Iraqi government, the liberation of Kuwait, and a signal to all nations that the world would no longer tolerate war. However, success would have taken many years, perhaps a decade. (models & analysis)

The U.S. President, George Bush, was facing imminent elections. In the hyper-aggressive culture of the time, Bush feared that anything less than armed conflict would be perceived as weakness or—worse—impotence (note). Bush, therefore, insisted on war. No other nation was powerful enough to counter U.S. belligerence, so war it was.

Desert Storm, as the war was called, resembled the attack of a schoolyard bully much more than a fair contest. U.S. firepower and high technology completely overwhelmed Iraq, and resulted in more than 50,000 Iraqi fatalities, many of them civilians. The U.S. suffered only 149 deaths, none inflicted by the enemy.

Americans congratulated themselves for beating up on a far weaker opponent. Tensions between Arab countries and the West increased vastly. In response to the next world crisis—genocide in Bosnia and Serbia (details)—the U.N. did nothing, apparently waiting for U.S. military action. Having publicly and rather noisily taken on the role of world police force, the U.S. now maintained that Bosnia/Serbia was someone else’s problem, and took no action until far too late. Millions died. With each succeeding crisis, the results were similar. The pattern had been set, and would not be broken until the birth of the Nexus.

And what of George Bush, who had thrown away the world’s chance for peace in a macho attempt to overcome his own personal shortcomings, who had bargained fifty thousand lives for 1,461 more days in the White House? Did he, at least, accomplish wondrous things in his second term?

George Bush lost the election and retired into obscurity. As far as history can tell, he never again said or did anything of the slightest consequence; his name lives on only in Presidential trivia books, because his son became President in 2001.



Find out more in Dance for the Ivory Madonna by Don Sakers Digg!