> On Fri, 20 Jun 2003, Alexx S Kay wrote: > > > The Brigade was not attempting a military coup, or even obviously engaging > > in any illegal behavior (IIRC). > > They obstruct Khaavren on Imperial business; and at the end of the novel > they are in obvious rebellion. Here's part 2 of my anti-coup theory > (which may just be my Tortaalik is an idiot theory) - couldn't the Emperor Tortaalik *is* an idiot, but that's a separate issue :-) > instead of the Instafry feature use a "delisting" figure and simply remove > the Orb privileges of anyone in rebellion? I would suspect that that's covered by the same (perhaps only implicit) "due process" clause; doing it without clear and obvious cause will cause bad repercussions for the emperor. OTOH, it may not even be possible. We have at least anecdotal evidence of the "instafry" spell, but I don't recall ever hearing of a "break link to the Orb" spell. Hey, here's a wacky new idea! If we go with the "grinding slow" model of the Cycle, perhaps certain actions are known to cause it to incrementally advance. If the emperor is facing a rebellion, taking too heavy a hand against it might actually *cause* the Cycle to turn, and ensure his own overthrow! > > But not all coups are military in nature (refer for example to Florida in > > 2000, or Dallas in 1963). > > Ok, I'll give you Florida, though imho you need to give a time range > starting in the 90s. I can't see how 1963 was a coup d'etat though. Some of the conspiracy theories have Lyndon Johnson "in the loop" for the assassination, which would definitely make it count as a coup. It's been too long since I read the relevant books to cite details or sources, and is also way off-topic. Let's just leave it as a hypothetical example. Alexx Alexx Kay Opinions expressed are my own and not necessarily those of my employers alexx at world.std.com http://world.std.com/~alexx 2 + 2 = 5, for moderately large values of two. [Seen on a Nancy Button, http://www.nancybuttons.com/]