Time Out Of Joint

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In one of his more brilliant they are out to get me, nothing is what it seems books, Philip Dick has his protagonist, Ragle Gumm, endlessly playing a newspaper game for his living.  The setting is a small town in the 1950's, and the game is a giant grid entitled "Where Will The Little Green Man Appear Next"?  He uses a blink comparator  and his own intuition. He has been winning for months, but there is a secret.  The newspaper allows him multiple entries, which he numbers in order of probability.  One day an editor appears at his house and tells him he forgot to number the guesses.
The time is actually in the 21st century, and we are in a desperate, losing war with the lunar colonies, who are on the dark side and beyond retaliation.  The game Ragle is playing is a probability assessment of the next nuclear strike.  Ragle has had his memory wiped, he is really a fashion designer who has always been able to predict which way the public will buy and this has made him wildly successful.  He also has turned against the war.  An entire village was created for him in order to keep him guessing where the next attack will hit.  The newspaper editor is a 4 star general.   
We have our own version of this game, with the difference being that we know where the enemy will strike, i.e., any soft target.  Our last president and his coterie knew damn well how to deal with this, but they chose to reinforce defeat for reasons of their own.
All we need to do is sterilize the dark side of the moon and the situation will be of a historical nature only.  This is the practical and only solution to the problem.  Any subtlety is foolish.  The new president has talked the talk.  No president to date since Reagan has dared move with the ruthlessness that is required.  Let us see what the new man is made of.  The knives are being sharpened for him and the discredited ruling class waits for the main chance.





Where Will The Little Green Man Appear Next?


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