Laserlights "holdings"

Chris said: For the IF, "Homocidal Ragheads in Space", or variations thereof,
will *not* be used.

[Tomb] Vaguely angry, kefiyeh-wearing
residents of the human sphere of pan arabic descent? Seriously, the
implication seems to be that these guys are heavily ascetic or fundamentalist.
They seem to have exterminated a lot of the moderates. Now, is this trend the
result of the power of mullahs? A genuine trend on behalf of the populace? or
just a convenient cover for the Emirs land grabs?

For "How would you describe the AE", the answers I've got
right now are: - --Only after a double iced
vodka -
--Ankh-Morpork In Space - --An orbiting
collection of
experiments in social Darwinism - --Three
stars, no planets, one emperor, no taxes

[Tomb] You forgot "a pod of dolphins, an
ungodly amount of compute power, and a few nameless men who keep things
orderly"

> Seriously, the implication

Fundamentalist, yes. Ascetic, no.

> Now, is this trend the result of the power

The short form: The Sa'udis got overthrown by the radicals; a few months
later, that mullahs' government was taken over by a coup, in which the
figurehead became the Khalif, and the actual man running the coup became the
Sultan.  The Sultan is officially the protector of the Khalif--in much
the same way that the Shogun was the offically protector of the Emperor. The
new Sultan quickly created emirates, which gave the powerful clans an
incentive to support the new order. While the peasantry isn't exactly thrilled
with the situation, they're comfortable enough and it's certainly better than
the interregnum when the mullahs were running things.

> [Tomb] You forgot "a pod of dolphins, an

Didn't forget, but I was looking for something shorter. I've included a list
of some of the better known sovereignities (and a couple which