Endarkened father: "In Star Wars we are given the image of 'Darth Vader,' a pun on dark father...As political and mythological kings die the father loses the radiance he once absorbed from the sun, or from the hierarchy of solar beings, he strikes society as being endarkened." (Bly,1990)

third generation: Third generation nuclear weapons include kinetic energy (rail guns, brilliant pebbles, smart rocks, et al.), lasers (chemical, free electron, etc.), X-rays and particle-beams.

plumage: "The feathers, for example, might be those of an owl to help (the shield bearer) see at night...(The Plains Indians) all placed (red cloth) on the top margins of their shields, possibly as a symbol of the blood they intended to shed." (Wright,1976)

omens: In Aeschylus's play Seven Against Thebes, the shields of the enemy chiefs are omens for Eteocles, the ruler of Thebes, to interpret; the correct solution of which would give him a probable victory. "The actual fulfillment of these omens, however, is by no means mechanical. Eteocles always recognizes that the gods will decide the issue." (Thalmann,1978)

cathedral: "The (Nagasaki) bomb exploded directly above the Catholic cathedral of Urakami, immediately killing the priests and those who had gathered to worship. The dead were scattered in endless concentric circles, with the cathedral at the center." (Maruki & Maruki,1985)

brilliant pebbles: Smaller than "smart rocks," "brilliant pebbles" are kinetic energy projectiles with no external guidance systems.

BONZO: "Bulwark Order Negating Zealous Offensive."

WIMP: "Western Intercontinental Missile Protection."

HOPE: "Hostile Projectile Elimination."

WACKO: "Wistful Attempts to Circumvent Killing Ourselves."

SAFE: "Mutual Assured Safety."

inertia: "Ronald Reagan, starring as heroic Secret Service agent Brass Bancroft in the 1940 movie Murder in the Air, blasted a spy's plane out of the air with 'a new super-weapon': the 'inertia projector'...a ray machine designed to 'make America invincible in war' and thus to become 'the greatest force for world peace ever discovered..." (Franklin,1988)

STOP: "Study for Protection."

protective device: The Dalkon Shield. A birth control device that causes pelvic inflammatory disease and miscarriages. At least seventeen women are reported to have died from its use. It was taken off the American market in 1974, after 1,570 women sued its manufacturer.

shield: In 1984 President Reagan called his Strategic Defense Initiative, popularly known as Star Wars, a "peace shield." "The only special Powers of the Peace Shield I have seen is the one that says, 'Look, world, this is who I am.' (Storm,1975)

designed: "One of the most important things to understand about these Shields is that they were never intended to give physical protection in battle." Ibid.