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Missile Defense

Technology has always found its greatest consumer in a nation's war and defense efforts. Since the last attempts at a "Star Wars" defense system, has technology changed considerably enough to make the latest Missile Defense initiatives more successful? Can such an application of science be successful? Is a militarized space inevitable, necessary or impossible?

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rshow55 - 03:51pm May 27, 2003 EST (# 12080 of 12132)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

The Cornell 6-Year Ph.D. Program was set up at the request of Dwight D. Eisenhower - McGeorge Bundy and Milton Eisenhower were involved too - and of course Cornell and the Ford Foundation, which provided the funding, were involved. So far as I can tell, very few people knew what the program was for - or how the idea originated and gained force as quickly as it did. I don't believe that was an accident.

I was selected to work on problems that former President Eisenhower felt, and others felt, were of essential national interest - and difficult.

D.D. Eisenhower had a lot to do with my undergraduate education, such as it was. In some ways it was a superb education - an expensive education - an exciting education. But not conventional.

People were stumped on some key things - some of a mathematical nature - it made sense to "find a smart kid" - an effort was made (according to high administrative and technocratic standards - working through elites) and I was selected - perhaps as the best in a disappointing litter. Maybe it was just that they faced a hard choice - they had to find a kid able to have a chance of doing the work - yet stupid enough to take the assignment. Anyway, I worked hard, and kept faith.

It is my professional judgement, which is obviously fallible - that I've made great headway, with much help from other people, on solving the problems that Eisenhower and his top staffers felt were their showstoppers.

Progress made working supervised, working with Steve Kline as a partner, and working with lchic as a partner. I think the biggest and toughest have come into focus working with lchic .

I think some of the things we've done on this thread offer some evidence of the quality of our work.

lchic - 03:52pm May 27, 2003 EST (# 12081 of 12132)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Took this bbc posting http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.SPxQbaNabbF.2406320@.f28e622/13705 days to arrive on the board - the last 's' in each address_line was the problem?

If only 'John' hadn't gone to live in the land of the gun-totting free ... he could have been in Red Square too.

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rshow55 - 03:53pm May 27, 2003 EST (# 12082 of 12132)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

I was told to bring in my answers - to responsible government officials - in context - as soon as I could. I've wanted to be able to communicate some key things to the President of the United States, and his advisors. Perhaps this thread has been able to do some of that.

I've done everything I could figure out to do to keep faith with Eisenhower and Casey - and my sense of the national interest - which I believe has been an unusually informed one.

I promised that there were certain things I would only do face to face. There were and are good reasons why certain kinds of messages ought to be delivered face to face - under circumstances where there is some rapport, and enough time so that there can be a "meeting of the minds" on key issues - especially touchy ones.

Much of my story, by now, may be unverifiable - but it can be shown clearly that I've been trying to do that - and trying hard - for a long time.

Jorian319's 12072 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.SPxQbaNabbF.2406320@.f28e622/13697 didn't strike me as a joke - I'm taking it seriously. Neither did bbbuck's 12078 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.SPxQbaNabbF.2406320@.f28e622/13703 And naturally, it is technically easy to "take out" anyone. I don't think the government is crazy enough to deal with lchic in such a way - and if there's anything at all that the US government wants to know from her - my guess is they could find out by asking. I would encourage her to tell them anything and everything she knows connected to anything we've worked on or talked about together - just as long as the communication was credibly and completely recorded - and the people involved were on-the-record.

Pardon me for moving slowly. I've been trying to move carefully, and do my duty as I see it.

lchic - 04:02pm May 27, 2003 EST (# 12083 of 12132)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Interesting background on the Cornell Program Showalter .... super-sifted and selected kids ...

{ one of whom set fire to the residences a few times and murdered was it nine students, i wonder if it's possible to 'identify' the fire-raiser trait - perhaps there are studies around }

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