New York Times on the Web Forums Science

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?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

rshow55 - 11:16am Jun 14, 2003 EST (# 12526 of 12537)
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.

2475 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.rL3rbgbgfnm.603599@.f28e622/3097 includes this:

I have no records -- nothing but circumstantial evidence to support what I say (though there are many ways to "collect the dots" and "connect the dots" and many ways to check, if effort is expended.) But I say again that my instructions from Bill Casey were that I was not even to attempt a "direct approach" to CIA - since my objective was to actually get something done. Casey told me, even after my head blew, to keep working - that I was working on problems of national importance. I was told that I would be watched, and that if I put, properly encoded but conspicuously placed, information saying I was making real progress - there would be a way to "bring me in."

I was astonished, after doing the work, and posting http://www.wisc.edu/rshowalt/pap2 - -- that it didn't happen. A Modified Equation for Neural Conductance and Resonance http://xxx.lanl.gov/html/math-ph/9807015

But I had been told that I had to have reasoning that would "make it through the system" -- and Steve Kline and I worked very hard, within our geekish limitations, on polishing our reasoning.

(If only I'd known lchic at the time - we might have done much better. She has an artistic-associative gift we knew nothing of.)

I was also told that, if nothing else worked, my only real chance was to "come in through The New York Times ". I found out, and have continued to find out, that the NYT also has its "layers of gatekeepers." And has its gatekeeping procedures.

Even so, there have been times that I've thought that Bill Casey gave me his best judgement.

Other times, it seems to me that Casey simply couldn't bring himself to tell me that truth --- that there was no hope for me at all - - and just wanted to keep me working.

- -

I wasn't "ready to come in" by Casey's standards until I was "taken in hand" by lchic and we did, together, the work on handling paradigm conflict that is set out in http://www.mrshowalter.net/Paradigm1_998.html - especially prior to September, 2000. I thought her contribution was very important - the last thing I needed and a major achievement of national importance (and with the makings of a book, as well.)

On August 29, 2000, I posted this on Science In the News http://www.mrshowalter.net/ScienceNNews_1422__27.html - and responses were very favorable on the thread. I had reason to think that when I met with a NYT reporter, as agreed - a lot could sort out gracefully and quickly.

(11 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense