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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?

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

jorian319 - 04:11pm Sep 3, 2003 EST (# 13485 of 13491)

In my profession, I am trained to be good at divining motives from word selection, sentence structure and choice of contexts.

I conclude that Gisterme is simply sharing what he thinks and feels. Rshow may believe Gisterme is "working hard" on this thread, but that assertion pegs my BS meter. By stark contrast, Rshow is obviously laboring, working hard, sweating under the burden of imagined far reaching effects, making every single character he types a 'life-or-death-of-humanity' decision.

I think Will has worked harder to get Robert to see the error of his assumptions than has Gisterme on anything he has posted.

gisterme - 04:28pm Sep 3, 2003 EST (# 13486 of 13491)

I'd say your observations are "right on", jorian.

Sometimes I think it would be better just to sort of "blow off" Robert's assertions, and I've tried from time to time. The problem with doing that is that he somehow seems to take that as evidence that he's right about them and so becomes more strident in making them. Don't ask me to explain his reasoning. :-)

I'm just glad that people who have real authority to make decisions don't reason like that.

rshow55 - 04:36pm Sep 3, 2003 EST (# 13487 of 13491)
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.

Maybe gisterme isn't "working hard" - but he's put out a lot of postings .

http://www.mrshowalter.net/Sequential.htm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/PostsBy_Gisterme.htm

I think some of his postings have been very good - and that he's busy - and can't give this thread the sort of attention some others can.

As for me, I'm selfish. The goddamned government owes some investors of mine about forty million dollars - and owes me some other things, too.

A lot of this thread, it seems to me, works pretty interestingly in terms of a lot of different assumptions. Wheter you "call me Ismael" or not http://www.mrshowalter.net/CaseyRel.html .

And yes, I do think a lot of things are dangerous. I'm not alone in that - people who put on TV shows, or give sermons, often do, too. This sermon includes a story about a sociotechnical system that was so unstable that it really could have destroyed the world - and almost did. http://mrshowalter.net/sermon.html Things aren't necessarily so much better now.

wrcooper - 07:01pm Sep 3, 2003 EST (# 13488 of 13491)

Showalter

For the record, I don't think you're not so bright. I never said that. What I did say was that other people who have done contract work on technology for the US government are, in some cases, probably as smart, if not smarter than you. That's a far cry from saying I think you're stupid. I don't. I believe you're actually quite bright. In some ways, a lot smarter than me.

However, I think you're misguided and laboring under a number of delusions or false conceptions, about yourself and others. I think you've been wounded. I think you've suffered, physically and mentally, and you're paying the price now. I feel sorry for you. On the other hand, I know of many people in far worse circumstances than you. You have a wife who loves you and has stayed with you. That makes you one of the lucky ones. So whatever it was that happened to you way back when, you've come out of it pretty well, all things considered. Even if you did lost $40 million. If it were men, I'd write it off and say, "Screw it! Time to move on." But I'm not you.

I absolutely do think you take what you do on the forums very seriously. I also believe that you're trying to do good. I can find much to admire about what you're trying to accomplish, but that still leaves me believing you're fooling yourself about how successful you're being at it. I'd be willing to bet heavily that noone of any particular importance--that is, people connected to the government who have power and influence, even a little bit, where they occupy positions of leadership or decision-making ability--read this forum. None. Not even to peek in once in a while. You claimed you have certain criteria you use that convinces you that such people do hang around here, but you didn't produce it. In fact, isn't it true that all you have are your h unches? You read something gisterme writes and think, "He seems too well informed to be able to know that unless he were right in the thick of things." But gisterme has shown you that everything he talks about is traceable to the public domain where he has shown you his sources, which are available to anybody with the time and inclination to run them down. You've got nothing to support your believe that gisterme is "somebody important".

Just like you called me George Johnson and accused me of lying when I denied it, you're calling gisterme a liar by refusing to accept his word that he's just a guy, like me, who has the time and inclination to hang out on the NYT forums? I think, because you take all this seriously, you suppose others must, too. But, while I admit that I do at times get involved, emotionally, in these discussions, more than I should, I don't take them seriously. I write every day in my notebook and on my computer, various projects, and that writing I take seriously. But you guys don't see it here. I just come here to blow off steam and have a good give-and-take.

I'd lighten up, Bob. I think your idea for a towed SPC array is wonderful, and i hope you pursue it. You're an engineer. Be an engineer, Bob. You've got much to contribute. Of that I'm sure. Let go of these obsessions and get back in the real world.

Best of luck.

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