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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.

cantabb - 09:54am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17684 of 17692)

rshow55 - 08:46am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17681 of 17682)

You Can't Always Get What You Want Lyrics by the Rolling Stones But sometimes, you can.

Sometimes you get what you don't want. You don't always get what you deserve, but sometimes you do.

More last minute re-hash:

Here's language that should have been in RShowalter's letter to an important person on 26 October:

"A tremendous amount of my effort on the Missile Defense board has been to" ..... use this thread as a kitchen sink for anything that lchic and I can find to dump here, to discuss problems with Clinton, Putin, GWB, Condi Rice, to identify NYT reporters masquerading as 'anonymous monikered' posters, and airing my personal problems and paranoia. I am grateful to NYT to allow me to use this thread on Missile Defense for my "work" on "Solar Energy." I am proud as usual of what I have done, and I am sure Eisenhower and Casey (RIP) would approve of it. I've to now talk to lchic (in Australia), the finest brain ever, for a couple of hours on saving lives, develop more "Win-Win," on the the "corpus" and her grand-child who needs little or no attention. This "Corpus" is the largest, interconnected pile of [ ]. I'll then have a beer, take a LONG nap, and hope my 8-week NIGHTMARE will be over ........ Soon !

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I think . . . . we're quite close to a situation where general and simple solutions to this class of problems can be demonstrated and explained so that they can be solved routinely and practically. ...a model of the kind of solution needed in general worked out - in the presence of a record that I believe many people and organizations can and will learn from. The question is how you produce a "win win" solution .... Currently, such circumstances result in stasis, unnecessary losses, and wars.

Highlighted for reality "check" ! "Win-Win" solution [$$$$] for him and lchic.

A while ago, after a phone call, I felt all that was very close. It has slipped away. Since that time, there have been missteps, stasis, unnecessary losses, and a great deal of posting . . . .

Awww. So close !

But we did get close, I thought, to a win-win solution. Maybe, later, people will figure out how to make them. I failed this time. But maybe there's hope.

You "failed" to get win-win [$$$$] ?

Some careful, unsentimental, imperfect people have some technical things to work out.

Doesn't include you ? [not "careful," 'delusional' and PERFECT]

Another song, I recall (forget the singer's name): "Hit the road, Jack...."

bluestar23 - 09:54am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17685 of 17692)

Jorian:

"Thanks, cantabb, bluestar and others for finally bringing this pot to a boil. I guess it's just about tea time. (Or tee time.)'

Thanks, Jorian, your sense of humour here is much appreciated....

bluestar23 - 09:55am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17686 of 17692)

Hi, Cantabb.....!

jorian319 - 10:00am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17687 of 17692)

Ray Charles. :-)

I know that because one of our stations is an "Oldies" format, and is unaffiliated with NYT!

I'm a little bit worried about that "25 years of science news" thread. Hoping Rshow doesn't try to transplant himself there.

cantabb - 10:05am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17688 of 17692)

bluestar23 - 09:52am Nov 14, 2003 EST (# 17683 of 17684)

Showalter is still posting his meaningless baby's pablum.......

Hi, BlueS !

He's still posting -- so, we're still posting, to the bitter end, I guess :)

You wondered where's World Asset ? May be NOW tending the 'lucky' baby that needs little or no attention, according to rshow55.

Or, she may be still be "freaked out," again as rshow said, or she just stepped out of the kitchen (getting too hot for her).

But we did hear from the barnyard -- the cows have come home to the veld. [Did you see how he's still trying to spin his way out of his "Science in the News" mess -- I gave him another shovel sometime ago, he must have used that, and apparently quite well ]

As lchic reminded us: "It's quarter to 3...." [Sinatra]

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