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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.

rshowalt - 01:12pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3163 of 3327)

I've participated in the beginnings of a statistical study of the frequency of the phrase "connect the dots" -- and have hopes that it may be funded, and pursued by scholars and by me, to show some interesting things about how language evolves.

We all "connect" - - "the dots." We connect things that seem to be associated. In terms of what occurs to us - what we think and know. We often do it astonishingly well (the number of common words we share illustrates something about this.) But the process, which we can no more escape than we can jump out of our skins, isn't completely perfect.

So there has to be some exception handling, within our own heads, and when we communicate and cooperate with other people.

That shouldn't surprise anybody too much - - but if you think about why the exceptions happen, and how they have to be handled by real people, as they are -- there are some consequences.

Those consequences are too basic, too logical, to be connected to any one religion. But the consequences are moral as well as practical.

There has to be order in the world (but not too much ) and some of the order will have to be arbitrary (though it shouldn't be too arbitrary ) - and we can't make rules that are perfect - in the sense of perfectly self contained -- or at least, it we can't always.

So we have to consider exceptions. And make adjustments. Sometimes that makes things more complicated in some ways. But sometimes, and in some ways, it can make things a lot simpler. A lot safer. A lot more comfortable.

That's how certain connected patterns of logic sort themselves out. At the level of computer programming. And also at all sorts of levels of human thinking, and human life.

We're making some avoidable mistakes, that we can and must learn to work out, somewhat better, ourselves.

rshowalt - 01:15pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3164 of 3327)

Back within a couple hours.

I'm proud of this: MD2000 rshow55 5/4/02 10:39am

Anybody dispute what I say in it?

Chain Breakers http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee79f4e/618

lchic - 03:40pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3165 of 3327)

Re-read Chainbreakers/Showalter and the highlighted lines regarding people 'refusing to look'.

People have to look.

Systems have to be accountable.

What if 'sadistic-mad' people were within the system, working without being checked?

Take this UK example http://www.guardian.co.uk/shipman/Story/0,2763,758030,00.html here was a man who went unchecked - manipulating 'the system' - that should have 'seen' the problem ... but .. didn't - now updated.

With MD/Nuke attacks 'retrospection' isn't an option!

lchic - 03:54pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3166 of 3327)

WASHINGTON - Psychopath on the loose

'... list of incidents documents people stuck in their arms, buttocks, backs and stomachs by the darts, although one man said a dart missed him as he stood at a bus stop'

lchic - 03:59pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3167 of 3327)

UK pension funds -

"" CAPS's 2001 survey, released earlier this year, showed that pooled pension funds had delivered their worst performance since the 1970s during 2001 and 2000, with funds suffering two consecutive years of negative returns for the first time since 1974. http://money.guardian.co.uk/pensions/story/0,6453,758361,00.html

lchic - 04:03pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3168 of 3327)

"" Chechen rebels have stolen radioactive metals, possibly including plutonium, from a Russian nuclear power station http://www.guardian.co.uk/russia/article/0,2763,758023,00.html

lchic - 04:14pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3169 of 3327)

India : A popular scientist known as the Missile Man and famous more for his informal dress sense than his political experience was elected president of India yesterday.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/kashmir/Story/0,2763,757782,00.html

. "India has to be transformed into a developed nation. It means a poverty-free nation, a prosperous nation, and a healthy nation with value systems in which our children will live happily."

The fact that he has no political background may in fact appeal to many Indians, who have witnessed years of governments filled with corrupt and often inept politicians.

rshowalt - 04:16pm Jul 19, 2002 EST (#3170 of 3327)

MD3159 lchic 7/19/02 10:40am

Some people have to stand up, and show some courage.

So that others can see and think.

http://static.ifilm.com/image/stills/films/a/105004_m_1_a_.jpg

http://www.whoohoo.net/power/

http://www.christusrex.org/www1/sdc/tank-1.jpg

Lest the world end.

. . .

It could. I've been working on this thread, pretty steadily, since September 25, 2000. So has lchic . Knowing what I've known, I haven't felt that I had any real choice.

Some simple things need to be fixed. A nursery rhyme, reasonably understood, would go a long way toward fixing them.

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