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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.

rshow55 - 10:59am Aug 17, 2002 EST (# 3772 of 3787)

Lchic , your postings are beautiful and distinguished. Here, and in a lot of other threads, too, both at the NYT, and on the Guardian. You've got a wonderful, valuable mind - the world is a better place because you're in it, and doing what you do. If journalists had much sense - they'd attend to your links - because so many of they are so interesting. My guess is that some good journalists have enough sense to be doing that.

I'm real proud of the postings from 3730 lchic 8/16/02 7:03am to 3741 rshow55 8/16/02 9:04am

In 3733 rshow55 8/16/02 8:39am I cite some background and in 3734 rshow55 8/16/02 8:42am I list some things that I think this the thread has accomplished.

3747 rshow55 8/16/02 6:54pm ... 3748 rshow55 8/16/02 8:12pm
explain some reasons why I think we can sort out some key things in the national interest.

the postings by bback and mazza just after 3748 are interesting, too. They make a sorry case, but given their circumstances, perhaps the best case they can make

Is this thread useful - and well adapted to serious purposes? What are The Odds of That ? http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/magazine/11COINCIDENCE.html

Odds are pretty good.

Could it even be that elected officials, including the President of the United States, know about and care about this thread? That depends. If gisterme is Condoleezza Rice, a person in close physical proximity to the President for very extended times - it could be. Could gisterme be Condoleezza Rice, for at least some of the 1000+ postings of this thread, and has Rice supervised the others? Well, one can ask what are The Odds of That . http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/11/magazine/11COINCIDENCE.html

This thread format has some very close analogies to another voluminous form well understood by professionals, including political professionals. Pretrial discovery.

Evidence that seems very diffuse, and partly disconnected can often be knit together into more compact forms. Convincing juries takes that. Convincing voters does, too. Is it impossible?

Maybe not.

lchic - 05:25pm Aug 17, 2002 EST (# 3773 of 3787)

Film 'Bourne ID' had a mention on Letterman.
^{http://www.thebourneidentity.com/index_2.html?
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/TheBourneIdentity-1114518/}
That amiable guy - Matt - was in from London where he's ending a live stage run.
It's a 'forthcoming-A' downUnder - gets a very-ok-rating on RottenT's, may check it out.

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense