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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.

lunarchick - 03:19pm Jan 3, 2003 EST (# 7277 of 7287)

An interesting difference between cultures US/UK

In the US people are encouraged to carry guns

In the UK such people are recognised as being 'one step' away from killing others ... carrying a gun will now result in a FIVE YEAR jail term.

UK Behavioural Therapy will work towards their having a safer society!

gisterme - 03:33pm Jan 3, 2003 EST (# 7278 of 7287)

lunarchick 1/3/03 3:06pm

"... but the sentence hasn't been re-phrased ...

reason?..."

Fivestar Salesmanship diatribe perfection - can't be improved upon..."

Umm, because a single sentence can "say it all" about a thing, does that make it a diatribe?

Wow. I believe I'm being very kind to just say that that's a real stretch of the definition of "diatribe".

Let's see...once again from Mirriam Webster:

"...Main Entry: di·a·tribe

Pronunciation: 'dI-&-"trIb

Function: noun

Etymology: Latin diatriba, from Greek diatribE pastime, discourse, from diatribein to spend (time), wear away, from dia- + tribein to rub -- more at THROW

Date: 1581

1 archaic : a prolonged discourse

2 : a bitter and abusive speech or writing

3 : ironical or satirical criticism..."

Neither of these sentences you refer to fit any of those definitions:

"...Do you disagree that where there is no infidelity in a marriage there is no question about paternity of the children that result?..."

and

"...Wouldn't you agree that when there is complete sexual fidelity within a marriage, the paternity of the children that result from that union is known beyond any reasonable doubt?...";

but, I doubt that anybody would say that the second is not a rephrase of the first.

You should take a look in the mirror, lunarchick. You might need a napkin. It seems you have something on your face. ;-)

lunarchick - 03:35pm Jan 3, 2003 EST (# 7279 of 7287)

Google | egg face

I see others but not myself :)

commondata - 03:59pm Jan 3, 2003 EST (# 7280 of 7287)

gisterme 1/3/03 3:15pm - I don't remember Showalter advocating a totalitarian regime. Ah, but your paranoia's got you covered - he's a bait and switch communist. You're a lunatic too.

lunarchick 1/3/03 3:19pm.

A cannabis leaf embedded in an NYT article today took me here [Drugs and Terror, theantidrug.com]. The traffic police open the boot of your car, hand you back your gun with a smile, and then lock you up in overcrowded prisons and especially if you're black, for the bag of weed they find along side. From a European perspective, it's difficult to avoid the conclusion that American society is a deeply, deeply troubled one. To hear rshow say that torture can be an essential part of our social system, and to watch the usual suspects displaying their McCarthyite paranoia strongly reinforces what I thought were just comic strip prejudices.

I'm off to fund me some terrorism.

lunarchick - 05:06pm Jan 3, 2003 EST (# 7281 of 7287)

The USA still seems to be mangled wrt not having accorded a sector of it's population full human rights until quite recently .... actions speak louder than words ... did everybody in the US get full human rights?

lunarchick - 05:15pm Jan 3, 2003 EST (# 7282 of 7287)

The US is the world's largest economy.

Economies have 'customers'.

Customers living elsewhere seem to be 'dissatisfied'.

Business Theorists bring the following to our notice :

A Sales Director of one successful organisation believes that if customers like the service, they will tell three people. If they don t like the service, they will tell eleven people. This illustrates the effect of a customer complaint over customer praise and how quickly news of bad information over good information spreads.

So what has been exchanged between them and the US?

Why do they feel short-changed?

What's been wrong with the 'goods' that hasn't been rectified/put-right?

Are their complaints justified?

What's being done to clear up misunderstandings between the US and their rest-of-the-world customers?

<sup>The USA says that others are just 'jealous' ... but is there more to it?

Or do others just use the USA as a scapegoat and not sort out their own problems ... or are these tied to the USA?</sup>

Quote see

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