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Missile Defense

Russian military leaders have expressed concern about US plans for a national missile defense system. Will defense technology be limited by possibilities for a strategic imbalance? Is this just SDI all over again?

lunarchick - 07:34pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2517 of 2526)
lunarchick@www.com

Traveller in from China this morning noted:

The American Pilot and story were shown on tv

Later a revised version was screened in this the American craft pounced DOWNWARDS on to the small plane ..... !!!!

lunarchick - 07:35pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2518 of 2526)
lunarchick@www.com

Must add that 'Americans are NOT the flavour of the month in Biejing' ;)

lunarchick - 07:41pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2519 of 2526)
lunarchick@www.com

The Auto plane is crossing the Pacific (did i get the wrong ocean way above - sorry)from Edwards Air Base (where's that) to Adelaide. If the plane works well and lands well, then Oz will be looking to buy, to help identify the vessals with illegal immigrants (Afghans/Iran/Iraq currently) on then heading south from Indonesia.

Wonder how long it will be before all planes are auto directed from a Control Mission H Q ... or have a facility for auto control .. as in the case where solo pilots have health problems and planes may crash.

Back on China: to have good plumbing an infrastructure is required .. Western standards for westerners are in place (sometimes).

lunarchick - 07:59pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2520 of 2526)
lunarchick@www.com

Conflict of interest thread

lunarchick - 08:00pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2521 of 2526)
lunarchick@www.com

Afghanistan leadership have put out the edict that the STARVING of Afghanistan are assumed to be the RESPONSIBILITY of the WORLD .. not the Talibhan!

rshowalter - 08:03pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2522 of 2526)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

If the Chinese themselves could give thought, using the pattern of disciplined beauty, to their own doings, as they are in detail, with the contradictions and tensions that are there in detail, making things more beautiful according to THEIR standards and priorities but doing so clearly enough that others could undersand their point of view, both China and the world might be a much, much more comfortable and prosperous place.

Other nations should do the same -- to make the world more beautiful is usually to make it both more just and more efficient.

The Chinese have a HUGE piece of unfinished business here -- the transition of their society from the communist period, to the new period (it is for them to give it a name that is coming into being.)

rshowalter - 08:08pm Apr 22, 2001 EST (#2523 of 2526)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

If I were a religious person (and I'm a doubter, myself, though not a scoffer) I might think this:

The Taliban may indeed be divinely inspired -- as some fundamentalist Christians may be divinely inspired, to demonstrate to the whole world how ugly and misshapen their cocksure, "divinely inspired" but impractical, pain-ignoring ways of thinking really are. And how ugly it is for them to coerce each other, and interact with other people, in the insensitive way that they do.

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