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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 - 10:54pm Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7151 of 7168)
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The British ambassador, Sir Christopher Meyer, will present Mr Bush with a bust of Sir Winston Churchill, sculpted by Jacob Epstein in 1946.

The bust is part of the government art collection, and it is being given to Mr Bush as a personal loan for the duration of his presidency. It is understood that the idea came from Mr Blair himself.

The gesture shows the length to which he is prepared to go to prove himself a faithful supporter of the man in the White House. No previous US president has been given such a gift by a prime minister, officials in Washington and London believe.

But his cosying up to Mr Bush is being watched with increasing suspicion by Labour MPs and many of his official advisers.

In particular, his response to Mr Bush's determination to press ahead with the missile defence project will be subjected to close scrutiny.

More than 250, mainly Labour, MPs have signed a Commons motion expressing "grave doubts" about the project and urging the government to explore other ways of reducing the perceived threat from "rogue states".

The Foreign Office, deeply concerned about the impending end of the anti-ballistic- missile treaty signed by Washington and Moscow in 1972, has drafted a paper for the White House outlining other ways of dealing with the proliferation of missiles.

It believes it is in Britain's interest to engage with the so-called rogue states, in particular Iran, North Korea and Libya.

David Clark, an aide to Robin Cook when he was foreign secretary, said yesterday that Labour's crude anti-Americanism of the 1980s had been replaced by New Labour's "vulgar Atlanticism". http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4222170,00.html

lunarchick - 11:04pm Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7152 of 7168)
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lunarchick 7/16/01 9:06pm

Computers (185), 3 containing important classified, information (FBI) + firearms also missing .... Management of FBI to be reviewed ?

Germany - worker took PLUTONIUM home to his flat ... walking though security he put it down on ledge at side, walked through, then picked it up and took it home. Questions re security & the guys' mental health.

lunarchick - 11:08pm Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7153 of 7168)
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Doomsday: Rebecca Johnson is executive director of the Acronym Institute for Disarmament Diplomacy: commentary : http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4222863,00.html

lunarchick - 11:10pm Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7154 of 7168)
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Plastic bullets - represent a disproportionate use of force. Northern Ireland & crowd control.

lunarchick - 11:14pm Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7155 of 7168)
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The Acronym Institute http://www.acronym.org.uk/ (grateful to our funders, the W. Alton Jones Foundation, the John Merck Fund, the Ford Foundation, the Ploughshares Fund and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust. As an NGO providing expert analysis to a wide range of diplomatic, academic, intergovernmental and non-governmental practitioners, Acronym receives no financial support from any government)

lunarchick - 11:19pm Jul 17, 2001 EST (#7156 of 7168)
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Of the eight men meeting in Genoa this week, one seized the presidency of his country after losing the election.

Another is pursuing a genocidal war in an annexed republic. A third is facing allegations of corruption. A fourth, the summit's host, has been convicted of illegal party financing, bribery and false accounting, while his righthand man is on trial for consorting with the mafia.

Needless to say, the major theme of this week's summit is "promoting democracy". .... .

The very existence of a global assembly could help to resolve disputes: people often take up arms only because they have no other means of being heard. I suspect, too, that the World Bank and IMF, whose role is to police the debtors on behalf of the creditor nations, would disappear almost immediately. http://www.guardian.co.uk/Archive/Article/0,4273,4222852,00.html

lunarchick - 12:11am Jul 18, 2001 EST (#7157 of 7168)
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Error Reduction Techniques: Health : Mistakes in hospitals ... can be reduced ... standardise process to reduce medical errors. The high rate of mistakes are common - everywhere - Report (Stanford + CA) to reduce medErrors especially re common procedures. Equipment - an investment in modern equipment - will reduce error, build-in reminder systems, default of care systems.

HONESTY re error-reporting will help reduce them, many are in-system ... if reported the system can be improved. Blaming person rather than system has been commonplace. Errors therefore don't get fixed!

lunarchick - 12:14am Jul 18, 2001 EST (#7158 of 7168)
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GU Thread: see

lunarchick - 04:53am Jul 18, 2001 EST (#7159 of 7168)
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RIP - 'a woman who became so much more than she might have been' Katherine Graham

lunarchick - 05:24am Jul 18, 2001 EST (#7160 of 7168)
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TEN: just as calculated!

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