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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.

almarst-2001 - 08:53pm Apr 7, 2002 EST (#1172 of 1181)

A Short History of the Opium Wars - http://www.druglibrary.org/schaffer/heroin/opiwar1.htm

almarst-2001 - 08:59pm Apr 7, 2002 EST (#1173 of 1181)

BLAIR'S BRITAIN WANTS A RETURN TO 'AGE OF EMPIRE' - http://emperors-clothes.com/analysis/cooper.htm

almarst-2001 - 09:00pm Apr 7, 2002 EST (#1174 of 1181)

We've Been Lied To Once Again - This Time About Milosevic - http://emperors-clothes.com/milo/1feb.htm

almarst-2001 - 09:09pm Apr 7, 2002 EST (#1175 of 1181)

"Yugoslavia, The Avoidable War" - http://www.avoidablewar.com/producers.html

lchic - 11:55pm Apr 7, 2002 EST (#1176 of 1181)

Economies of Scale : Uprgrading 3rd tier countries could give them

These occur when mass producing a good results in lower average cost. Economies of scale occur within an firm (internal) or within an industry (external). http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/notes/econ204.htm

lchic - 11:55pm Apr 7, 2002 EST (#1177 of 1181)

Consider the Opportunity Cost of war

http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/amputee.jpg http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/8mlitary.htm http://www.unicef.org/sowc96/7trauma.htm (click around)
http://www.bized.ac.uk/stafsup/options/notes/econ201.htm

lchic - 06:30am Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1178 of 1181)

_{GU - Thread News International}

Pull back, Bush orders Sharon (GUARDIAN)

theredflag - 06:52pm Apr 7, 2002 GMT (#8 of 42)

Bush agreed his statement with Sharon before he made it.

It was a nod and a wink sort of thing. Bush told Sharon that he has one more week to kill as many Palestinians as he wants - and then he'll have to stop.

Sharon's response?

Awwww Mom! It's not fair! You ALWAYS stop me from having fun!

lchic - 06:42am Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1179 of 1181)

The Israel lobby . April 2002

http://www.prospect-magazine.co.uk/Start.asp

rshow55 - 11:54am Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1180 of 1181)

Since I've have been taking the NYT, we've had mostly reliable delivery. Only twice have we failed to get a paper - at least a day late. It happened again yesterday. I waited too late to go out and buy a copy. I missed having it. I was glad for the editorial content set out on NYT on the Web. This morning, I did get a paper, with a lot of interesting stuff. This editorial gave me a sense, once again, of why I value The New York Times.

Encounter With an Asteroid http://www.nytimes.com/2002/04/08/opinion/_08MON4.html

Scientists calculate that a kilometer-wide asteroid has up to a 1-in-300 chance of smashing into the Earth. Fortunately, its arrival is more than eight centuries away.

That short editorial could be framed into a story, in the form set out in a reference pointed out by lchic HOW A STORY IS SHAPED http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/ducksoup/555/storyshape.html

MD161rshow55 3/3/02 3:34pm ... MD170 rshow55 3/3/02 6:48pm
MD171 rshow55 3/3/02 6:52pm ... MD172 almarst-2001 3/3/02 7:05pm
MD173 almarst-2001 3/3/02 7:08pm ... MD174 almarst-2001 3/3/02 7:17pm
MD175 rshow55 3/3/02 7:25pm ... MD179 almarst-2001 3/3/02 7:42pm
MD181 rshow55 3/3/02 8:03pm ....

Stories can have happy endings -- and teach lessons, and make sense. Stories can work . Are we in the middle of some truly fearful stories that, like the story implied about the asteroid, could have reasonable, simple, beautiful, practical "endings" where people can "live happily ever after"?

Sometimes, for all the ugliness, I think there's hope of that. Sometimes, pieces of what I know correspond to classic stories. For example, as far as the "missile defense" fiasco goes, perhaps we're in the middle of a story much like "the emperor's new clothes."

The Enron case has much in common with "the emperor's new clothes" and there are some aspects of a "happy ending" taking shape there.

I appreciated the comments from manjumicha2001 and almarst related to some technical proposals and background of mine, and am trying to respond well -- in ways that lead to things that actually work. MD1171 rshow55 4/7/02 6:51pm

lchic - 12:12pm Apr 8, 2002 EST (#1181 of 1181)

http://www.dispatch.co.za/2002/04/06/foreign/Images/JESUSPG7.JPG

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