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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 - 03:06am Mar 31, 2001 EST (#1815 of 1817)
lunarchick@www.com

Protectionism -- meet your WATERLOO leads to HIGH PRICES in the home market, the making of products that are less than modern, and stagnation.

Competitive Advantage
relates to all producers looking to produce those goods in which they are best advantaged regarding factors of production in relation to labour, capital, geographical location etc.
Take the way the Japanese took the electrical market. They moved in at the end of WWII on the lower price bracket of electricals gaining custom ... and moved on to be the 'leading' economy.

lunarchick - 03:10am Mar 31, 2001 EST (#1816 of 1817)
lunarchick@www.com

So there's more than a thermas flask and pack of sandwiches in the old briefcase ...

Russian defence minister receives nuclear key

MOSCOW: At an 'in camera' ceremony, outgoing Russian defence minister Marshal Igor Sergeyev formally handed over the "nuclear key" to his successor, a media report said on Friday.

The handing over of charge on Thursday brought to power Russia's first civilian defence minister Sergei Ivanov, a close ally of President Vladimir Putin.

In a sweeping reshuffle on Wednesday, Putin hand-picked the ex-KGB retired general to replace Sergeyev.

Ivanov will henceforth be accompanied by two naval officers with a black briefcase containing the secret codes, keys and an autonomous satellite communication device that could set off Russia's nuclear missiles, 'Ort' television reported.

A similar 'nuclear briefcase' was given to Putin on December 31, 1999 by former president Boris Yeltsin before he stepped down. (PTI)

lunarchick - 03:12am Mar 31, 2001 EST (#1817 of 1817)
lunarchick@www.com

Can't see Bush minders decking him with an attache case like this ... not if he's banned from the e-mail ... no wonder he's building the baseball court on the lawns.

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