New York Times on the Web Forums Science

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?

possumdag - 04:05am May 10, 2001 EST (#3638 of 3647)
Possumdag@excite.com

A new computer game 'black and white' http://www.gamesdomain.com/gdreview/zones/reviews/pc/mar01/bnw.html

Black & White, as implied by the name, offers a unique ... evil – based on way you choose to play the game. Good and evil are two extreme approaches – right or ... http://www.gamezone.com/gamesell/p11761.htm

The game reminded me of the opposing views of Good/Bad expressed in this forum.

possumdag - 04:18am May 10, 2001 EST (#3639 of 3647)
Possumdag@excite.com

Some posters above - did i say guys? - are in the habit of listing the dimensions and potentials of missiles. The connection between humans and suffering is glossed over.

Once on a train i met a woman. She'd been a nurse in a war zone. She and two friends walked a road close to their base. Unexpectedly round the bend in the road came soldiers on horseback. Weilding arms they slashed at these three young women. Moments later one lay dead. Another suffered psychological hysteria through life and was supported emotionally by the lady i spoke with .. who in turn had had her carotid-artery in the neck slashed distorting the balance of her head.

In areas where mines are laid ... post war reality is that the civillian population are blown-up and maimed on a daily basis.

The reality has to be that a 'wars won't happen' concept has to be interlaced between the ears of politicians and military protagonists.

possumdag - 04:56am May 10, 2001 EST (#3640 of 3647)
Possumdag@excite.com

Press list the leaders of the following as the top ten press tyrants:

1 Iran

2 Liberia

3 China

4 Zimbabwe

5 (??)

6 Colombia

7 Ukraine

8 Cuba

9 Tunisa

10 Malaysia

possumdag - 05:14am May 10, 2001 EST (#3641 of 3647)
Possumdag@excite.com

GU Chomsky Thread

rshowalter - 07:24am May 10, 2001 EST (#3642 of 3647)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

I'm very, very tired, and wrenched, and in some personal trouble, and yet, sometimes, hopeful. I need to take some time to respond to a lot of this.

We need redemptive solutions, on a lot of things -- nuclear weapons being central among them -- and we need them for practical reasons, just because there are no other workable alternatives, and perfect justice is not only impossible - in the cases involved, it is even unthinkable.

I saw a press conference on C-span yesterday:

Congressional News Conference National Missile Defense U.S. Capitol Washington, District of Columbia (United States) ID: 164151 - 05/09/2001 - 1:12 - $45.00

Weldon, Curt, U.S. Representative, R-PA (1987-)

I found that press conference hopeful, and frustrating, at the same time -- and found myself with mixed feelings, including a good deal of sympathy, for the people there, fronting from missile defense -- but setting out, if not perfectly, with some forthrightness, how precarious and limited the program is, for all its cost.

The situation, cried out for a redemptive solution, and Weldon and the MD advocates, it seemed to me, could use, and might deserve, some redemption, too. Even as I could use some redemption myself, as my life falls away from me. Weldon and the advocates said something I respected a lot : "let the debate begin."

I wasn't pleased with all they said, or some of the terms offered, but there was a core of concern of honorable conduct that deserved respect.

rshowalter - 07:24am May 10, 2001 EST (#3643 of 3647)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

In the TIMES today, there's an article that I think is worth careful thought by people in this forum - about human beings, not as we might wish them to be, but as they are, the advantages of checking , and the reasons that, if we check more, and get more straight, with the new information tools at hand -- we may all be more decent, and the world may be richer and safer -- but some complex accomodations, even unjust ones, may be necessary, too. The piece shows a daunting situation - - - one where "perfect justice" isn't going to be possible -- but where the struggle may actually advance the humanity of us all, if only it is done right.

U. of Virginia Hit by Scandal Over Cheating by DIANA JEAN SCHEMO http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/10/national/10CHEA.html

Photograph heading: Louis A. Bloomfield, a physics professor at the University of Virginia, using a computer program, found 60 term papers were nearly identical.

(4 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense