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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?

rshowalter - 05:57am May 17, 2001 EST (#4029 of 4038)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

On the question of lies, credibiltiy, the need for checking, and how vulnerable US institutions are to ugly, negligent conduct.

'Sorry' Isn't Enough by BOB HERBERT http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/17/opinion/17HERB.html

"They got the wrong guys. Again. "

Checking is essential. The "culture of lying" in journalism -- which THE NEW YORK TIMES itself is part of, for all its manifest virtues, is based on a "moral judgement."

Debate about that judgement has involved me, in dialog with TIMES employees, for more than three years . It is a judgement that Dawn Riley and I want to CHANGE.

Now, when the need to check goes against the comfort of someone in power, the rule in America is that checking, except in rare and stereotyped cases, is to be subordinated, which is to say, not done.

I take another view -- when the stakes really matter, checking should be morally forcing.

Not the only value at play, -- but one which should usually prevail when the stakes of broader interest are demonstrably high.

Now, for reasons of social usage, it usually does not.

Our work in the Guardian thread "Paradigm shift, whose getting there" http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.ee7726f/0 is largely about that. (search "morally forcing")

Today, in The Senate Plumbers by WILLIAM SAFIRE http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/17/opinion/17SAFI.html argues for an important barrier to checking -- one I value, too. But the issues he raises are not the only ones, and what he says bears thinking about in a "culture of lying." However, the internet offers other ways at getting at information now effectively hidden buried in "open" detail.

rshowalter - 06:03am May 17, 2001 EST (#4030 of 4038)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Lucent, Motorola and 8 More to Supply China Cellular Growth by BLOOMBERG NEWS

BEIJING, May 15 — "Lucent Technologies, Motorola, Nortel Networks and Ericsson are among 10 big Western suppliers that have won nearly $1.5 billion in phone equipment contracts from one of China's largest cellular providers, the companies disclosed today.

" The Chinese operation, China United Telecommunications, known as China Unicom, did not provide a financial breakdown. But Lucent said its contract was the biggest, at $420 million, and Ericsson valued its agreement at more than $200 million. Motorola's contract totaled $407 million and Nortel's $275 million, those companies said.

" China Unicom said the winners would supply equipment for a nationwide wireless network, based on Qualcomm technology, that would serve as many as 15.2 million subscribers by 2002. The contracts had been delayed when the collision of a Navy reconnaissance plane and a Chinese fighter jet over the Sea of China early last month raised fears that Beijing might withhold contracts from American companies. ....."

A hopeful note, in a complex world: The "old" Communist China could not have made this decision - which is a good one for openness and peace. This decision would be a terrible decision for China if she were a militarily agressive nation, but she is not.

rshowalter - 06:04am May 17, 2001 EST (#4031 of 4038)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

City Lights, a Siren's Song for Birds, Are Dimmed by PAM BELLUCK http://www.nytimes.com/2001/05/16/national/16BIRD.html

An unanticipated problem, adressed in a logically incremental way, in a mesh of ecological interactions with a Kline complexity number in the trillions or more, that can only be adressed incrementally, with feedback, and with unanticipated problems requiring complex cooperation to be expected.

rshowalter - 06:15am May 17, 2001 EST (#4032 of 4038)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

4024-4025: almarst-2001 5/17/01 12:34am are superb posts, and worth careful, respectful attention. I'm taking some time thinking about them.

possumdag - 06:37am May 17, 2001 EST (#4033 of 4038)
Possumdag@excite.com

National States that compete and trade have to stay abreast of technology in order not to loose aspects of competive advantage ... that enable them to put selected, keenly priced, products on the market.

IT is a part of modern commerce, they have to keep up with IT developments, to minimise costs, and to hold their place for trade.

rshowalter - 07:35am May 17, 2001 EST (#4034 of 4038)
Robert Showalter showalte@macc.wisc.edu

Yes, and with IT, and the rate at which it is changing, the value of specific military gimmicks , especially expensive, long lead times ones, is getting more and more questionable.

For example, the US's "invulnerable triad" of nuclear forces is now vulnerable, MAD should be MUD ("mutually unsure destruction) and nuclear weapons are obsolete menaces that should be taken down -- for the same sorts of reasons that asbestos is removed, and for other reasons, too.

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