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Science
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?
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  (709 previous messages)
lchic
- 09:52am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#710
of 716)
Regulatory 'bodies' come to mind in relation to deaths and
fights.
Deaths from drugs and deaths from low quality consumer goods have
'bodies' that regulate, set standards, look to quality, ask for
improvement in design, ask for viable technical documentation to
support products.
Deaths from nuclear attacks are well documented. Here something
called 'war' is supposed to give permissions for killing.
lchic
- 10:23am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#711
of 716)
Tom Daschle - the most powerful Democrat in the country - has
taken a few tentative steps this month towards restoring normal
service as a voice for alternative ideas in the field of foreign
and defence policy.
He pointed out that the administration was focused on .....
"There may be support, in general, for the president's request
for defence, but somebody has got to ask tough questions," the
South Dakota senator said. .......
..... The president's political adviser, Karl Rove, is said to
oppose a war on Iraq before November, because he believes the
heady sense of patriotic satisfaction from the Afghan war will
still be thick in the air, and that there is a much higher chance
of things going wrong for US forces in Iraq.
The White House will have to decide how to synchronise its
military and political agendas by then, and the Democrats will
have to decide just what they are allowed to say. -------
Dash could talk about taxation raising war taxes, defense taxes.
Dash could talk about the income losses suffered by retirees with
market crash of supposedly respectable blue chip companies -- the
State will have to step in ... they'll need incomes for 20-30 years.
Dash could look to the real NEEDS of people - homeland and
'abroad-elsewhere land' ... and work out how money CAN do GOOD.
Bush is busy being
patted by Pa and Pa's boys!
lchic
- 10:25am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#712
of 716)
These guys 'over-step themselves' so often : http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,670832,00.html
lchic
- 10:31am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#713
of 716)
These guys 'over-step themselves' so often : http://www.guardian.co.uk/internetnews/story/0,7369,670832,00.html
Mr Brandt said he discovered the "persistent" cookie - it
keeps working until 2010 - and realised that the CIA "should not
be doing this."
He was particularly concerned because the reading room site
allows users seeking documents to search for particular words.
"The keywords you put in reveal an incredible amount about
what you're looking for and what your interests are. It would be
very, very tempting to track that kind of information," Mr Brandt
said The question here is ... if everybody uses reading room
info .. maps etc .. then ... the cookies will be 'everywhere' ...
how many people will they ask for (staff) to follow such a multitude
of leads .... ie leading them NOWHERE. Who reviews tax payer
allocation to this boondoggle department ?
lchic
- 10:38am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#714
of 716)
US starts work on nuclear 'bunker-buster' bomb
smaller, super-hardened nuclear weapons
no guarantee that such bombs can be developed successfully and
plans for them will rouse a storm of controversy http://news.independent.co.uk/world/americas/story.jsp?story=275984
< Who cleans up the nuclear filth ??? ... Nobody's cleaned up
LAOS carpet bombs yet .. >
lchic
- 10:40am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#715
of 716)
Showalter made important point in this and following post rshow55
3/20/02 7:42am
rshow55
- 10:51am Mar 20, 2002 EST (#716
of 716) 
If a time comes when leaders of nation states WANT some key
issues clarified -- and populations want these issues clarified --
then getting the necessary fighting to closure wouldn't be hard, or
expensive, or very destructive.
It isn't a matter of "outlawing war" -- desirable as that dream
might be. It is a matter of getting some reasonable controls on a
situation that could not stand the light of day.
MD656 rshow55
3/17/02 8:24pm
"web of facts" need to be substituted for a "web of lies."
Facts, established solidly enough, can be powerful. Enron was
dominant - deferred to -- respected -- on the basis of a pattern of
ornate but blatant deceptions. But the lies were unstable - - and
once some key facts solidified - with clarity - and with many of the
facts presented together in space and time, so people could see --
the fraud collapsed. An admirable collection of facts and
circumstances, contributing to that instability is here: http://www.nytimes.com/2002/01/14/business/_ENRON-PRIMER.html
Some key aspects of the US military-industrial-complex deserve
analogous scrutiny. For it to happen, for it to be news, world
leaders are going to have to ask for checking.
Technical issues about missile defense would be a good start,
because they are so technically clear, and lend themselves to
umpired discussion to closure.
   
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