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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?

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rshow55 - 08:21am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10885 of 10892)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

If we work, from where we are - a lot can converge.

I know almarst thinks that mathematicians are heartless - -

(I don't feel heartless - I ache with a lot that is happening - but maybe I'm not such a good mathematician.)

But just now, for all the pain, I feel strongly that we ought to be able to do much better than we've done - in ways that are win-win from the points of view of the overwhelming majority of people, nations, and organizations in the whole world.

I don't feel the least bit like quitting, myself.

Maybe, quoting a great title to a mediocre book - I've been "DOWN SO LONG IT LOOKS LIKE UP TO ME"

But it looks to me, right now, as if a lot can sort out well, if people work at it.

. .

Not without costs. But there are costs that can't be avoided in any case, from where we are. And some other costs worth paying.

almarst2003 - 08:24am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10886 of 10892)

.028% ? Amaising success. Doesn't it show we have a finest military machine in a World? With such a ratio we can safely destroy the World with without filling one American Cemetry.

I say - Go for it. In the name of Christian Golden Rule if for nothing else. Oh yes, and ORDER!

One World, One Nation, One King!

rshow55 - 08:32am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10887 of 10892)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

US hegemony isn't workable, and we both know it.

The world could use more order than it has.

Saddam offers a great deal of order - at some costs.

The neo-cons do, too. At other costs - also unacceptable. Costs most countries and people in the world are rejecting - and that even Republican elected officials are now questioning.

Many other orders are possible - and more workable than either of the two above - and we can work for them.

10700-09 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@28.FzpDaOFw6gq.2666294@.f28e622/12250

rshow55 - 08:42am Apr 1, 2003 EST (# 10888 of 10892)
Can we do a better job of finding truth? YES. Click "rshow55" for some things Lchic and I have done and worked for on this thread.

Getting the most basic, most frequent facts and relations straight is very important. And if people keep checking against facts - - odds of making progress can be surprisingly good.

All the same, for fundamental reasons, for the most common things, progress is also very hard. The odds are overwhelming that both individuals and cultures have made, and will make, many mistakes - - many of them important and deeply embedded in areas where performance is not good. That's both a challenge and a source of hope.

When we learn basic things, the odds of our successfully solving problems can get much better - and impossible jobs can become possible, and sometimes even easy.

How a Story is Shaped. http://www.fortunecity.com/lavendar/ducksoup/555/storyshape.html

A Communication Model http://www.worldtrans.org/TP/TP1/TP1-17.HTML

Almarst , even when you're angry, it doesn't help to work - and often it seems you work hard - to cut off shared space.

We now live in a world with much more interconnection than people are useful. There are new opportunities - and we have to learn to use them.

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense