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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 - 12:13pm Aug 17, 2003 EST (# 13316 of 13326)
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.

Believe It, or Not By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/15/opinion/15KRIS.html

"Americans are three times as likely to believe in the Virgin Birth of Jesus (83 percent) as in evolution (28 percent).

. . .

"My grandfather was fairly typical of his generation: A devout and active Presbyterian elder, he nonetheless believed firmly in evolution and regarded the Virgin Birth as a pious legend. Those kinds of mainline Christians are vanishing . . .

My grandfather was a Baptist clergyman in North Carolina - and had similar feelings. 7016-9 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.QqcSbhWmzfu.3935974@.f28e622/8538

We're in a time of logical crisis - and people who live in societies, who feel that they have to choose either to have faith or to doubt - choose faith. To live in society - if that is their choice - that's what they have to do.

But for faith to be workable - you need doubt, too. There is no contradiction.

I've posted the sermon, WHEN THE FOUNDATIONS ARE SHAKING by James Slatton http://www.mrshowalter.net/sermon.html many times on this thread.

Sometimes doubt is necessary - in the real world you need different points of view, at different times.

In the sermon http://www.mrshowalter.net/sermon.html you can call the Russian colonel a "good guy" or a "bad guy" from different points of view.

But given a clear point of view - the decision which is clear. And the stakes are clear, too.

Often, it is useful, when the stakes are high - to find out what happened without always being distracted by "who the bad guy is." Often, once facts are clear, from specific perspectives, the "good guy" and "bad guy" roles are clear enough. And they can be clearly different, on the basis of different assumptions - without contradiction.

What works - what fits - what matters - are key questions.

There's a question of the arithmetic of physical modelling - where an imperfect assumption was "made" by Isaac Barrow, Newton's old boss, about 350 years ago - that matters too - and because that mistake persists - systems like the power grid are much less stable than they could be. Though if everybody always did their jobs - they'd be more stable than they are, without people knowing any more than we do. Since people are imperfect, the mathematical mistake matters more than it would in a more perfect world.

lchic - 06:27pm Aug 17, 2003 EST (# 13317 of 13326)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Water ME is in the news. The frog and the scorpion --- it stings again leaving women in Iraq without water --- Saddam's ego culture of perversity.

Were accounting - in the form of the actual costings of infrastructure placed with each individual - would the scorpions continue to sting?

Would a point be reached where even scorpions leant to read a balance sheet?

lchic - 06:30pm Aug 17, 2003 EST (# 13318 of 13326)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/middle_east/3158605.stm

lchic - 07:24pm Aug 17, 2003 EST (# 13319 of 13326)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

bbc Peter Day http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio4/news/inbusiness.shtml

had an interesting talk with an Oxford Economist who had the measure of USA economy wrt health and aged - $44 Trillion deficit

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In Australia 50 groups have come together to look at social equity, the value to each of government service provision, to try to turn Australia away from Howardism to once more becoming a caring society.

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Richard Armitage - coimment - war on terror

http://www.abc.net.au/am/content/2003/s925169.htm

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