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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 - 07:49am Aug 21, 2003 EST (# 13337 of 13338)
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.

Gisterme , what I said is no joke, and you're usually more sensible and serious than you are just above. Though maybe I've got you wrong . . .

The word "have", as in your interpretation of my "have to have" is subject to different interpretations.

It All Depends on What You Mean by 'Have' By STEVE MARTIN http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/08/opinion/08MART.html

Gisterme , there have to be ( in the sense that means "for good function, there need to be" ) some exceptions - that allow basic values and structures to be sustained. Judgements of right and wrong have to be made. There can and will be mistakes. But after a point - some "mistakes" are more than just mistakes.

10076 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.veFhb6IqA98.4582965@.f28e622/11621

We're making mistakes of a few serious kinds with monotonous, lethal regularity. All linked to deception, and self deception - both conscious and unconsious - that is not effectively checked. 9534 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.veFhb6IqA98.4582965@.f28e622/11073

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Here are postings that jorian319 - approved of in these words: http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.veFhb6IqA98.4582965@.f28e622/11823

Nice posts, Robert. I, too get irritated by those who simultaneously abdicate responsibilities and criticize those who take them on.

10275 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.veFhb6IqA98.4582965@.f28e622/11821

Things sort themselves out into levels - the image in Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs by William G. Huitt Essay and Image : http://chiron.valdosta.edu/whuitt/col/regsys/maslow.html is a clear, important, and general example of a heirarchical system with controls and interfaces of mutual constraint. The generally pyramidal organization is general to essentially all such structures that work.

Look at the picture. ( Look at the structure in the picture. )

In ordinary business, politics and war there are times when groups that function as assemblies have to be dealt with as they are grouped - as assemblies. People have to act from where they are. If you're near the top of the pyramid in a logical sense, that's what you have to do.

You're Bush - or Putin - or any other leader - or a responsible subordinate - like Casey. You have to make decisions - and there are times when there is no option at all but to "play God" - either by actions with consequences - or by inaction under circumstances where inaction also has consequences.

10276 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.veFhb6IqA98.4582965@.f28e622/11822

There have to be limits on the Treaty of Westphalia rules - connections, and constraints -between actors at "the top of their pyramids" and of course that means limitations on the US as well.

. . .

Right now, under Treaty of Westphalia rules, leaders have an essentially unlimited "right" to play God - to kill or mistreat subordinates - and to lie. Some leaders, in limited ways - have to "play God" to change that.

. . .

We have basic control problems here - and workable systems have to be sorted out. What we have now, too often, is a mess.

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Such a mess that I've been moving slowly, and being careful. Details matter, and stakes are high.

Some jokes are funny, and not funny, from different points of view. A lot of things may be so serious that we "have" to joke about them.

It All Depends on What You Mean by 'Have' By STEVE MARTIN http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/08/opinion/08MART.html

Paul Newman Is Still HUD By PAUL NEWMAN http://www.nytimes.com/2003/08/19/opinion/19NEWM.html

A Fox News Network lawsuit has inspired the actor to take on the Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Some people, for years, have been sensible enough to be scared out

rshow55 - 07:56am Aug 21, 2003 EST (# 13338 of 13338)
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.

Some people, for years, have been sensible enough to be scared out of their wits (though they try to hide it.)

What, Me Worry About Insults? By THOMAS VINCIGUERRA http://www.mrshowalter.net/What,%20Me%20Worry%20About%20Insults.htm

I know I've been very scared - and remain so. But this is a time where we need not to "laugh off" or "brush off" details.

Because we are human beings - with all the good and bad things that go with it.

I've been working with lchic , and working hard - trying to get people to understand that, if we're to solve some problems that could otherwise destroy us - we have to be careful ( in many senses ) about details.

We may joke about them, as we "look at things every which way" to get enough perspective to get them right. But getting them right is no joke.

Eisenhower felt that, unless some problems got solved, the world was going to end. I was young and impressionable - and somehow, I've never been able to "laugh that off."

If you think I'm "playing a game" - in some senses you're right. But I'm as serious as Steve Martin or Paul Newman. We need NEW MEN in a real sense. There have to be some changes.

Maybe I'm just lost in the fun-house. Maybe gisterme has it all straight. But it doesn't look that way to me.

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