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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?

Read Debates, a new Web-only feature culled from Readers' Opinions, published every Thursday.

lchic - 05:51pm Oct 14, 2003 EST (# 15023 of 15027)
TRUTH outs ultimately : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

Common Good

http://www.brown.edu/Departments/Swearer_Center/CCGood/index.shtml

http://www.commongood.org/

http://www.the-brights.net/dennett_nyt.htm

lchic - 06:00pm Oct 14, 2003 EST (# 15024 of 15027)
TRUTH outs ultimately : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

Common Assets

' Why a Common Assets Defense Fund? In recent years, several think-tanks have been studying and writing about common assets and the commons. However no organization has taken on the role of campaigning for common assets.

The Common Assets Defense Fund identifies instances where common assets are being given away to private corporations, and wages public and legal campaigns to stop such giveaways.

In the words of our board member, author David Bollier, "In ways that are variously egregious, subtle, clever, and obscure, business interests are gaining ownership and control over dozens of valuable resources that the American people collectively own." CADF brings together activists concerned about social equity, the environment, taxes, and corporatism to stop the corporate takeover of our commons.

We invite you to join us in a new type of activism. We are commoners. And we are reclaiming the commons. '

lchic - 06:10pm Oct 14, 2003 EST (# 15025 of 15027)
TRUTH outs ultimately : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

Relate this to MD

' The role of the public sector should be limited only to those services and activities that private markets will not supply efficiently -- either because of difficulty of charging a price or because of joint-consumption benefits -- or those with desirable redistributional value. The technical term used to justify public sector activities is that of "market failure." '

rshow55 - 06:17pm Oct 14, 2003 EST (# 15026 of 15027)
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.

12551-2 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.0oB1b1bmOX7.2553069@.f28e622/14207

Suppose the President of the United States, or a senior UN official, or the leader of another nation state had made exactly the same request I made of Sulzberger. Could that request have been accomodated?

Why not ?

A reason why not is that we've lost some basic notions essential to a common culture - including common views of right or wrong - or duty - that are at all stable.

Partly technical points are then listed - including http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.0oB1b1bmOX7.2553069@.f28e622/6101

http://www.wisc.edu/rshowalt/whytimes/ is obsolete - and has become http://www.mrshowalter.net/whytimes

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