New York Times on the Web Forums Science

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.

rshow55 - 09:15am Oct 23, 2003 EST (# 15463 of 15471)
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.

2064 http://forums.nytimes.com/webin/WebX?8@13.RUgHbQvBQD2.4218282@.f28e622/2567 seems coherent enough, it is from a while ago, and in includes this:

" How, given the rules of security laws, and my particular circumstances, am I to live my life? How can I practice any ordinary profession, or talk extensively to anyone - in the ordinary, day-to-day manner people do?

" How can I do these ordinary things - without putting both myself and others at risk?

A certificate of non-involvement, from the government, could serve my needs very well - and the government has known that for a long time now.

The New York Times , like other institutions, sometimes has "corporate memories" that are "forgotten" in one sense - but "assumed by everyone - consciously and unconsciously" in other significant senses. Psychological repression ( which is logically necessary quite often ) works like that. A lot of "unspoken" but powerful social norms do, too.

Byron Price , the head of censorship in WWII would have known just exactly how to handle a problem like mine - and could have done it gracefully. I don't think the NYT understands, nearly as well as it should - how much its structure now embodies the patterns Price set up for war censorship - with Roosevelt's agreement.

But these patterns are now "forgotten" and executed unconsciously and without sensible controls in some key spots that now work much worse than they used to - because of forgetting - and I think it is fair to add - intimidation from the government, as well.

Repression has its uses - but when results are conflicted or stupid - it is sometimes worth the trouble to sort things out. I think enough is conflicted and stupid that there's some sorting to do.

rshow55 - 09:24am Oct 23, 2003 EST (# 15464 of 15471)
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.

I'm going to quote some things about Price's agreements with Roosevelt - from

. Reporting the War The Journalistic Coverage of World War II by Frederick Voss published by the National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

I want to take a little time thinking about the presentation - and this is a chance for other posters of state their indignation about the "off topic" posting I'm preparing, if they wish.

lchic - 09:28am Oct 23, 2003 EST (# 15465 of 15471)
ultimately TRUTH outs : TRUTH has to be morally forcing : build on TRUTH it's a strong foundation

'Man of Steel' to quote George Bush

http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/10/23/1066631550481.html

(6 following messages)

New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense