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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.

rshow55 - 05:12pm Jul 17, 2002 EST (#3125 of 3126)

Mazza, lchic is, on occasion, somewhat more emotional, more poetic, more allusive, than I'd be. And the exchange mazza9 7/17/02 4:19pm . . . to . . . mazza9 7/17/02 4:19pm illustrates that, among other things. Maybe lchic gets a little angry -- not everyone would blame her. If you search "mazza" and search "lchic" - - it seems to me that, taking an average, the lady is at the very least, as much of a lady as you, mazza, are a gentleman.

Got a dead link for your "contact information" - but by now, you should call me -- on a conference call, with Cooper - and George Johnson -- to show that you are indeed distint people. I've asked for that from time to time - - and think I asked politely in MD3101 rshow55 7/16/02 9:11pm and MD3103 rshow55 7/16/02 9:16pm .

I've also asked Mazza (Cooper-Johnson) for response with respect to SUBSTANCE on a number of occasions. Responses about substance have been lacking.

The idea that my postings have been disproportionate has been raised. Given the issues involved, I think they've been entirely reasonable.

MD2770 rshow55 6/29/02 7:59am , involves some concerns of mine, and some context that might clarify some of the "boxes" I've felt myself to be in and some of the obligations I've felt . Given the situation, I don't think my work on this board has been "disporportionate" at all.

Just to review some things - involving Mazza.

I've been making some postings on the NYT Missile Defense board. Floated an idea in MD2977 rshow55 7/10/02 10:29am and got a response from Mazza in MD2978. Since Mazza often seems to me to represent administration interests, I took his response as a request for more information about what I'd like to debrief about - an opening I'd been hoping for. I posted some responses in MD2979-2988 rshow55 7/10/02 1:33pm that I hoped clarified some things.

In the NYT this morning, William Safire wrote a chatty piece "The Spook Awards" http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/11/opinion/11SAFI.html that I thought might, perhaps, be a suggestion of an opening for me. I've made some efforts to contact Safire, and let some other NYT people know that.

I've recently posted this, http://talk.guardian.co.uk/WebX?14@@.eece621/15 and hope it clarifies some concerns I have, and some of my sense of proportion and priorities.

Mazza, can you point out specific mistakes I've made with respect to Missile Defense. Citing numbers, so other people can see?

I think I'm working in a balanced, responsible way, under an awkward set of circumstances that produced the situation set out in MD2770 . And I'm working hard, with some cooperation from some informed, responsible people - to find a more livable situation -- one where my status under national security laws is clear, in writing or in some other usable way -- so that I can go about my business. As any person who wants to function has to be able to do.

rshow55 - 05:43pm Jul 17, 2002 EST (#3126 of 3126)

I'm finding proofreading hard since some "government friend" found a way to do an ingenious thing -- knock out the "save" and "save as" buttons on my WordPad programs - so they lock up the computer. So I'm having to change some habits.

People are now waking up to how easy, and how serious, manipulations can be in the relatively open, relatively carefully checked world of corporate finance. Yet we know what people like Thomas White, and other experts at enronation - - can do with these relatively open checkable means.

How much easier it is to manipulate, and misappropriate funds -- and fund the right wing of the Republican party - under the curtain of security classification? How much easier is it with the patterns of coercion that characterize the military-industrial-political complex? Much easier. According to patterns very well perfected, and understood, and explained, by the Nazis. The US learned those lessons well. I studied them - because I was assigned to do so.

The cold war should be over . There are things to check -- that can be checked, by "connecting the dots" - and it is important to get on with it.

The stakes, I believe, justify my best efforts. And I've got some compelling private interests, as well. Anybody caught me in a lie on this thread? I've said enough things, in enough different ways, that it ought to be easy to do -- if I've been being deceptive. There's enough background information that the circumstances around MD2770 rshow55 6/29/02 7:59am to constrain the possible a good deal.

Enough, for example, that the AEA investors should be paid.

Enough, also, that there are a good many things on which our national safety and honor depends, that are connected.

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