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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 - 12:46pm Aug 9, 2002 EST (#3585 of 3606)

A "culture of lying" becomes, for unavoidable reasons, a "culture of fear" and a "culture of paralysis." These problems are much worse than they used to be. I'm grateful for lchic 8/9/02 9:52am .

I made a faustian bargain with the government in 1967 - which I thought was entirely honorable, and in the national interest as well as my own. But in return for an outstanding, wonderful education, and wonderful opportunities, I was forced to lie. I was involved at a level of classification much heavier than people normally face - partly on an experimental basis -- and partly because the government needed some work done, and the arrangements made seemed reasonable and workable in context. My credentials were not in order, and that was part of the deal. The situation became more awkward in 1972. When I faced credentialling challenges, I was at the mercy of the government - which is true of other people, as well, but was true for me, by design, to a much more intense degree.

rshow55 6/29/02 7:59am ... rshow55 6/29/02 8:18pm

I'm finding the the problems of sorting the situation out MUCH worse than I anticipated, and much worse than Bill Casey anticipated. In part because the United States is a much more fearful, rigid place than it used to be.

If we as a nation understood how afraid we'd become, how inflexible, and how easily subject to intimidation -- and if other nations understood this, too - - we'd all be safer, and many of the good things about the US would be more secure.

. . . .

It needs to be much easier than it now is to get consequential facts checked. Because the alternative is too much like George Orwell's world of 1984 . We're too far along that way, and should take some care to move back.

rshow55 - 12:47pm Aug 9, 2002 EST (#3586 of 3606)

In Oliver Twist , by Charles Dickens, there's a great scene. The scene is effectively done in the movie "Oliver." Oliver Twist, like all the kids in the orphanage, is hungry. The food isn't any good, but it also isn't enough.

Oliver Twist, terrified, stands up and asks for more.

It is the unthinkable, intolerable sin.

Sometimes, it seems to me like I've been going through scenes where "Robert Showalter asks to be checked" - - and the emotional reactions aren't very different from the ones Oliver encountered.

Is checking unthinkable?

It is, at the least, hard to get.

Just a simple statement in writing from the CIA can be hard to get.

Can this be what the founding fathers had in mind? Are these the patterns we celebrate on the 4th of July? rshow55 7/4/02 12:06pm

mazza9 - 02:36pm Aug 9, 2002 EST (#3587 of 3606)
"Quae cum ita sunt" Caesar's Gallic Commentaries

Robert:

You're right about the "cult" of lies. We have just withstood an 8 years where lies were raised to a whole new level. The verb "to be" was cast into doubt in the famous Clinton testimony where he said, "it all depends on what the meaning of is, is!". We have'net seen ENRON mentioned in a while, but now it appears that Treasury Secretary Rubin and the Democratic Administration may have contributed to the economic shocks that are convulsing our society.

I'm unemployed and frustrated when I see crooks and politicians advancing their careers why I'm stuck in neutral. My sin, likes yours, seems to be a family based value system that includes honesty! Am I frustrated. Probably as much as you!

LouMazza

lchic - 04:18pm Aug 9, 2002 EST (#3588 of 3606)

Just put an excellent posting into this system - it's not showing ...

lchic - 04:38pm Aug 9, 2002 EST (#3589 of 3606)

Rubin

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&q=Treasury+Secretary+Rubin+and+the+Democratic+Administration+2002&btnG=Google+Search

lchic - 04:49pm Aug 9, 2002 EST (#3590 of 3606)

Munition disposal from WWI

ZeeBrugger Belgium

35,000 tonnes of rusting first world war ammunition

The shells, a third of which are highly toxic and include mustard gas

will start to leak wreaking havoc on the local ecosystem

too dangerous to move the shells

Instead they proposed constructing an enormous artificial island above the lethal cache

http://www.guardian.co.uk/elsewhere/journalist/story/0,7792,771994,00.html

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pakistan - Journalist looks at supposed 'tradition' passing off as law

http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/06/opinion/06SARW.html

In the case of the woman 'officially raped' a point not brought out in this article is - it has been said - that the brother was actually a victim of rape by local men .. and to deflect he was accused of mixing with a 'higher caste' woman ... leading to his sister being victimised and raped.

Hell covered over by more hell - to meet the needs of the evil.

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