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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 - 04:53pm Nov 5, 2002 EST (# 5488 of 5495)
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.

manjumicha 11/5/02 4:00pm

So there are some seeds from which solid progress might grow. I still think the NYT could, and should, play an important role.

Not that I think the TIMES could or should negotiate with the NKs alone. That would be unstable, if anybody with real power wanted it to be unstable. That means it would be unstable.

But it seems to me that this would be workable, appropriate, and stable:

There should be a detailed discussion, along the lines of the discussion lchic and I described in "Anything on Anything" rshow55 10/30/02 11:34am - - using the internet, and with some assistance from several other journalistic organizations, from several other countries - and with enough private funding (from sources with lines to the administration) - so that the complications, backgrounds and facts were clear - at the various levels that would matter to the people involved.

It seems to me that if that were added to other negotiation lines in place or coming into being (not substituted -- added ) - it might facilitate a great deal.

It wouldn't be too hard to arrange, or to fund, if somebody at the TIMES, with a name, talked to some key people. Including - because of the complexity and connections of the business - movie people.

The question

. "How would you make a movie of a fully workable resolution of the N. Korean mess?"

seems to me a useful question - because to work out such a movie - by usual commercial standards - people would have to think about all the real problems actually involve - in the complexity that exists. If that were done - it shouldn't be so very hard to come up with an accomodation much safer and more comfortable than the current one - which is so very unsatisfactory from almost every player's point of view.

Only good, reasonably complete strategies have any chance of working as the basis of watchable, commercially viable movies. The current Bush strategy is barely sufficient for a skit, played as farce.

For me, the details needed for a real resolution seem doable - but they'll be easier to think about after the election results are in.

5472 rshow55 11/5/02 10:30am

rshow55 - 05:14pm Nov 5, 2002 EST (# 5489 of 5495)
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.

Another thing. Movies are common ground, for many people - and we need some common ground, complicated enough to converse about - with the N. Koreans. As I understand it, their maximum leader watches a lot of movies - and the NYT, including Frank Rich - knows a lot about movies.

It would be great progress if a key group of (say 20) NKs, South Koreans, and Chinese could discuss anything sociably, knowledgeably, and in detail - for even a few hours.

I've been partial to Casablaca - - and also West Side Story and Mary Poppins - - - but there are MANY good movies. And since some of the problems are REALLY basic, and universals are important - some Disney cartoons might be some useful common ground.

Naive? I don't think so. If people have a core of shared space about anything - - they have a chance to build from that shared space.

As of now, there's precious little shared space - especially non-treacherous shared space - between the North Koreans and anybody else.

If there was more - a lot more negotiation would be possible.

I floated the notion of yesterday about getting some of N. Koreas' neighbors and N. Korea on the same wave length about how they felt about Japan's behavior in WWII. I wasn't kidding - and I think the question of how one might make a movie about those circumstances and feelings might be worth more than a little thought. Because to make that movie, key people involved would have to be fully communicating - and handling problems at the level of socio-technical complexity that corresponds to the complexity of any humanly workable peace between the peoples involved.

rshow55 - 05:15pm Nov 5, 2002 EST (# 5490 of 5495)
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.

Plus it might be a fine parallel for a lawsuit against the Japanese - for honor and money -- that might make a lot of the people involved feel better.

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense