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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 - 09:06am Nov 21, 2002 EST (# 6047 of 6051)
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 thought that these were extremely important, thoughtful, constructive posts:

6037 almarst2002 11/20/02 10:29pm
6038 almarst2002 11/20/02 10:35pm
6040 almarst2002 11/20/02 10:42pm
6042 almarst2002 11/20/02 11:54pm

I thought fredmoore 11/20/02 10:41pm gave a memorable example of a "solution" that can be "beautiful in some ways" but "ugly in others." An example of the need for care, balance, and judgement in what is actually done - and a sense of risks, and costs.

Stakes are high - risks are real - but there is much to be gained - and we're in a situation where we have to find better solutions to some of the messes in the world now. Even if there have to be fights - about ideas if people are sensible.
MD4000 rshow55 8/27/02 2:51pm
MD6000 rshow55 11/20/02 7:56pm

When things are complicated enough, there simply is no choice but to worry about right answers in a stark, logical sense - and about balances - including questions of "how much?". The alternatives are just to ugly - so there is work to be done, care to be taken, and responsibilities that cannot be escaped.

We need to make adjustments, step by step, from where we are - that actually work in practical human terms.

I once sent a postcard, that included this:

" Some explosive instabilities need to be avoided by the people who must make and maintain . . . relevant agreements. The system crafted needs to be workable for what it has to do, have feedback, damping , and dither in the right spots with the right magnitudes. The things that need to be checkable should be.

" Without feedback, damping, and dither in the right spots with the right magnitudes -- a lot of things are unstable - even when those things "look good," "make sense" and there is "good will on all sides."

" . . . . Unless we get some things in better balance - costs in money, blood, and trouble will be much larger than necessary."

The test of the agreements is how they work in practice, not just on paper. We're making that kind of transition - and if there are more agreements that need to be understood and worked out - we better make them. There's plenty of time, with the schedules now agreed to.

5571_5572 rshow55 11/10/02 7:52am

I think things are going pretty well, considering everything.

It seems to me that the points almarst makes in the posts below need to be modified some. But the points he raises are very important issues now.

6037 almarst2002 11/20/02 10:29pm
6038 almarst2002 11/20/02 10:35pm
6040 almarst2002 11/20/02 10:42pm
6042 almarst2002 11/20/02 11:54pm

rshow55 - 09:11am Nov 21, 2002 EST (# 6048 of 6051)
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.

Just read commondata 11/21/02 7:46am - - and it makes important points.

A very key point, it seemed to me - was just at the end:

" How can you advocate punishing millions of people for the actions of a few?"

That's a big question. Here's a related question.

How, in particular circumstances, is that to be avoided?

Sometimes it cannot be avoided, and the fight is necessary anyway.

I'll be back in a while.

lunarchick - 12:53pm Nov 21, 2002 EST (# 6049 of 6051)

LAW - Links

http://www.lexadin.nl/wlg/

http://www.elr.info/International/ieljournallist.cfm

http://www.law.cam.ac.uk/urllists/law-jour.htm

http://www.jeanmonnetprogram.org/TOC/search.php?pagemode=journallisting

http://www.osw.dpmc.gov.au/legal2.cfm

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