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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
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(7832 previous messages)
lchic
- 08:24am Jan 20, 2003 EST (#
7833 of 7836) ~~~~ It got understood and exposed
~~~~
Mrs Annan has written and illustrated a book - Tip Top
characters learn about water.
http://www.wsscc.org/load.cfm?edit_id=313
rshow55
- 08:35am Jan 20, 2003 EST (#
7834 of 7836)
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.
If enough people in the international community were
concerned enough - scared enough - to insist on some checking
of facts and ideas - we could sort out a lot.
But we'd have to face "what it means to be a human
being" more honestly. We need an international law that
actually works. That ought to be possible.
We need much clearer "social contracts" within nations, and
between nations. That ought to be possile.
Again and again, checking, and the questions
"what are people being orderly about
; symettrical about; and harmonious about ?
are important questions. If we can answer them clearly -
we'd do a lot of things better - and we could negotiate among
ourselves more effectively, and much more safely - without
being any smarter than we've been for a long time.
rshow55
- 11:41am Jan 20, 2003 EST (#
7835 of 7836)
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.
North Korea Talks Are a Success, Russian Says By
REUTERS Filed at 10:23 a.m. ET http://www.nytimes.com/reuters/international/international-korea-north.html
"SEOUL/MOSCOW (Reuters) - A Russian envoy held six hours of
talks Monday with reclusive North Korean leader Kim Jong-il
and said he was optimistic the nuclear standoff between
Pyongyang and Washington could be solved peacefully.
"Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Losyukov emerged
from the talks at a heavily guarded residence on the northern
outskirts of Pyongyang to describe them as successful, but
gave no details, said Russia's Itar-Tass news agency.
``The meeting was very substantive. The atmosphere was
very warm,'' Losyukov said as he left to return to the Russian
embassy.
``Moscow is optimistic that a solution to the crisis
around North Korea can be found through peaceful means,'' he
was quoted as saying.
"Moscow was counting on further contacts to hammer out the
details of a possible solution to the crisis, the Tass news
agency quoted him as saying.
" It was the first sign of a possible breakthrough in an
impasse that began in October when Washington said the North
had admitted to a secret nuclear weapons program.
"Pyongyang later kicked out U.N. nuclear inspectors,
removed the seals from a mothballed reactor and pulled out of
a global treaty preventing the spread of atomic arms.
"A suggestion by a senior U.S. official that the crisis
should be brought before the U.N. Security Council places
added pressure on Pyongyang to fall into line.
"Losyukov presented Pyongyang with a set of three
proposals that call for the Korean peninsula to be
nuclear-free in exchange for guarantees of the North's
security and for the resumption of aid to the impoverished
communist state.
"``We put forward our ideas on what a compromise
solution to the current crisis could look like. The Korean
side constructively and attentively considered these
proposals,'' Losyukov was quoted as saying.
"``This work cannot stop at one round of talks and
demands a significant amount of time, the comparison of
positions and contacts with other sides in the conflict,
including the United States.''
"He was believed to have given Kim, leader of the world's
only communist dynasty, a message from President Vladimir
Putin, Itar-Tass said. Russia is one of the few countries to
maintain close ties with Pyongyang. Kim has visited Russia
twice in recent years and Putin has made one trip to
Pyongyang.
"The Russian envoy, the first foreign diplomat to meet Kim
since the crisis began, was due to return to Beijing on
Tuesday.
"U.S. officials have cited some progress in easing the
nuclear crisis, the latest indication that Washington has
moved away from its hard line of ``no talks'' by ditching a
policy of refusing to reward bad behavior by the North now
that the standoff has become a distraction from efforts to
disarm Iraq.
"A senior North Korean diplomat tried to play down fears of
conflict on the divided peninsula by saying the North had no
wish to harm South Korea although it would regard any U.S.
move to impose sanctions as a declaration of war.
"U.S. LOOKS TO SECURITY COUNCIL
"Losyukov's trip is part of a flurry of diplomatic
initiatives.
"U.S. Undersecretary of State John Bolton, in Beijing
for talks with Pyongyang's other main friend, said it was time
to take the standoff to the U.N. Security Council and
the council could handle the Korea problem as well as the
Iraq crisis.
``I think it is now timely to bring the matter to the
Security Council and I think we're confident that it could
handle both Iraq and North Korea at the same time,'' i
he said after meeting Chinese officials.
"Bolton said he did not sense that China, a veto-wielding
permanent member of the Security Council, was opposed to
taking the issue to the council.
"Taking the issue to the Security Council could
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