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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.

lchic - 07:11pm Jan 26, 2003 EST (# 8146 of 8182)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

Emperor Clothes butterfly

http://www.vagabondpages.com/september02/butterfly.html

~~~

""Once upon a time there lived a vain Emperor whose only worry in life was to dress in elegant clothes. He changed clothes almost every hour and loved to show them off to his people. Word of the Emperor's refined habits spread over his kingdom and beyond. Two scoundrels who had heard of the Emperor's vanity decided to take advantage of it. They introduced themselves at the gates of the palace with a scheme in mind.

"We are two very good tailors and after many years of research we have invented an extraordinary method to weave a cloth so light and fine that it looks invisible. As a matter of fact it is invisible to anyone who is too stupid and incompetent to appreciate its quality." http://www.deoxy.org/emperors.htm

~~~

" I saw millions of Americans change their minds "

" The point is, if you want to build a movement to change unjust policies you have to respect other people's ability to think and their capacity for moral courage. And you have to expose lies and hypocrisy in high places. " http://emperor.vwh.net/editors.html

" The drums of war beat louder with each passing day: all that is missing is a pretext to invade an already battered and miserable Iraq. Try as it might, the CIA has been unable to show even a hint of a connection between Saddam Hussein’s aggressively secular regime and the fundamentalist Al Quaeda; Iraq’s once supposedly mighty conventional forces are a shadow of their former selves and do not form a credible threat to anyone; and in any case there has not been the remotest suggestion of a threat to other countries in the region. But, ipso facto, as there will be a war, there must be a reason. " http://www.newtopiamagazine.net/features/issue4/emperor.htm

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Remember this guy anyone? http://www.starbright.org/emperors/bios/norman.html

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http://www.paramountclassics.com/emperorsnewclothes/movie.html

The EMPEROR -- was 'fooling himself' .... could that be happening today?

commondata - 07:22pm Jan 26, 2003 EST (# 8147 of 8182)

Business gloom deepens amid fears of conflict

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1042491216164&p=1012571727085

"The drumbeat of war, which is the biggest downside risk of them all, is beating more intensely by the day," said Gail Fosler, chief economist of the Conference Board, a US business research group.

"Markets are not looking at what companies made in the fourth quarter, they are wondering whether companies will even be there in the second quarter."

lchic - 07:27pm Jan 26, 2003 EST (# 8148 of 8182)
~~~~ It got understood and exposed ~~~~

In the Johnsonian-spirit of this thread:

"Why lchic, thanks for asking this question "

> The EMPEROR -- was 'fooling himself' .... could that be happening today?

~~~~~~~~~~~

raises the point -- why would George Johnson - connected to the NYT ... spend so much time monitoring and pacing this thread, at great opportunity cost re his time, under multi-monikers

Showalter remember my comment - way back - re 'Commondata'!

You owe me a beer mate!

commondata - 07:31pm Jan 26, 2003 EST (# 8149 of 8182)

Business gloom deepens amid fears of conflict

http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1042491216164&p=1012571727085

"The drumbeat of war, which is the biggest downside risk of them all, is beating more intensely by the day," said Gail Fosler, chief economist of the Conference Board, a US business research group.

"Markets are not looking at what companies made in the fourth quarter, they are wondering whether companies will even be there in the second quarter."

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New York Times on the Web Forums Science Missile Defense