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 [F] New York Times on the Web Forums  / Resource Area for Forum Hosts and Moderators  /

    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.


Earliest Messages Previous Messages Recent Messages Outline (9354 previous messages)

rshow55 - 10:29am Feb 28, 2003 EST (# 9355 of 17697)
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.

rshowalter - 06:31am Sep 30, 2001 EST (#9979 of 9981)

Missile defense is one approach to achieving security. It is to be thought of as a part of a system of security measures, to meet the system of security needs that we have.

To meet needs, we have to do possible things.

That means we have to avoid approaches that cannot possibly work, and find patterns that are consistent with the constraints, including constraints on fact, that solutions have to be fit to.

The logic of consistency is absolutely central to any reasonable hope.

Here are postings about consistency relationships, that seem to me to be practical and hopeful.

MD9469 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:22pm ... MD9470 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:26pm MD9471 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:27pm ... MD9472 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:28pm MD9477 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:31pm ... MD9478 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:33pm MD9479 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:34pm ... MD9480 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:35pm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/md9467.htm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/md9472.htm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/md9477.htm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/md9480.htm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/md9489.htm

MD9484 rshowalter 9/19/01 5:42pm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/md9480.htm An absolutely fundamental fact is that to get ideas focused well enough for action takes a lot of crossreferencing, and crosschecking - - and somehow people "form" connected idea systems out of context.

You can't expect enemies, or people from very different worlds, to sort out their differences, well enough to keep out of each others' way, and even cooperate, with radically less talking than people who work together need to sort out their relationships.

You may not need an unreasonable amount of talk. But it takes a lot of talking.

When people interact successfully, there is a lot of talk, while they're getting ready, if you count words (people have, and word counts are huge). People need this talk.

Want to ASSURE misunderstandings between groups - - enough so that they cannot really cooperate, except in very minimal ways?

Restrict conversation.

To see how very completely this can be done, here is a document which is, depending on your assumptions, either absolutely beautiful, or starkly ugly.

. NUNN-WOLFOWITZ TASK FORCE REPORT: INDUSTRY "BEST PRACTICES" REGARDING EXPORT COMPLIANCE PROGRAMS http://164.109.59.52/library/pdf/nunnwolfowithttp://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md9000s/.pdf July 25, 2000

rshowalter - 06:48am Sep 30, 2001 EST (#9980 of 9981)

Simple, basic points, that people shouldn't have to be told. MD3843 rshowalter 5/14/01 3:25pm

Basic points, that people need to know, understand, and remember. And think about as they watch events: MD3844 rshowalter 5/14/01 3:28pm ... MD3845 rshowalter 5/14/01 3:43pm MD3846 rshowalter 5/14/01 4:01pm ... MD3847 rshowalter 5/14/01 4:05pm

http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md3000s/md3841.htm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md3000s/md3845.htm http://www.mrshowalter.net/a_md3000s/md3850.htm

Gusts of emotion can make people feel better, for a while. But perhaps it would be safer, and permit more beauty in the real world, if we grew up a little? MD3848 rshowalter 5/14/01 4:12pm ... MD3849 rshowalter 5/14/01 4:15pm

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 [F] New York Times on the Web Forums  / Resource Area for Forum Hosts and Moderators  / Missile Defense