Just read it, already. ID is not science, and shouldn't be treated like it is.
http://www.truthout.org/docs_2005/083005N.shtml
Why would we expect anything else from an Administration full of Nixon staffers. The only thing they learned from his experience is to be more aggressive with their tactics.
http://www.alternet.org/waroniraq/28434/
So much for the "security" we got from the PLA being a backward, land-based entity. Now China has (a few) advanced fighters, developing missile technology, and is creating a deep water Navy. A large part of this is funded by our gigantic trade imbalance with the PRC (10% of which is just in Walmart goods), but worse than that most of the technology we share with the Israelis gets sold to China.
It happened with the F-16 Falcon (I wonder how much the new Chinese fighter lanes look like it, or use its wing technology) for sure, and Israel wanted to sell our AWACS radar plane technology to the PRC (although Israel was going to base it in Russian airframes). Since we've added Israel to the F-35 project, does that mean China will also be getting our stealth technology, VTOL, and avionics? I can't help but think that giving advanced weapons to a nation that has demonstrated that it will sell them to the highest bidder is not in our national interest.
Of course, Israel isn't the only way the PRC gets its hands on our advanced technology. A lot of it goes there via outsourced manufacturing and technical deals. All of that IT component manufacturing we've sent over there also has military applications. So does the wing on Boeings new jet, which in a trade deal will be partially made in China. Boeing cut its own throat by giving the most advanced part of their new aircraft (the 7E7) to the PRC just for short term sales. It also teaches China the techniques to build its own advanced airfoils.
This is the problem with letting our business interests run foreign policy, which is exactly what we've got with the Bush Administration. Big business wants unrestricted, unreasoning free trade because it sees the impact of cheap manufacturing abroad on its bottom line, and its campaign contributions ensure that the GOP delivers that, along with a slew of corporate welfare in the form of grants, tax shelters, and tax cuts. Not only does this negatively impact the domestic economy by shipping American jobs overseas, but it arms potential future adversaries with advanced technology. This is about as short-sighted as it gets.
Politicians sometimes justify these deals by pointing back to the myth that the Soviet Union fell because its citizens wanted Western consumer goods, which it could not produce - we conquered the Communists with blue jeans and cassette tapes. Hogwash. We forced the Soviets to waste their capital supporting the war in Vietnam into the 1970s, and then followed it up with Defense spending they couldn't match in the 1980s. That caused their economy to collapse, opening the door for Gorbachev's reforms.
We didn't push for free trade with the Soviets. We didn't send them the technology to create advanced weapons. We competed with them. We kept our technical knowledge for ourselves and our allies. We traded with people who were not a threat to us. Until the PRC shares Western values in terms of Democracy, Civil Rights, and Free/Fair Trade, we shouldn't treat them as our friends.
Richard Nixon was right to try to draw the PRC into the community of nations in the 1970s. Unfortunately, he and later administrations fell victim to the PRCs conception that the world "owed" it something, and that we couldn't pressure it to accept modern ideals regarding human rights, trade, and non-agression toward neighbors. We need to adopt a more realistic approach to relations with the PRC, especially now that it is obviously developing a military capability to keep the U.S. Navy from supporting Taiwan.
Who, exactly are we to judge whether another country has "free and fair" elections when we have Ohio and Florida? Is this the "democracy" we are exportingt o the Middle East?
http://rockrivertimes.com/index.pl?cmd=viewstory&id=11529
This Wired article is a rather pointed statement regarding the behavior of Sony, the bias of our government in enforcing anti-hacking legislation against corporations, and the obvious duplicity of most anti-viurs and security vendors in this matter.
I know this much, Sysinternals/Winternals and F-Secure have earned my future business as the only responsible corporations in this scenario.
I'm neither Jewish, nor a regular church-goer, but the good Rabbi's columns are always a thought-provoking read, even if I sometimes disagree with him. I think his comments regarding Thanksgiving are particularly apt - we all need a good reminder of what we should be thinking about on the coming holiday.
Serenity appears unlikely to make it to the $50 million domestic / $80 million worldwide in theatre receipts necessary to get a sequel, so unless DVD sales are through the roof, this is our last best hope for more firelfy in a visual medium.
http://fireflydvd.com/directdvd.html
In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army
IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.
We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields
