Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

the only thing about which i am incredulous is the fact than anyone even takes the time to bother with what e-dub says. his credibility is far less than zero, imho. (not to mention the noticeable absence of any significant display of a Christ-like new personality, fruitage of the holy spirit, and all o' that good stuff.) :dontknow:

he continues to talk about all of the wrong things, and to send people down all of the wrong trails.

again, that is only mho, of course.

iso...

Sweet job, Justicia! That's the kind of internship that makes a resume pretty attractive. There is little doubt that the dissolution of the SU into nation-states is fraught with problems. Imagine the US breaking apart into 50 self-governed nuclear-powers! She's got a good job, Justicia, because possession of nuclear materials by people of unknown or unpredictable motivations is everyone's problem. I'd be interested in her take on Robert's blog (if she is able to stop laughing, that is).

Gogh,
That was the scenario I was referring to: the big picture one. How strong is one's faith when one actually believes that Jehovah would allow for a literal global conflagration...and then uses that rationale to attempt to influence others (with some success I might add...just check his board)? Sis Diss makes a good point: fear-based worship isn't really worship whether it's hellfire, disfellow-whipping, or global incineration. It's dysfunctional, co-dependent, man-created nonsense that demonstrates nothing but a complete lack of faith. And we should listen to such people? When I see people with such ability use their resources to project their own insecurities it makes me sick to my stomach.

gus

So, I will TRY to capuslate her response; it is HER forte, not mine, so sometimes, I just do not understand fully what she is saying.  What is interesting, it that she received my email while in a meeting discussing this very issue.  She planned on taking Friday off; however, she was called in specifically to attend this meeting with representative of the DOE, NNSA, and others who deal with second-line-of-defense issues.  MPCA is a first-line issue...stopping people from getting nuclear material.  Others deal with second-line issues...once someone has it, how can it be kept "in country".  How can it be ensured that they are stopped at a border or port.

So, here goes...  Apparently, this issue revolves around START and the ABM treaty.  Bush pulled the US out of both agreements.  The ABM treaty, which is a bilateral agreement between the US and Russia, limited each country to two anti-ballistic missle launch sources.  The US had one in Washington, D.C. and one in North Dakota.  Bush pulled out because he wanted a "national" system.

Now that he has established the national system, he is going farther and is establishing the two sites that Robert mentions.  I asked her specifically if these sites could be changed from a defensive mode to an offensive mode, i.e., instead of using these site to shoot down Russia's missles, could their usage be change to one that shoots IBMs.  Her response was that anything and eveything can be changed.

However, the meeting she was participating in was to discuss 2009 (I think she said 2009; it might be 2008) and coming to an agreement with Russia.

Right now, Russia views Bush as an agressor, and Bush views Putin as tyrannical.  Groups within the government are meeting to decide what they will recommend to the President, whoever that may be, on a future course.  The questions they dealt with Friday were: It is best to just extend START?  If so, at what level?  Right now, she thought that Russia was limited to 1000 ICBMs and the US to 1500 ICBMs; however, to destroy the world, what do you need...5?  3?

So her team is in the process of developing their official recommendation.  They decided to throw their vote away by presenting an artifically low recommendation of each country committing to "only" 600 IBMs.  THIS NUMBER IS A NON-STARTER, , and they know that.  They are trying to get the powers-that-be used to dealing with smaller numbers.  

Next week, they will address such issues as...How do they want to create an agreement?  Is extending START the best idea?  Perhaps getting a UN resolution is a better idea?  And, how to monitor this agreement?  Do you need UN inspectors?  Perhaps an unformal treaty is better.  While it lacks teeth, it is a starting point for both countries.  And, do they want to limit it to both countries?  As Gus mentioned, this is a BIG problem that affects everyone.  

Should they take this out of the bi-lateral nature of the US and Russia and try to seek agreement of other countries which represent an even greater risk, such as Moldavia, Kosovo, Georgia and Iran?  

They have identified at least eight options on agreements alone that they will be further defining in their recommendations.

Her job deals with MPCA.  Obviously, she would like to see less nuclear material, because less of it makes it easier to secure and track.

As for Robert's assessment, obviously nothing is outside the realm of possibility, and who knows what we will see before Armageddon.  However, Gus was right...she laughed at the whole concept.

And Gus, you again are correct, it is a great job and resume builder.  She is, however, very lonely.  Often, she is the only female in a room filled with very powerful elderly men.  For the first time, I actually felt sorry for Condolezza Rice when I saw pictures of her a Sharmel Sheik (spelling?), as she was the lone female in a room filled with men, AND she was the lone African American.  

My daughter said she has no counterparts.  All the women she meets are in support positions, so she doesn't really have dealings with them except to ask for things.  Also, she said that DC is pretty much that way; her guess was that is is about 70/30 men to women.  

But, she is tough; she'll  get through it.  She had one meeting where several men were very "condescending."   She said she mentally "took pictures of their faces" so that she remembers them "when she gets back to DC again."  Pray for them!

Justicia