"This Missile Defense Program Just Won't Fly'' by Angelo M. Codevilla, The Wall Street Journal, A22, October 22, 1997, reports that the Clinton Administration has committed $11 billion over the next 8 years to buy 7 Boeing 747-400 aircraft equipped with lasers to shoot down ballistic missiles early in their trajectories. The plan is thatthese airplanes will fly in areas where missiles might be launched and during times when launches are expected. The Pentagon claims that the airplanes could defend themselves with a laser that projects through the airplanes' nose.
The 747s are expected, therefore, to dogfight.
The Administration continues to cling to the defunct ABM Treaty, which precludes the construction of any missile defense that works. In order to be able to claim, however, that they are not leaving Americans undefended, silly make-work ineffective projects are implemented.
Scott Peters of the Nuclear Energy Institute, Suite 400, 1776 1 Street NW, Washington, DC 20006, reports that a freshman at Eagle Rock Junior High in Idaho urged people to sign a petition demanding strict control or total elimination of the chemical "dihydrogen monoxide,'' which: causes excessive sweating and vomiting; is a major component in acid rain; can cause severe burns in the gaseous state; can cause death when accidentally inhaled; contributes to erosion; decreases the effectiveness of automobile brakes; and has been found in the tumors of terminal cancer patients.
Of 50 people asked if they supported a ban of the chemical, 43 said yes, 6 were undecided, and only one knew that the chemical was water.
The point here is not just that most of these people do not know high school chemistry nomenclature. More importantly, most of them believed that it was their right to support this restriction of technological freedom even though they knew nothing whatever about the subject. The global warmers are betting that these same people can be brainwashed to support severe restrictions of carbon dioxide.
The Deweese Report3, No. 9, p 3, September 1997, available from the American Policy Center, 13873 Park Center Road # 316, Herndon, VA 20171, quotes the following from the Teacher's Manual, Interactive Mathematics for grades 6, 7, and 8
, published byGlencoe Division, Macmillan/McGraw Hill: "Traditionally, mathematics tests have questions with 'right' and 'wrong' answers. These tests reinforce the misleading image of mathematics as a subject with unique correct answers . . . Poor test scores often lead to students with poor self-images who believe they 'aren't good in math'.''
