To: i-node who wrote (139523 ) 10/3/2001 11:07:08 AM From: combjelly Read Replies (1) | Respond to of 1580538 "What a liberal crock." Uh huh. And EMP is a made up boogeyman. Man, you are sharp to have seen through that one! "As a software engineer for the last three or so decades, I've seen exponential growth in every area of technology I work with. When Reagan was elected a 300MB disk drive unit stood three feet tall and cost $40,000. Since this is the AMD thread, I'm sure I don't need to point out the exponential growth in processing capability. Newer technologies on the horizon will certainly provide for order-of-magnitude increases in our capabilities in the areas of computer power, communications speeds, and optics. " Yep, all of which goes bye-bye when there is an atomic explosion at the edge of the atmosphere, Compton electrons stop for no man. Vulnerability has increased, not decreased. Even someone with your lack of processing ability should be able to understand that. So far, our capabilities at targeting and knocking out warheads in very simple regimes is rudimentary at best. Sure, that capability will increase over time, but the time of implementation is way off, your 50 year timeframe is likely to be about right. Of course, by then, nukes will likely not be at the top of the list of threats. "It is foolhardy to ignore the promise of SDI. It's ultimate deployment may well be 50 years off, but the benefits are substantial. " As I stated before, I think the research should be done. Most of the benefits though, will be spinoffs. Large lasers, for example, will be quite useful in the future. I doubt if SDI will ever be deployed, though. "The people who have suggested that SDI is an "unattainable goal" are either liberals with an undisclosed contradictory agenda or simply lack the intellect to see the obvious. " You really aren't in a position to comment on people's intellect or ability to see the obvious. I frankly doubt if you could pass a Turing test, I've seen more insight from an Eliza program.