The American Spectator

Reader Mail

(Page 5 of 9)

Jonathan Schlein /p>

James G. Poulos's article provides an interesting point of view -- provided one has the time to unravel the tangled delivery. Ironic that he deplores the development of a workhorse-type space vehicle (the current shuttle) moving on to explore Mars, but then deplores the development of new weapons technology wishing instead for refinements of current systems because it would be more "stable."

p>It is good to debate before spending the money. The line from "Jurassic Park" reference spending millions to determine "can" you do something without spending any time debating "should" you do it comes to mind. However, after reading the article I was left wondering -- has Mr. Poulos ever humped a rucksack, carried a weapon, or even worn a uniform (Boy Scouts don't count) in his life? It may be a sad commentary, but new weapons will be designed, new technologies will be explored. Quantum advances are referred to as a Revolution in Military Affairs (RMA). An example of this is Precision Guided Munitions (PGM). Following Mr. Poulos's logic, these weapons would never have been developed because of their ability to "destabilize." Wars are not intended to be fair fights. The object is to win, not just participate. br> -- Pat Collins /p> p> FREE MARKET HIGHWAY br> Re: Bill Whalen's Tunnel Vision : /p> p>A true conservative would never have written such an article, unless they were given some bad information. As the one who developed this concept, let me first say that one of the strongest proponents of the Tri-Tunnel has been Bob Poole of the Reason Foundation, hardly a liberal or liberal/big government organization. Secondly, there was no factual information even remotely describing the pay as you go system, planned to date entirely with "private money" and designed to be financed "privately." Finally, any comparison to the "Big Dig," a government boondoggle, is purely fictitious and shows that the author did little, if any, research. If he had he would realize that the Big Dig was a government-financed project in a liberal state through a developed area and was basically a "cut and cover" project. The Tri-Tunnel goes under a mountain whose base is volcanic rock. The ground rock (ground by the use of giant boring machines similar to those that bored three tunnels 32 miles under the English Cannel in three years) is conveyored to rail cars and then sent by rail to the Los Angeles ports, sold to the ports for their planned expansion. The multitude of users that need such a tunnel (water, power, fiber optic lines, etc.) all pay rent for the capacity provided. This along with auto and truck tolls make the system feasible. The government agency that controls the parallel toll lanes on the 91 freeway charges $7.75 one way toll to cover less than nine miles of travel. Would competition be a good thing here? br> --

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Mainstream Media, Environment, Military, Conservatism, Energy