European Stars And Stripes (Newspaper) - May 17, 1987, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Pago 10 Colum its the stars and stripes sunday May \7,1387 William f. Buckley ski will Wither away without firm commitment the Grouchy appropriation by the House of representatives j3.1 billion just More than one half what Reagan had requested for research and development of the strategic defense initiative is evidence of major thundercloud ahead units ski becomes a wholehearted National commitment it is Likely to Wither away at Tome future negotiating table. Leaving us with what leaving us with the soviet Union which in busily spending s2s billion per year in developing its space shield. Perhaps after our civilization has Long since been buried and nearly forgotten a future Gibbon will write of our but Day. Surely he will give prominent Atten Tion to those of our scientist who having pronounced their pessimism proceeded to Shore it up with All available scientific paraphernalia. We speak of the american physical society whose front Pace finding that ski cannot Hope to be effective for 10 years no doubt resonated through Congress and contributed to the miserly appropriation. A scientific team responsible for a regular feature in National review called ski watch has examined the american physical society s findings and coma up with several interesting observations the 10-year aps forecast confined it of to an examination of lasers and particle beams which Are the far out devices by which to construct the space shield. For All intents and purposes the aps simply ignored what we have now very nearly developed which is the so Kkt space based kinetic kill vehicle. The so Kkt is simply an Extension of the Side Winder principle which Homes in on hot targets. To construct a defense shield based on the so xxv is already possible and would Cost Only a Small fraction of the existing defense budget. On the question of using lasers the aps reported that to sustain the necessary laser equipped satellites we would need to launch 100 nuclear reactors. Why to do the housekeeping to keep the satellites computers radios and rocket Altitude adjusters smiling and Happy. The Prospect of 100 nuclear and radioactive housekeepers zooming Over us is enough to Rouse Rachel Carson from the grave and 100 housekeepers Luggisi the need of Between 100,000 and 700,000 with of electrical Power. But the amount of Power needed for satellite housekeeping is Well known the ski watch team mid. It is not hundreds of thousands of Watts it is Only a few thousand Watts 100 times Lesi than the aps report  the physicists assert that such Power to needed to maintain microwave radars which u True. But the ski team does i plan to use Micro wave radars so Why the distraction George will with reference to a Neutral ankle beam weapon the aps announced thai i billion wait of Power would be needed. But the weapon being designed is one that would produce 100 million Volt particles with a current of one Lelh of an Ampere. From physics i volts times amps equals Watts and that gives 10 million Watts for the Power of he beam produced by this Gadget. For every Watt that comics out about three Watts have to be put in which Means 30 million Watt of Power has to be supplied to run the device the ski watch team said. Thirty million is a lot of millions less than the gloomy aps estimate of i billion. Aps was off by roughly 30 times. Aps reported that our chemical lasers have been tested at Only 200,000 Walls and therefore would need to be beefed up by another two orders of  that Means in the palaver of physicists increased by a Factor of 100. Well it so happens that the ski Folk have already demonstrated a Mulli million Watt laser and the soviet Union has been around it for years Vou will not be surprised to Leam that soviet scientists have informed us that these laser devices arc developed for medical  National review s scientist report since they can blow a Hole a fool in diameter in your body Inone second that seems  what s going on the aps projections Are based on false estimates. And these false estimates Are most clearly understood As creatures of ideology not Sci ence. Conclude the critics scientists have always been poor at forecasting Progress in practical applications of their research. Vannevar Bush science Czar for the government during world War Al said to president Truman after the War people. Have Bee talking about a 3,000-mile rocket going from one continent to another carrying an atomic bomb 1 think we can leave Hal out of our thinking " c univ Oral  role of cigarette and condom ads appraised before Daniel Oliver became chairman of the Federal Trade commission he wielded a smoking typewriter for National review Magazine where he and i were colleagues. So he is a formidable Controvert Sia list and i sat up and took notice when he recently notified me that i had written what he regards As Nap Doodle concerning the Effort to ban All Figarelle Adver Tising. Chastened 1 am now prepared to concede that a ban May not be prudent and probably is beside he Point the Point is illustrated to the Alexis Brinkley method More about which anon. Oliver notes thai in a recent column about the controversy surrounding condom advertisements i said bal such advertisements May be Good for Public health but that the Public service Patina Given them by condom manufacturers is opportunistic. Beer commercials i said Are not trying to Tell people Hal Beer exists or trying so make people thirsty or to get them to buy Beer rather than bricks. Rather they Are i Yingto get confirmed Beer drinkers to buy Miller rather than Bud. Regarding condoms i said it would be Hardtop find anyone Over age 12 who does not know that the product exists so condom commercials Are primarily weapons in the War for shares of the Jijoo million a year Market. However in a column endorsing a ban on cigarette advertising i said it is counterintuitive that cigarette companies Are spending �2 billion a year just to alter Market shares. Tie companies Musl think they Are creating new smokers. However 1 am prepared to assume for the purpose of advancing the argument that All cigarette Advertis ing is aimed at confirmed smokers. Much of it does read that Way. Benson a Hedges addresses people who like to  Carlton if you smoke please try  and opponents of an advertising ban have two powerful arguments. One is that it is imprudent to allow government to ban the dissemination of True information in order to modify mass behaviour even when the modification is obviously desirable. The second argument is that income countries where cigarette advertising was banned cigarette consumption increased. And he sharpest drop in consumption 17 percent in a decade occurred in a country saturated with cigarette Advertis ing the United states. That fact could have something to do with this fact All a ban would certainly accomplish is an end 10 repeated exposure of smokers to the government Man dated health warning in All cigarette advertisements and to Low tar claims that communicate he fact that smoking involves Lar and tar is not Good. To understand one reason for Banning cigarette advertising consider this fact Aboul iwo forms of controversial advertising. All advertisements for condoms and cigarettes communicate at least the message that the use of Hose products is. Socially acceptable for Ai Consumers. But cigarette use should no be presented As acceptable. However a ban on cigarette advertising May be unimportant. Consider ule Way attitude regarding condoms and cigarettes Are moving rapidly in opposite directions. Condoms Are Mccrea smugly and cigarettes Are increasingly controversial products clearly fac tors other than advertising Are much More powerful than advertising in shaping attitudes. Cigarette advertising today is remarkably impotent against the rising tide of sentiment that smoking is dumb. And Smothrs arc socially and professionally jeopardized because smokers Are unpleasant to be around and can reasonably be considered impervious to important evidence. A ban on cigarette advertising seems increasingly unimportant. Given inc Atli urinal change running counter to the tobacco Industry s advertising  brings me to Alexis Brinkley a Willowy 17-year old with the will of Bismarck. Her father David the broadcaster grew up in North Carolina a tobacco slate where smoking May have seemed a civic duly. One Day a few years ago Jenis announced she would not enter a room wherever father was smoking. Like any fatties confronted with an ultimatum from a daughter David Drew him self up to his full height and. Capitulated. Smoking which causes 350,000 premature death annually is not a private transaction Between a smoker and his lungs. Through insurance companies and government subsidization of health care we have socialized the Cost of smoking so society has a stake in decreasing it. But Alexis Way is the safest quicker Way and the Way we Are proceeding to make smoking what n should be a stigmatized activity