Star Wars In Space?

I was an early and vocal proponent of the Strategic Defense Initiative (SDI) and was a part of the Project High Frontier Speakers Bureau in the 1980s. "Star Wars" (as its opponents typically describe it) made sense and should be a policy priority for our nation. Fortunately, Ronald Reagan agreed and we won the war against the Soviets without firing a single shot. How? Because SDI created a level of doubt in the Soviets that their weapons would not be effective. Furthermore, the US grew its offensive weapon arsenal as well at that time and changed geopolitical landscape.

We have seen SDI technology work before. Such defense systems were used by the US in Israel during the first Gulf War and successfully knocked off Soviet SCUD missiles used by Iraq. Fast forward to today and the technology, against, appears poised to come to the rescue.

What seems like the thesis of a sci-fi movie, the US is moving as quickly as possible to respond a satellite moving quickly towards crashing into earth. The vehicle appears to have toxins that could create an environmental hazard if it hits the ground. With SDI, this satellite will likely be destroyed and its debris will burn up as it enters the earth's atmosphere. It is great to see this technology used in a very important and peaceful way. Furthermore, I kind of like the warning shot such technology will provide towards potential enemies. Just one more reason to be grateful for the Reagan years.

Kevin Price is Host of the Houston Business Show (M-F at 11 AM on CNN 650) and Publisher of the Houston Business Review. Hear the show live and online at HoustonBusinessShow.com. Visit the archive of past shows here.

Does Sex Sell Business News?

Fox News seems to think that sex sells business news and it was a reoccurring theme on this weekend's Cost of Freedom programming this past weekend. On Forbes on Fox there was a heated discussion about whether office affairs were good or bad for business. Viewers were lured with images of a leggy woman in promos and during the segment and there a was furious (if not serious) debate about the subject.

After that, there was Cashin In, where the subject was an advertising campaign that the Israeli government is doing to attract tourists. Beautiful and in bikinis, Israeli women were wooing potential visitors with attractive photos (that they displayed liberally during the segment). Another argument exploded with individuals fighting over whether it was appropriate for Israel to do such a campaign when it is noted for its religious heritage rather (as stated by one of the panelist) than as a hot spot "to pick up women."

In the end, I found both debates less to do with substantive business issues and more to do with plain old sex appeal. Don't get me wrong, these are important issues (well, at least sexual relations between co-workers), but with the display of photos and the verbal bating before and during the segment, the weighty issues were overwhelmed by fluff. On the other hand, Fox business programming (between 9-11 AM Central on Saturdays) are the highest rated shows for business on cable. Also, I have been guilty of throwing in a photo of a beautiful person now and then on this blog myself (like the photo of one of the Israeli models mentioned in the story above). So the question I posed in the title of the article has an obvious answer. Sex seems to sell everything, even business news.