From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 X-Spam-Checker-Version: SpamAssassin 3.4.4 (2020-01-24) on polar.synack.me X-Spam-Level: X-Spam-Status: No, score=0.6 required=5.0 tests=BAYES_20,INVALID_MSGID autolearn=no autolearn_force=no version=3.4.4 X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 103376,b446a49184d9e9e0 X-Google-Attributes: gid103376,public From: Richard D Riehle Subject: Re: Why it was a bad idea to drop The Mandate. Date: 1997/12/14 Message-ID: <66vlm7$61q@sjx-ixn3.ix.netcom.com>#1/1 X-Deja-AN: 297999737 References: <97120812101591@psavax.pwfl.com> <348F14AE.7AA5@gsfc.nasa.gov> Organization: Netcom X-NETCOM-Date: Sat Dec 13 8:01:11 PM PST 1997 Newsgroups: comp.lang.ada Date: 1997-12-13T20:01:11-08:00 List-Id: In article , gwinn@res.ray.com (Joe Gwinn) wrote: >What Emmett Paige also has said in the memos discussing the lifting of the >Mandate is that they dropped the Mandate because it simply was not >working. Translation: He was forced to, by market realities. ... delete stuff >Joe Gwinn I attended Secretary Paige's Tri-Ada account of the events and information leading to the abrogation of the DoD Ada policy. In his speech, Secretary Paige affirmed that Ada has fulfilled its technical expectations, that it continues to be a preferred choice for DoD weapons systems, and that the policy is not being changed for technological reasons. Rather, if I may apply my own analogy to his rationale for the change of policy, the requirement for Ada has been discontinued because a lot of children refuse to eat their broccoli. We put this nice plate of healthful, green brocolli in front of them and they assumed, from the odd clump of bristles flowering over a forbidding looking stalk that brocolli would taste bad. Most of them sat staring at it for a long time muushing around in their mashed potatos, feeding the dog under the table and otherwise distracting themselves and others in an attempt to avoid their broccoli. The on-going intractability of rebellious children finally eroded the well-intentioned resolve of the parent. Finally, in contradiction to his widely published statements of determination regarding Ada policy, Secretary Paige, like many frustrated parents, realized that some children simply cannot be forced to eat their broccoli. I recall as a child I too refused to eat my broccoli. My mother, a wonderful cook in most respects, simply could not prepare palatable broccoli. Only after I became an adult did I discover that broccoli is actually tasty as well as good for my health. Perhaps, with broccoli as an option rather than as a parental demand, more of the recalcitrant children will, in the future, make the intelligent choice. Richard Riehle