Yet another flow-forming machine has appeared on North Korean television. (Here are the earlier ones.) This one is shown being exhibited to Kim Jong-il, late in his life by the look of him. If you’re coming late to this story, a flow-forming machine (or flow-forming lathe) is a specialized machine tool. It has a handful …
Mao on the Bomb
by | 2014-02-09 | 14 Comments
What do you do when you are the subject of nuclear threats, you don’t have the Bomb, and you can’t match up in planes, tanks, and ships? Mao’s answer was people’s war. And ping-pong. And fifteen years after gaining power, nuclear weapons. Before demonstrating China’s ability to produce atomic weapons, Mao dismissed the Bomb as …
The Cost of Convenience
by | 2014-02-03 | 20 Comments
Having the good fortune to live along a beautiful country road that weaves between woods and cow pastures, I can assert with authority that natural beauty is no deterrent to throwing litter along the roadside. By my count, the most littered beer can, by far, is Bud Lite. Marlboro, followed by Camel, is the most …
North Korea and the United States: Diplomacy at an Impasse
by | 2014-01-31 | 9 Comments
What this week’s Worldwide Threat Assessment of the US Intelligence Community said about North Korea was stark but hopefully not too surprising: its nuclear and missile programs “pose a serious threat to the United States and to the security environment in East Asia.” The North Koreans are forging ahead, restarting the graphite-moderated reactor at Yongbyon, expanding the …
