The internet is abuzz with the White House’s official, very amusing response to the online petitionto build a Death Star (This Isn’t the Petition Response You’re Looking For). (I will admit that I got a little silly myself on Twitter: 1|2|3|4|5|6|7|8|9) Even before the White House responded, there was a very amusing little gem making …
How Much Is Enough?
by | 2013-01-14 | 5 Comments
Alain C. Enthoven wrote a book with K. Wayne Smith titled, How Much is Enough?, published by the RAND Corporation in 1971 and re-issued in 2005. Professor Enthoven has been asking this question his entire professional life, most recently about health care. Back in the 1960s, his subject of inquiry was the Pentagon’s budget. His …
Assad’s Uranium Inventory
by | 2013-01-09 | 58 Comments
Yesterday morning here over a latte and a croissant–Kurfuerstendamm Ecke Schlueterstrasse–I got my ear bent by someone telling me that Israel and Western countries are now worried about the fate of 50 metric tons of uranium secretly stashed away in Syria. Reflecting for a couple of minutes after clicking off my cell, I strongly suspected that I was not the sole recipient of that message from certain quarters, and, sure enough, 24 hours …
Portents of a Difficult Year
by | 2013-01-09 | 4 Comments
Prospects for arms control in 2013 look bleak on most fronts, with a few important, potential exceptions. Prognostication is a fool’s game, since surprise – pleasant, but more often painful – comes with this territory, but here goes… In the United States, President Barack Obama’s top priorities in Term II are domestic matters, beginning with …
