It’s that time of year again: time for the annual (?) contest for readers whose aesthetic reach extends their technical grasp. Last year’s contest – best quip about the Bomb – was a resounding success. This time around, let’s combine wonkdom with music lyrics. Two competitions: the best lyric about the bomb, and the best …
Farewell Happy Hour, Thursday 12/15
by | 2011-12-12 | 8 Comments
I first stepped off the escalator at Dupont Circle for the very first time in May 1996. After spending most of the past fifteen years in Washington, I am throwing in the towel and moving to Monterey, California. (We’re just pretending Cambridge didn’t happen.) It seems fitting that I should end my time as a …
Special Delivery from North Korea
by | 2011-12-09 | 2 Comments
A Friend of Blog thoughtfully collected these specimens in Pyongyang last week: They are, of course, postage stamps commemorating the “successful” delivery into orbit of North Korea’s two satellites, Kwangmyongsong-1 (1998) and Kwangmyongsong-2 (2009). Maybe next time they should try the USPS. It could use the additional business, and the results couldn’t be any worse. …
Collected Thoughts on Phil Karber
by | 2011-12-07 | 56 Comments
Well, what to say about Phillip Karber’s forthcoming report that suggests China might have more than 3,000 nuclear weapons stashed away in all those tunnels that the Second Artillery has been building over the past few decades? Well, for one thing, Karber’s claims are utter nonsense. For another, Karber is unbelievably successful at generating unwarranted …
