Avatar photoHow Much Respect Does A Nuclear Arsenal Get?

Cross-posted from TotalWonkerr.com. On August 31, 1998, North Korea conducted its first launch of a multi-stage ballistic missile, which flew over Japan. It failed to deliver a satellite into orbit, notwithstanding the boasts of state broadcasters. On January 10, 2003, in the course of a dispute with the United States, North Korea declared that it …

Avatar photoWhite Supremacist Trust Fund Dirty Bomber

This is major league weird and a significant coup for WikiLeaks. Walter Griffin, of the Bangor Daily News, reports: James G. Cummings, who police say was shot to death by his wife two months ago, allegedly had a cache of radioactive materials in his home suitable for building a “dirty bomb.” According to an FBI …

Avatar photoNonproliferation and Banking Reform

UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown met with President Obama today and is reported to be pushing a “Global New Deal” to stop the economic slide. A key element of that program would be reforming bank regulation to prevent the sort of scams that created the sub-prime mortgage mess by, among other things, providing increased transparency …

Avatar photoSir Michael Quinlan (1930—2009)

It was with genuine and deep sadness that I learnt yesterday of the death of Sir Michael Quinlan, aged 78, on Thursday. In a career within the UK civil service that spanned 40 years, Sir Michael served in a variety of roles and departments, including as Permanent Under-Secretary (the most senior civil servant) at the …