Avatar photoPennsylvanians go to the Polls

“Citing the backing of President Bush, Sen. Arlen Specter voted Tuesday in the Republican primary, seeking a fifth term and hoping to ward off a strong challenge by Rep. Pat Toomey.” Polls close at 8:00 pm. Democrats have been torn about this race: Toomey is Santorum Redux, but would be an easier mark for Rep. …

Avatar photoForthcoming Pentagon Insanity Over China

In his Senate testimony, Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard Lawless indicated that a substantial portion of the 2004 Annual Report on the Military Power of the People/’s Republic of China will be dedicated to the threat posed by Chinese space systems: I would say that in this year/’s China Military Power Report … some …

Avatar photoJust Make Facts Up! They're Chinese, No One Will Notice!

I notice that some fellow traveler found her way to my site with the following search string: “ken timmerman make quotes up” Timmerman recently drew my ire for a series of incredible assertions regarding the DF-31 and the CZ-2C Smart Dispenser Upper Stage: The DF-31 is deployed! It can carry three nuclear warheads! Charles R. …

Avatar photoMass and Yield of Chinese Nuclear Warheads

Today is (yet another) dissertation day, which means more puzzling inconsistencies in the work of eminent political scientist John Wilson Lewis. In “China/’s Ballistic Missile Programs” (International Security 17:2, Autumn 1992, 30), he claims the original design plans for China/’s solid-propellant ballistic missiles (DF-21/JL-1, DF-31/JL-2) called for a 500 kg warhead with a 200-300 kt …