The American public has no idea of the huge sums being thrown at the nuclear-weapons industry.
The Front Lines of Disarmament: Blocking a Nuclear Facility Six Times the Cost of the Manhattan Project
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WikiLeaks: Diplomatic Communiques May Strike Deeper Chord Than Last Dump’s War Crimes
Even though the last WikiLeaks document dump revealed the details of war crimes, the next one, which just leaks diplomats’ communiqués, may have a deeper impact.
Will Pentagon Be Exempt From Budget Cuts?
With pressure to slash the 1.3 trillion-dollar federal deficit rising sharply, the public debate over whether to exempt the Pentagon from such cuts is moving rapidly toward centre-stage.
Trying to Make Alarm About Overpopulation Politically Correct Again
Fears of an aging planet and becoming outnumbered by immigrants have helped to make overpopulation a political third rail in the West.
Senator Kyl’s Stalling on New START Is Fraying Washington’s Nerves
Senator Jon Kyl’s attempts to extort more money for nuclear weapons notwithstanding, even most Republican senators may be ready to vote yes on New START.
Review: The Turkey and the Eagle
In The Turkey and the Eagle: The Struggle for America’s Global Role, Caleb Rossiter takes as his central metaphor an argument in early American history over what bird the nascent United States ought to take as its symbol. Eschewing the lazy, thieving eagle, Benjamin Franklin wryly advocated the turkey, that “vain & silly” bird “untainted by symbolic association with European expansion, and indeed, with expansion of any kind.”
Note to Washington: China’s Monetary Moves Are Not a Conspiracy Against U.S.
The U.S. is ill-served by its paranoia about Chinese moves to enter its market. It needs Chinese savings to energize its economy.
The Battle of Okinawa 2010: Japan-U.S. Relations at a Crossroad
Five decades after the adoption of the (revised) US-Japan Security Treaty, and two decades after the end of the Cold War, Cold War assumptions still underpin the relationship between the world’s leading industrial democracies. A belated Japanese attempt to change and reform the relationship in 2009-2010 ended in failure and the collapse of the Hatoyama government. Whether the Kan government can do better, remains to be seen. The “Client state” relationship proves difficult to transcend. The “Okinawa problem” has emerged as a crucial bone of contention, not only between the US and Japanese governments but between the people of Okinawa and both governments.
Republican Go-to Guy on Nukes Keeps Obama Administration Twisting in the Wind on New START
Which is it, Senator Kyl? Is New START “relatively benign,” as you’ve called it, or ideologically unacceptable to you and other Republicans?
Cruising for a Bruising
They had to eat spam and Pop-Tarts. They had to shower in the dark with cold water. The toilets overflowed. When the Carnival Cruise ship finally docked in San Diego last week after three days on the high seas without electricity, CNN interviewed two of the youngest passengers in an attempt to play up the drama of the ordeal. Frankly, the kids didn’t look particularly discomfited by the 72-hour experience. They got bored playing board games. They didn’t like the smelly toilets. The cheese sandwiches really sucked. Still, if given another opportunity, they would go on a cruise again.