by Peter | 9 Sep 2008 |
North Korea often seems more than just Another Country, it often seems like another planet. It remains one of the most closed, authoritarian, and militarized states on the planet, and it is impossibly difficult to penetrate from a scholarly, cultural, diplomatic, or intelligence angle. As a result, many North Korea analysts are left to play Pyongyang-ology, parsing nuance in official statements, relying on tibits from the few outsiders and...
by Charli Carpenter | 9 Sep 2008 |
I'm sorry, but I simply couldn't help but post this.* *My willingness to make fun of Sarah Palin should in no way be construed as an endorsement of some members of my party's more appalling rhetoric toward her and her daughter, which I frankly have found an embarrassment over the past eleven days. There are many good reasons to not want her at the country's helm; her commitment to her family and her daughter's exercise of her choice as a woman...
by Rodger Payne | 9 Sep 2008 |
Dan previously reported that the European Union decided not to impose economic sanctions on Russia -- at least for now. However, The New York Times had an interesting story on September 3 noting that the market was imposing its own penalty on Russia for its war versus Georgia....[I}nvestors are also unnerved by the aftermath of the five-day war in early August.Russian shares have lost about a third of their value since hitting record highs in...
by Dan Nexon | 8 Sep 2008 |
The Scotsman reports on this frightening development:SCIENTISTS have been stunned by the discovery of a shark that had eaten a polar bear.Part of the jaw of a young polar bear was found in the stomach of a Greenland shark in Svalbard, northern Norway.Kit Kovacs, of the Norwegian Polar Institute, said: "We've never heard of this before."We don't know how it got there. We can't say whether or not the shark took a swimming young bear or ate a...
by Dan Nexon | 8 Sep 2008 |
Do I write of Russian reaction to the US decision to cancel a proposed US-Russian civilian nuclear cooperation. No, I bring to your attention an important story in the Moscow Times:Putin Sexy but not the Most SexyBe sure to check out the Putin cheesecake photo. And note the mention of Putin's brave rescue of a television camera crew from a Tiger. British carping aside, it probably did happen. As a friend points out, if the whole thing had been...
by Charli Carpenter | 7 Sep 2008 |
My son and I finally saw Clone Wars this weekend. Afterward, I went back through some of the reviews I'd been ignoring during the past month of moving and settling in. No one seems to think the movie was great, but people are disappointed for different reasons. David Germain of the AP writes: You'll know you're in a different galaxy within the first seconds of "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," which substitutes the Warner Bros. logo and theme music...
by Patrick Thaddeus Jackson | 5 Sep 2008 |
Last night I walked into my house after my usual commute home to find that the house was much warmer than I expected. A quick glance at the thermostat showed that something was wrong, since the room temperature was about 10 or 15 degrees warmer than the thermostat setting. Further investigation revealed that there was no air coming out of any of the vents in the house. Behold, a practical problem.President Bush's approval ratings are in the...
by Dan Nexon | 5 Sep 2008 |
I know, I know. Anybody who reads our little blog has already seen this clip. But because I've been feeling madly, truly, and deeply annoyed at American political punditry lately, I think it is a mitzvah to put this clip on the Duck. Indeed, every blog should proudly broadcast this clip, until our purple mountain majesties ring with cries of "I can has enough!"
by Rodger Payne | 4 Sep 2008 |
Yesterday, US troops crossed the Pakistan border for the first time -- clearly extending the war in Afghanistan into another state. This is from The Washington Post story: Helicopters carried U.S. and Afghan commandos many miles into Pakistan on Wednesday to stage the first U.S. ground attack against a Taliban target inside the country, Pakistani officials said. At least 20 local people died in the raid, according to the officials. Pakistan...
by Dan Nexon | 4 Sep 2008 |
I would so love to know if any of the Harry Potter books were among those Palin wanted taken out of her town's library. Maybe I'd even get to do some media again.Via Brad DeLong.... Alas, as John points out in comments, Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone had not yet been released. If only I had looked closely at the relevant dates, then I never would have gotten my hopes up.
by Peter | 4 Sep 2008 |
I am now officially over Sarah Palin. Hard to believe, yes, given the odd fascination with her odd-for-a-Republican-VP nominee background, but its over.More importantly, the Republicans need to start getting over her, or they are in trouble.Palin has now done what the McCain camp needed her to do. She effectively seized the campaign narrative form Obama and brought it to the Republicans. She did so without involving President Bush. She...
by Dan Nexon | 4 Sep 2008 |
Listen people, Palin delivered a friggin speech. That someone else wrote. Biden delivered a speech. That someone else wrote. Obama delivered a speech. That he apparently wrote at least part of. McCain will deliver a speech. That someone else wrote.This is not speaking for yourself. It's more like a high-school forensics, albeit with the functional equivalent of performance-enhancing drugs... and woefully inconsistent judging on the...