As you've seen and heard, North Korea tested its missiles. They launched the Taepo-Dong 2 multi-stage missile as well as 6 short and medium range Nodong missiles and Scud variants.What first strikes me as interesting about this is the sheer number of missiles launched--7 overall. The first volley included 5 short / medium range missiles along with the Taepodong 2. Then, a few hours later, they fired off a 7th missile, also of the short-range...

Via FP Passport, a view inside the weapon system procurement process. You'll notice that in the upper right-hand corner of the chart that this is a classroom aid for students at the Defense Acquisition University--yes, there is a university dedicated to the subject. That should tell you all need to know. FP Passport has a link to PDF versions of the front and back (oh yes, there is a back, and it 'clarifies' the chart on the front).Filed as:...

With the (failed) test launch of the Taepodong-2--along with a few other Scud-like missiles)--some uncertainty regarding North Korea's capabilities has been cleared up--the DPRK lacks the capability to credibily threaten an "annihilating strike" (or any strike for that matter) against the United States. However, by going forward with the test launch, North Korea has put the United States in a position where it must now reveal just how much it...

UPDATE: news reports now suggest North Korea launched at least seven missiles. Why so many? The Glittering Eye is taking suggestions.Top story on Reuters:TOKYO (Reuters) - North Korea launched up to four missiles on Wednesday, including a long-range Taepodong 2 that appeared to fail in flight, a U.S. official and media reports said.A Pentagon official in Washington told Reuters two of the missiles launched by Stalinist and secretive North Korea...

Wishing my fellow members of the Duck and all our readers a safe and happy 4th of July.In between burgers and dogs I would recommend giving E.J. Dionne, Jr.'s column a read. Hopefully we will never forget that 1776 was merely a starting point and that great work remains to be done.Filed as: Independence Day

In honor of Independence Day, a little game of "spot the performative contradiction."The First Amendment to the United States Constitution:Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble, and to petition the Government for a redress of grievances.Courtesy of the Washington Post, the...

Because I worry that Haloscan may implode before blogger does, I feel compelled to preserve SteveG's comment on Patrick's ode to his HDTV for digital posterity:It may be a non-standard interpretation, but there are some scholars who consider "alienation from oneself as a species being" to be a mistranslation of "not getting decent reception on channel sechs oder acht." Of course, Marx was writing back in the times when they had rabbit...

After a long struggle with some undisclosed ailment that was producing an occasional greenish tint to the images displayed on it, our old 27" Magnavox standard-definition TV finally gave up the ghost a couple of weeks ago. It was a long, slow death, so there wasn't much mourning -- just a couple of trips to electronics stores and some 'Net browsing to find a replacement. What we quickly learned is that they just don't make decent-quality...

[Updated 7.4.06] John Robb peaks into his crystal ball to see what might happen if the US moves forward with a strategic bombing campaign against Iran (discussed in the new issue of the New Yorker by Sy Hersh). He relays some interesting possibilities, although I must say that much of what he talks about was echoed by others in the lead up to the Iraq war, and certainly the reverberations from that conflict have not been as severe as...

...a few stories worth your time as you begin your holiday weekend:The Christian Science Monitor has a great article discussing the multiple motives and objectives behind Israel's recent Gaza operations.Great Britain sought the services of the US nuclear deterrent to help protect Hong Kong during the Cold War, recently released documents suggest. What is of interest for me is the recognition that the colony was "strategically irrelevant", but...

A bit of good... well maybe just decent news today burried on page 15 of the Post, behind all the goings on in Gaza and the Supreme Court Ruling on Gitmo.The Bush administration is expected to announce today that it has dismantled the last of the most powerful nuclear missile warheads left over from the Cold War.... The warhead at the center of today's announcement, the W-56, was put into operation in 1963 atop the Minuteman I intercontinental...

Apparently, he is also an expert on Central Asia. That is what I like about Rall, he never lets facts or logic get in the way.Nathan over at the excellent Registan has the story.Filed as: Ted Rall