October 2011

The Strange Case of the Chinese Tunnels

Posted by Tom on Saturday, October 29, 2011 at 5:13 PM |

This story has been rattling around out there for a week or so now: China, apparently, has a massive system of underground tunnels, where they could hide an expanded nuclear arsenal. Bret Stephens of the Wall St. Journal wrote about it recently, . . . Continue reading →

Undersecretary Stanley resigns

Posted by Tom on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 3:50 PM |
Former Undersecretary Stanley

In the “You Had to See This Coming” Department, DoD Undersecretary Clifford Stanley finally resigned as the undersecretary for personnel and readiness. It’s pretty rare to see someone of this seniority tanked by a group of his angry subordinates, so it looks . . . Continue reading →

How to survive a atomic bomb, 1951

Posted by Tom on Friday, October 28, 2011 at 11:54 AM |

One of my eagle-eyed former students, the intrepid Jennifer Adelman-Howe, spotted this gem from 1951. Things have changed, of course, but in case we’re ever attacked by prop-driven bombers dropping small kilotonnage weapons, this could save your life.

A word from our sponsor, the English language

Posted by Tom on Thursday, October 27, 2011 at 11:56 PM |

I have no idea what actor Ralph Fiennes’ political leanings are, but bless him for saying what every high school teacher and college professor knows: social media are obliterating our ability to speak with anything like erudition or deep expression. According to . . . Continue reading →