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Sep 30, 2008 | 2
If you thought the Cold War was over—that long nuclear standoff that shaped the last five decades of the 20th century—think again. Following his American counterpart, and perhaps prompted by new tensions over the war in Georgia and the agreement between the U.S. and Poland to deploy a missile defense system there, Russian president Dmitry Medvedev has announced plans to upgrade that country's "nuclear deterrent" by 2020.
It's part of a full upgrade for the Russian armed forces: more nuclear-powered subs, better bombs as well as their own "air and space defense network". "Star wars" has at last come to a galaxy not so far away.
The move prompted U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice to boast that the U.S. possesses an "extremely capable, robust, broad and indeed varied nuclear deterrent," according to an interview with Reuters. That no doubt includes not only the hit-or-miss missile defense effort but also plans to build new nuclear weapons and the industrial complex that develops and fabricates them.
Aug 15, 2008
The National Archives' recent decision to open more than 35,000 official personnel files of men and women who served in the Office of Strategic Services (OSS)—the U.S.'s intelligence agency during World War II and the precursor to the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA)—has shed new light on the roles that chef Julia Child, actor Sterling Hayden, 1950 Nobel Peace Prize winner Ralph Bunche and others played during the early days of American espionage.
Among the treasure trove of documents are 750,000 pages of material that include initial applications to join the OSS; preliminary training and subsequent work assignments; pay, leave and travel documents; evaluations, basic medical information; and awards, decorations and discharge papers.
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