Nuclear Weapons

My mother is a terrorist! Or at least that's what certain unidentified U.S. interrogators seem to suspect. It all stems from a satirical article called "How to Build Your Own Home H-Bomb" that my mother, Barbara Ehrenreich, wrote with two coauthors 30 years ago. The article, published in Seven Days magazine, was chock-full of helpful tips for would-be nuclear bomb makers. For instance, it advised those struggling to enrich uranium to make "a simple home centrifuge.

The Obama administration has already concluded that a diplomatic overture to Iran, one of the central promises of the president's election campaign, is unlikely to persuade Tehran to give up its nuclear ambitions. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton told the foreign minister of the United Arab Emirates in a private meeting Monday that it is "very doubtful" a U.S.

President Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev agreed Wednesday to open negotiations on a treaty that could slash their nuclear arsenals by a third, part of what they described as a step "to move beyond Cold War mentalities" in relations between Washington and Moscow. The agreement to undertake significant arms control talks emerged from the first face-to-face meeting between the two leaders, and included a promise by Obama to visit the Russian capital this summer to pursue the talks.

North Korea said Saturday that it had begun harvesting plutonium from spent fuel rods at its main nuclear plant to build up its atomic arsenal. The move, in defiance of tightening U.N. sanctions, threatened to further damage efforts to dismantle the communist nation's nuclear program.

Last week the Republican National Committee released a Web-only spot opposing the closing of the Guantanamo detention center that sampled the infamous "Daisy ad" from Lyndon Johnson's 1964 campaign against Barry Goldwater. Either out of sense of decency, loss of nerve or ineptitude, the RNC made an utter hash of it. More on that in a moment -- first, let me refresh your collective memory: "Daisy" opens in a field on a child, dreamily counting as she picks petals off a flower.

Vice President Joe Biden signaled that the Obama administration would not stand in the way if Israel chose to attack Iran's nuclear facilities, even as the top U.S. military officer said any attack on Iran would be destabilizing. Biden's remarks suggested a tougher U.S. stance against Iran's nuclear ambitions, but administration officials denied that. Instead, White House officials said, his televised remarks Sunday simply reflected the U.S.

Last week, peace activists around the world commemorated the dropping of the atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, arguing that nuclear weapons should be abolished so that such destruction will never be repeated. Their call for peace through disarmament has traditionally been a rallying cry of the left. In fact, the peace sign, that ultimate icon of 1960s war protests, is actually a rendering of the semaphoric symbols for the letters "N" and "D": "Nuclear Disarmament." Conservatives, by contrast, have put their faith in "peace through strength," an ancient notion made fresh during the Cold War by Ronald Reagan.

Iran's political crisis could prevent the nation from making any swift move to ratchet up its nuclear program, said analysts and officials, giving President Obama and Western allies more time to grapple with the issue. The ongoing chaos over the disputed reelection of hard-line President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad calls into question who calls the shots in Tehran, and what any deal over the program with the Islamic Republic would look like. The Obama administration, concerned that Tehran is seeking to amass the materials needed to manufacture nuclear weapons, set an informal deadline of September for Iran to respond positively to an offer to discuss the matter rather than risk new economic sanctions.

The scene being filmed called for Ricky Gervais to clear up the question of whether or not he was the Messiah. Despite the weighty confusion, the British comedian looked every bit himself -- barrel-waisted, sheepish and wearing a dark suit -- as he stood on the stoop of an apartment building in this Industrial Revolution-era city northwest of Boston. Though "The Invention of Lying," which opens Oct. 2, is technically not a comedic period piece, it stars Gervais (of "The Office" and "Extras" fame)

After months of anticipation, the United States, Iran and other world powers on Monday set an Oct. 1 date to meet and potentially discuss Iran's nuclear program, which remains a source of concern to the West and Israel. While the Obama administration has reversed U.S. policy by agreeing to meet on the nuclear issue without preconditions, Iran has all but ruled out talks over halting its production of reactor-grade nuclear fuel, the West's central worry. "We believe that nuclear technology, the nuclear fuel cycle, nuclear energy, is our sovereign right," Ali Akbar Salehi, the head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization, told reporters in Vienna on Monday.