Mutually Assured Disruption  —  THE North Korean nuclear test — if that indeed is what it was — signals the catastrophic collapse of a dozen years of American policy.  Over that period, two of the world's most dangerous regimes, Pakistan and North Korea, have developed nuclear weapons and the missiles to launch them.

Quake raises fears of 2nd N. Korea test  —  TOKYO - A strong earthquake shook northern Japan on Wednesday and Japanese media reported the government had detected tremors in North Korea as well, leading it to suspect Pyongyang had conducted a second nuclear test.

In Search of a North Korea Policy  —  North Korea's declared nuclear bomb test program will increase the incentives for other nations to go nuclear, will endanger security in the region and could ultimately result in nuclear terrorism.  While this test is the culmination of North Korea's long-held aspiration …

Hastert does press conference about Foley scandal in front of a graveyard  —  (The video is at the bottom of this post.)  —  First, Hastert outright lied during his press conference.  It is simply amazing that GOP leaders are still trying to downplay the severity of this scandal.  More on that below.

Hastert Vows to Fire Anyone Who Hid Page Info  —  WASHINGTON (AP) — Arizona Rep. Jim Kolbe said Tuesday he told the House official in charge of the page program as early as 2001 about Rep. Mark Foley's ''creepy'' e-mail to a former page.  —  Kolbe, the only openly gay Republican in Congress …

History of Foley Messages' Release Clarified by Players  —  2 Sources Explain Motives, Citing Concern for Hill's Pages  —  Two of the news media's sources of Mark Foley's sexually explicit instant messages to former House pages said this week that they came forward to expose …