Word: brass
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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With the military brass suspicious of him, Rumsfeld then did something truly strange. He kept his potential allies on Capitol Hill--Republicans and Democrats alike--completely in the dark about his plans. Senators from shipbuilding states could not find out if their beloved destroyers and frigates would be axed. Members of Congress with divisions stationed in their backyards kept hearing rumors about deactivation but could not confirm them. There were new leaks every day about dismantling National Guard units and mothballing ships. And when the lawmakers managed to corner him, Rumsfeld gave nothing away. "He made everybody mad," says Dicks...
That sounded as if Rumsfeld was a little resentful of the way the brass had undercut his reforms. Sure enough, an aide later translated: Don't expect generals and admirals to spend a lifetime in the bureaucracy and then be able to tear it up and start over. "I thought about this the other day," Rumsfeld continued. "That's always been true, and I should have known it, but I never formulated it in my head." It is possible, of course, that by making the military responsible for cutting itself Rumsfeld is retreating to fight another day and with...
...time in Venice, more than two centuries ago, the gondola was a kind of horse and buggy for every well-to-do family. Now it's primarily for tourists. The basic shell - no seats, no brass ornaments, no extras - costs about $22,000. If you load it with everything, the price can run to about $36,000. A key element in any gondola is the forcola, which serves as an oar post but in fact is often a work of art. There are only three people left who carve forcole out of large pieces of walnut...
...shouldn't take a small publisher, based in Canada, to bring baseball to American comicbooks, but it has. Fortunately, James Sturm's rousing, brass-band-and-hoopla wonder, "The Golem's Mighty Swing" (Drawn & Quarterly; 108 pgs; $11.95) is more than equal to the task...
...there have been plenty of curious delays. When the operation started last month, the brass issued assurances that everything was going well, and than denied or confused their own statements. First, they said they were sure there were no unexploded torpedoes left in the Kursk, and thus nothing could endanger the divers. Then, they said there were unexploded torpedoes there. Then, they said they had meant there could be some torpedoes outside the boat, but no explosives were left inside. Then, they insisted there were no torpedoes outside. Finally, early this month, Admiral Vladimir Kuroyedov, Russian Navy's Commander...