■"U.S. Weapons Envoy Pessimistic About Talks With North Korea," by James Brooke, New York Times, 30 April 2005, p. A8.

■"U.S. Aide Sees Arms Advance By North Korea: Cites Skill to Fit Nuclear Weapon on Missile," by David S. Cloud and David E. Sanger, New York Times, 29 April 2005, p. A1.

■"N. Korea, 6, And Bush, 0: Take my Quiz, and Shudder," op-ed by Nicholas Kristof, New York Times, 26 April 2005, p. A27.

■"Iranians Seek Nuclear Deal in Meeting With Europeans in London," by Alan Cowell, New York Times, 30 April 2005, p. A9.

■"Threats Shadow New Conference on Nuclear Arms: Iran and North Korea; A Deadlock Is Feared at Nonproliferation Talks Set for New York," by David E. Sanger, New York Times, 1 May 2005, p. A1.

■"U.S. Denounces North Korea After Reports of Missile Test," by Brian Knowlton, International Herald Tribune, 2 May 2005, pulled off web.

Just getting back up to speed following my three-year slumber (Damn! Again, I keep confusing myself with Friedman!), I revisit the state of stopping WMD proliferation in the remaining two legs of the Axis of Evil.

Well, I remain pretty happy with my ordering principle of: 1) let's tackle North Korea sooner versus later; and 2) let's not tackle Iran now, since they seem more ready to deal.

I think that's the way it's going to go. The further we get past Iraq, watch this administration ramp up the info campaign against Kim. And no, it won't be propaganda, because all those horrific stories are all so horrifically true.

Here's a great segment from that wonderful crank, Kristof, who's cranky about the right things:

North Korea is the most odious country in the world today. It has been caught counterfeiting U.S. dollars and smuggling drugs, and prisoners have been led along with wire threaded through their collarbones so they can't run away. While some two million North Koreans were starving to death in the late 1990's, Mr. Kim spent $2.6 million on Swiss watches. He's the kind of man who, when he didn't like a haircut once, executed the barber.

Is this the guy we're going to negotiate with? This is the guy we're going to trust because he's signed a piece of paper? This is the regime we want accommodation with?

Meanwhile . . .

The head of the Iranian negotiators, Muhammad Javad Zarif, citing remarks by other Iranian officials, said: "We engage in these talks in order to make a deal, and not to break one. We are hoping for tangible progress on reaching an agreement."

As opposed to North Korea calling President Bush a "philistine" and a "hooligan" as part of their warm-up a "philistine" and a "hooligan" Ö