And I Also Shouldn't Just Embed Charts from 'Spy'

On the other hand, you can't Subscribe!™ to that magazine any more, since it has lamentably been out of business since the Clinton era. (Previously in the "I know I shouldn't..." category.) Thus I will go ahead.

A wonderful chart from Spy back in the first George (H.W.) Bush era has a dark resonance these days. It was an NCAA-style bracket for "The World Championship." Here is a detailed shot of the final matchups, which deserve a look given the deteriorating news out of Afghanistan. Click for more detailed image:






The joke back then, in 1989, was that Afghanistan, victor in one semi-final match over the USSR, would meet Vietnam, victor over the United States (in overtime) in the other semi-final, for the championship. (The U.S. did manage to beat Grenada in a consolation-round game.) Now...

Full bracket below; you can download the whole chart here. Thanks to reader AW for the reminder, and retroactively to all at Spy.