The Better-Than-Zero Essay Competition honors a thought expressed by Henry A. Obering, director of the United States Missile Defense Agency. This thought is reported in a July 21, 2005 Dow Jones news article (and also in a July 22 Washington Post article):
Lt. Gen. Henry A. Obering III told reporters that he had confidence in current
missile-defense capabilities."We have a better-than-zero chance of successfully intercepting, I believe, an
inbound warhead," Obering said at a Defense Writers Group breakfast
To enter the competition, write a 50-word, non-speculative essay that begins "We have a better-than-zero chance of successfully …"
The winner has a better-than-zero chance of receiving a free issue of the Annals of Improbable Research. Each competition entrant has a better-than-zero chance of being able to download a free, high-resolution, full-color photograph of General Obering.
(Thanks to Bob Park for bringing the specific general mathematical statement to our attention.)