According to new intelligence estimates, President Bush’s name-calling policy toward North Korea has limited the growth of the rogue state’s nuclear arsenal to 400%. That’s steady leadership for you.
No need to worry about some pesky little nukes, however. The real threat to our shores–Iraq’s aerial drones–have been safely secured.
Blogging Woes
No, I’m not talking about comment spam or broken Blogger permalinks.
Justene at Calblog has been served with a legal petition (from Quebec, of all places) demanding she reveal information on a comments arising from this post on Infotel Publications. The motion demands the name, address, zip code, and telephone number for a commenter on the blog, information Justene claims she doesn’t have.
I’m not technically savvy enough to know if there is a way for a blogger to track down this personal information using an e-mail and IP address. And frankly, there have been a few comments on this site which make me not want to find out.
At any rate, the legal system is still attempting to come to terms with the Internet, and the blogosphere must keep a close eye on it.
Out with a Splash
A contestant makes a splash in a belly-flop contest but never makes it back to shore to claim his prize:
Dorl Gates, 52, was the fourth contestant Saturday in the Diamond Jim bar’s World Belly-Flop Contest. The bar, on Illinois 51 by the Beloit/Townline Bridge, had advertised the contest with fliers and promised the winner $300. Rock County Sheriff’s Department Commander Tom Gehl said the contest originally was supposed to take place on the pier at the back of the bar, but some of the contestants wanted to jump off the bridge.
Gehl said the bridge is about 20 feet above the river, which is about 15 feet deep along that stretch of the river.
There were no boats ready to pick up contestants, he said, and the first three managed the jump and got to shore. But Gates jumped, bobbed up a couple of times and disappeared.
. . .
He said the department has conflicting information about how much Gates might have been drinking, and it also is still trying to determine if he could swim.
Not to make too much light of the tragedy, but if you can’t swim and are drunk, it’s probably not a good idea to jump into a river. Organizers of the next World Belly-Flop Contest might want to point that out.
Vision Accomplished
Mark your calenders. Hesiod notes we are approaching the May 1 Flight Suit Anniversary Day. Check your local aircraft carrier for festivities near you.
Broadcasting Prayer
The Hamtramck, Michigan City Council is expected to approve an amendment which will allow houses of worship to broadcast religious announcements over outdoor speakers. The move will allow Islamic mosques to broadcast their calls to prayer five times a day. Currently, most American mosques have their calls inside, though the tradition in much of the world is to do it outside.
Local residents are threatening to challenge the amendment in court.
Press Conference Questions
One valid criticism of President Bush’s last press conference is that the reporters kept trying to get the president to confess for a mistake. If you’re under severe time constraints, which they were, there’s really no point in asking for a mistake two or three times.
Since we’ve apparently swung back to the mode of digging up 30-year-old issues, why not mix things up with a flashback question? The next time Bush fields questions, I think one of the reporters should break out one of these. Could be interesting.