Thoughts

NAMES IN THE NEWS
1. This North Korea thing is getting crazy. Kim Jong Il is a smart man. He's maneuvered his country strategically using nuclear warheads to gain the power he's always wanted. Who's going to mess with North Korea now?
The question now becomes "what's the US response going to do about it? Personally, even though the stakes are much, much higher, I'd treat this the same way I'd diffuse a situation at work. I'd try to talk to him first and if he chooses not to comply, then I'd have to talk tough and get progressively tougher. Finally, if he continues, I'd have to see him as a threat and act accordingly.
2. I'm saddened to hear about Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle being in the plane that crashed into the 50-story condo in New York City yesterday. My heart goes out to his wife and 6 year old son. He may be a relative no-namer when it comes to sports, but I saw him interviewed for a lengthy period on a Channel 7 sports post-Monday Night Football show. He talked about his baseball career, his family, his childhood growing up in Southern California, his love for poker and flying, etc. I really thought he was a down-to-earth guy and have cheered for him since (well, I cheered for him a little less when he became a Yankee).
The other sad part was the CNN converage. All day, they reported it as if it was another potential terrorist attack and had extensive coverage and got various reporters on the scene and experts and witnesses, etc. But once they found out it was "just an accident" by a baseball player, they dropped the story and went back to their regular programming. It was as if they WANTED it to be terrorism. Hey, I guess terrorism gets ratings, right?