It Makes a Difference to the Sheep

Please let this be a spoof. Please, please, please. I want to believe in the basic intelligence of humanity.

Check out how close we came to a full-fledged nuclear war but for the brave but difficult decision of one Stanislav Petrov. I don't think I miss the Cold War very much. Thanks to Dean Esmay for the link.

Check out what would happen if the evil empire (sorry Ed) got ahold of Apple's i-pod.

Associated Press ("SOUTH KOREA OFFICIALLY OPENS IMMIGRATION CHECKPOINTS AT NORTH KOREAN BORDER", 2006-03-15) reported that the ROK formally opened new immigration checkpoints Wednesday for travelers crossing the heavily fortified border with the DPRK. A checkpoint at Paju is a gateway to one of the two roads and adjacent railways that the divided Koreas have reconnected since their leaders held their first-and-only summit in 2000. A second immigration point to the east connects with a tourist spot in the DPRK. Permanent buildings formally opened at both sites Wednesday replace temporary structures previously used at the crossings. "We have already entered the process of becoming a unified community by geographically connecting the South and the North through the roads of peace," ROK Unification Minister Lee Jong-seok said at the Paju checkpoint. "The immigration offices are no longer 'inspectors' that restrict, check and control, but 'helpers' for comfortable and safe trips ! between the South and the North," he said.

All well and good. My only question is why they call these "immigration checkpoints." No one is seriously entertaining the notion that citizens of the two Korea's will be allowed to immigrate or emigrate to their counterpart are they?

Check out how the venerable (?) New York Times Magazine depicted Virginia governor and Presidential dark horse candidate Mark Warner (see here for more):

No, he wasn't really wearing a maroon jacket. Nor was he wearing a cheesy "anti-Hilary button) See here for some actual original stills from the photo shoot. The New York Times apologized, sort of, for this (thanks to Ann Althouse):

The cover photograph in The Times Magazine on Sunday rendered colors incorrectly for the jacket, shirt and tie worn by Mark Warner, the former Virginia governor who is a possible candidate for the presidency. The jacket was charcoal, not maroon; the shirt was light blue, not pink; the tie was dark blue with stripes, not maroon.

The Times's policy rules out alteration of photographs that depict actual news scenes and, even in a contrived illustration, requires acknowledgment in a credit. In this case, the film that was used can cause colors to shift, and the processing altered them further; the change escaped notice because of a misunderstanding by the editors.

Does this matter? Should it? Discuss ....