Unless you haven’t listened to the radio, watched TV, or just woke from a thousand year sleep at the kiss from a certain royal prince; you’ve probably heard that the world’s designated kook, Kim Jung-il, tested his first home-made atomic weapon last night (EDST – or this morning, Korean time). What surprised me most about the news is how little people were talking about it. I brought it up with several people today, and each of them either didn’t know, didn’t care or both… mostly both. This is big, people. Imagine the world’s best-known, psychologically imbalanced person this side of Helter Skelter and give him “The Button.” That’s who Kim Jung-il is right now. You thought the Cold War was scary, imagine the world doesn’t respond… and Iran uses North Korea as a role model. Imagine the scenario outlined in an article in Slate Magazine this evening: Japan gets nervous and develops their own bomb (who has plenty of technological know how to slap one together pronto)… which prompts China (Japan’s long time rival) to resume testing… which prompts India to get jiggy with it… which makes Pakistan nervous…

… and I’m not sure if I’m going to sleep tonight.