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Some timely events (North Korea's nukes, small plane crashing into N.Y. building) have pushed the Mark Foley story, to the GOP's relief, off the frontpages.

However, 107.7 The End, a Seattle radio station, is keeping the story alive with a "Mark Foley Weekend" promotion. All weekend long, whenever listeners hear an instant message ring on the air, they can call in to win Mark Foley-related prizes. Each winner gets a ruler, a pair of boxers, a T-shirt, a towel and some lotion and some concert tickets. It's a twisted, creative promotion, I must say.

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The AP reports today that North Korea says attempts by the outside world to penalize the country with sanctions for its nuclear testing would be considered an act of war:

"If the U.S. keeps pestering us and increases pressure, we will regard it as a declaration of war and will take a series of physical corresponding measures," said a statement from North's Foreign Ministry through the official Korean Central News Agency.

Meanwhile, W. calls for stiff sanctions on North Korea. South Korea has already ceased its humanitarian aid shipments to its ugly twin, and Japan just imposed new economic sanctions.

According to the AP, approximately 29,500 U.S. soldiers are already deployed in South Korea, a remnant of the 1950-53 Korean War that ended in a cease-fire, not a formal peace treaty.

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As promised, I created a new Yahoo photo album with pictures of Ally's visit, Katrine and Kailyn acting like gangstas, and my Party Bus night with Moos, Bryn and Jeff. Paolo had a little too much fun this weekend and is now recovering. Check out the pictures here.

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I received a text from Jeremy this evening, which read, "North Korea just successfully tested a nuclear bomb. The game just changed."

Indeed it did. Just hours ago, the world learned that North Korea, an Axis of Evil delegate, performed its first nuclear weapons test equivalent to 550 tons of TNT. The U.S. dropped the equivalent of 12,500 tons of TNT on Hiroshima, for context. According to the AP, the communist country hailed the event as a "great step forward" for its people.

"We expect the U.N. Security Council to take immediate actions to respond to this unprovoked act," said White House spokesman Tony Snow. "The United States is closely monitoring the situation and reaffirms its commitment to protect and defend our allies in the region." (Read: We're backing up Japan and South Korea.)

Japan's new prime minister, Shinzo Abe, calls the test "unpardonable," and South Korean presidential spokesman Yoon Tae-young said, "Our government will sternly react under the principle that it cannot tolerate the North's possession of nuclear weapons."

South and North Korea, which fought the 1950-53 Korean War, are divided by the world's most heavily armed border. Gramps even took a turn at border patrol, I believe. North Korea pulled out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty in 2003 after U.S. officials accused it of a secret nuclear program, according to the AP. North Korea has since dismissed U.N. sanctions requesting disarmament. North Korea is the eighth country in the world confirmed to have atomic weapons, joining the ranks of the United States, Russia, France, China, Britain, India, and Pakistan. Yikes.