Rockets' Red Glare

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I just want to remind everybody that the guy who helped accelerate the nuclear programs of both Iran and North Korea is under house arrest in Pakistan. And we're not subjecting him to further questioning because we're afraid he might have information that's embarrassing to our buddy Musharraf. We should have dug up everything we possible could on A.Q. Khan's network more than two years ago, after Khan's confession. Instead, he's been pardoned and political pressure hasn't done much to get additional information out of Khan. For all we know, he may have done more damage than anyone knows.

Fireworks Still Not Idiot Proof

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We once again headed down to the beach club this year to participate in the festivities. I've got no problem with fireworks (I used to love setting them off) but people simply have to be careful, and being careful involves keeping a safe distance away from other people. Thirty feet may seem like a safe distance, but it's not even close. That distance gets covered by a shell or a rocket in a fraction of a second, as we found out when an errant shell from someone's too-close display ended up exploding near the stairs at the beach club, actually hitting Alex's stroller and scaring him out of his mind. My mom reached out and hit it with her hand mid-flight, and it burned her hand a bit. She'll be fine, but every few years we're reminded that there's nothing rude about asking amateur pyrotechnicians to take it down the beach a bit. Why they have to set up so close the crowds is beyond me.