Monday, Mar. 02, 2009

Warning: May Cause Drowsiness

Japan's Finance Minister Shoichi Nakagawa blamed his cold medicine. But Nakagawa must have been doing some serious Robotrippin' before the 2009 G7 meeting in Rome, because the man was all over the place: slurring his words, answering the wrong questions, and — wait a minute, did he just fall asleep?!?

Nakagawa denied rumors that he was drunk and instead claimed that a dose of cold medicine, a "sip" of wine, and extreme jet lag led to his incoherence. Whatever the reason, Nakagawa's blunder cost him his job. Upon returning to Tokyo, he resigned on Feb. 17 and was replaced by Minister of the Economy Kaoru Yosano.