Sad but true: In a week dominated by harrowing news from Japan and Libya, not only was this moronic post the most heavily trafficked on the site yesterday, it’s the most heavily trafficked today too. By a wide, wide margin, thanks to people flowing in via Google. And it’s not unique to us. An aside buried in the Daily Telegraph’s latest story about this: “At thetelegraph.com.au, the footage [of the bullying incident] was viewed four times more than the devastation that has struck Japan.” Between popping iodide tablets and fretting about the carnage to come in Benghazi, the world’s got a fee-vah and the only prescription is more bully body slam.

Which means, I guess, that I owe Obama an apology for goofing on him over his NCAA brackets. No worries, champ: Your priorities are just fine.

If you’re wondering how bullies become bullies, perhaps we’ll find a clue here:

The emotional mother of Ritchard Gale, Tina, told the Seven Network last night that she and her family have been victimised by the footage, which has spread worldwide. She also demanded an apology from the victim.

“We don’t need this posted everywhere,” she said. “I would like him to apologise.”

She said she was “shocked” at her son’s behaviour, but did not think he deserved to be bodyslammed by Year 10 student Casey Heynes at Chifley College’s Dunheved Campus, St Marys.

“I was actually shocked because I always brought my three children up to walk away from fights,” she said.

I take her point about unwelcome attention from the video, but apparently this poor kid has been through hell at the school. If not for the clip, how much longer would it have gone on?

Casey’s father said yesterday his son had been the victim of bullying for several years and feared for his safety if he spoke about the fight.

“There’ll be reprisals from other kids in the school and he still has to go to school somewhere,” he said…

Students said violence was a daily occurrence with fights often filmed and posted online.

“The fights I have seen here, it’s horrible. It really makes me feel unsafe,” one said. A classmate added: “People pick on him every single day, they hit him around and stuff, and he just got sick of it and let out the anger.”

To give you a sense of just how far this story has spread, here’s the latest from Taiwanese animators NMA. Exit question: There’s no other way for this story to end than with the bully’s family sitting down with Casey’s on Oprah, is there?

Update: Oh geez. Good work, Telegraph.

IN an article published in The Daily Telegraph yesterday headlined “Bully’s angry mum wants victim to apologise”, it was written that bully Ritchard Gale’s mother Tina wanted her son’s victim to apologise for slamming her son to the ground.

But she had, in fact, said she wanted her son to apologise to his victim.

The Daily Telegraph apologises for the error.