Under a Gibbous Moon

A new tape has surfaced recently from Osama Bin Laden. In it he claims responsibility for the attempted underpants bombing.

Considering that the bomber wasn’t some brave fighter but merely a brain washed teenager looking for love. Considering that your bomb makers couldn’t make a detonator that worked. Considering that it was an abysmal failure that showed that people will fight back. I don’t think I would have touched this one with a ten foot pole.

You’ve got to be pretty desperate if you claim responsibility for a fuck up like that.

When Jordon Miles was walking home one night, three men got out of a car and approached him. Miles tried to run but fell. He was then beaten and handcuffed.

That much is agreed upon. The men claimed that they identified themselves as police officers. Miles claimed that they did not. To me, it is irrelevant.

According to the police, the three plain clothes officer say Miles walking and that they considered his appearance to be “suspicious”. That is vague as hell.

They had no real reason to suspect anything. He wasn’t driving erratically. No one had phoned in a complaint. He wasn’t running from the scene of a crime.

Even if they did identify themselves, there’s not reason he should have to stop to talk to them, unless they were willing to put him under arrest then and there. I find the whole “he ran” thing to be a pathetic excuse. Unless you have a damn good reason to arrest me. It should not matter. If I don’t want to talk to you, I don’t have to. See my lawyer and while your at it, try the 4th Amendment.

We do not live in a police state. Stopping someone just because they are walking down the street is just plain wrong.

Thank you, PhotoShop

Hat Tip: Boing Boing

Joel Johnson has had one hell of a great experience on Amtrak. Of course he was out west. He needs to try it out east. He will then beg for death, or airline travel.

The last Amtrak I took was from Chicago to Boston. It was about a 24 hour trip. I will admit there was a decent amount of leg room, though not nearly as much on this train as the palatial coach car that he describes; nor were there any leg rest.

Once night fell and it came time for sleeping, I found that the seat reclined from 90 degrees all the way back to roughly 80 degrees. The pillows were small, about the size of a piece of paper and maybe twice as thick.

Despite the length of the ride, you had to ask for one, they did not just assume you would want something to lay your head upon while you tried to sleep like a horse. I have to admit that given the quality of the pillow they probably just had a why bother attitude.

It was, by far, the most miserable traveling experience I have ever had and I’ve driven a 10 foot rental truck for 18 hours with no cruise control and a static-y radio.

Hat Tip: Boing Boing

No surprisingly, the Recession and it uncertainties have been playing havoc with people’s lives. Now, though, we may have a term to describe it, PTED or Post Traumatic Embitterment Disorder.

I’m a little confused about the embitterment. I guess they needed a different word for stress. Then again, cultural stress does tend to make a person bitter.

So, if you have been feeling traumatized by the current goings on in this country. You’re not alone and soon a commercial will tell you how to deal with your trauma.