Tuesday October 14
Pillow Bombs
The "War on Terror" has already disrupted life for years, but now MSNBC reports that Al Qaeda is fashioning pillows and stuffed animals into explosives to use on airplanes. So now teenagers bringing pillows and toddlers clutching teddy bears are all going to have the stuffing beat out of them -- or at least their plush carry-ons -- literally by TSA when boarding airlines. This stuff is just out of control.
Posted by glenn at Justice and the Sniper
A recent immigrant to America asked me this morning why it took "so long" for the Washington Sniper case to go to trial. (The trial starts today in Virginia Beach.) Muhammad Pleads 'Not Guilty' in Sniper Trial [washingtonpost.com]. I answered that the Constitution allows criminal defendants here much greater rights than in any other country and that 12 months was quick for pre-trial proceedings in a major U.S. criminal prosecution. Still, I would like to see John Allen Muhammad fry.
This well-written piece captures the incredible paranoia and fear that were pervasive one year ago here in Washington, D.C.
To hold an entire metropolitan region hostage for 3 weeks by randomly shooting innocent passers-by, and all for mere ransom demands -- money -- is about as sociopathic as one can get. To top it off this guy brainwaished a teenager to be his trigger man.
Everyone deserves a trial. Some are just a little anti-climactic. Here's to hoping that John Allen Muhammad meets the fate he so clearly deserves.