…go bring your good friends too
“WASHINGTON (AP) – A London-to-Washington flight was diverted to Maine on Tuesday when it was discovered passenger Yusuf Islam – formerly known as singer Cat Stevens – was on a government watch list and barred from entering the country, federal officials said.”

A few things here:
If he was on a “watch list” why was he allowed on the plane to start with?
What are the reasons for having him on the list?
Where is Rumsfeld? I want a press conference, with him touting this as a major terrorist apprehension. This could win them the election, if they play their cards right.

A motorcyclist was clocked doing 205mph on MN highway 61, near Wabasha. The biker was spotted by a police aircraft, which notified highway patrol. The biker was cited for speeding 140mph over the posted 65mph limit. The citation may be a Minnesota record. Kind of makes you wonder how much he’s going to be fined. The article doesn’t say, but I believe that 20+mph over the limit is an automatic trip to jail.

The best part? The kid is the son of a sheriff’s deputy. Think Dad’s gonna bail him out? Me, neither.

Ironically, the incident comes to light only a day after the St. Paul Pioneer Press published an article about the rising number of people caught doing 100mph or more on the state’s highways.

Use this Bugmenot link if the above link bugs you for a logon.

Mowing the lawn yesterday, I thought how odd it felt to be mulching fallen red, gold, and brown leaves when it was in the 80s. Then I realized that September is more than halfway over, and fall is indeed upon us. I remember Septembers when we already had snow by now.

I love the smell of ground-up dried leaves. It makes me want to take long barefoot hikes in the woods, the cool earth blanketed with crisp leaves that crunch underfoot. The best walks are in the fall, when it’s just cool enough to need a light jacket. The bugs are mostly gone, and the wildlife is out on their final forages before winter. The flowers of spring and summer have turned to dried seeds, some strange and alien in their design. (I have a small collection of unusual seeds I’ve picked up on my walks.) The air has the scent of life reversing, of vegetation feeding the earth in preparation for the spring metamorphasis. The earth becomes alive and overflows its energy into me through my feet.

The smell of autumn also gives me the urge to put my Halloween decorations up. I really wish I could afford some of the goodies for sale here. Namely the $8,500 attack alligator.

There is a company–I forget what it’s called–that sells full-size replicas of movie monsters cast from the original molds. Among other things, you can get a 8′ alien (or a 12′ alien queen). I always wanted to get the alien and hide it up in the tree that stands in direct line with my front door, across the sidewalk. I would have it connected to a series of lines and pulleys, so when the kids were at my door I could tug on a cord and have it silently drop down behind them. Yes, I’m evil, and loving every minute of it.