While many of us were opening presents and eating mom’s homemade breakfast in our Christmas pajamas on December 25th, there were some people out there who were just not feelin’ the Christmas spirit.

Like, I don’t know, the man who attempted to blow up a Northwest flight from Amsterdam to Detroit?

That’s right. Nine years after September 11^th we have yet another man somehow successfully sneaking an explosive past airport security.

Apparently, Umar Farouk Abdulmatullab tried to blow up the plane with a chemical compound and a syringe that he had sewn into his underwear. He ignited the explosives, effectively burning his legs and an itchy NWA blanket, and was then subdued by a passenger sitting nearby.

There are so many things wrong with this situation we really don’t know where to start.

First of all, the fact that this incident happened at all is terrible and extremely disappointing. Just when we’re finally feeling safe, some hateful, misinformed extremist goes and ruins it for the rest of us. Do I feel comfortable getting on a plane again? Hell no. Is this one man’s actions fair to the many people of Nigerian descent who will now be profiled in this country? Absolutely not. Read More »

A few weeks ago Symbionese Liberation Army (SLA) member Sara Jane Olson was freed on parole due to a clerical error made three years ago.

The SLA terrorized California between 1973 and 1975 through a series of high profile robberies and attempted bombings. They rose to international notoriety when they kidnapped 19-year-old Patti Hearst.

Sara Jane Olson aka Kathleen Soliah, took part in a bank robbery in Carmichael CA on April 21, 1975. During the robbery, Myrna Opsahl, a mother of four, was shot and killed while depositing money for her church. In 1976 Soliah was indicted for planting pipe bombs under two Los Angeles police cars.

Following the indictment, Kathleen Soliah fled from CA and adopted a new identity, Sara Jane Olson in St. Paul Minnesota where she remained for 23 years. It was only when she was profiled on America’s Most Wanted that she was finally captured on June 16, 1999. At the time of her arrest she had married a doctor and together they had had three daughters.

She pled guilty to both crimes. Read More »