I generally don't fall into reading a few news stories and conclude the world has gone to hell. But last night as I was clicking through my bookmarks of various press and media sites, I have to admit that I'm questioning...is it getting weirder out there?
We have the man trying to commit suicide by fighter jet. He flew over my city and that prompted the evacuation of our state capitol.
There is what appears to be a suicide by cop in St. Paul MN. During a confrontation with police a man shot a police dog, K9 Boomer, resulting in officers returning fire and killing him. He left a message:
Aside: K9 Boomer survived. Boomer has been featured on Animal Planet's K9 Cops:
Then there is the woman in Florida who went to the gun range with her son. With a rented a gun she shot him in the back of the head as he was target practicing. She then placed the gun in her mouth and shot herself. And there is video of it all
Very weird is the Metairie, Louisiana man who was tending his garden when a man walked up and attacked him. 'He bit my arm, chewed the flesh and swallowed it in front of me,' A neighbor came to his aid and rescue. After the attack, the culprit walked "two blocks to a parking lot, where he hovered near an empty police car" and eventually was arrested when the cops returned from wherever.
Then there is the elderly couple attacked in front of a Target store in FL by a man wielding knives in both hands. The wife interrupted the attack on her husband by hitting the attacker with her cane.
Finally a Harris County sheriff’s deputy arrested for DUI....while still in uniform. And there was a Dallas crossing guard tragically run over by a drunk driver... a Google Street View image of the site of that crime still shows school crossing guard Franklin Lester at his post.
[EDIT: Forgot this one:
AUSTIN – The 11 Corpus Christi State School employees accused of forcing profoundly disabled residents into a late-night "fight club" were hired despite poor employment histories and little work experience beyond fast-food jobs, according to personnel records obtained by The Dallas Morning News.
They took cell phone videos of the fights though thankfully they haven't been released]
So even though this seems to be more weird than I usually see each night checking the news, I'm not going to extrapolate to a vague generalized sense that humankind is screwed. No.....But I will say I REALLY needed to see this video. Now I suppose if this happened in the US someone would pull out a...STOP! Not. gonna. go. there.
(h/t for video: Andrew Sullivan...who viewed it as The Cheney Antidote)
One of the first blog-based books, the anthology Special Plans examines Feith's role in misleading America into war. Buy from 
I love you, scout. I needed that, too.
Posted by: BuggyQ | April 07, 2009 at 14:22
And the only thing wrong with this is that I will now have this song in my head for the rest of the night. But it was still worth it.
Posted by: Nora | April 07, 2009 at 15:02
The 11 Corpus Christi State School employees accused of forcing profoundly disabled residents into a late-night "fight club"
jesus! See, those are the kind of folks I want to see thrown into the state's enormous prison industrial complex.
Or at the very least put on permanent house arrest.
Posted by: virgotex | April 07, 2009 at 15:04
and it's the senseless violence of it all
Posted by: scout | April 07, 2009 at 15:34
Gonna send that video to a bunch of friends.... it's great. Nora's right, the song will be in my mind the rest of the day but it was cheering and fun. Thanks for posting it.
Re K9 Boomer being shot -- so glad he survived. Suicide by cop is bad enough but to use a K9, that's lower than low.
Posted by: PurpleGirl | April 07, 2009 at 16:17
RE: late-night "fight club"
An item that seems to have gotten lost in Abu Ghraib is that several of the principle players were weekend warriors who, in civilian life, were prison guards.
Posted by: MapleStreet | April 07, 2009 at 19:08
Love the Dance video!
I'm guessing the wording on the youtube page is in Netherlands Dutch ? Putting my long lost college German to work, do I gather correctly that this was a publicity stunt ?
It is definitely my kind of practical joke - totally unexpected but elevating to all around.
Posted by: MapleStreet | April 07, 2009 at 19:11
we are just able to read about crazee world wide.
Posted by: pansypoo | April 07, 2009 at 20:16
"Central Station Antwerp goes off!"
Or something like that (I'm interpolating from Babelfish).
I've been daydreaming of pulling a stunt like this for years...
Posted by: Michael | April 07, 2009 at 22:42
If you like this (which I'm keeping up on my screen today to cheer me up), you might also enjoy this:
http://improveverywhere.com/2008/03/09/food-court-musical/
I also like their improv where they stand still in Grand Central Station for 5 minutes but that's not as fun as dancing to Do Re Mi.
Posted by: L. | April 08, 2009 at 08:41
Well...they are Belgian. Seriously, the I like the Belgians. They seem like a happy lot.
And...well, the wording on the page would probably be Flemish, but it is as to Dutch as British English is to American English.
Posted by: mothra | April 08, 2009 at 12:50