For those who may not recall, this is the 23 year old Nigerian national, who tried to light his fully loaded underpants on Christmas day last year on Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam to Detroit. He happened to be wearing a set of boxers, or briefs, we can’t and don’t want to be any more sure of which, made of plastique, or also known by the generic designation of PETN. And for those who are not familiar, this is some pretty nasty stuff. For further information on PETN click here.

Just to bring everyone up to speed, in case you’ve been living under a rock or on another planet, this guy was stopped by other passengers on the plane seeing him use a lighter and trying to light something sticking out of his pants. I’m thinking to myself, why is it, when I came back from Canada 2 years ago, did I have to let Mr. Customs practically feel my junk in order to get on the plane, and this guy waltzes on a trans-Atlantic flight with plastique in his pants. I still have nightmares about that trip. Anyway, back to business here. In any case, he got on and nearing landing tried to light up, which was seen by other passengers, who then heroically jumped him and subdued him.

So Umar, has been charged with several nasty sounding charges, including “Attempted Use of a Weapon of Mass Destruction” and “Willful Attempt to Destroy an Aircraft” among others and is looking at probably several life sentences. What do you suppose will be his greeting upon entering the federal lockup. “Hey, is that plastique in your pants, or are you just glad to see me?” He can only hope it will be that kind.

So the joke is, he fired his lawyers today and will be representing himself in court. U.S. District Judge, Nancy Edmonds, almost pleadingly asked him if he was familiar with the US legal system, and court procedures, to which he answered, of course, NO, and he even admitted that English was not even his first language. Per Umar, “I prefer to represent myself. Any representation I have, there will always be a conflict of interest…any representation I get would present me in a way that is not in my best interest.” Amazing. Finally and it seems almost desparate, the judge assigned standby counsel for the accused to answer questions he may have during the court proceedings.

He did ask the judge a question, and I can’t figure out if it’s shrewd or stupid, “If I want to plead guilty to some counts, how would I go?” To which the judge wisely answered, that’s the reason he has standby counsel. What’s most amazing is this incredible legal system of ours that seems to really try to protect the rights of the accused.

Well, if you’ve tried to get on a plane wearing plastique pants, don’t call us. However, if you’ve gotten a ticket, or you have warrants outstanding, or there’s some criminal charges looming for which you need representation, please DO call us. Once you call, we’ll do more than standby, we’ll get right into your case and bring things to a conclusion. We’re Ticket Busters at 666-6666 and The Defenders at 333-3333. We are standing by, just waiting for your call.

 Cheaters, I mean the channel 8 I-team was on the scene exposing Governor Gibbons in his affair gone completely bad.

 But, what affair doesn’t go bad? It’s like a drug deal. Ever heard a news anchor say, “It was a drug deal gone bad.”

 Drug deals always go bad. There’s drugs exchanged for money, somebody gets high with illegal drugs and another person gets paid for illegal drugs.

 Of course, an affair is not illegal. These shenanigans have more to do with moral and ethics. Nevertheless, it always goes bad.

 Why do we continue to make an issue out of our politicians having affairs? Perhaps because they are elected officials running on platforms and they are held to a higher moral standard.

  Remember though, we are people running on platforms too.

 We have our religious platforms- Lutheran, Catholic, Baptist, Mormon and don’t forget the non-denominational or just plain atheist. Why should we judge? We are hypocrites. We stray all the time (drinking, gambling, cheating, omitting, one way or another we all lie) and we don’t have an entire camera crew trying to get us to confess, or do we?

  I called it in the beginning. I said, never trust a man without a bottom lip or is it a top lip? Either way. Our Governor was controversial before he was put in office. So, it seems we love the drama.

  A couple days after Chrissy Mazzeo yelled sexual assault we put him in office. All of a sudden we care about Jim’s girls in different area codes.

 Yes, last night our lipless Governor was caught in multiple lies – one after another.  This reminds me of…ah yes, Clinton – who we now pay to hear him whisper sweet nothings in our ear.

  While I was watching the video- I team vs. Gibbons, I felt myself pulling for Gibbons-  saying, come on, come on… just say, yes! Admit it and they will leave you alone. I guarantee you the camera crews would have backed off if he admitted to his special session. I’m’ just Monday night quarterbacking though.

 Until… I saw the girlfriend get in to the state vehicle. That stung a little. I felt like he was driving his girl around in the car that I pay for. Oh no he didn’t!

 For the record, I don’t agree with the Governors politics, but I do feel we have become sidetracked on the sensationalism of his personal life. Channel 8 has got us wrapped up in their own vendetta against the Governor.