He Wanted Some Frijoles

You know, I used to harumph when I heard Bush talk about the Global War on Terror. Because it looked to me a lot like the U.S. War on Terror, aided by Great Britain and Certain Other Nations Looking for Economic Benefits or at Least a Wink and a Shrug When it Comes to Horrific Human Rights Records or Authoritarianism. But thanks to a hidden little gem of a story, I now see how much the world really has taken this struggle to heart.

Leonel Arias, 47, told police he was playing a practical joke by donning the bin Laden mask, toting his pellet rifle and jumping out to scare drivers on a narrow street in his hometown, Carrizal de Alajuela, about 35 kilometres north of San Jose.

Arias had startled several drivers that way yesterday afternoon. But when he jumped out in front of taxi driver Juan Pablo Sandoval, the motorist reached for a gun and shot him twice in the stomach. He was taken to hospital, where his condition was described as stable.

"For me and I think for anybody else at a time like that one thinks the worst and so I fired my gun," Sandoval told Channel 7 television.

"One thinks the worst." How much do you love that? Because I love it a lot. One must reasonably assume, if one is in such a situation, that Osama bin Laden has come to Costa Rica and has jumped in front of one's cab, stuck his thumbs in his ears while waggling his fingers shouting "BLALALALLALALA!" And thus, you must shoot him in the gut. Juan Pablo Sandoval, defender of freedom, I think I love you.

Somebody enlist this man!