Flashback: Strange News from October 1, 2003

This week in the United States, a New Jersey father shot his son in the head following a sports program. It seemed that his favorite team, "the Big Reds", had lost the night before, and the poor fellow was so overcome by grief from the tragedy, he felt compelled to kill his own child. A day later. With a gun.

Whether his son was rooting for the other team or not is unknown.

The state of Florida has condemned a 40 year old woman to death by starvation. According to one state legislator, the doomed woman is guilty of "the crime of being physically inferior."

When asked if this act marks the beginning of a eugenics program in Florida, the legislator, whose identity has been withheld for his protection, declined to comment.

Also in Florida, the state has granted a license to a teenager allowing him to legally commit suicide in front of an audience. Under the state's 'death with dignity' laws, the teen, who stated that his "life is pain," plans to off himself during his rock band's next concert.

For a $500 fee, the state approved the plan. Experts believe that the sensational event will draw a huge crowd, turning a pretty profit for the surviving band members.

Finally, John Ashcroft, the United States' Attorney General, was quoted on ABC News Radio as saying, "It's not the nature of the evidence, it's the seriousness of the crime we should consider."

He was speaking in reference to criticism that the administration was setting up a 'fall guy' for a supposed CIA leak scandal, which turned out to be a hoax.

The comment further cements Ashcroft's position on the interpretation of law in the justice system: it isn't 'who' did it, but 'what' was done that a jury should focus on. After all, does it matter if the right person goes to jail, as long as *somebody* pays for the crime?

It's a sick, sick world we live in. If we can't laugh about the insanity all around us, all the time, we will eventually loose our minds - and then become another deranged lunatic, laughed at by everyone else still fighting the loosing battle for sanity.

It's crazy, it's absurd, and it hurts to think that people like these are real. But, no matter how much we might like things to be different, that's the way it was on October 1, 2003.