"Just a cup of coffee 'fore I go...

...to the valley below."

I'm on the way out for a week of work in sunny Providence, RI. But I have one more tidbit I wanted share with my readers, all two of you (Hi Mom!).

Letter to the Editor Brings Down the Feds.

The letter by Dan Tilli, 81, was published in Monday's edition of The Express-Times of Easton, Pa. It ended with the line, "I still believe they hanged the wrong man."

Tilli said the statement was not a threat. "I didn't say who — I could've meant (Osama) bin Laden," he said Friday.

Two Secret Service agents questioned Tilli at his Bethlehem apartment Thursday, briefly searching the place and taking pictures of him, he said.

The Secret Service confirmed the encounter.

81 year old man interrogated for an hour by the Feds. Huh. This guy has written over 200 hundred letters to the editor over the years. Interestingly, he's only been visited by the FBI or the secret service twice, this time and last year. Both times due to veiled threats against the government. He actually seems to have taken it pretty well. So I guess I'm doing the outrage for him.

Now, I journeyed over to the Express-Times' website and had a quick look at Mr. Tilli's fellow citizens. As you might expect, the folks of Easton are a pretty conservative bunch. They even include one faithful who still thinks President Bush is really up on things: "We are not privy to the sensitive intelligence he is." So Tilli isn't going to get much support locally.

But for the Secret Service to come around, photograph you and go through your house because you dare to suggest that someone other than Saddam should have been hanged? It's a brave new world, my friends.

I'll be back in a week. If I'm not, well, perhaps you could forward my mail for me. The address is Camp Delta, JTF-GTMO, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Cheers!