When the compound was stormed, bin Laden was found in an upstairs room. The troops who found him said that he was using a woman as a shield. They said he was given an opportunity to surrender and come quietly, but instead he reached for a weapon. The troops fired, carefully avoiding hitting the woman, hitting bin Laden twice in the head.

Muslim funeral rituals require that a person who has just died must be buried within twenty-four hours. bin Laden's body was ceremonially washed as is required by Muslim law, and the funeral ceremony was properly conducted by an Imam before he was buried at sea.

Wesley has the right of it. The decision to bury him at sea was in order to avoid his grave, wherever it might have been, from becoming "the shrine of a martyr."

The "birthers," now the "deathers" ("I don't believe it! Where's the body!?"), and all the conspiracy theory squirrel bait out there (and, of course, right here on Mudcat) are going to have a field day. But then, what's new?

A day for celebration? I think not! I felt that all that cheering and flag-waving is quite inappropriate. A feeling of grim satisfaction, yes. But celebrating? Kind of tacky.

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For the person who, whenever Barack Obama appears on television, never fails to say something about his using a teleprompter, as if Obama where incapable of stringing together a cohesive sentence (like Sarah Palin, who, when she starts a sentence in Ohio, it winds up on Mars and contains neither subject nor predicate). Actually, Obama, a very bright man, has, on many occasions, proven himself to be an excellent extemporaneous speaker. The remark, of course, is to try make him out to be some sort of mushy-brained doofus, which he obviously is not.

Profession broadcasters who work before television cameras all the time use teleprompters, and it only makes sense, if one is delivering a formal address on nationwide television, to have one's notes, or for that matter, the entire speech, written out and available on a teleprompter. Before television cameras and telepromters, speakers (FDR, Eisenhower, whoever) during the days of radio, often read their speeches from typed text, or most certainly from outlined notes.

Many popular entertainers use a teleprompter. And before it was invented, entertainers (Andy Williams, other singers, various comedians) had The Words written out in large letters on large cards held by someone standing next to the camera, who carefully changed cards as the song or routine progressed.

So—give it a rest, already!! It just makes YOU look petty and mean-spirited.

That's a friendly tip, by the way.

Don Firth