I don't know when a PBS special, "Meeting Osama bin Laden" will be aired again, but anyone who wonders what might be behind the September 11 attacks should do their best to watch it.

The only son of the 10th wife of the man who was builder to the Saudi royal family, Osama developed a deep hatred toward the United States after feeling slighted by the Saudis, and seeing their close relationship with America.

It was Osama, in fact, who hand-picked the September 11 terrorists, all or nearly all from Saudi Arabia.

It was Osama's Al Qaeda's which killed Americans in the African am-bush portrayed in the film "Blackhawk Down," as well as the bombing of the USS Cole during a stop in Yemen. Earlier, he earned his stripes by helping drive the Soviet Union from Afghanistan.

Those experiences, ac-cording to the documentary's producers, led bin Laden to believe that Americans would always run when attacked.

That reminded me of accounts I've read about Gen. George Armstrong Custer's attitude toward Indians. Riding toward the Little Bighorn, Custer was counting on a repeat of his earlier Indian experiences, where warriors turned tail and ran when faced with forceful attacks.

Now that the election is over, the Bush administration has admitted that it has been unable to find the weapons of mass destruction it sought in Iraq.

But after learning more about bin Laden and the radicals who follow him, I'm more and more convinced that attacking them on their home ground was the only way to show them we are serious about defending ourselves.

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There's a big brouhaha at the fairgrounds over bleachers, according to the McCook newspaper.

The June 10, 1898, McCook Tribune, that is, pointed out by John Hubert of McCook.

In light of the city-county conflict over the bleachers at the Kiplinger arena, John Hubert thought the following clipping made for interesting reading:

"Reserved Seats Reduces -- The entire section of reserved seats in Cullins Bros. "New Enormous" show fell Tuesday night during the performance, throwing about a hundred spectators to the ground in a confused mass, injuring a few quite seriously and a number slightly.

Norman Campbell sustained a fracture of the right leg just above the ankle. (This is his crippled leg). Mrs. A. Campbell also sustained a painfully lacerated limb."

The article went on to describe George J. Burgess' sprained or strained ankle, George Murphy of Cambridge's injury to his left leg, Mrs. A. Campbell's painful and extensive injures "indeed, her escape from a broken leg was quite narrow," Mabel Kendall's "injuries about an ankle that have laid her up for a few days," and "A number of others sustained slight scratches, bruises etc., but fortunately escaped any serious results.

"The breakdown was doubtless caused by the seats not being properly anchored, the slope of the ground and the soft condition of the ground.

"The show people rendered willing assistance to the injured, who were as soon as possible removed to their homes and given surgical attention.

"Considering everything, the net results were less serious than might be expected from such an accident."

It was accidents like that that led to tighter regulations on bleachers, no doubt.

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If you think that new-car smell is special, you should try sitting in a brand new, $444,000 airplane.

Andy Nielsen worked for Griff Malleck at Red Willow Aviation when he was in high school, and stopped by to stay with his parents and save a customer some motel expenses on the way to deliver a new Cirrus SR22 to California.

Photos of the plan are reprinted elsewhere, but they don't do justice to the sleek smooth skin and long, glider-like wings. Inside, everything the pilot needs to know is displayed on a computer screen, and a small stick on the left keeps things heading in the right direction.

Most impressive to me is a small red lever, hidden under a fabric panel in the ceiling, that releases a parachute to float the whole airplane to the ground in the event of an emergency. The landing would be like jumping off a 10-foot ladder, but much preferable to a crash, especially since the plane's landing gear and special seats would absorb the impact.

Pulling the red handle isn't something you want to do on a whim, since it blows a panel out of the rear of the plane and rips embedded suspension straps out of the surface of the plane.

But you have to wonder how many lives could have been saved over the years by such a system.

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The Cirrus started as a homebuilt aircraft, and now is being completely manufactured at a rate of 12 a week. Just goes to show you what kind of potential market there is in small aircraft like the Cirrus -- or the helicopter kits Pawnee Aviation plans to begin building in McCook.