What is Your Favorite Color?

Yellow--no, Orange. Forgive me if I'm a little nonplussed by the latest change in the security color. Sure, there are plenty of well-minded folks working for the Department of Homeland Security, but the idea that we can somehow plan for acts of terrorism is a little ridiculous. About all we might be able to do is potentially raise enough noise on our own to scare any would-be terrorist into delaying or calling off their plans--sort of like we might have been able to do pre 9/11, if certain higher ups had done more than planning month-long vacations.

I wonder if Tom Ridge is somehow doing Howard Dean's bidding. Or maybe he just doesn't know that raising the threat level might lower the morale of our troops.

Murmur Gadfly

Actually, I'm pleasantly surprised that BlairBush managed to negotiate a deal with the Lybian Colonel, although it's a little ironic that, in light of all we've accused Iraq of doing, we'd let someone like Ghadaffi off the hook. I've always been a little skeptical of the Berlin disco bombing--I'm inclined to believe the perpetrators had either a Syrian or Iranian link--but the PanAm tragedy was admitted to by Lybia, which has agreed to pay compensation to the families who lost loved ones when a bomb brought the plane down over Scotland.

I don't justify the actions of the Lybian national(s) who brought the plane down. The "defense" of the accused was that it was an act of revenge following the downing of an Iranian airliner by the USS Vincennes in 1988. However, this downward spiral of revenge/attack/revenge/attack will, in the end, do little more than dramatically raise the level of hostility between the West and the Middle East. Until we overcome the idea that Blind Rage is an acceptable response to hostile acts, we'll do little more than play into the hands of the bin Laden's of the world.

And I Have No Idea What to Think of This

At first glance, these stories seemed to be of the wingnut variety, but they are beginning to see some play, particularly in the Australian media, for some reason. So call me cautiously skeptical about this, although it wouldn't be the first time Centcom has been a little loose with the truth.

I didn't think Saddam looked like he had been drugged. If anything, he looked like he'd just crawled out of a hole in the ground (imagine that). Apparently, though, the question the articles linked to above wonder who put him there--and why.

Like I said, call me skeptical, until I see something that really offers concrete evidence.

In Closing

Well, I'm being a little lazy here, watching a football game (on FOX no less), and they were kind enough to cut away to a special news report by one of the more vapid newscasters I've seen in some time. In the two minute report, they managed to break down the color-coded terror chart--complete with the announcement of the "new" level of danger--while assuring us that our Christmas won't be affected. Still, I guess it lends a whole new meaning to "shop till you drop."

There's a good chance this will comprise my only post of the day. Chores await, and I gotta knock some out before the holiday week starts.