On The Third Hand

Sunday, 06 Jan 2002

The 15-year old who ran the plane into the Bank of America buliding in Tampa left behind a note expressing support for Osama bin Laden. I wish I'd been wrong. Call it what they will, and young as he was--copycat or not... that was a terrorist attack. You say no? What are you anyway, ageist?

Sunday's Pundit Watch is up! I must admit that I unequivocally agree with Tony Snow. Go read the watch if you want to know what I mean.

Homeland Security D. We just had a plane crash into a building last night, not too far north from where I live. Admittedly, the teen involved killed only himself, but it was still a security breach. I'm also betting that there's a connection with the terrorist attacks, even if only in the kid's mind (I'm not betting we'll ever be told this).

We also had the 'shoe bomber' (who gets to go through life known by that sobriquet -- good punishment). That was a lapse of French security, but could easily have happened here. It also means we cannot completely trust any plane coming in from anywhere (except perhaps Israel, which has good security).

If you watch TV, you will also see periodic 'helpful' specials describing the vulnerability of attractive targets in exquisite detail ("here are the maps, just so Al Qaida knows how to get there"). We also get nice television and print pundit descriptions of various weapons of destruction that would work nicely against us (give them some more ideas, thanks guys).

Our government agencies are still clueless about where the anthrax came from; the Justice department nonetheless seems to have plenty of time to harass doctors they disagree with.

We haven't had any large planes crash into buildings lately; I doubt we will unless a pilot steals a plane. The passengers will stop any attempts from now on (if you think I trust us more than I trust government security, you are right).

I suspect that without the roundup, we would have had some more attacks, and maybe major ones. The fact that we are still "on alert" indicates that the government does not think we got them all. That's a reasonable assumption, since it is highly unlikely we have.

I'd give our present homeland security a pretty low grade. It's all show and reassurance, with no real substance. I'm sure you all know about airport security checks in particular, other areas are also iffy.

Back on November 9, President Bush gave a speech in said he had created a Task force to give us information on what we can do. He even mentioned the words 'civil defence'. The mention of that task force is still on the unhelpful 'Homeland Security' page at whitehouse.gov.

I've heard nothing about 'civil defence' since that speech (as involving us -- I've heard a bit about doctors, drug and vaccine stockpiles, and such). Have I missed a speech or article? If so, I'd appreciate you letting me know. If not, I think we are going to have to stop waiting for the task force to finish yammering, and organise ourselves.

Tim Blair takes on 'Arrogant Westerners' with a bit of his own western arrogance. They all deserve what they get.

Andrew Hofer has already paid to get rid of the blogspot ad on the brand new Happy Fun Pundit, probably in payment for the good postings already to be found there. I've already added that one. [update: or maybe it was Damian Penny--seems to have been a blog-pile on the newbie!]

James Lileks, writing off-blog, has a very funny piece looking back on the year 2002.[Link via lgf]

USS Clueless is watching itself watching itself watching itself. I'm going to stop before I start doing the same.

Glenn Reynolds nominates the new Happy Fun Pundit's slogan of "Standing Athwart History Yelling, "Yee-Haw!"" as the best blog slogan. I think I'm going to like this blog, the writer has a good sense of humor -- though I thought Canadians said "eh", not "Yee-Haw". But I digress.

I'd like offer a few more nominations for best blog slogan.
• "Cry Havoc, and let loose the Blogs of War!" Fred Pruitt
• "Going after starry pan-Islamic futurists with a rubber glove and a sharp stick." Muslim Pundit
• " You report. I decide." Daimnation!
• "Answering questions that nobody was asking" Liberty Blog

Bloggers are a pretty clever bunch, it seems.

Glenn Reynolds nominates the new Happy Fun Pundit's slogan of "Standing Athwart History Yelling, "Yee-Haw!"" as the best blog slogan. I think I'm going to like this blog, the writer has a good sense of humor -- though I thought Canadians said "eh", not "Yee-Haw". But I digress.

I'd like offer a few more nominations for best blog slogan.
• "Cry Havoc, and let loose the Blogs of War!" Fred Pruitt
• "Going after starry pan-Islamic futurists with a rubber glove and a sharp stick." Muslim Pundit
• " You report. I decide." Daimnation!
• "Answering questions that nobody was asking" Liberty Blog

Bloggers are a pretty clever bunch, it seems.