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("If any terrorists are in the country waiting for televised word from bin Laden - last week's steps by the White House did next to nothing to thwart them.")
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Sunday, October 21, 2001
Chain
Reaction
If three postal handlers (so far) contracted the cutaneous form of anthrax from handling letters mailed to NBC and the House, what about the chain of contact starting at the initial mailbox? And the people who receive mail that was in contact with the contaminated letter?
[ Some postal workers are receiving a 7-day supply of Cipro for use prophylactically; a physician on CNN has said that a two-month course of Cipro is standard after infection (cost: ~ $700 non-generic). ] False negatives are common; testing after treatment with Cipro skews test results. All in areas of exposure are taking a course of Cipro.
Some are not being tested (Dan Rather, Gov. Pataki...), but are taking Cipro nontheless.
How many people test negative for exposure to anthrax is an important stat. Another is how many people are taking antibiotics in areas of known anthrax contamination.
In order to get a true snapshot of the magnitude of the anthrax attack, don't we need the number of people taking Cipro or other antibiotics in areas of exposure??
Is the press so soon at the point where telling the truth sends the "wrong" message to the terrorists??
Additionally, if potent (albeit not strictly "weapons-grade") forms of anthrax can be sent via "strange-looking" mail, why not via normal-looking mail?
Friday, October 12, 2001
Totalitarianism as Self-Censorship ---
The Tyranny of Conformity
On the heels of White House press secretary Ari Fleischer's official "bitch-slapping" of Bill Maher and the near-infamous "watch what you say!" statement comes other disturbing developments:
* print columnists fired for criticizing Bush
* pulling "sensitive" info from the Net
* censoring or banning Bin Laden tapes
* a blackout on info concerning vp Dick Cheney's "seclusion" in the name of national security (if he had another heart attack, would the public be informed??)
If censorship of this nature is in the best interests of the country, will the time come when it's also in the country's best interests to "avoid" any reports that might potentially trigger panic in the populace?
And let's not even get into digitally altered photographs...
Lights, Camera,
Terrorist Scenarios
Military officials are conferring with Hollywood producers and script writers in an attempt to anticipate future attacks. I would caution against dismissing possible "micro-compromises":
* gas attacks aboard airplanes (it's not necessary to breech the cockpit to crash a plane)
* biologicals in the ventilation systems of malls, skyscrapers and hospitals
* gastro-intestinal anthrax delivered via the water-misting systems (for vegetables) in supermarkets; compromise of injectible "street" drugs
* inhalation anthrax in cocaine and other "street" drugs used nasally
* poisoning of "fast food" commodities sources
* hijacked helicopters used to attack outdoor sporting events
* kidnapping of CEOs and (media) personalities
Hmmmm. Is the Arab-American community going to have to protest profiling via face-recognition software??
Thursday, September 27, 2001
Giles Wollenman, a counterterrorist expert who appeared on FOX (9.26; ~10:10am cst) stated that more than 60% of Pakistan's population opposed cooperation with the U.S.
Wollenman went on to propose a scenario in which an extremist faction pulls a coup d'etat and gains access to nuclear weapons. How does the U.S. respond??
(raising my hand) By "controlling" access to Pakistani nuclear facilities from the get-go?
A Disturbance In The Jet Stream
Lots of hoopla surrounding the Taliban's supposed request for Jesse Jackson to come over and mediate a "peace process". Jackson held a news conference today to announce that he would not be going to Afghanistan - yet. This on the heels of a reported phone call to Jackson from Colin Powell, informing him in no uncertain terms to butt out.
On 9.27 at ~12:09 cst, FOX's bottom screen banner scrolled that: "...Taliban denies asking for Jesse Jackson's help..."
Sunday, September 23, 2001
There are a couple of recent corporate actions that disturb me in the wake of the 9.11.01 attack: Sears Roebuck and FedEx pulled advertising from "Politically Incorrect" after Bill Maher stated Monday that "We have been the cowards lobbing cruise missiles from 2,000 miles away. That's cowardly...staying in the airplane when it hits the building ---say what you want about it, it's not cowardly". Clear Channel Communications, a radio conglomerate with more than 1,000 stations, reportedly sent a directive with a list of +160 songs to be pulled from air play. Among them are, The Beatles "Imagine", "Walk Like an Egyptian" and Sinatra's "New York, New York". You know what would make me comfortable? If one of the first things that Tom "T-Bone" Ridge does after getting the key to his office (of Homeland Security) is to put a picture of Dwight D. Eisenhower on his desk, and the following DDE quote on the wall behind his chair:
"As it is an ancient truth that freedom cannot be legislated into existence, so it is no less obvious that freedom cannot be censored into existence. And any who act as if freedom's defences can be found in suppression and suspicion and fear confess a doctrine that is alien to America."
Tuesday, September 18, 2001
I was drinking coffee and watching "Fox and Friends" when co-host Steve Doocy announced he had just been informed that a WTC tower had been impacted by a plane. In minutes, helicopters were relaying footage; clearly the "hole" was too large to have been made, as Doocy offered, by an off-course Cessna.
FOX was still airing live footage of the scene when the second airliner hit. (!).
A completely surreal moment; the feeling washed over me. I stood, turned the tv volume up, and remember thinking "what is the nature of this attack??!".
Speed-surfing, I discovered the following channels quickly suspended regular coverage: VH-1, FOOD, HSN, TLC (replaced w/BBC World), HGTV, PAX, QVC, TBS, TNT, ESPN, ESPN2, Fox Sports, FX, UPN, MTV (slow), BET (slow).
VH-1 (CBS-NYC) actually had some of the more riveting footage, and an isolated discussion of possible concommitant biological warfare events.
Linda Vester of FOX News reported at 15:00 hrs CST, that the WTC towers were at full capacity at the time of attack (50,000 people).
CNN's bottom scroll (during an interview with Simon Peres) ran quotes from various heads of state responding to the attack (India, France, the Islamic Jihad, etc.).
I first saw a falling body on CBS at 15:27 hrs.. The BBC was running an eye witness interview: "...I saw at least 14 people jumping out of windows...".
On 9/13, MSNBC anchor Lester Holt announced he had received a call from a WTC worker, informing him that someone on a bullhorn was telling people in tower 1 to "go back to your desks...no need to panic...get something to drink from the cafeteria if you need it..." (!!!)
On CNN a couple of days later (during a Paula Zahn interview, approx. 09:45 hrs CST), the wife of a WTC worker, Linda Perry, related that, while she was watching tv the day of the attack, a call came from her husband, who was on the 89th floor of tower 2. She was screaming at her husband to get out of there, when someone on the PA system was simultaneously telling people NOT to evacuate! This was _after_ the 2nd plane impact!
These "instructions" surely influenced some life and death decisions that day, and frankly, my first thought was that they were straight out of the Twilight Zone. In fact, I refer you to the second season episode "Twenty-Two":
"In the hospital, Miss Powell has a recurring vision in which she follows a nurse to room 22 -the morgue- at which point the nurse, who is disturbingly beautiful, throws open the door, smiles ominously, and says, 'Room for one more, honey'.
...Miss Powell is discharged from the hospital...arrives at the airport to board a nonstop flight to Miami --- Flight 22! Boarding, she is horrified to see that the stewardess is the nurse in her vision. The stewardess smiles at her and says, 'Room for one more, honey.'
Screaming hysterically, Miss Powell runs back to the airport lounge. The plane takes off without her --- and explodes in mid-air."
[SCI-FI actually ran a plane-related Twilight Zone ep on Sat. morning (9/15/01): "Ring-A-Ding Girl" (12/27/63)]
* fr. "Questions on tower construction" 9/15/01 (Chgo. Tribune/Business/pg. 1):
"...fibers of spray-on fireproofing designed to protect steel columns were ceramic, _not_ asbestos..."
* Note
"...(some) believe that human instincts are inherently compassionate and good. When individuals lose touch with their inner nature and the Tao, however, righteousness and loyalty are created by the intellect to remedy the ensuing social deterioration.
Therefore only when a society is corrupt does morality become an issue. Only when personal relationships have become false-hearted do people speak of piety and devotion. And, only when a nation is divided does the patriotic spirit arise.
According to Lao Tsu, the enforcement of the 'virtues' described in this passage do violence to the human instincts: they deaden spontaneity and rob people of their emotional independence and their sense of personal power.
Those who preach morality have lost the Way; those who rely on external systems to interpret their experiences are also adrift."
--- 18th passage fr. "THE TAO OF POWER"
Lao Tsu's Classic Guide to Leadership, Influence, and Excellence
A translation of the TaoTe Ching by R.L. Wing
Doubleday/Dolphin
QUOTES
"...let us prevail and be done with it. Or else be prepared to watch our children become strangers in their own land, made paranoid and uncertain by a nation rendered unsafe by terrorism..."
--- John McCarron, vp of strategy and communications for the Metropolitan Planning Council
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"During warfare, soldiers need to obey their superiors without question. Citizens, however, have a duty to think for themselves, to tolerate different and even foolish opinions, and to challenge their leaders when they are wrong.
If our enemies are attacking freedom, this is no time for us to abandon it."
--- Steve Chapman, Chgo. Tribune editorial board
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"We are in a new and perilous situation in which the military provides our best defense, not the police and courts. Alas, this crisis must be approached through rules of engagement, not rules of procedure."
--- Steven Lubet, prof. of law, Northwestern U.
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"...Penn. Gov. Tom Ridge...56, born in Pittsburg suburb of Munhall...attended Harvard on scholarship...social agenda included welfare reform and a special legislative session on crime that produced a three-strikes law and a speeded-up death penalty process...."
--- AP
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I think every Plastic regular knows I've been pretty much in the Bush camp, and I remain very much in favor of military action in response to this attack.
But this Office of Homeland Security has me out-and-out scared. Even the name "Office of Homeland Security" has a sci-fi creepiness about it; it's the evil fascist agency in a pulp fiction dystopia.
Cabinet offices never die, they grow and grow, without end. Even the Agriculture Department has one employee for every three full-time farmers in America. So now we're going to have bureaucrats with a vested interest in pushing for more and more government funding and control for issues of "internal security," which means more power to invade Americans' privacy and trash civil liberties.
Bush meant to declare a war on terrorists. I fear that he declared surrender.
---"My take" by kbrownecon (Plastic user)
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Dwight D. Eisenhower: "As it is an ancient truth that freedom cannot be legislated into existence, so it is no less obvious that freedom cannot be censored into existence. And any who act as if freedom's defences can be found in suppression and suspicion and fear confess a doctrine that is alien to America."
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Eli M. Obler: "The censor is usually a man who has been severely repressed as a child, practices self-repression as an adult, and wants others to suffer as he did and does."
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Potter Stewart, U.S. Supreme Court: "Censorship reflects a society's lack of confidence in itself. It is a hallmark of an authoritarian regime."
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Mario Vargas Llosa: "One can well understand why regimes that seek to excercise total control over life mistrust works of fiction and subject them to censorship. Emerging from one's own self, being another, even in illusion, is a way of being less a slave and of experiencing the risks of freedom."
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Whitehead in "Modes of Thought': "Nothing can be omitted, experience drunk and experience sober, experience sleeping and experience waking, experience drowsy and experience wide-awake, experience self- conscious and experience self-forgetful, experience intellectual and experience religious and experience skeptical, experience anxious and experience care-free, experience anticipatory and experience retrospective, experience happy and experience grieving, experience dominated by emotion and experience under self-restraint, experience in the light and experience in the dark, experience normal and experience abnormal."
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