WHERE WILL THE NEXT 9/11 OCCUR?

US. NEWS & WORLD REPORT (2007) 2/19

FLYNN(31-35)

The author briefly describes easy ways to kill a lot of people in the USA and

also scare the hell out of the rest of us. Here is his scenario. We are in Philly and we go to watch a baseball game. Nor far from the baseball field is a Sunoco refinery. We have a hired a terrorist with good credentials to get in the refinery. He leaves a truck tanker with a fertilizer bomb in the truck with other stuff and drives off. The box blows up and fumes spread all over including the 21,000 in the stadium. They could panic and trample each other. However, on the loud speaker the announcer assures everyone that things are okay, that the fumes are bothersome but doable. So please stay in your seat until each can walk out and go to their cars. From there, drive in an orderly fashion  to their homes. Assume that the crowd does act in an orderly fashion. As they drive home, if they have their windows open, and or have the vent through the air conditioner switched to the outside air rather than the inside air, they inhale  poisonous fumes. As cars drive out, some have burning eyes and lack of oxygen as their lungs close down. There becomes a traffic snarl and those who are not immediately attended die within ten hours. That means thousands die.

In this instance, it was Philadelphia. How about killing some people in simi liar ways in Fargo, North Dakota, Des Moines, Iowa, Eugene Oregon or Tampa Florida. The author describes numerous other scenarios and they are just as scary. Terrorism is not just killing but scaring the rest of us. In the mean time, little has gone to protecting us at home. We are moving in that direction, but we have miles to go.

As indicated in other essays, small bombs exploding all over the USA within hours of each other along with something horrible like 9/11 would really do the job with the message that no mater where you go, YOU ARE NOT SAFE. Then the terrorists have won. Can't have that.

WHITSLAW & MUIRINE (22-23)

OPTIONS IN IRAQ?

The authors listed roughly ways to approach the Iraq war as this is being written. Each has its positive and negative impacts. Thus, this is rather a fair assessment without the usual ideological biases. So, 1. WITHDRAWL A phased withdrawal saves the lives of troops, but it leaves

a lot of people unprotected because the country does not have a strong government or police force. 2. PARTITIION the Sunnis, Shiites, and Kurds, each gets a region. However, who is going to protect them. Who gets to keep their property? The whole thing could collapse into chaos and deaths.3. STRONGMAN. The person would probably have to be a Sunni for the Sunnis and Kurds

to tolerate leadership. A Shia leader is trouble. How will this person stay in power. Once they are in are the troops going to be in the middle of this? 4. ATTACK IRAN. We use air strikes to bug Iran and delay the war.It could also unite Iran and anger other Shia throughout the Middle East. Our troops are small and exhausted. 5. CONTAINMENT Create safe zones for Iraq refugees.Then a civil war breaks out. The exhausted American military stay in the safe zones. Thousands are slaughtered.

ZUCKERMAN (80)

We have to face the music. We have to increase taxes and decrease government spending. Or, we sooner or later go into a  death spiral where the debt takes over and has a life of its own. We can't pay our bills and we can't declare bankruptcy. We can inflate our way out of debt and dig in for a depression if we have to go in the short term . It all looks good now, but it is the calm before the storm.

NEWSWEEK (2007) 2/19

SAMUELSON (39) The author joins Zuckerman (see above) to say that in the 50's, 60% of the budget was for war. Now 60% is for welfare for oldsters. We have to cut costs and pay off the debt. We need to raise taxes and cut spending. Social Security and Medicare need to be

cut and the top 20% need to have their taxes increased as they pay for 2/3 of the budget.

DICKEY (70) Early in US history, confrontation with the Middle East was ongoing. The pirates of the sea were predominantly Arab. A Christian Zionism formed to fight Arab nations. Then came the Jews later. Truman made a small Palestinian area Israel. The fighting continues to today.

THE GAZETTE (2007) 2/15   7A

US. and the UK are the last when it comes to child welfare as measured by a UN survey

including numerous components. Only rich democracies were compared.

There is an generation gap in elder care homes. The 90 year olds and the 70 year olds.

They are clashing over dress codes, food, rooms, and weight training. The 70 year olds want things more casual.

BUSINESS WEEK (2007) 2/19

70) Cats are being used to experiment with loss of sight, because their eyeballs are simi liar to humans. / A tremendous use of alternative energy would be the wind. It can be located off shore in non- scenic locations along the east and west coast. It could impact 63 million people./ There is a new gizmo to spot fake pills that are sold on the internet and other places.

LOWDRY (74-75)

NEWS FROM NOWHERE!

Big business is buying small town papers. Why? Because people read them. Big business has the economy of scale for numerous technologies and business methods. A winning paper is HYPER LOCAL. In an 8 page paper, the first 3 or 4 pages are about the town's activities and surrounding communities. Who won the peewee football championship? There is the social column of visitors and small town news from other areas that may appeal to locals. The rest is advertisements. It works.

THE WEEK (2007) 2/16

________6

WE WON'T STOP GLOBAL WARMING! WE CAN START

slowing DOWN THE HEAT, BUT IT MAY take a long time to get over the global warming issue. Humans will have to adapt. Gore is right, but he only opened the door. We should start going green now, but it is going to take a long time.

_________11

If you join SECOND LIFE on the internet, you can help build a community, have sex when you want and live in another world.

__________13

Alternative communities are now operating in the Netherlands and Denmark. If you are anti-social and that means all kinds of behavior including crime, then you are put in this community. It is outside in a rural area. You are watched 24 hours a day. If you do not like noise ordinances and

zoning laws, this is for you. Some go voluntarily. People should not be forced to fit in. Alternative communities are for them. They are messy, drunken and violent. However, you can earn your way out.

___________40-41

Folks who can can do math functions rapidly have metaphors in their heads for various numbers. This helps them to do what they do so well. Think of the movie RAINMAN.The visuals really help.