Wednesday, May 11, 2005
Hmph.
Few thoughts on the latest private plane alert.
Transparency is good, I suppose. A micro-smidgen of common sense would be better. Organized civil defense would be best.
"Run, run, go outside!" .... Yes, by all means, go outside, where the small plane can spray all of you with anthrax or Ebola.
Surely the important buildings have bunkers and subbasements; wouldn't that be better security against the range of threats posed by a Cessna?
CNN covered the incident best, but included an earlier tape showing how the fighters are scrambled, including the radio code that indicates a hijack.
In WW2, the govt used entertainment media to encourage proper wartime behavior.
Listen
Can you imagine today's popular singers assisting their own country? Or even missing an opportunity to assist the enemy and incite treason?
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De-Hmphing just a little. Even if today's entertainers were willing to help, such an obvious bit of propaganda wouldn't work now, and that's a good thing. I really wouldn't want to return to the pre-1980 setup where Americans had a binary choice: believe Walter Cronkite or pursue dark private paranoia. Competition is good.
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Later: Watching footage of Washingtonians scrambling in the streets to go -- somewhere? -- where? -- but not getting there fast enough because they have to squeeze through the slots between concrete barriers. More stupidity. These barriers, meant to stop Tim McVeigh, are instead creating panic points.
Something similar happened here in Spokane. Thankfully, the authorities have stopped doing it; probably just forgot, because I can't assume they acquired any common sense. Every time the federal tint changed to Orange, our police blocked the nearest lane around the Post Office like this.
Can you see the opening? I'll bet a suicide bomber could see it too, provided he was somewhat smarter than a Spokane official. Which isn't saying much. So the barriers wouldn't have stopped a real bomb, but they did create a terrible chokepoint on one main evacuation route, and would have choked emergency vehicles as well. Each time the barriers went up, they caused a true gridlock at lunch hour, which is not typical or normal in Spokane. ¶ 11:48 AM
Transparency is good, I suppose. A micro-smidgen of common sense would be better. Organized civil defense would be best.
"Run, run, go outside!" .... Yes, by all means, go outside, where the small plane can spray all of you with anthrax or Ebola.
Surely the important buildings have bunkers and subbasements; wouldn't that be better security against the range of threats posed by a Cessna?
CNN covered the incident best, but included an earlier tape showing how the fighters are scrambled, including the radio code that indicates a hijack.
In WW2, the govt used entertainment media to encourage proper wartime behavior.
Listen
Can you imagine today's popular singers assisting their own country? Or even missing an opportunity to assist the enemy and incite treason?
-----
De-Hmphing just a little. Even if today's entertainers were willing to help, such an obvious bit of propaganda wouldn't work now, and that's a good thing. I really wouldn't want to return to the pre-1980 setup where Americans had a binary choice: believe Walter Cronkite or pursue dark private paranoia. Competition is good.
-----
Later: Watching footage of Washingtonians scrambling in the streets to go -- somewhere? -- where? -- but not getting there fast enough because they have to squeeze through the slots between concrete barriers. More stupidity. These barriers, meant to stop Tim McVeigh, are instead creating panic points.
Something similar happened here in Spokane. Thankfully, the authorities have stopped doing it; probably just forgot, because I can't assume they acquired any common sense. Every time the federal tint changed to Orange, our police blocked the nearest lane around the Post Office like this.
Can you see the opening? I'll bet a suicide bomber could see it too, provided he was somewhat smarter than a Spokane official. Which isn't saying much. So the barriers wouldn't have stopped a real bomb, but they did create a terrible chokepoint on one main evacuation route, and would have choked emergency vehicles as well. Each time the barriers went up, they caused a true gridlock at lunch hour, which is not typical or normal in Spokane. ¶ 11:48 AM
