The Raven

Wednesday, September 4, 2002

He's Baaaack!

Just when you thought it was safe to go to a concert again. The Stones launched their Licks Tour in Boston last night and "unofficially" celebrated their "40th Anniversary." Rock stars aren't supposed to have anniversaries, especially not of the Golden Jubilee variety.

Sinewy scarecrows Jagger, Richards and Ron Wood trotted to the front of the expansive stage, looking ready to do what needed to be done as Charlie Watts held down the anchor impeccably as always.

This should have been: "The cadaverous trio shambled forward to feast on the souls of the living while a fourth member of the undead horde beat on stretched hides with a pair of scavenged femurs."

10:02:20 AM

Threat Level Orange

Or is it yellow? I wish the Homeland Security people had just given us the stoplight metaphor of Red, Yellow, and Green. We could remember that. Instead, our leaders act like Lorne Green in Battlestar Gallactica: "Defcon level amber!"

Today's bag has some related items worth pondering. In an early story this morning CBS has the results of a poll that asked Europeans why they think 9/11 happened. This makes sense because Europeans are the experts in such matters.

The French were most critical of U.S. foreign policy, with 63 percent saying U.S. foreign policy was partly to blame for the attacks.

For some reason, The Raven is not surprised at this finding.

Finally, a Good Idea

Remember the last time we sent inspectors to Iraq? A bunch of guys in suits would visit one of Saddam's 50 palaces and they'd be told, "You can't go in there." Well this time, they're hoping to try harder with something called "coercive" inspections:

Under one proposal, arms monitors would be backed by foreign troops who could shoot their way into suspicious sites.

We should've done that the first time around.

Just in Case

Alex Castillo reports in his blog that there's an e-mail going around the military circuit that draws some conclusions from al Quaida training tapes. There may be no further attacks, but we're getting a picture of what Bin Laden had in mind for dessert. Castillo posts the e-mail in full and it's worth a look. Here's an excerpt:

If you find yourself in the middle of one of these attacks, there will not be time for the SWAT team to intervene on your behalf. Compliance will buy you only a very little time. If you are identified as a potential problem to the terrorists you will be shot! (They are training to spot Law Enforcement, Security and Corrections Officers as well as armed citizens.) If, by feigned compliance, you make it through the first cut you can expect to be physically restrained and then controlled with threats to the rest of your group and to the other groups. "We will blow up the women and children in the next room if any of you do not do exactly as we say!" Your ultimate fate, if you do not resist, is to be ritually executed in front of the television cameras.

In other words, the men and women onboard Flight 93 wrote the procedure manual.

More Help from Europe

I like this one from AP: EU wants U.N. involved in Iraq. Didn't the U.N. just install Quaddafi as head of their Human Rights commission?

What You Should Worry About

We talk about terrorist threats as if they were more likely to be a factor in our lives than, say, death by automobile accident. But in fact we know full well that there are more dangerous and frightening things to contend with right here at home. You could be laid off or fired at any time due to corporate or bureaucratic stupidity, politics, or both. And then again, you could be the victim of a swindle.

Here's an example. Luis Enrique Villalobos Camacho, a Costa Rican national, preys on seniors with his promises of "returns of up to 39.3 percent" when they invest with him. He tells UPI that he can do this because of his success in "buying and selling items such as property, cars and boats."

"I buy cheap and sell expensive," explained Villalobos.

There are indications that what he sells may be a powdery substance, but the allegations are based on circumstancial evidence and so far he's running under the radar.

"I'm not worried about anything," he told UPI. "My life has been clean all the way."

And Villalobos denies running a Ponzi scheme, of the type where payouts are financed by new entrants. But the payouts can be a problem, especially when you want one from Senor Big Profits. Keith Nash, an elderly Canadian who invested with Villalobos, is suing to get his principal back. Villalobos says that Nash "loaned me some money," and Villalobos is just trying to "protect it."

"Unfortunately, he had an accident, and he lost his mind. It is now in the hands of a judge to say 'yes' or 'no' about whether he is mentally competent.

Of course. You'd have to be crazy to want your money back when Villalobos has you on the road to riches.
8:58:30 AM