As I'm flying east tomorrow, I'm following the liquid bomb story, if only to know what I can and cannot bring on board. Looks like it'll just be my passport and my journal (no way am I leaving that in my checked luggage).

The NY Times had a story a few days ago about the Red Sox and their typical August/September story. I mean, why do they always run of gas late in the season? Like I say, I am glad that football season is here, with pre-season games tonight.
Stories I am following? Gas prices way up, again, can the economy handle these pressures? As ghastly as the work of Al Qaeda may be, let's not forget that terrorism is a very small threat to most people, but an empty bank acct is a very real problem to millions of us. August is when the mid-term elections season begins in the US, and I wonder where it will all go? I heard a Republican congressman who asked for anonymity say something like 'do I want to be talking with voters about the war in Iraq? Do I want to be talking about gas prices and the economy? Or do I want to be talking about an easy one, immigration?' Sounds like a smokescreen to me.
But hey, gorgeous weather, corn and beer in the fridge for later, blueberry picking on the agenda.
Travel safely, cm, have fun!

Message to Flea: gotta thank you for the Dead Can Dance live cover. Sometimes, Flea, you really hit the spot.

The bad guys have won.

21 people in Britain have been arrested for a bomb plot right out of a Die Hard movie and the rest of us have to suffer for it. They don't even have to kill anybody to continue to maintain superiority: just let a few operatives get caught every now and then, complete with plans for fantastical mass destruction and we continue to butcher our freedoms for it.

The CATO institute published a very interesting paper by John Mueller of Ohio State University in 2004:
<blockquote>Terrorists can be defeated simply by not becomming terrorized -- that is, anything that enhances fear effectively gives in to them.</blockquote>

Even in Israel, you're four time more likely to die in a car accident than a terrorist attack.

Gordo, that's it, exactly. I mean, look at the statistics for alien abdductions. I am much more likely to find myself grabbed by Jupiterians than blown up by terrorists, but do you hear politicians talking about it?

You may while away the hours reviewing my posts of a few years ago on the levels of and implications of fear in this context.

And now, comes news that the White House has leaped upon the plot for political gain. I'm just paranoid enough to wonder if the plot actually existed or was it a CIA back project?

Well, if it was the CIA, I hope they're happy with the inconvenience they've caused.

Culinary Institute of America? What do we have fear from them, over-boiled brussels sprouts?

Up top it should be, of course 'run out of gas'. Gawd, I need to preview like cm. What a lazy sloppy slug I am. Good thing I'm not a lawyer, I would create some interesting contracts fer sure.

Never discount the horror of an over-boiled brussels sprout.

I think the brussel sprouts are being treated unfairly in this matter - as is usually the case, by the way. Every Christmas we in the office trot over to the same place for the same buffet and I always heap the sprouts and bacon side dish over every thing. <i>Plus</i>, they are only picked after a hard frost like all of the cabbage family. If there is a truth out there, I place brussel sprouts well on my side of the line between good and evil.

Whereas perenially dry and chalky lima beans are firmly embedded in the Axis of Exil.

P.S. I will never forgive Conrad Black for turning himself into a living caricature of the left's favourite bogeyman, the filthy rich corporate oligarch who got where he was by the sweat of his brow and no small amount of thievery.

Cassoulettem, man! Cassoulette!!! Lima beans perculating amongs chunks of duck, pork and sausage. The ultimate comfort food. Even the smell of it makes me want to move to Peru - though the dish is French - so that I might describe myself as Liman.

Alan, you seem to be mostly interested in the meat complement to those veggies.

If they agree to give up dryness and chalkiness -- like Gadaffi's 2003 promise to dump WMD programs, straighten up and fly right -- then we may have a basis for negotiations in good faith.

Otherwise I think we have to live by the Reagan START dictum, trust but verify.

Good thing (<i>ting!</i>) I have my Wonder Woman wristbands (<i>ting!</i>) nearby to fend off these attacks (<i>ratt-a-tat-tat</i>) on the honest vegetables of the world.

I was never attacking brussels sprouts per se, only the over-boiled kind. I could live quite happily on nothing more than brussels sprouts, potatoes, bacon, and ice cream.

You're geek I reckon: That picture there's a nice ode to the IBM PC.

That's a CGA monitor, right?

I know a secret and I am sharing it here. cm seems to be nuts for bacon! There, it's out! Here in the lower 48, however, I have to wonder what kind of bacon, cm? In the US that counts for thin, fatty fried strips, whereas our understanding here is that in the great white north it is a round and flat slice of something ham-like.
Of course, this particular vegetarian avoids b. spouts like the plague, but can imagine that a golf club, a tee, and a bucketful of over-boiled brussels sprouts would be damn good entertainment.

We call that elogated rectangular stuff American bacon.

We call those round ham-like disks hockey pucks.

So Alan, off to the new house tonight? MAre you mostly moved in, pictures on the wall, stash nicely cooled? Need to cut the grass this weekend?

GAH! ARE, not mare.

Actually, I had never heard of Canadian bacon until I moved to Ontario. I do like the peameal bacon sandwiches at the Ex, but that's a once-a-year thing.

OK, 'peameal'? Whatizzit? You Canadians have exotic tastes, I'm sure.

That would be Canadian bacon with a thin cornmeal coating that is called pea meal for some reason. I thought vegetarians wouldn't worry their heads over gradations of bacon.

Oh yes, we have Textured Vegetable Protein "Canadian Bacon", quite tasty on an omelet etc.
Time to open the cold ones, fire up the barbie, roast some corn and kebobs and textured vegetable protein burgers too.

<i>"And speaking of losing sleep, if the Red Sox lose both the AL East and the wildcard and miss the playoffs blame this week."</i>

Oh man, the Jays have fallen mightily in the last two weeks, so I can empathize with your sentiments. I used to hate having the Jays in the AL East because the Yank and Sox are always good teams, but taking a look at the central standings doesnt really make me wish they were there either. Perhaps we can petition the league to send the Sox to the AL West, and send Texas to the East. That way the Sox can win that division and leave the Jays and Yanks to fight it out in the West.