September 13, 2005
-
TUESDAY POLITICS Who was that masked man? Flying right ahead of and under the radar of the L.A. power out yesterday was an Al-Qaeda tape released on 9/11 saying: “Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing. And this time, don’t count on us demonstrating restraint or compassion.” Don’t think that didn’t make folks nervous when maintenance workers inadvertently cut a power line and the outage rolled through major parts of the big city for two hours starting at 1 pm. Police went on full tactical alert and traffic jammed, while the worst that happened was probably the elevator claustrophobia of people stuck in high rises. So who was the
guy who made the threats and why Australia too? The masked man apparently was former California goat-farmer-turned-Al-Qaeda-terrorist Adam Gadahn, who hasn’t been seen in this country since 1998. It’s not the first tape he’s put out. There was apparently one last November when he threatened to make the streets of America “run red with blood.” Click here for the fascinating story of who he is. Australia because of, best guess, their close alliance with the U.S. presence in Iraq. Long story short, both were short blips on the news radar – we’ll hope. (Oh, and Osama Who?)
Deep Thought: “If you lose your job, your marriage and your mind all in one week, try to lose your mind first, because then the other stuff won’t matter that much.”
Today I am grateful for: Vocabulary
Guess the Movie: “Because everything this fellow’s done has been suspicious: trips at night in the rain, knifes, saws, trunks with rope, and now this wife that isn’t there anymore.” Answer: Rear Window, 1954.
Winner: twoberry.
Jagger Blasts Blair Over Iraq
MADRID – Rolling Stones superstar Mick Jagger said he was “shocked” by British Prime Minister Tony Blair’s attitude toward Iraq and doubts whether the legendary rock and roll band will one day perform in Baghdad, the magazine El Pais Semanal reported on Sunday. (Rest of article here.)
End of Day: 8:46 pm
+ = John Roberts seems like a nice smart guy.
- = But he has twilight zone eyes.
Comments (15)
I found the whole thing interesting. The person behind the mask. The threat. The frustration. The timing. No, not suggesting a conspiracy or that it was fake, but it was still interesting. Even more interesting that it appears that very little attention is being paid to it.
The movie quotation? For a moment I thought it was about Scott Peterson.
But fellow ages it a bit, doesn’t it?
Yup, fellow ages it to the ’50′s, hint hint.
I caught the Australia tape news because I’m headed through there this week and back through later on. Also, there was a 7.3 earthquake off the coast of New Britain, PNG, deep in one of the trenches. Funny what you notice when you’re on your way somewhere.
How do we know that it is Adam? I’m just curious.
Good point. I’ve plugged in the word “apparently” because his identity hasn’t been completely verified.
Rear Window.
I guessed RW before I saw the hint. Honest. Isn’t Melbourne in Florida? Yes, but just kidding. Here, it’s pronounced, Mel-born. There, it’s pronounced Mel-bun. I’m sure Mel-bun was meant. I’d say I feel safe here (ex-hurricanes), but I don’t want to rile up the gods by sounding overconfident.
You funny. Yes, Rear Window, I figured someone from our generation would get it.
Holy crap. I was talking with a few of my former students the other day (they are in their early 20s) and they are so numb to the threats and violence that is occuring (or is threatened to occur) that I was actually a little worried for them. I’m not saying that we should panic 24/7, but they are so numb that they don’t care about the number of dead in Afghanistan, in Iraq, nor in the Southern US states. I guess “numb” isn’t the word, but I don’t know what else to call it (perhaps I’m afraid to call it what it is). Hmmm.
Re: CanadianNational -
I care deeply about the dead in Afghanistan and in Iraq, and in the Southern US States. The war in Afghanistan deserves our support and the people of the Gulf Coast as well. However, Iraq was a mistake and I simply cannot comprehend how we got where we are there. It makes me angry and ashamed. I don’t feel so much numb, as helpless. Also, I also refuse to let the threat of a terrorist attack change my behavior. Terror is a weapon of the mind and only a real threat to a small number of people. I have the benefit of living in Michigan (probably not on the terrorist top ten list) but I see people reacting to these threats even here. This is self defeating and exactly what our enemies are trying to accomplish.
Osama who is right…
Hoping it is a hoax, still it is chilling.
That was an interesting article.
I would say no matter where you live , don’t ever feel over comfortable.
The explaination of the power outages in so cali was due to a mistake. What a coincidence…
Accolade – perhaps that is it: helplessness. For some. For others (like my two former students), they don’t care. And they said that (which broke my heart) and I listened – in an effort to understand. Perhaps they are feeling helpless and haven’t defined that in themselves yet. Thanks for helping me think about that further.
peace to you, sister!!!!