I heard yesterday a rumor that we'd be at Code Red by Friday. We're merely Code Orange right now. The likelihood we'll feel terror is high. Paranoia is policy now. Stuff that would have been front page news three years ago is passing quietly by.

We're in diplomatic meltdown. This war we're already waging will have unintended consequences all over the place, most of them bad. It can get like that when you're hellbent on performing a lesser evil, even when it's for a greater good.

I'll have more to say about the mess soon enough. Meanwhile, I'll point to the thoughts of Michael Ventura, Eric Olsen, James Fallows, Hal Crowther, George Lakoff, Mitch Ratcliffe, David Weinberger, Public Conversations and others as the day goes on.

Says here we should be listening to BBC Radio 5. Here's the Gatwick grenade story.

[The Doc Searls Weblog]

Inspectors to give Iraq last chance. Weapons chiefs will tell the United Nations that Iraq could still exonerate itself, even after a new missile find raised tensions. [BBC News | Front Page | UK Edition]

On the streets of Baghdad, Iraqis fear that neither Osama bin Laden nor the pope will be able to help them now. [Salon.com]

A congressional panel today said Enron Corp. used schemes of dizzying complexity to shrink its tax payments, inflate its income and overwhelm the Internal Revenue Service. By The Associated Press. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]