5 things to keep you awake at night

Abe at Abstract Dynamics isn’t sleeping well lately. He links to Josh Marshall (see point #2 below) as well as the blog a time for fear. I figured I’d just pile on:

1. Pakistan – the real WMD market. David Kay, the former U.S. chief weapons inspector for Iraq, accused Pakistan's top nuclear scientist Abdul Qadeer Khan of running "a Sam's Club for nuclear weapons."

2. The Bush administration’s obsession with tying 9/11 to Iraq (presumably to justify the war) while ignoring real security issues, including Pakistan. Josh Marshall transcribed the following from this morning’s White House press conference:

QUESTION: All these countries that do have nuclear weapons, they're not a threat at all? But the intent, and you're a mind-reader as to what was going to happen? It wouldn't hold up in court.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Helen, I know that you do not feel that we are safer because we removed Saddam Hussein from power. I think most people believe the world is safer and better because we removed Saddam Hussein from power.

 

QUESTION: A lot of people are dead, thousands.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: And the President remembers those who lost their lives on September 11th. That taught us that we are living in a different --

 

QUESTION: They had nothing to do with September 11th, the Iraqis.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Oh, I beg to differ. September 11th taught us that we are living in a dangerous new world...

…

QUESTION: It just raises a question. The United States went to war against a leader that we said had these weapons, turned out not to. We're confronting North Korea over what we think are their weapons. Libya is an issue. And, yet, on Pakistan, it sounds as if we've known for a while that they were running this black market on nuclear weapons and haven't done anything.

 

MR. McCLELLAN: Terry, I don't think it raises the question you are asking. I think it shows that we're confronting threats around the world in a number of different ways. And weapons of mass destruction and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction is a high priority for this administration...

3. Global warming could bring on radical climate change – i.e., an ice age – “sooner and harder than we ever imagined,” reports that radical publication Fortune magazine. Even the Pentagon is worried.

4. Federal debt – “the most bloated federal budget in the history of federal budgets.”

5. Janet Jackson’s boob. Clearly we’re all going to hell in a handbasket. ;-)

3:15:32 PM      trackback [] 

Friday Five

I thought of skipping this week's Friday Five on risk because I figured my answers would either be too boring (haven't jumped out of any planes or hitchhiked across the country) or maybe too revealing (when you grow up shy just meeting the neighbors is daring). But then I got intrigued. (BTW, you can thank that adventurous Tonya for the questions.) So here they are:

1. What's the most daring thing you've ever done?

I suppose you could say it’s going out on my own to freelance 11 years ago with no idea how I was going to pull it off. I don’t think of it as daring, though. Something I had to do. It was one of those things where some switch goes on and I’ve already made the leap emotionally before it’s even a physical reality. Then I just have to ride it out wherever it takes me.

2. What one thing would you like to try that your mother/friend/significant other would never approve of?

Probably living in some foreign country for awhile. I suspect that would only bother my mother.

3. On a scale of 1-10, what's your risk factor? (1=never take risks, 10=it's a lifestyle)

Not big on physical risks – maybe a 2 or 3 – no bungee jumping for me (born that way – as a kid I wouldn’t even step off the curb without someone holding my hand). Other risks, depends on whether an intuitive push overrides my natural caution, then I know it’s worth taking.

4. What's the best thing that's ever happened to you as a result of being bold/risky?

I’m working for myself, doing what I want to do.

5. ... and what's the worst?

I’m working for myself, doing what I want to do. ;-)

12:07:55 PM      trackback []