I know it's fashionable to laugh at our old friend Dreaded Guest, but do take a look at that article. You don't have to believe in the existence of a conspiracy to set up a world government to be very, very worried about the potential police state that our leaders have set up, all ready to roll out. And an unprovoked attack on Iraq (which is something that goes against international law, the UN Charter, and the entire history of the United States) creates a perfect opportunity for another terrorist attack, whether authentic or engineered--and that triggers code red. Read the USA Patriot Act, folks, and the planned Patriot Act II.

Those of you who have been around here for a while know that I'm generally a calm, reasonable, and, if I may say so myself, fairly intelligent and well-educated person--and I think the threat is credible. I don't have any brilliant ideas on how to stop all this from happening, but I do think it could happen. People in Germany in the 20's and 30's were fond of saying that one of the wealthiest and most intellectually and culturally advanced countries in the world would never allow itself to be taken over by autocratic thugs. But they took over anyway.

Aloha,
Mark