A Frequent But Necessary Annoyance

About the only place I've ever seen numbers of reports of suspicious items are from New York City. In a recent piece on NBC New York we learn that in 2010 there were 10,556 reports of suspicious objects.

That's 29 per day.

The reports sometimes result in the discovery of explosives that have nothing to do with terror, like when a volunteer doing gardening at a Manhattan cemetery last year dug up a discarded bag containing plastic explosives. But the vast majority of suspicious packages turn out to be nothing more than briefcases, backpacks or shopping bags innocently left unattended or discarded in transportation hubs or other high-traffic locations.

You'll notice there's not a single mention of the discovery of explosives (or anything else) that did have something to do with terror. Back in 2008, the New York Times published an article about how ineffective the "If you see something, say something" program is.

Returning to the NBC New York article, I'm blown away by this:

The NYPD says such false alarms have become a frequent but necessary annoyance for authorities laboring to protect a nervous city in the post-9/11 world.

How incredibly wasteful. It's as if we have an innumerable multitude of boys watching the sheep and each one takes a turn at calling, "Wolf!"

The Nationwide SAR Initiative (PDF) (SAR stands for suspicious activity reporting) is a federal program started in December 2009 to gather up all the reports of suspicious activity.

What might not seem significant (for instance, taking a picture of a ferry during loading), when combined with other actions and activity, may become a composite indicating the possibility of criminal—even terrorist— activity. Traditionally, street officers have had little to do with counterterrorism. But after the terrorist attacks of September 11, it became obvious that al Qaeda members had prepared not only in far-off Afghan training camps but also in Minnesota and flight schools in Florida. Therefore, in today’s policing, “connecting the dots” of suspicious activity before an incident occurs has become an integral and imperative job for America’s law enforcement, from the officer on the street to supporting analysts. The NSI is designed to do just that, connect the dots.

Keep in mind that taking photos of a ferry during unloading may be less suspicious. I have to wonder how difficult it is to connect the dots when many of the dots don't belong so I'm curious how the NSI program filters their reports. After all, nobody wants to be the the person who saw something, didn't up channel it, and then have "something happen". We desperately want to be on the safe side--no matter what the cost.

Riverfront Park Water Fountain

The sun was shining brightly during my ride to work this morning.

Repealing Health Care Reform...

...a little at a time.

Congresswoman McMorris Rodgers announced a job creation health care repeal bill yesterday. Entitled the State Flexibility Act, it basically allows states to lower the Medicaid requirements to reduce the number of people on Medicaid. Read the text of the bill and you'll find it does this by repealing the maintenance of effort states are supposed to maintain until the Affordable Care Act takes effect in 2014.

“When it comes to Medicaid (and most issues) ‘the government closest to the people is the best form of government,’” said Rep. McMorris Rodgers at a press conference unveiling the bill. “Our bill follows that principle to make America’s 50 states ‘laboratories of democracy’ in which new ideas for health care spending will have a chance to take effect and the best ideas will win.”

Her best idea is to kick poor people to the curb and make hospitals absorb the cost of the uninsured. Sounds like a win-win proposition.

Marijuana Dispensary Raids Protest

Chants of "DEA. Go away!" and others of similar vein rang out outside the Federal courthouse for much of the day today as a small but boisterous group protested the recent raids on the medical marijuana dispensaries. A couple of SPD patrol cars stopped by for a few minutes. Lots of passing cars honked horns in support. Heck, even Harpman Hatter showed up and played.

No need to rehash everything on this because even if state law was explicitly clear, it is trumped by federal law which lists marijuana as a Schedule I drug. And drugs are bad. M'kay?


Here, according to the Controlled Substances Act, are the characteristics of a Schedule I drug:

* The drug or other substance has a high potential for abuse.
* The drug or other substance has no currently accepted medical use in treatment in the United States.
* There is a lack of accepted safety for use of the drug or other substance under medical supervision.


State law on medical marijuana dispensaries continues to remain ambiguous, in part thanks to Governor Gregoire's partial veto of S.B. 5073 (PDF). One would think that it wouldn't matter anyway, but I beg to differ. If enough states legally establish medical marijuana and there's enough evidence for its medical use, then it would make it easier for it to be moved to Schedule II where morphine resides and where alcohol should be. (I'm not against drinking alcohol, but I've seen what abuse can do. It has a high potential for abuse and can lead to severe physical dependence.) I think Schedule III would be a better fit for marijuana, but I also think that if we can be trusted to purchase, consume and even make (to some extent) alcohol, then we should do the same for marijuana. While it's true anyone can abuse any drug, marijuana is not nearly the demon alcohol is.


And if you're concerned that marijuana is a gateway drug leading to abuse of more dangerous and addictive drugs, take a moment to consider that even milk can be a gateway drug.

Success At Last

With the announcement that Osama Bin Laden is dead, I stopped to think how he effected change in our country. I remember when we could go to the gate and see our friends and relatives off or meet them when they exited the plane. Now we're all suspect and even children can get patted down before they board an airplane. As a nation of primarily Christians we were mostly tolerant yet ignorant or incurious about other religions. Now Islam is feared as a surreptitious, infiltrating religion intent on taking over our country while the vast majority of Muslims are horrified that their religion has been used to justify terrorism. We have used torture against enemies, friends, and our own citizens. We invaded a country that posed no threat to us and we're pouring money and lives into a money pit called Afghanistan. We are in a never ending state of war where the greatest burden is placed on those dispatched overseas while the rest of us are told to go to the mall. Meanwhile we spend more in our military and defense budget than the next eighteen or twenty countries combined and refuse to raise taxes to pay for it. Guantanamo became our collectively ignored shame. The terrorism label was spread so widely, Congress had to pass a bill stating Nelson Mandela, former president of South Africa and a member of the African National Congress--a designated terrorist organization--was not in fact a terrorist so he could travel to the U.S. Warrantless wiretapping was swept under the government secrets rug. National security letters, non-court-authorized search warrants that also prevented the recipient from divulging their existence, allowed the FBI to secretly gather information about American citizens. Jingoism prevailed and patriotism was measured by the wearing of a flag pin.

Included in Bin Laden's goals were bankrupting us by making us militarily active in the Middle East, using U.S. military actions to generate anti-American sentiment and recruit new followers, and making us react so strongly to an attack that we would deny our own freedoms in order to save them.

Before we celebrate the death of Osama Bin Laden, we should examine just how we much we have contributed to his success.

Another Great Bloomsday

Crummy camera photo
The weather totally cooperated with our friend Sue, me, Kathy, and my sister Barb. Kathy, accompanied by Barb, thought she did well for someone who hadn't trained. Sue did better than she expected and then had to go play a double header in softball. I didn't wear a watch, watch the time, or pay attention to the mile markers so it was nice to run free without pressuring myself.

And after following his blog for so long, our paths crossed after today's run and I had the pleasure of meeting Al.