Where do you find those sites? That's kind of cute.

I read too where the source of the warnings for Memorial Day was an "unidentified detainee". I imagined some guy being interrogated sensing his questioner wanted to hear something, gave him something.

A puzzling aspect is how many Taliban or al-Qeeada Muslims, after being detained for this long, are aware of "Memorial Day" in the US? I know, it could have been an operation with a long lead time, but from what I've read they plan them, and the dates for execution are "floating". How could a guy whose been in Guantanamo this long have come up with "Memorial Day" unless the interrogator was hinting around? And maybe the detainee isn't in Cuba.

Next thought was a bit more comforting. I suspect the detainees aren't given any information about the outside. They can't know how much effect these muttering are having. If they did, we might have more than bank and monument warnings.

You've hit on a very, very weak point in our psyche. All anyone who wants to raise hell would have to do is rent a machine at some cyber cafe and send a threatening email to a US embassy. Evacuate, fly in the bomb-sniffing dogs, search, hire more security people and go back to work. All for hardly any cost.

(If I'd have known bomb threats could shut down a high school, I'd have been caught fast. They would have all been timed for the dates of my tests. Can't help but think that would have come out.)

I suspect those reports on the warnings aren't all that valid, either. It would seem to be easy to check Isvestia, and I'm suspicious the mainstream press hasn't followed up if it's true.

While I'm rambling, a couple of more thoughts occur. There were aspects to some of the warnings they had which could have been followed up, that were more than anonymous mutterings. I'm surprised the National Security Advisor is limited to reading the briefings, not seeing credible information regarding threats is followed up. I was watching Rice say "Who would have thought they would turn airplanes into missiles and fly them into buildings?" Well, a lot of people had, and I would have hoped the National Security Advisor might have. That seemed disingenuous.

And, that all this was kept secret is bothersome. It was an "attack on America", you, me, our country, the government, not just the present administration. I think the American people deserve to have their representatives involved in the analysis and solution, if for nothing else than the trust issue.

I think keeping what they knew about the warnings secret is what will turn it into a political mess. They though they had to cover their asses because they did know more (why was Ashcroft told to stay off commercial airliners) than they said. And, that they can't act on everything is persuasive, too.
The only thing that would persuade me they could reasonably have been expected to have done more is if more secrets keep coming.

And my hat's off to the designers of the $20 bill. They are truly psychic. Unless, and I hadn't thought of this, the bills were printed after 9-20 or so. Glad I figured that out. It was getting eery.

It's a great day. Hope you enjoy it.

Arf