Terror threat level red…
…means pie level peach.
I mean, you can’t mess around when you’re at level red. Mere coconut cream ain’t gonna cut it (so to speak). Desperate times call for heavy pie artillery. So it’s peach today, because nothing’s better.
Could have done a better job on the crust, though, and certainly on the picture. I was in a hurry.
Just one bit of bloggage today: This Slate piece, pointing out how often terror-spotting technology — drones and satellites and so forth — is trumped by plain old police work:
Border patrols and detection devices are necessary tools. Like locks on the front door, they make it harder for terrorists to make plans and wreak havoc. But there’s always a back door or window that can be pried open. Preventing that from happening requires good intelligence, and good intelligence requires contacts with the sort of people who hang around the dark alleys of the world.
There’s a broader lesson here, and it speaks to the Bush administration’s present jam throughout the Middle East and in other danger zones. If the British had adopted the same policy toward dealing with Pakistan that Bush has adopted toward dealing with, say, Syria or Iran (namely, it’s an evil regime, and we don’t speak with evil regimes), then a lot of passenger planes would have shattered and spilled into the ocean, hundreds or thousands of people would have died, and the world would have suddenly been plunged into very scary territory.
Police are nothing without informants, who are frequently criminals themselves. A useful lesson to remember.
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Danny said on August 10th, 2006 at 9:59 pm
I just did a bunch, I mean BUNCH of hill climbing on my bike. Yet sadly, no peach pie for me. But I will be making mexican food and that is also an excellent way to fight terrrroooorrr!
Hasta!
brian stouder said on August 10th, 2006 at 10:14 pm
If the British had adopted the same policy toward dealing with Pakistan that Bush has adopted toward dealing with, say, Syria or Iran
whatever.
But the United States has as close a relationship with Pakistan as is possible; certainly the UK is not dealing with Pakistan in a more effective way than we are.
From all I have read both today and previously, Mushariff has a bit of a tight-rope to walk, and in fact he cannot be seen as too beholdin’ to the United States.
I believe that Pakistan provides a pretty good historical example of what Saddam could have done in the immediate aftermath of the September 11 assaults, in order to “get right” with the United States. Recall that Pakistan was seemingly on the verge of nuclear war with India (remember the scarey series of nuke tests about 10 summers ago? India and Pakistan were engaged in a genuinely terrifying dance toward the abyss). The military coup that installed Mushariff was all the more frightening.…and indeed, Pakistan has very dirty hands with regard to Taliban and by extension al Qaeda.
Yet, after the attacks in NYC and DC and PA, Mushariff immediately offered up what assistance he could, and we immediately opened up the checkbook for him. aQ has since tried to kill him several times (and they may well succeed at some point; certainly they haven’t stopped trying) Everyone knows that Mushariff will only go so far — and yet it DOES seem that he goes as far as he can for us.…and although I agree that W has been inept on many fronts, he has handles Pakistan exactly right.
By way of saying, the Slate article makes a self-evidently correct point, but it devalues it by swerving out of its way to try and score a few essentially dishonest political potshots
Danny said on August 10th, 2006 at 10:19 pm
Brian, kinda what I was thinking when I read the excerpt Nancy posted. Gotta go. I am doing this in between frying taco shells and making guacamole!
James said on August 11th, 2006 at 7:04 am
I think what’s interesting about the British arrests are that they are the result of police work, not military adventurism.
Hmmm… Maybe we should deal with the “War on Terror” as a police matter. Now where have I heard that before…
Dorothy said on August 11th, 2006 at 8:08 am
I’ve made two peach pies in the last month. Mmmmm, good! Didn’t know until after we moved here that South Carolina produces more peaches than Georgia (which is the Peachtree State). Seeing your picture, Nance, made me decide to get some more today after work to make another one this weekend. (Bike on over, Danny, I’ll even have some vanilla ice cream on the side!)
Connie said on August 11th, 2006 at 8:20 am
I’ve been known to say that the Michigan peach crop is the reason I moved back to this area. OK, I’m in Indiana, but right on the state line. Our favorite peach recipe is one we call Peach Slop, which has sweet juicy peach goo on the bottom and a somewhat pastry like puffy crust on top. Warm with ice cream of course.
For you Michiganders looking for something truly fun to do this weekend my husband will have his willow chairs and rustic furniture at the Grand Blanc art fair. (South of Flint.)
brian stouder said on August 11th, 2006 at 10:03 am
excerpt from the article at http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/14297890/
Neighbors identified one of the suspects as Don Stewart-Whyte, 21, from High Wycombe, a convert who changed his name to Abdul Waheed. “He converted to Islam about six months ago and grew a full beard,�? said a neighbor, who refused to be identified. “He used to smoke weed and drink a lot but he is completely different now.�?
Made me laugh out loud that this stoner renamed himself “Waheed”! The joke must have gone over the Imam’s covered head.
Anyway, and luckily enough for us, apparently aQ’s B-team consists of western-born ‘reformed’ party hounds (at least in part); who are (apparently) easier for our law enforcement assets to detect and disrupt BEFORE they get to act, now that the the military (amongst other institutions) has adventurously degraded the original-recipe aQ