Overreaction

Bruce Schneier says that our mindless reactions to terrorist plots is a victory for them in itself:

Regardless of the threat, from the would-be bombers’ perspective, the explosives and planes were merely tactics. Their goal was to cause terror, and in that they’ve succeeded.

Imagine for a moment what would have happened if they had blown up 10 planes. There would be canceled flights, chaos at airports, bans on carry-on luggage, world leaders talking tough new security measures, political posturing and all sorts of false alarms as jittery people panicked. To a lesser degree, that’s basically what’s happening right now.

Our politicians help the terrorists every time they use fear as a campaign tactic. The press helps every time it writes scare stories about the plot and the threat. And if we’re terrified, and we share that fear, we help. All of these actions intensify and repeat the terrorists’ actions, and increase the effects of their terror.

Nasty Weather?

We’ve had a quiet season so far, but as we get into the end of August, that could be changing:

The Canadian model continues to be very consistent and very gung-ho, developing 97L into a strong tropical storm on Saturday, south of Jamaica, then taking the storm into the Gulf of Mexico as a hurricane.

Will They Be Quartering Her, Too?

Anousheh Ansari may want to reconsider her upcoming trip:

Zvezda has manufactured seats, suits and other personal equipment for every single of Soviet cosmonauts, including Yuri Gagarin and Valentina Tereshkova who was the first woman to fly to space. Ansari as any other female member of a Soyuz-TMA crew requires a different bowl for disembowelment, Pozdnyakov. “This equipment is fit for answering both kinds of calls of the nature,” Pozdnyakov told Space.com in an interview on Thursday.

[Emphasis mine–Via emailer Adrian Reilly]

[Update at noon]

This part was cute, too:

A woman’s organism is different, that’s why we need to modify some of the life systems in the capsule…

It sure is. Vive la difference!

Biting Commentary about Infinity…and Beyond!