BE FRIGHTENED. DO NOTHING.
Attorney General Ashcroft lets us know [1] of some potential imminent danger. Be warned, be prepared. Go with this knowledge: Within a week (well, maybe a week, maybe more, maybe not), according to intelligence sources, there may be another terrorist action.
What sort of action? The informed sources, the intelligence people, are not exactly certain.
Where might this action occur? Good question. Could be on our shores. Could be somewhere else. Not exactly sure where.
Given this important alert, the obvious question is this: What should all good, patriotic, forewarned Americans do? Even those who aren't American, but might be visiting this country. Or people in other places, Americans or other nationals, because the predicted action might take place elsewhere... what should they do?
The man with the inside knowledge has consulted the President. He's spoken with leaders, intelligence people from all sorts of places, and has the word, ready to pass it on to those within the sound of his voice (or newsbite or repeated feed on MSNBC, CNN, et al).
DO NOTHING! That's the word from on high!! Go about one's regular business. Don't let the evil-doers, the agents of terrorism, the bad guys, intimidate you! Don't back down or cower in the face of this faceless enemy who might do something somewhere!
Do whatever was planned!
Should the people be scared, ask the newspeople covering this announcement. Yes, fear makes sense, it is natural. But don't let that fear get in the way of going about one's daily business, the Attorney General counsels us, via the reporters and their portable recorders.
Be forewarned. Something scary will happen. Don't let it bother you.
Whew! Good thing they gave us advance notice!
HOW DO THE AL QUEDA AND THE TALIBAN FEEL?
In a related story, President Bush warned Americans about the mood of the bad guy, the evil-doer, the enemy.
"Our enemies still hate us," said Bush. But Bush urged people not to halt their usual activities. ìThe American public must go about their lives. I understand itís a fine balance,î Bush said.
Curious Concepts
Remember pop singer/songwriter Cat Stevens? He had a string of hits: Peace Train, Morning Has Broken, Moonshadow, to name a few. He's the one who became a Shiite Muslim a few days before the siezure of the American Embassy in Tehran. He abandoned the pop world to devote himself to Islam, opened up a school in London, and changed his name to Yusuf Islam. His story, including the conversion and what he's all about since then, can be found here [2].
Yusef (which does not translate into Cat in Arabic) has since released some religious music, but is largely out of the spotlight.
That brings us to heavy metal band Anthrax. Here's a quote that sums it up quite neatly: "We never thought the day would come that our name would actually mean what it really means." Obviously this sentiment never struck the late punk group, The Dead Kennedys.
Anthrax claims it is really a nice, wholesome bunch of chunga-clangers, a worthy and decent heavy metal band. Read about that here [3].
The band has a very entertaining site [4]. News and information about the disease can be found there. There's also a top-of-page link to click over to a relief effort and -in big, punkish lettering- the band's statement: WE WILL NOT BE TERRORIZED<
Wouldn't it be wonderful if some enterprising production type at a radio station could meld an Anthrax tune and a Cat Stevens ditty into one? A variation, maybe, on that Neil Diamond and Barbra Streisand "collaboration" created by a production man at a Louisville radio station a decade or two ago. "Random Acts of Senseless Violence" in a montage with "Wild World," I can hear it now!
An album could be issued! The collaboration known as "CATHRAX" releases "Bordello of Blood meets Tea For The Tillerman."
Maybe this threatened event of terror is the release of that album.