If you see something, just be quiet.

A guy was unloading some equipment for an after school class in martial arts at a Beaverton elementary school this afternoon. A parent saw him carrying a long bag that looked like it could contain a gun, so she dialed 911. Two minutes later an eight man SWAT team showed up with shields and M-16's. Hoo boy! Excitement! Situation resolved peacefully, nobody got shot. Parent could have just asked someone, but no, better be safe than sorry.

Sad state of affairs. Anybody could be carrying a gun and enough ammunition to wipe out an entire class of kindergartners. Women with big purses are especially suspect. There isn't enough security in the world to prevent a determined maniac from wreaking havoc. If we are going to have an open society, we are going to have to accept certain risks.

If you see something, speak to the person you suspect. It might get you shot, but at least everyone else will have some warning that something wicked is coming their way. Calling out the coppers every time you see a woman with a big purse only raises the odds that someone will get shot for no reason at all, other than you thought the sky was falling.

Embargo Saudi Arabia

There is something fundamentally wrong with Saudi Arabia. We send them a billion dollars a week, they send us boatloads of oil. They send us a billion dollars, we send them a handful of advanced military aircraft. Rumor has it that their government supports Wahhabi schools. Our government says Saudi Arabia is our friend. The price of oil might go up if we blockade Saudi Arabia, but it might go up anyway. If the number of terrorist acts go down, we might all have a little more money, since no one will be having to replace the stuff the terrorists have destroyed.

Never mind people's lives. Only live people vote and the only thing most live people care about is how much money they have in their pocket. Being as an elected official's primary concern is getting re-elected, keeping the price of gasoline down, and thereby keeping more money in their constituents pockets is their primary goal. Never mind what's right.

If we really want things to really change, something needs to be done about "our friend" Saudi Arabia. So write your congressman and tell him we need to put a stop to Saudi oil production. Cutting off the Saudi's supply of money is the only thing that will convince them they are doing something wrong. Freeze all their assets in the US while we are at it. The Islamic extremists want a war? Let's give them one.