It seems more and more to me that people are apt to get excited about any old thing, thinking that it has to do with terrorism and how they are more and more likely to die because of it. Yet it also seems to me that it would make more sense if people were to become more discerning in their tastes instead of less so. The more experience you have with something, the more discretion you can use in making your decisions. Theoretically, anyway.
Let’s look at Jose Padilla – the so called ‘dirty bomber’. In previous decades, this would likely refer to someone who liked to create incendiary devices in his underwear – or perhaps naked. With the advent of terrorism in the US, this means instead that he was inclined to produce a device which would dirty the atmosphere in a high-density area, such as Manhattan, specifically with radiation, which would lead to widespread sickness and death.
The radiation was supposed to spread after some form of radioactive material was exploded by more conventional devices. This has been in the news for months. Yet it turns out that Padilla’s apparent choice of a source for the radioactive material (uranium) isn’t particularly radioactive at all. One researcher claims he uses it as a doorstop. Another that it’s like blowing up a chunk of lead. Neither seems especially dangerous.
Maybe Jose Padilla is just a distraction while something truly dangerous is planned.