Happy Birthday, old friend. Hope you're having fun with Charlie.

ADA stuff for deaf folks, anybody with a hearing loss in workplaces....

Bin Laden's Minions Strikes Again

Or maybe they aren't his boys. In a typical terrorist organization oftentimes there's dissenting opinions of how things should be done and the dissenters and their supporters would leave and form a splinter cell or organization (think the IRA, Provisional IRA, the Real IRA) to carry out their objectives. Sod 'em all!

Living in New York City you're very aware of reactions from the police department. The conversation about the 21 men arrested in London in connection to a possible terrorist act on planes en route to New York from London filtered in and out at work and play times. It was brought up at Jen's birthday dinner last night and after hearing my staff and consumers' reactions to news all day I was sick of it. A couple hours into dinner, a friend mentioned "hey no one's mentioned what happened this morning" - naturally we knew what it was all about, not assume and reply something else. We talked about it a while and I stated generally that based on NYPD's reactions to heightened threats in other international cities the police would increase their presence in the city especially the trains, it's becoming quite commonplace. Last month or so something happened - I have to admit it's becoming quite routine that one don't bother keeping track nowadays - and Bloomsberg said any threat to a city is a threat to NYC and nothing wrong with taking precautions.

I've been living in post-9/11 New York since 2002. I got a taste of it in Ireland, the UK, and Switzerland where I was a registered Alien living in Ireland, and travelling between September 2001 and June 2002. I know someone who refused to take the train for nearly two years after 9/11. It eventually began to crimp her convenience in transportation plans so she gave up. She chose convenience over living in fear. I think it's healthy. You can always be aware, but go on with things. Things happen. The British, the Spanish, Israelis for example are accustomed to being wary of terrorist activities by the IRA, the Basque separatists and suicide bombers.

Israel is famous for superhigh security measures at airports- zero hijacking for long as anyone can remember (even in the 70s and 80s). They're used to long and slow lines, having their luggages x-rayed, taken apart and put back together, taking shoes off. They don't complain because they are in comfort knowing that precautions are being done. I feel the same way whenever there's an increased presence of NYPD and security measures in the city.