In the footsteps of yndy . . .

. . . I link you now to the Kung Fu Monkey, who exquisitely sums up in this article about the latest terror dog-and-pony show exactly what I've been saying since 9/11:  Our government's response to terrorism is doing terrorists' work for them and handing them every goal they ever wanted, nicely arranged on a silver platter artistically inlaid with inscriptions from the Prophet.

The great Canadian plot that had organized over the internet, was penetrated by the Mounties on day one, and we were told had a TRUCK FULL OF EXPLOSIVES ... which they had bought from the Mounties in a sting operation but hey let's skip right over that.  Or how about the "compound" of Christian cultists in Florida who were planning on blowing up the Sears Tower with ... kung fu?

And now these guys. As the initial "OH SWEET MOTHER OF GOD THEY CAN BLOW US UP WITH SNAPPLE BOTTLES!!" hysteria subsides, we discover that these guys had been under surveillance, completely penetrated, by no less than three major intelligence agencies.  That they were planning on cell phones, and some of them openly travelled to Pakistan (way to keep the cover, Reilly, Ace of Spies). Hell, Chertoff knew about this two weeks ago, and the only reason that some people can scream this headline:

"The London Bombers were within DAYS of trying a dry run!!!"

-- was because MI-5, MI-6, and Scotland Yard let them get that close, so they could suck in the largest number of contacts (again, very spiffy police work).  The fact that these wingnuts could have been rolled up, at will, at any time, seems to have competely escaped the media buzz.

This is terrorism's A-game?  Sack up, people.

OK, people, pop quiz.  What's the goal of terrorism?  That's right, to create terror.  And what is our government doing about it?  Yup, that's right.  Creating terror.

"ZOMGWTFBBQ, international terrorists ALMOST BLEW UP A DOZEN PLANES WITH GATORADE BOTTLES!!!  We could all have DIED!!!"  Well, yeah.  Almost.  For values of "almost" that turn out to be "they didn't even get to make their dry run to see if it had any chance of working, they were rolled up as soon as they got ready to try it, because their entire organization had been penetrated to the core for months and they could hardly take a dump without Scotland Yard and Interpol knowing about it before they got done flushing."  Frankly, it was a non-event.  "Amateur Terrorists Fuck Up Big Time" would have been a better headline.  But to listen to the hysteria emanating from inside the beltway, you'd think they'd come within seconds of detonating dirty fusion bombs in the centers of multiple American cities and the town of Crawford, Texas.

Do you suppose it's mere coincidence that this huge media circus arrived just in time to distract attention from Joe "Hey, the Iraq War is cool!" Lieberman's humiliating rejection by his own party in the Connecticut Democratic primary?  . . . No, I didn't think so either.

Get this straight, folks, and get it good:  Al-Qaeda and other terrorist organizations to their best to foment and use terror to further their political ends.

And so does the Bush administration.  It's just that the ends are different.

Back to the Kung Fu Monkey for a moment . . .

Maybe it's just, I cast my eyes back on the last century ...

FDR [in 1941]: Oh, I'm sorry, was wiping out our entire Pacific fleet supposed to intimidate us? We have nothing to fear but fear itself, and right now we're coming to kick your ass with brand new destroyers riveted by waitresses. How's that going to feel?

CHURCHILL [in 1940]: Yeah, you keep bombing us. We'll be in the pub, flipping you off. I'm slapping Rolls-Royce engines into untested flying coffins to knock you out of the skies, and then I'm sending angry Welshmen to burn your country from the Rhine to the Polish border.

US, NOW: BE AFRAID!! Oh God, the Brown Bad people could strike any moment! They could strike ... NOW!! AHHHH. Okay, how about .. NOW!! AAGAGAHAHAHHAG! Quick, do whatever we tell you, and believe whatever we tell you, or YOU WILL BE KILLED BY BROWN PEOPLE!! PUT DOWN THAT SIPPY CUP!!

Monkey's kung fu is strong.

It figures

July 13, 2006:  It is reported that Microsoft has made VirtualPC available as a free download.

August 10, 2006:  Microsoft gives VirtualPC the axe.

If you want to get it while you still can, the download page is here.

Update:

radarrider pointed out that VirtualPC is now available both for the Mac and for Windows, and it is only the Mac version that Microsoft is killing.  VirtualPC for Windows will still be developed.

Of course, this raises the baffling question of why Microsoft no longer wants to sell a product that allows Mac owners to run Windows on their Macs, but is going to continue to develop a product that allows owners of PCs to run non-Windows OSen under Windows.