Wed, January 19, 2005
That was close!—2:37 PM
I've been tracking some packages which I'm hoping to take delivery of this week, because I want them to go with me on my trip to Boston this weekend. I still use the ancient pH7media start page to do my online delivery tracking, because the "recent searches" feature will store my package tracking numbers and allow me to reuse them if I'm logged in.
Anyway, the packages are here! (Yay!) And, today when I went to load the page, it was blue instead of yellow the way it usually is. For a second, my heart skipped a beat. Had the Homeland Security department really downgraded out Terror Threat Level? And, on the eve of the inauguration? Wow, I guess they really were just using fear to control the populace, and now that the election is won, they can let their guard down.
Then I visited the DHS site and realized no, the Threat Level is still yellow. They just redesigned the site, so the sneaky little way I was determining the color is outdated and must be re-coded. All is right with the world.
By the way, I was thinking about the Bushies' use of the vague terror threat as a means of control, and the whole gay marriage amendment controversy, and I realized: as stupid as the color-coded Terror Threat chart is, it's a sublimely twisted piece of Machiavellian genius. In one stroke, they created a way to perpetuate ambiguous fear without specific details and they co-opted the rectangular rainbow – basically the logo of the homosexual community – and tied it to Osama bin Laden. Surely I'm not the first to make this connection, but I haven't heard anyone else saying it.
Brandon — Wed, 1/19/05 11:19pm
The inauguration... sigh... what a horrible way to start my birthday.
Worst... gift... EVER.
Anonymous Coward — Fri, 1/21/05 1:17pm
Also regarding the color code chart, the FDA, or whoever is trying to get us to eat more healthily, is going to start color coding food packaging to indicate, good for you, bad for you, etc. Pretty soon we won't even have to learn to read (or think), which works pretty well since "no child left behind" is leaving behind plenty. What happens to the poor color blind people?