You have to wonder . . . have they won?

This is the kind of news article that has me wondering that very question. As the anniversary of 9/11 grows near certainly there are many people who grow more conscious of the events that took place that day. But I have to wonder several questions?

• First off, are we any safer than we were on September 11th?
• Do we have a better idea of how to protect ourselves in the future?
• If the first two questions are true, then why are people so freaking paranoid?

I could offer several examples that have crossed my radar that clearly demonstrate how ridiculously paranoid people are responding to the fear of terrorism. However, I'm not going to do that. I'm not going to waste my time doing it as I have little time to even write this post. In case you haven't the time to read the article however, here's a brief run-down: Two people, a brother and sister, belong to a running club. In preparation for an afternoon run for them and the rest of their club, they marked the trail that the club was to use. On this particular day the trail was intended to wind through the Ikea parking lot. As is often the case, the trail is designed to be challenging often branching into dead-ends and forked trails. They chose, as they have on several occasions, from one end of the US to the other without incident, to use flour to mark the trail. However this time it was different. Someone saw them and called the police. The brother and sister, he an ophthalmologist and his sister a German visitor, were charged with a felony. The charge is first-degree breach of peace. What the hell is breach of peace? I don't know either. Here's the results of a search if you'd like to invest the time. It seems the reason they're being charged is that the authorities treated the whole situation as if this was a suspected terrorist attack. They made everyone leave the store, called the hazmat team and did the whole "root out those terr'ists" bang-up job. More than likely the entire thing was probably a little embarrassing once they'd determined they all assembled for flour.

Perhaps that's why the city is going after them for restitution. A spokesman for the city said,

"You see powder connected by arrows and chalk, you never know," she said. "It could be a terrorist, it could be something more serious. We're thankful it wasn't, but there were a lot of resources that went into figuring that out."

Yes, that's what I always think when I see arrows, chalk and flour. I figure another terrorist attack is eminent, I break out the duct tape and plastic and bury myself and my family until I muster up enough courage to pull my head out of the sand and see if it's all clear. Perhaps I missed the latest intelligence memo? I didn't know that terrorists weren't fond of Ikea furniture. I'll never step foot in another furniture store again without looking over my shoulder and be ever-so-aware for any indication that suggests terrorist activity.