I assume that a lot of you are familiar with the Underpants Gnomes from the animated series South Park. They were observed stealing underpants and then questioned as to why they did it.

Well, the Gnomes had a business plan:

Phase 1: Steal the Underpants.

Phase 2: ?

Phase 3: Profit!

They didn’t know what they were going to do in Phase 2, but they started Phase 1.

Of course, this is much the same as the Republican budget plans:

Phase 1: Cut taxes for the 1%.

Phase 2: The Market does something ?

Phase 3: Prosperity!

I was reminded of this thought process when discussing the newest iteration of Total Information Awareness, TrapWire:

Phase 1: Gather as much Data as possible.

Phase 2: Have computers do something with the Data?

Phase 3: We catch all the “Terrorists”!

Well the NYPD decided to implement a smaller version with the special “Demographics Unit” created in conjunction with the CIA. Recently the head of the unit had to testify under oath about its activities in a deposition. We now know that after six years of intensive, intrusive, legally-questionable spying by NYPD “Demographics Unit” [racial profiling squad] these methods yielded: nothing, nada, zip, zero. No leads, no arrests, no warnings of attacks, no “terrorists” identified – NOTHING!

Like I’ve been saying from the start – there is no magic solution, there is no shortcut, there is only good, old-fashioned police work. You walk and you talk. Slowly, but surely, you find out what’s going on.

Instead of wasting money on this loser of a program, they could have been sending officers to classes on comparative religion or training them to speak enough of the languages involved to show the communities that they were respected. You can’t do this from a squad car, you have to walk the streets in the community so people get to know you while you get to know them. You build trust and people will talk to you.

Position: 15.6N 55.6W [10PM CDT 0300 UTC].
Movement: West [275°] near 18 mph [30 kph].
Maximum sustained winds: 40 mph [ 65 kph].
Wind Gusts: 55 mph [ 90 kph].
Tropical Storm Wind Radius: 45 Miles [ 75 km].
Minimum central pressure: 1006 mb.

Currently about 390 miles [ 625 km] East of Guadeloupe.

A Tropical Storm Warning is in effect for Martinique, Dominica, Guadeloupe, St Martin, St Kitts, Nevis, Antigua, Montserrat, Anguilla, Barbuda, Saba, St Eustatius, St Maarten, the British Virgin Islands, the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra.

A Hurricane Watch is in effect for the US Virgin Islands, Puerto Rico, Vieques, and Culebra.

Here’s the link for NOAA’s latest satellite images.

[For the latest information click on the storm symbol, or go to the CATEGORIES drop-down box below the CALENDAR and select “Hurricanes” for all of the posts related to storms on this site.]