Now there's a winning combination. Let's start at the top.
As videos of bin Laden spending the last days of his life huddled under a blanket watching himself on TV (come on, doesn't he have youtube in that mansion?) begin to surface in the news, something else is rising to the top of the water as well--realization. People are finally beginning to realize that the death of one terrorist--even if he was a prominent leader--does not mean the end of terrorism. In fact, it probably doesn't even mean the end of the war in Afghanistan. There are plenty of terrorist groups still active, and frankly, killing bin Laden probably just made a lot of terrorists even angrier at the US than they were before. The diversion of two US commerical flights to nearby airports in the past week--both of which resulted in the evacuation and interrogation of all passengers and a thorough search of the plane--is certainly not a great sign. Let's face it, the death of Osama was a symbolic victory for Americans who lost 3,000 citizens in a seemingly meaningless act of violence. Whether or not his death will make an actual impact is something for which we can only hope.
In other news, New Mexican fleas may be the next big thing for us to worry about as Americans. A man who lives in New Mexico was diagnosed with and treated for bubonic plague this week. That's right, it's still around! Apparently 10 to 15 Americans catch it every year. It's treatable, but it's also another great reason to bathe and to keep rats and fleas at a safe distance. On the other hand, now that we're no longer living in the Dark Ages, if bubonic plague actually does become a serious issue, we could always get little flea collars for everyone at a cheap price. We could wear them on our wrists--it could be the new Livestrong bracelet!
Also on the list of dangers in America are...bunkbeds! That's right, thousands of kids around America may find themselves involuntarily re-enacting that scene from the movie Stepbrothers where their homemade bunkbeds collapse. Except these are bunkbeds sold by family-friendly stores like Wal-mart and Target that have bed rails prone to breaking and causing some minor injuries. Can you imagine waking up to a bed falling on top of you? Ouch.
And finally, having trouble finding a parking space? There's an app for that. That's right, apparently in San Francisco they're experimenting with this new app for smartphones that notifies people of open parking spaces. The spaces have some kind of electronic sensors that enable them to send signals to the app when spaces open up. Of course, while you're looking at your smartphone trying to find a space, you may accidentally run over a pedestrian. And won't this merely increase parking lot rage? A bunch of people all racing madly to the same space? Maybe the app can be integrated with Foursquare. "Pete just checked in at Space A-2! Better keep looking, lazybones."
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703859304576306941215709576.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/2011/05/08/2011-05-08_man_in_new_mexico_diagnosed_with_bubonic_plague_first_case_of_black_death_in_201.html
http://www.imperfectparent.com/topics/2011/05/08/bunk-bed-sold-by-major-retailers-has-collapse-risk/
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/technology/08parking.html
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