An item in OpinionJournal quotes some “experts” who believe our success against the al Qaeda terrorist network is a cause for concern about our long term security. Here’s a taste:

Our favorite, though, is the closing quote in the piece:

IntelCenter chief executive Ben Venzke said the chance of an al Qaeda attack on U.S. soil has grown based on the militant network’s increasing references to the American homeland in public messages.

“Our leading thinking is that we are closer now to an attempt at a major attack in the United States than at any point since 9/11,” Venzke said.

There is no denying Venzke is right. If an al Qaeda attack is in the future, then it is closer now than at any point since 9/11. Venzke has stumbled onto something profound: the linear and sequential nature of time.

There are other disturbing implications as well. If you survived 9/11–and this is true no matter who you are–you are more than five years closer to death now than you were then. Reuters should look into this aspect of the story. No doubt they can find some experts to explain that it’s President Bush’s fault.

Not to mention that today is the tomorrow you worried about yesterday. (Where did I read that? Must have been one of those daily inspiration calendars).

Anyway, when success is spun as failure by the MSM it is certainly a brave new world. Or 1984.

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Today was my first day back in the office after a four day weekend. No, it was not a mini-vacation, it was sick leave to deal with a minor medical issue. No worries, all is well.

So I had the normal chore of catching up with email and the like, but thankfully nothing real stressful to deal with. I knew going in that I had to be at work for a teleconference with the Office of Personnel Management in DC at 2100. What I didn’t expect was a Video Teleconference from 2200-0100 with the Pentagon. Around midnight I figured out that what they were talking about didn’t affect our function, so I skated on out of there. Now I am home trying to unwind. The good thing is my boss said I could stay home till noon tomorrow. Woo Hoo!

In between I had my first level two Korean lesson. I am going to like this a lot more because I am getting one-on-one tutoring, which is what I need. Tonight we worked on double vowels and double consonants. There is apparently a distinction between many of these sounds, but damn, I am struggling to hear it. I don’t have Hangul software (yet) so I can’t show you the symbols, but let’s just say that we and wei sound the same coming out of my mouth at this point. Anyway, my tutor (a nice high school lad) thought my pronunciation was generally good and he didn’t seem as frustrated as I was at my inability to replicate the nuances in articulating those combinations.

Kevin from Hairy Chasms left a helpful comment on things I can do to work on my reading. Things like reading maps and menus Korean. A useful tip that I will incorporate into my learning activities. I have also started reading random signs and the Hangul versions of the subway stops. It does help with the pronunciation and builds confidence. I’m probably too hard on myself, but language acquisition doesn’t come easy for me. At least Spanish was familiar, but Korean is totally outside my realm of experience (yeah, yeah, I have been here two years, but mostly in Itaewon which is of course nothing like Korea).

I have been resisting writing in Hangul, prefering to Romanize my translations. I know, I know. But honestly, I can’t read my own writing and I think it helps me pronounce when I can visually see what I am trying to say. We’ll see.

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