Hurricane Rita is now packing winds at over 165mph.
Gallup: 75% of Americans believe Bin Laden is planning an attack
Interesting results from a Gallup Poll released today:
Roughly three-fourths (76%) of Americans think that “bin Laden himself is currently planning a significant terrorist attack against the United States.” Of these, slightly more than half think he will succeed. All told, then, 40% of Americans believe bin Laden is planning an attack that will succeed, 36% believe he is planning an attack that will not succeed, and 20% do not believe he is planning an attack.
In the fall of 2001, how many Americans would have guessed that bin Laden would still be at large four years later? In late November 2001, 78% of Americans felt it was “very” (34%) or “somewhat” (44%) likely that the United States would be able to capture or kill bin Laden. Today, Americans express a more tempered optimism — 55% believe bin Laden’s capture or demise is very (17%) or somewhat (38%) likely. Results on this question have varied substantially over the past four years. The current very/somewhat likely percentage is the same as the low measured in March 2002. Optimism was highest in the first few months after the terrorist attacks.
Eliminating bin Laden would undoubtedly be a major blow to al Qaeda, but Americans are by no means under the impression that getting rid of bin Laden would mean the end of the terrorist organization he masterminded. Ninety-two percent of Americans say that if even if bin Laden is captured or killed, al Qaeda will remain a threat to the United States.
That said, nearly two-thirds (63%) of Americans think it is either “extremely” (37%) or “very” (26%) important to the United States that bin Laden be captured or killed, with an additional 24% saying “somewhat important.”
Hurricane Rita – Reminding us all to live in the moment
Katrina may have provided a lesson, and if you are in the Keys, I hope you have evacuated. Gulf Coast be ready – its always best to hesitate before proliferating panic…. but then I saw this ever-threatening satellite shot from NASA. Rita is forecast to travel west from the keys and into the Gulf of Mexico, now even more cooking than when Katrina passed through.
Reuters reports that another major storm in the Gulf would devastate U.S. energy and oil supplies.
New Orleans Mayor C. Ray Nagin has wisely declared New Orleans uninhabitable as even a glancing blow from this storm would flood the debilitated city once again.
Project Censored Top 25 2006 released
Project Censored has released its much awaited list of the Top 25 censored news stories of the past year. Complete with links – check it out!