With a billionaire behind this (Bin Ladin), and likely Iraq having some hand in this - we were lucky. Instead of the pictures of the plane flying into the trade center, we could very easily have the picture of a mushroom cloud rising over New York and Washington. We also could have easily had biological weapons released. It could have been millions.

Agreed. Let us all pray that we get to the bottom of this before worse things come to pass.

I wouldn't be so happy, the mushroom cloud might still happen.

Once they get over the shock of this success, they might get bolder.

The more time, the more evidence. These people wanted to be found. They didn't care, they knew they were going to die.

A missile shield won't save you against a suitcase nuke.

I had a terrifying thought last night. What if this is the first in a wave of major attacks. Obviously the next attack won't be using hijacked airliners.

A Cessna loaded with explosives diving into a football crowd would be pretty horrific. There's not a lot we can do to protect ourselves.

Worse. A Cessna over New York dropping certain chemical weapons that are known (if I know the structures and how to make them, it's trivial for terrorists to know) would literally kill millions. These things take a picagram to kill you, absorb immediately through the skin, and are much more persistant than biological weapons.

We've always known these possibilities - we've just always been able to compartmentalize them in our mind as too remote to consider. In that way, this week's actions have indeed instilled a seed of terror in all of us.

Remember when that kid landed a Cessna in Red Square during the late 80's? I bet the Soviets were having a fit. (heh)

- Alan

How hard is it to make VX gas, I wonder? The Guinness Book lists it as the most lethal nerve gas: a lethal dosage is 1/93 of an ounce per cubic foot of airspace. Or hell, in the water supply, it's 1/675,000 of an ounce orally.

You know those few flights that were supposed to be allowed to finish their routes today? They already arrested a handful of people with forged credentials pretending to be airline employees. I don't think it's supposed to be over yet, the question is just whether or not we can stop it.

It's a good time to live in Vermont.

"How hard is it to make VX gas, I wonder?"

Not hard at all. Basically, if you have the skills to synthesize cocaine (easy) you can make VX. And Guiness is a bit behind the curve in terms of what is the most lethal.

Oh - by the way, for those here who don't know me, I'm not a drug producer, just a chemist by training.

>And Guiness is a bit behind the curve in terms of what is the most lethal.

What's a more lethal nerve gas, then (out of curiosity)? Guinness has a different chemical listed for the most lethal artificial substance.

"Oh - by the way, for those here who don't know me, I'm not a drug producer"

Yes, but if we were in a pinch and really needed some drugs produced, you'd help us out, woudn't cha Jeff? I'll have some of that white stuff over there.

-Tim