Preposterous Universe

 
Schrödinger's administration

I used to think that the Bush administration was deeply classical, denying the profound truths of quantum mechanics. But, perhaps in celebration of the World Year of Physics, they seem to be studying up on some of the deep insights of twentieth-century science. Unfortunately, their information appears to come from What the #$*! Do We Know!?, a movie that explains how quantum mechanics is all about a deep connection between our consciousness and physical reality, and how we can actually alter reality itself by shifting our mental states.

Can there be any other explanation?

Bush administration eliminating 19-year-old international terrorism report

WASHINGTON - The State Department decided to stop publishing an annual report on international terrorism after the government's top terrorism center concluded that there were more terrorist attacks in 2004 than in any year since 1985, the first year the publication covered.

[...]

According to Johnson and U.S. intelligence officials familiar with the issue, statistics that the National Counterterrorism Center provided to the State Department reported 625 "significant" terrorist attacks in 2004.

That compared with 175 such incidents in 2003, the highest number in two decades.

The statistics didn't include attacks on American troops in Iraq, which President Bush as recently as Tuesday called "a central front in the war on terror."

The intelligence officials requested anonymity because the information is classified and because, they said, they feared White House retribution. Johnson declined to say how he obtained the figures.

(From Big Brass Blog and DailyKos; Michael Bérubé has an improved version.)

You can't deny the beauty of the strategy. If you stop thinking about terrorism, there won't be any terrorism! Why didn't we try this sooner?

~ posted by Sean Carroll at 9:07 AM ~ link ~ ~ ~