Everyone thought I was paranoid when I …

• Was worried about a global flu pandemic… Granted, when I prattled on about the flu I was talking about the bird flu but I was worried about infectious disease – specifically Dengue Fever and Ebla long before bird flu came along, and now this happens: Mexico City has basically shit down due to a swine flu outbreak. This is scary because this may be the same flu that is circulating around the SW US and is eerily similar to the 1918 Spanish flu that killed millions around the world. This is also scary because flu season should be over, at least in Mexico.
  
• Said I have a phobia of velociraptors… You may or may not have read that Florida is considered, by some anyway, to be the ‘Ellis Island’ for exotic species. Recent events like hurricanes let snakes like Burmese Pythons to escape and breed and become a problem (they can grow to 20 feet and have been found with six foot alligators in their stomachs). There are other reasons these animals are now all over, people buy them as pets and let them go. One such friendly critter called the Nile monitor has been wreaking havoc in Cape Coral, FL. According to the 20 April New Yorker, they ‘often hunt in packs, like modern day velociraptors.’ Apparently, they ‘are notoriously aggressive and ill-tempered. When corned, a monitor will stand on its hind legs and hiss, inflating its body and lashing its tail like a bullwhip.’ Nice. They can also travel pretty far though seem to be happy where they are… at least for now.
  
• Opposed the changes to FISA… Since its creation in 1978, the FISA court has turned down five requests by law enforcement to listen to communications but that wasn’t good enough for the Bush administration, which forced Congress to change the law in 2007. It turns out, our spy agencies were listening in to Congresswoman Jane Harmon (D-CA). If they can listen to her legally, they can listen to you.
  

I don’t mean to tell you I told you so, but I did. J