Another pointless terror warning

Another pointless terror warning

   It’s times like these in which my lifelong aversion to flying serves me well. My apathy toward most European countries (save Ireland) doesn’t hurt, either.

   This week, the U.S. State Department issued a rare travel alert for “potential terrorist attacks in Europe.”

   As I heard it, the alert was directed in particular at American citizens traveling with a broad. Or maybe it was directed at Americans traveling abroad. I’m not sure. I get confused.

   Some forewarn that this Sunday is 10-10-10 and that that may be a bad omen. Of course, the same was said four years ago on June 6, 2006 (666). Supposedly, Nov. 11 of next year (11-11-11) could be another targeted date, and we all know about Dec. 12, 2012 (the dreaded, end-of-the-world 12-12-12 (or is it 12-21-12?)

   It’s enough to make one wonder if humankind’s ancestors were similarly worked up a couple of thousand years ago. Shortly after the first Christmas, Mary, no doubt, woke up in the middle of the night and yelled at Joseph, “OMG, I just got a text from the Holiday InnKeeper and in one week it’s gonna be 1-1-1! The world’s going to end!”

   Joseph most likely just opened another bottle of wine and cursed the Internet and Al Gore.

   One report this week warns of possible attacks within public transportation systems and other “tourist-related infrastructure.”

   From what friends who’ve traveled extensively through Europe tell me, avoiding public transportation isn’t always easy – or inexpensive. As far as “tourist-related infrastructure” goes, I suppose it can refer to anything from bridges to sidewalks. Neither of which is all that easy to avoid, depending on one’s mode of transportation. Perhaps gondolas and mule trains are safer? I don’t know.

   In spite of these public warnings, there are still concerns terrorists might go ahead with the pre-planned attacks.

   “If they believe they can pull it off, I think there’s every reason to believe they may go ahead and try it,” said former FBI agent and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett (who is not, to the best of my knowledge, the actor by the same name). “These plans go together at a particular point in time, and it may be perhaps that they are at a juncture with people, equipment and locations that they need to do it now.”

   With all of the official warnings from Washington, however, I’m left with at least one serious thought for the bureaucrats’ consideration: What, pray tell, would you have the Accidental American Tourist in Paris do if, for example, a terrorist commando squad opens fire on him and his family outside the Louvre? Duck?

   There’s an extreme cultural difference between our enemies of previous generations and our enemies today. Where we once could reasonably expect a bit of dialogue with a potential adversary before he blew up our Twin Towers, today we can anticipate little more than the explosion and subsequent death and destruction.

   Such is the nature of radical Islam. And all of the warnings from Washington will do nothing to make anyone any safer.

   The warnings are, no doubt, little more than an administrative CYA maneuver. 

   By issuing the warnings, in the event of an attack, the bureaucrats can share with their media brethren that “This was just the sort of thing we were warning people about.”

   Meanwhile, if anyone armed with so much as a pair of cuticle clippers tries to step on an airplane, she’s treated like Public Enemy No. 1.

   To understand the terrorists associated with radical Islam isn’t all that difficult. But it does take an open mind and a willingness to understand there are people who want to kill large numbers of other people for no good reason.

   Not that long ago, Alex Alexiev writing for the Hudson Institute, tried to warn us: “Simply put, radical Islam, operating under the guise of religion, is less a religious movement than a revolutionary ideology akin to 20th century totalitarian creeds like Nazism and Communism. It seeks religious legitimacy by embracing violent sharia doctrine…(It) denies the legitimacy of Western civilization. … The result is the demonization of the West as a subhuman civilization that must be destroyed if Islam is to survive and triumph.”

   Sadly, that’s the reality in which we live. Even more troubling, Mr. Alexiev concludes, “This troubling picture will surely get worse unless the U.S. government, at long last, decides to take a close look inside radical Islam within the United States.”

   Most disturbing, Mr. Alexiev says, is that radical Islam has “without a doubt, made significant inroads in its quest to infiltrate our government and institutions.”

   Not the most comforting of thoughts, is it?

* * * 

   Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the nation’s public finances are on a path to economic danger as … “the retirement of state employees, together with continuing increases in health-care costs, will cause public pension and retiree health-care obligations to become increasingly difficult to meet.”

   Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

   It’s refreshing to hear the Fed chairman speak out on the albatross of public pension liabilities. Too bad very few people are listening.

   The problem is serious. It’s big now and is only getting bigger. State pension funds are underfunded, primarily because they were never set up to do what they are now doing.

   In Ohio, three of the five state retirement systems – the Highway Patrol Retirement System, Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, and the State Teachers

Retirement System – are seeking more money.

   These fund managers, along with the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the School Employees Retirement System, also are in the midst of a debate over public scrutiny of their records.

   Democrat State Reps. Stephen Dyer and Matt Lundy say they are concerned that Ohio’s five pension funds have rejected requests for information, even as the Legislature weighs changes to the retirement systems that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

   A major problem with many of the public pensions is the potential for a retired worker to receive far more money in retirement than he/she ever received while working.

   Because many of the plans are “weighted” to base retirement income on the final (and often highest-paying) years of employment, it’s easy to

calculate that a 30-year public worker could average $50,000 a year working from ages 22-52 ($1.5 million), retire based on the highest-annual earnings (say $125,000 or more), and receive well over $2 million in retirement.

   Last year, a Chicago Sun-Times report found that at least 4,000 Illinois public retirees received $100,000 a year in pension benefits. As they say on the street, it’s good work if you can get it.

   Meanwhile, according to the Social Security Administration, the maximum Social Security benefit is $28,152 a year. While many public-sector retirees can retire in their 50s with expectations of $2.5 million to $3 million in retirement income (plus the opportunity to double-dip), the worker earning the maximum Social Security benefit of a lousy 28 grand a year must work until age 66 (and that’s expected to be increased to 68 or 70.)

   And now the public pensions in Ohio are asking taxpayers for more money? That’s rich, Folks.

   Bernanke said unfunded pension liabilities for the states as a whole were $2 trillion at the end of 2009. States also have a collective liability of almost $600 billion for retiree health benefits, he said.

   Instead of asking taxpayers to add to these lucrative public pensions, their respective unions ought to take a good look in the mirror so they can see the real cause of their pension deficits. And state lawmakers across the nation ought to take steps toward real reform of the retirement systems.

   * Cap the pensions. If it’s good enough for those of us on Social Security, it’s good enough for the public retirees. How about a cap equal to 200 percent of the Social Security max? That would provide a comfortable retirement and save millions.

   * Match the retirement age for maximum benefits for public workers to Social Security. If 66 is good enough for the SSA, it’s good enough for PERS, STRS, etc.

   * Reform the annual payout to better reflect the average yearly earnings. And stop the excessive overtime in workers’ final three years leading up to retirement.

   * Stop double-dipping (many states already have), and deduct benefits from those who retire with a public pension and return to public-sector employment.

   * Limit the annual cost of living adjustments to inflation.

   Those five simple steps will help bring the state retirement systems back toward solvency. Not one, however, will be implemented in Ohio.

   State lawmakers are more fearful of the public workers’ unions than they are of any U.S. State Department warnings about potential terrorist attacks.

Just ask them.

   Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.

It’s times like these in which my lifelong aversion to flying serves me well. My apathy toward most European countries (save Ireland) doesn’t hurt, either.

   This week, the U.S. State Department issued a rare travel alert for “potential terrorist attacks in Europe.”

   As I heard it, the alert was directed in particular at American citizens traveling with a broad. Or maybe it was directed at Americans traveling abroad. I’m not sure. I get confused.

   Some forewarn that this Sunday is 10-10-10 and that that may be a bad omen. Of course, the same was said four years ago on June 6, 2006 (666). Supposedly, Nov. 11 of next year (11-11-11) could be another targeted date, and we all know about Dec. 12, 2012 (the dreaded, end-of-the-world 12-12-12 (or is it 12-21-12?)

   It’s enough to make one wonder if humankind’s ancestors were similarly worked up a couple of thousand years ago. Shortly after the first Christmas, Mary, no doubt, woke up in the middle of the night and yelled at Joseph, “OMG, I just got a text from the Holiday InnKeeper and in one week it’s gonna be 1-1-1! The world’s going to end!”

   Joseph most likely just opened another bottle of wine and cursed the Internet and Al Gore.

   One report this week warns of possible attacks within public transportation systems and other “tourist-related infrastructure.”

   From what friends who’ve traveled extensively through Europe tell me, avoiding public transportation isn’t always easy – or inexpensive. As far as “tourist-related infrastructure” goes, I suppose it can refer to anything from bridges to sidewalks. Neither of which is all that easy to avoid, depending on one’s mode of transportation. Perhaps gondolas and mule trains are safer? I don’t know.

   In spite of these public warnings, there are still concerns terrorists might go ahead with the pre-planned attacks.

   “If they believe they can pull it off, I think there’s every reason to believe they may go ahead and try it,” said former FBI agent and ABC News consultant Brad Garrett (who is not, to the best of my knowledge, the actor by the same name). “These plans go together at a particular point in time, and it may be perhaps that they are at a juncture with people, equipment and locations that they need to do it now.”

   With all of the official warnings from Washington, however, I’m left with at least one serious thought for the bureaucrats’ consideration: What, pray tell, would you have the Accidental American Tourist in Paris do if, for example, a terrorist commando squad opens fire on him and his family outside the Louvre? Duck?

   There’s an extreme cultural difference between our enemies of previous generations and our enemies today. Where we once could reasonably expect a bit of dialogue with a potential adversary before he blew up our Twin Towers, today we can anticipate little more than the explosion and subsequent death and destruction.

   Such is the nature of radical Islam. And all of the warnings from Washington will do nothing to make anyone any safer.

   The warnings are, no doubt, little more than an administrative CYA maneuver. 

   By issuing the warnings, in the event of an attack, the bureaucrats can share with their media brethren that “This was just the sort of thing we were warning people about.”

   Meanwhile, if anyone armed with so much as a pair of cuticle clippers tries to step on an airplane, she’s treated like Public Enemy No. 1.

   To understand the terrorists associated with radical Islam isn’t all that difficult. But it does take an open mind and a willingness to understand there are people who want to kill large numbers of other people for no good reason.

   Not that long ago, Alex Alexiev writing for the Hudson Institute, tried to warn us: “Simply put, radical Islam, operating under the guise of religion, is less a religious movement than a revolutionary ideology akin to 20th century totalitarian creeds like Nazism and Communism. It seeks religious legitimacy by embracing violent sharia doctrine…(It) denies the legitimacy of Western civilization. … The result is the demonization of the West as a subhuman civilization that must be destroyed if Islam is to survive and triumph.”

   Sadly, that’s the reality in which we live. Even more troubling, Mr. Alexiev concludes, “This troubling picture will surely get worse unless the U.S. government, at long last, decides to take a close look inside radical Islam within the United States.”

   Most disturbing, Mr. Alexiev says, is that radical Islam has “without a doubt, made significant inroads in its quest to infiltrate our government and institutions.”

   Not the most comforting of thoughts, is it?

* * * 

   Earlier this week, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke warned that the nation’s public finances are on a path to economic danger as … “the retirement of state employees, together with continuing increases in health-care costs, will cause public pension and retiree health-care obligations to become increasingly difficult to meet.”

   Thank you, Mr. Obvious.

   It’s refreshing to hear the Fed chairman speak out on the albatross of public pension liabilities. Too bad very few people are listening.

   The problem is serious. It’s big now and is only getting bigger. State pension funds are underfunded, primarily because they were never set up to do what they are now doing.

   In Ohio, three of the five state retirement systems – the Highway Patrol Retirement System, Ohio Police and Fire Pension Fund, and the State Teachers

Retirement System – are seeking more money.

   These fund managers, along with the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the School Employees Retirement System, also are in the midst of a debate over public scrutiny of their records.

   Democrat State Reps. Stephen Dyer and Matt Lundy say they are concerned that Ohio’s five pension funds have rejected requests for information, even as the Legislature weighs changes to the retirement systems that could cost taxpayers millions of dollars.

   A major problem with many of the public pensions is the potential for a retired worker to receive far more money in retirement than he/she ever received while working.

   Because many of the plans are “weighted” to base retirement income on the final (and often highest-paying) years of employment, it’s easy to calculate that a 30-year public worker could average $50,000 a year working from ages 22-52 ($1.5 million), retire based on the highest-annual earnings (say $125,000 or more), and receive well over $2 million in retirement.

   Last year, a Chicago Sun-Times report found that at least 4,000 Illinois public retirees received $100,000 a year in pension benefits. As they say on the street, it’s good work if you can get it.

   Meanwhile, according to the Social Security Administration, the maximum Social Security benefit is $28,152 a year. While many public-sector retirees can retire in their 50s with expectations of $2.5 million to $3 million in retirement income (plus the opportunity to double-dip), the worker earning the maximum Social Security benefit of a lousy 28 grand a year must work until age 66 (and that’s expected to be increased to 68 or 70.)

   And now the public pensions in Ohio are asking taxpayers for more money? That’s rich, Folks.

   Bernanke said unfunded pension liabilities for the states as a whole were $2 trillion at the end of 2009. States also have a collective liability of almost $600 billion for retiree health benefits, he said.

   Instead of asking taxpayers to add to these lucrative public pensions, their respective unions ought to take a good look in the mirror so they can see the real cause of their pension deficits. And state lawmakers across the nation ought to take steps toward real reform of the retirement systems.

   * Cap the pensions. If it’s good enough for those of us on Social Security, it’s good enough for the public retirees. How about a cap equal to 200 percent of the Social Security max? That would provide a comfortable retirement and save millions.

   * Match the retirement age for maximum benefits for public workers to Social Security. If 66 is good enough for the SSA, it’s good enough for PERS, STRS, etc.

   * Reform the annual payout to better reflect the average yearly earnings. And stop the excessive overtime in workers’ final three years leading up to retirement.

   * Stop double-dipping (many states already have), and deduct benefits from those who retire with a public pension and return to public-sector employment.

   * Limit the annual cost of living adjustments to inflation.

   Those five simple steps will help bring the state retirement systems back toward solvency. Not one, however, will be implemented in Ohio.

   State lawmakers are more fearful of the public workers’ unions than they are of any U.S. State Department warnings about potential terrorist attacks.

Just ask them.

   Rory Ryan is publisher and editor of The Highland County Press.