did you hear that?

Apparently last night in DC. the Kennedy Center held the opening of their month long Festival of China, which started with a seven minute long fireworks display unlike any seen here before. It was so unprecedented and the loud noises so reminiscent of "machine gun fire, bombs, or cannon balls," that local police and fire departments were swamped by panicked phone calls worried that this was the beginning of a terrorist attack or nuclear bombing on the nation's capital. Now this city may be ground zero, but it's still shocking (and somewhat amusing) to hear that the "fear of the bomb" is so strong in people's subconscious here that they were more likely to expect the end of the world than a joyous celebration.

In other news, the post reported on the global impact of the current oil crises which has culminated in massive civil unrest and the possibility of several countries having to declare bankruptcy in order to finance their citizens' habits of driving to work everyday. Looks like it could be time to move to Venezuela, where gas remains at 15 cents a gallon. Chavez must be doing something right (like not exporting his oil to the US).