MONDAY MORNING POTPOURRI

After a quiet weekend marked by summer heat in May, we are going to start this week with three impact meetings. The first is the Council's Agenda Setting session. The second is Tuesday's organization meeting of the new BOE, with three new members and one returnee. The third is Mondays Special meeting for an executive session of a mysterious nature by the lame duck board 24 hours before it expires.

The one and only valid excuse for such a meeting that I can be imagine is to pass a golden parachute for a discredited resigning official. There could be other reasons such as a suit by a terminated employee against the individual members of the sitting board. They however should be protected by "directors insurance". There can be no other urgent matter that would necessitate calling this meeting.

Aside from the Mets taking a pounding in Philadelphia this weekend, and the favorite being bumped out of the Derby at the start, the big news was the failed car bomb in New York City.

Yes it was more luck then prevention that prevented a bomb disaster in NYC. The fact that the bomb failed to detonate and its reported construction was simplistic suggest that Al Qaeda was not responsible. That does not mitigate the fact that terrorists can be a US citizens.

Oklahoma city was a prime example of dangers inherent in our own population. The Southern Poverty Law Center has a list of known hate groups in this country. New Jersey , a small state, is the home for 44 identified groups; one of the largest state concentrations. see (http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/hate-map#s=NJ)

Undoubtedly, when the principles behind this attempt are identified they will turn out to be a small core of pathological individuals bound by hate of the freedom our constitution grants.

The probability of a successful terrorist attack with severe casualties will always be high. The world is too big and too vulnerable to block every target. Unfortunately besides luck our best defences requires loss of civil liberties. Therefor, we are faced with a Hobson's choice.

Since unrestricted power and abrogation of fundamental civic rights could lead to some despot establishing a totalitarian state, we truly have no option but to accept the inevitable risk.