Keeping Cities Safe From Real and Virtual Catastrophic Attacks

A common Roosevelt Island sight is looking up in the sky and seeing very low flying helicopters barely above some of our buildings and wondering what that was all about. This story may or may not have anything to do with those Roosevelt Island helicopters but recently the Washington Post reported on efforts to keep New York and other cities safe from catastrophic terrorist attacks.

A New York City Police Department helicopter with an ultra-sensitive radiation detector affixed to its tail whipped through a wintry sky over Lower Manhattan last month, hunting block by block through the concrete canyons of Wall Street for a black SUV containing the components of a homemade radiological "dirty bomb."

Article like this are just a reminder that despite much of the frivolity and nonsense of the daily news (I am not referring to the newspaper of that name) presented by all aspects of the media, we do live in a very dangerous world.

The Washington Post also reports that Intelligence officials are concerned over virtual 3D worlds such as Second Life as potential training grounds and havens for terrorists and criminals.