Happy Mardi Gras

Today is Mardi Gras Day.  Well over a million people will be crowding the streets of New Orleans, and surrounding cities.  Lots of beer will be drunk, many purses snatched, children lost, pockets picked, and the police will have a hell of a fine time fighting the crowds.  When I was still in the police business, I had half of Bourbon Street for Mardi Gras (on my watch anyway).  The crowds were so thick and so loud that one could not see or hear beyond the reach of an arm.  It was like being in a seven and a half block long, crowded elevator - filled with drunks.  The overwhelming stench of spilled beer and dried urine affects only the sober.

One of these days some terrorist mope is going to see the chance to "make a statement" by killing lots of people, packed in crowds like sardines in a can.  Panic may be only a day away.  In the meantime, party on.