Take a look at How Long Can the Country Stay Scared? by Bruce Schneier (via Dan Gillmor).
The DHS’s threat warnings have been vague, indeterminate, and unspecific. The threat index goes from yellow to orange and back again, although no one is entirely sure what either level means….This kind of behavior is all that’s needed to generate widespread fear and uncertainty. It keeps the public worried about terrorism, while at the same time reminding them that they’re helpless without the government to defend them.
This reminded me of Bowling for Columbine, where Michael Moore dedicated a segment taking how the news media constantly keep the country in fear, that “crime rate drop 30% but news about crime goes up by 600%”. Go figure!
