A Middle Eastern Country, Hmmm.......

As I drove to work today I was listening to the news, delivered by a local deejay who gets his news from the internet. He told the story of blueprint plans for the Miami Airport's new security division being intercepted as they were being sent to a "Middle Eastern" country. The plans were being mailed to a "Middle eastern" country by two architecture students of "Middle Eastern" descent. Hmmmm, I wondered to myself, which Midddle eastern country would that be? If it were Iraq, or Iran, they would be identified as such. If they were Palestinian or Syrian, they would also be identified as such. If they were Lebanese or Saudis, well, you get the picture.
No, there is only one "Middle Eastern" country blessed with vagaries by the news media when their citizens are caught red handed committing criminal and potentially terroristic acts.

I've also been reading about the soon to burst housing bubble, and it brought to mind the stock market bubble. In the summer of 2001, at Herman Miller, the company I worked for at the time, there was lots of speculative scuttlebutt about lay-offs set for September. Everyone walked on eggshells for fear that their department would be one of the ones marked for cuts. Then, of course, September 11, came, and the economy ground to the halt because of the "terrorist attacks" and two weeks later my department was shut down because 'people won't be buying much office furniture for awhile' because of the terrorist attacks. I guess they needed money for the duct tape and plastic sheeting.
Now there's much buzz about the impending "terrorist attacks", with the timeline being between tomorrow (August 17) and September 7 (when all army leaves have been cancelled after). I wonder if the impending housing bubble burst will blamed on the "attacks", as opposed to the greed of housing lenders and mortgage companies.