Lecture - JUNK SCIENCE:The Holy Grail of the War on Terror with Richard Wackrow

(no host meetup)

CFI Westpresents Lecture - JUNK SCIENCE:The Holy Grail of the War on Terror with Richard Wackrow

Sunday, April 15 4:30 p.m. in Costa Mesa

Just how great is the danger that terrorists will secretly construct and then detonate a nuclear bomb in a major city? Would a “dirty bomb” really kill thousands? How much plastic explosive is necessary to take down an airplane? Is it feasible to mix the fabled “binary liquid explosive” in an airliner restroom? Finally, if all this mayhem is as easy to accomplish as we have been led to believe, why hasn’t there been a single incident of mass murder by terrorism on U.S. soil since 9/11?

In researching his new book, Who’s Winning the War on Terror, author Richard E. Wackrow concludes that most of the thinking behind the Department of Homeland Security and other agencies’ efforts to protect America from the specter of terrorism seems to be based on the fanciful science of Bruce Willis movies. In his talk, Wackrow also will look at how acceptance of this sloppy science, from citizens to the national government, has nurtured the growth of a terrorism-industrial complex that devours resources that could be used more intelligently elsewhere, keeps a majority of Americans in a continuing state of anxiety over the possibility of another major terrorist attack, and thus accomplishes the goals of terrorism itself.

Wackrow is a retired print journalist living in Montana. He was a former reporter and editor for suburban newspapers in several markets, as well as a writer for the Dallas Morning News, Entrepreneur magazine, and other major publications

CFI Community of Orange County (http://www.cfiwest.org/groups/orange.htm)

Costa Mesa Neighborhood Center

1845 Park Ave., Costa Mesa

Admission: Friends of the Center – FREE; Public: $8; Students: $4