Orange

Did you know that the department of homeland security threat level
(DHSTL) is now orange?
Do you care?
Do you know when it last changed? Why?
Does it change your behavior in anyway?
Are you being more vigilant? Do you feel 4/5 unsafe?
In case you can't tell I think the DHSTL color wheel is one of the
stupidest things to come out of Washington. It makes politicians
somehow feel like they did something to fight terrorism (with our
handy-dandy color wheel) and yet does absolutely nothing. I don't
think it is even useful as a security blanket, since it never goes
down. Think about it, it is a total catch-22. If they lower it and a
terrorist attack happens, they look stupid because they should have
known, if they raise it- it doesn't take more than a month for people
to forget.

The last time it was changed was in august of 2006. This was when the
airlines decided that shampoo sizes were unconstitutional or that glad
ziplock bags needed a stimulus package or something. (actually, it was
an event in the UK that really didn't evolve the US). Ridiculous. It
has never been blue or green since the system was created, and never
will be.
Here is how I would fix it.
1. Kill it
That's it. Simple right? (okay, then some silly politician would bring
it back under the guise of fighting terrorists or WMDs or something.
Or, they could raise it on the eve of elections to make people vote
republican (true story.)
Ok really, I think it either should:
1. Have a mandated timing which reset the level down after 30 days (so
fox tv viewers wouldn't burn ot their tv screens)
2. Do a retroactive grading where you could go re-classify days or
years as green or blue because, in retrospect, they really weren't
that bad! That way we could look with fondness to the past and stay
really stressed and on alert for the current threat! (it's coming,
really. Just maybe in 3 more years.)