Al Qaeda has issued a vague threat against Los Angeles:

Yesterday, London and Madrid. Tomorrow, Los Angeles and Melbourne, Allah willing. And this time, don’t count on us demonstrating restraint and compassion.

I guess we can’t automatically discount such threats, even when they come from a former inhabitant of a Riverside goat farm. But I find it hard to get too wound up about this. Did al Qaeda call London and Madrid in advance with any specificity? How about 9/11? I don’t recall that.

The bad attacks are the surprise attacks. An announcement like this strikes me as a pure attempt to cause terror, and nothing more. I even find it oddly reassuring, as the act of announcing it suggests that there is nothing to back it up.