"Terror allegations disappear from charges: Different affidavit in Lodi father-son case given to media than filed in court." Now Lodi is no more than 15 miles or so north of where I live in the Central Valley. I was first surprised when I heard the news, especially as I am now subjected to US electronic media coverage of this case and Michael Jackson as I am away from my precious two satellite dishes. I have always doubted that Al-Qa`idah has even a handful of members in the US. Arabs and Muslims in the US are not crazy; some may be crazy, but not that crazy, I believe. In fact, the very fact the Al-Qa`idah had to recruit every single one of the 19 hijackers from the Middle East and from Europe tells me that they were not able to find willing recruits here in the US. And the Middle East/Muslim immigrant community in the US is one of the most affluent, in comparison with other immigrant communities, and that gives them a stake in the system, and explains (especially in pre-Bush days) why they overwhelmingly went Republican. I don't know much about the case but exercise caution when I consume US media on this matter. As I had indicated before, I was a consultant for the first terrorism case after Sep. 11 (the Detroit case) hired by the law firm that was defending 2 of the four. And you learn things about the justice system, and about the distance between claims made by prosecution in some cases and the evidence. Don't get me wrong: the evidence I read led me to believe that the people in question were crooks and con-artists, but not terrorists. As you know, the Justice Department later harshly criticized the prosecution, etc.