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Tonight, I get political

1) New photos up at Flickr -- Los Angeles National Cemetary after sunset.

2) Are we safer than before 9/11?

Sen. Clinton says we're safer than before. Senators Obama and Edwards disagree. They're all wrong. The world is a lot less safe than it was back then. But for those of us living quotidian lives, there is no meaningful increase in the risks and dangers we face daily.


Mayor Bloomberg gets it right:

"There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life....You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist"

I believe the real issue is "Are we as safe as we could be -- given all the money and effort we supposedly put into making ourselves safer?" Hell no. For example, do you think the financial suck-hole that is the TSA makes you one iota safer? No, but they sure make flying more fun.

It's time to stop window dressing and either make the commitment to spend our resources wisely, or apply those resources to (m)any of the myriad of domestic problems we face. And while we're at it...let's restore Habeas Corpus and the rest of the Constitution...

Yes, I live in Blue-Land.

And yes, I remember 9/11 -- I lived in the NYC area at the time, my ex-wife worked 10 blocks from the WTC, I have friends who lost friends.... But a tragic event has been stipped of all meaning by shamefully being used as justification for too many bad things (torture, suspension of due process, dreadfully bad foreign policy, etc.) I'd rather die free than live enslaved by fear.

Rant over....for now.

Jim

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Comments

dkearns72 said…
i dont live (mentally) in blue-land, and i agree.
June 7, 2007 at 8:16 AM
Anonymous said…
Ahhh, the TSA.... I used to love flying - my travels for work took me all over the place prior to September 11. Since then it's not so much fun. I can remember carrying a thermos with dry ice, freezer packs and chlorophyll standard in my carry-on. That couldn't happen now. Imagine what the TSA would think of a little brown glass vial containing green flakes packed inside a widemouth thermos with dry ice and freezer packs. It MUST be a bomb or biological weapon of some sort :)
I'm sure if I tried to take something like that on the plane now, they'd take back my green card and send me home. Yep, we Canadian terrorists need to be scrutinized...
June 7, 2007 at 9:27 AM
VagabondJim said…
Canadian = terrorist is the only true, valid, and accurate profiling I know. It works EVERY time.
June 7, 2007 at 10:22 AM
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