While I agree that it is unfortunate that we are allowing fear to control our response, my point is that our reaction to the threat seems to be out-of-line with reality. The efforts of our security system seems to be rather off-target. We are inspecting people's shoes because one idiot couldn't even get his to explode, but are ignoring the logical types of threats that are considerably more likely and deadly. In addition, we seem to be ignoring the possibility that people in the US (I can't call the Tim McVeigh types citizens) are of equal, or greater, threat, than a handful of Islamic zealots (most of which are not dissolution planters). ...stuff deleted Indeed. Still, I'd rather that intelligence was applied before action. A man in a boat taking pictures of US submarines may well be a threat of some type and should be investigated. A man taking pictures of the Golden Gate or Bay Bridge is not. Again, I can use a portable computer and a link to get real time information on these bridges using the available satellite technology from a variety of web sites. If I had proper security access, I could probably read the denominations of the bills the toll takers are collecting. The problem is that this is much harder to monitor, so the "system" tends to ignore the reality of providing real security. ...stuff deleted Still, rather than blame anyone else, we need to look at our reaction to the issues and buttess whether our response is rational and reasonable. Thus far, however, I'm not much impressed by what I've seen. Most of the systems put in place in public places are just like car alarms. They will stop me from considering an act I wouldn't do anyway, but will have no effect upon a committed felon. My point is that our government has made your life less pleasant. When threatened, you have multiple choices. Those enacted by our government have been to give the public a misguided feeling that security has been increased and to retaliate. For good or ill, this is what is inconveniencing us all. So, if you go to the library and check out a certain selection of books, or visit certain websites, post certain words in your emails and posts, take pictures of landmarks, paddle in the wrong area, etc., you can buttume that the government monitors are going to note this information and they may well act on it in some manner. Whether that is increasing security for us all is subject to debate (some of which works, while some are patently ridiculous). Rick
|
