diamond said:
a small price to pay for living in a such a great country.
That is the most intelligent thing I've seen you say here in the last 24 hrs!
I am willing to endure whatever security is needed to preserve our way of life.... EVEN if that security imposes on our 'way of life'... it's better than the alternative.
Back to the cell and palm: When I was exployed as a dotcommer I often flew every 2-3 weeks for business.. (and this was WAY b4 9/11) as a result I would always expect to have my electronic carry-on items checked.. and would basically have them open and ready for inspection, and even press the buttons to show them things worked.. as I walked through... but the last time I flew, which was from SNA (orange county, ca) to SJC (San Jose, CA) and back... I didn't have either checked. I did notice a few people offered to have them checked, much like I used to, but I decided to see what would happen at both airports if I neglected to volunteer. I was allowed to just pass through both times easily. Infact.. and this is the WORST... at one of the checks I had my cell in my jacket pocket... it made the scanner beep... I took it out, briefly showed the security guy that that's what made it scan, did NOT pass through the gate again, and went on my way.
And I saw NO armed personnel at either airport... although I did in October.
Personally, I think it is foolish for us (americans) to think we're "going to be okay" and sit back and do little to nothing about it.
I've always been one to pay attention to what's around me, and see the 'holes', just out of interest, although I would never exploit anything like that. Go to a public place... a sporting event, a harbor, a movie theater, a downtown area, a large mall, etc.... LOOK around... look at how many exits there are, look at the structue, look at how many people are in a relatively small space... and then realize that in places like Israel, you don't need to even be in a large place like that to be at risk... just you're run of the mill coffee shop, grocery store, or on the street driving.
If you think they (terrorists) won't eventually pull those same stunts here, in the US, you may think I'm paranoid, but I'd think you're very foolish.
Reports that Bin Laden was trying to obtain a small nuclear device... most likely true. Many missing nuclear devices from the old USSR... true. The world was MUCH more safe during the cold war.