Terrorism, Are We Safer?

It is hard to enjoy life if one is living in fear.  Though we have seen tragedy as a nation from terrorism, I think we have not let terrorism stop us from living.

We have to take responsibility for our own safety. The government can only be expected to do so much. 

I learned my lesson on a bike trip a few years ago.  IT was an "organized trip" only the organizer wasn't that organized.  One day in Costa Rica we had a 100 mile ride up over the top of a mountain.  The roads were narrow with no shoulders, the traffic was bad and having 250 cyclists on the road made it worse.  Plus we traveled through several eccosystems from heat to wet to snow. 

Needless to say, we didn't make it to the top until late in the day.  A bunch of us realized we would not make it to camp before dark.  The organizer wasn't there to help us, even if he was he was not prepared for the large number that needed help.

So what did we do? we found a bus driver who had an empty school bus, paid him a small amount. Then we found a flat bed truck to tie down our bikes. 

We (40) survived that day because we took accountability for ourselves.  That day and forever after on my trip, I took care of myself and didn't count on "the government" to do it for me.

I feel safer taking care of myself. 

Terrorist safety?  I think we need to follow the example of the passengers on Flight 93.  Terrorists look out, we are going to kick your butts.

You can have hundereds of people walk over the border everyday with drugs or bombs. I find it ironic. can we stop this ourselves?

Yup... I TOTALLY agree with Kristal. The goverrnment has a responsibility to do the BEST it can.  But remember the our government is 'for the people and of the people". 

People are NOT perfect... they do make errors. Same with our Government. Let's put energy and resources into being smart and less energy in to being critical.

I have to agree with the others. We cannot live life in fear. But we can live life prepared. What is the saying, hope for the best but prepare for the worst.

Craig, you are brilliant today!  <Let's put energy and resources into being smart and less energy in to being critical.>

I agree with what has been said we have to take care of ourselves and live like 9/11 won't ever happen again. If we live like it will we will always be to scared to do anything

I agree with what everyone else stated however; I would like to add one thing.   I feel truly blessed to live in this country. I have served in the military and still get choked up everytime I hear the National Anthem. We should be thankful for having "ONLY" one major terrorist attack rather than several as in other countries. How would you like to live in Israel where hearing a bomb go off is a way of life? How about England and Ireland and all of the terrorist attacks there?  It was a tragic day when 9 /11 happened. Maybe we were simply too naive to think it couldn't happen to us? I hope a day like that never happens again. If God forbid, it does....I am ready to take care of myself and my family and do whatever is asked of me to protect our country... My Country. God Bless America.

I saw a show once where a man was filmed in various locations walking out of a store, placing a briefcase on the ground and walking away. (This was before 9/11.)

In Tokyo, no one ever even touched the briefcase. They simply walked around it. (I can attest to this behavior. I was in Tokyo on a business trip years ago and left my umbrella in the subway station. my host said not to worry, it would be there when I went back -- 8 hours later. And it was!) 

In Detroit, a stranger picked up the briefcase within 30 seconds and walked away with it.

In Jerusaelm, everyone within sight of the briefcase ran away like their lives depended on it. Many scrambled for cover. 

I don't want to live my life in constant fear like the people in countries fraught with terrorism. In a country as large as ours, with borders as porous as ours, it's surprising we haven't had more terroristic acts on our soil. (9/11 wasn't the first, it was just the biggest. Timothy McVeigh was a terrorist. And 9/11 wasn't even the first attack on the WTC.) The fact that we haven't had any attacks since 9/11 indicates someone is doing something right. Are we 100% safe from terrorists? No. But your risk of getting killed in your car driving to work is FAR greater than getting killed by a terrorist. Do you think to yourself everytime you start your car, "I might die in the next 30 minutes"? I hope not.

To expect the government to make us 100% safe isn't realistic. To live in constant fear is counter-productive. 

You never know what may happen and you can't control 99.9% of what does happen. So enjoy every day like it may be your last.

As for the terrorists, they can kiss my red, white and blue ass.