Near Miss

Once again we had a terrorist trying to kill a slew of Americans. I am quite appalled by the age of the 'underwear bomber'. What has he been exposed to in his 23 years that would convince him that he had to destroy his own body to bring about carnage to hundreds of people. He happens to be a very handsome, attractive young man that has led a privileged life. His father tried to warn the world of his son's misguided thoughts and activities but was paid no heed. What possesses so many young people or any people to want to do harm to others?

What a warped mind it must take to teach and/or be a part of a group that would think they were doing a good thing by committing egregious acts against mankind. The whole thought of terrorism is so alien to me that I am totally befuddled by it.

Our country has not yet learned to effectively fight terroristic practice because it is so nebulous. How are they identified? Some people think that they are suspect if they have black beards, or if they are not European, or if they are sullen and unfriendly. What defines a terrorist? Is he the guy that stands out in the crowd? Timothy McVey was a white, Anglo-Saxon Catholic, the Uni-bomber was a white Math genius, Ted Bundy was a very handsome, normal looking guy, granted, he did not do harm to hundreds or thousands of people but he terrorized people just the same. Its too bad that we can't make 'terrorists ' wear different clothes, or be registered as possible terrorists like the sex offenders are. Our problem is that we are using tactics that so far don't work all of the time because we are at a loss as to what can work.

When you think of the millions and millions of people in the world and the millions of possibilities for mass killings it is so daunting that it seems impossible to have a strategy worked out that can guarantee safety.

When the 'shoe bomber' was caught in the act, new rules were made in the airports around the world and we now have to take our shoes off before we can be Okayed for flight. What now? Will we have to take our underwear off before we can fly? Life is scary! Staying aware is staying alive..... but not always!

I'll be flying before long and I guess I will not be able to wear my industrial strength undies, nor take my deodorant, lip gloss, knitting needles, boots, shampoo, hair spray and numerous other sundries, none of my props with me. Its a good thing that I've always gone along with the 'what you see is what you get' theory. I can only hope the skies are friendly. Ciao.