The thing that scares me about this terror alert...

[coloradodem2005]

I am flying out to visit family on Tuesday and coming back the following Tuesday. I am scared.

[ringmastery]

1. Are you flying out or into a major city?

NY, DC, LA, etc.

[creativelcro]

2. Glad I postponed my trip to Italy...

[coloradodem2005]

3. From Denver to Indianapolis

[LiberalVoice]

4. To be honest I dont think you have to worry about flying.

Al-Qaida or any other terrorist org. wouldn't be stupid enough to try that twice in a row.

[creativelcro]

8. Plus it would be ONE plane out of how many ?...

[nadinbrzezinski]

5. Then they have won

Look lets put this im perspective

What are your chances of dying in a Terra atack in the US?

For the year 2000, ZERO
2001 NEXT to ZERO
2002 zero
2003 ZERO

You have a far better chance of dying from a lighting strike or winning the lottery

Once you put this in perspective teh fear goes away

Oh and one more thing...

You really think they will use a passenger aircraft again? The alert said planes, did not state which kind... most of the real holes are NOT in the pasenger system and that is all I am going to say about it...even though they were published in news paper stories earlier in the year

Oh and thanks to Michael Moore for putting this in such wonderful perspective in his book "dude where is my country?"

[jobycom]

17. Of course they've won. There's doubt?

It's only a matter of time now. We've done everything the instigators of 9-11 wanted us to do. We've waged wars to fight ideals that only spread faster because we fight them. We've spouted rhetoric until most of us can't even see what we are really fighting. We've stretched ourselves so thin chasing ghosts that the slightest breeze can tear right through us.

The terrorists, the Bin Laden group, won the moment they pulled off 9-11. From that point on, it's only a matter of time until we give in to what they want. We won't do it blatantly. It will be like Viet Nam. We will slowly pull back, and pull out, first from our "war" zones, then from our other bases, and finally from the Middle East.

Without 9-11, we would have no thought of pulling out. Now, whether it is a couple of years or a couple of decades, we will. It's only idiots like Bush and those who support him who think we can fight a mentality with weapons that created the mentality in the first place.

As for our odds of dying in a terrorist attack, they are irrelevant. We have little chance of dying in a lightning strike because we have enough sense to get out of the rain. We have little chance of dying in a terrorist attack because we have enough sense to avoid situations that make us targets. And that avoidance is exactly why terror works. The odds are irrelevant, the awareness of the possibility is everything.

[oostevo]

6. The only thing you should be scared of ...

is Bush ordering your plane shot down. The terror alert is probably a scare tactic (they have been in the past) to attract attention to the Bush administration.

And think of the statistical chances of being killed in a terrorist attack in an airplane. Millions (perhaps billions) of people have flown in airplanes, and only several hundred have been killed in terrorist attacks.

There's really no reason to be scared.

[A HERETIC I AM]

7. Dont be. You have nothing to worry about.

Your chances of being even SLIGHTLY injured much less dying are greater on the way to the Airport than they are in the Airplane REGARDLESS of what Tom Ridge says. The "Terror Alert Level" is so much crapola it isnt funny.

Dont worry. Go Fly. Nothing whatsoever is going to happen to you.

[Goldom]

9. I hope so.

I'm flying (also out of Denver) on Christmas day... I'd really rather not die, if at all possible. Thankfully I have no trust in any of those people telling me to be afraid, or I might be.

[Kanary]

16. Hi Goldom

Welcome to D.U.!

:hi: :hi: :hi:

:toast:

Kanary

[newyawker99]

21. Hi Goldom!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[KeepItReal]

10. "Misson Accomplished", coloradodem2004

Americans being fearful of the "terrorists" plays right into the hands of the GOP (makes Bush & Co seem like a "strong wartime leader") and into the hands of the "terrorists" (if you change your lifestyle, then the terrorists win).

I'm flying this week also, but I'm more afraid of mid-air turbulence than some religious fanatic with a grudge against my particular flight back home to tha dirty south. And if some so-called terrorist wants to show his face and act up on my flight, then me and my boy are gonna open up a can of whoop ass (or die tryin).

Be safe.

Cheers, y'all

[K8-EEE]

11. I Understand, BUT>>>

I have no doubt this is all about manipulation through fear. They aren't telling anybody not to fly. Besides I really think the next one will be totally diffent from the first attack...their whole thing is the big wait-and-switch-it-up technique.

I know you'll have a safe and happy trip.

[aquart]

12. Yeah. To support George, Ridge cripples business.

And at the busiest time of the year for retail and transportation companies.

Republicans are good for Walmart and Halliburton. They suck for everyone else.

[ButterflyBlood]

13. don't be worried at all

this color coded business is a total load of shit. even the freepers don't take it seriously.

[jburton]

14. Be careful bathing before you go...

Literally thousands of Americans die each year in the bathtub.

Keep Terra in perspective with everyday (and more likely) risks.

[ConsAreLiars]

15. Did you catch the new mediawhore shorthand?

Ridge "raised the terror level to orange today." Not the "terrorism threat alert level," but rather the "terror level." Seems to work best with the counting-impaired. Maybe someone can do the numbers, but the odds of being offed by a Bornigan fundie nutcase SUV driver are probably 10x the odds of being offed by a fundie nutcase of the Islamic berserker type.

(edit stray '"')

[indy77]

18. Here's the difference...

The guy in the SUV goes to heaven;

[Wapsie B]

19. Is there a way to find out

if someone's shorting stocks in large amounts?

[lostnfound]

20. Me too, on Christmas day..and I hate security frisking my toddler

and making him take off his shoes!

I thought Christmas morning would be a bit less crowded but I admit I will feel uneasy until I land.