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To: zeugma
This is absolute lunacy. Has everyone gone completely insane???????

Not me, you won't catch me getting close to a plane. If I need to go somewhere I'll drive or take a bus.

78 posted on 09/30/2001 11:23:02 PM PDT by FITZ
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To: FITZ
Not me, you won't catch me getting close to a plane. If I need to go somewhere I'll drive or take a bus.

Now, this statement and idea proves why it will never work that the passengers in the airplane will make sure that another such incident never happens again (as in the idea that the passengers would "rush" such a terrorist, if it happened again).

You see..., one can easily make the case that "statistically" flying in a commercial airliner is one of the safest ways of traveling -- even counting the recent terrorist take-over of these planes. It's a lot safer than driving in your own car, down the freeway or in town.

BUT EVEN SO, no one wants to be the "first one" to show that this statistic is false (just in case something goes wrong in their plane). It's the whole idea that no one wants to be the "first one" to "prove the case". So, everyone stays away -- until the results are assured. Then, the mass of the public starts believing that it's okay again.

So, you're never going to find an attitude (in a group of people on an airliner) where you can confidently say you're going to get a bunch of them to "rush" a terrorist. No one wants to be the "first casualties" in order to either "prove the point" (that rushing the terrorist can be done) or to be the "acceptable losses" (in life) in order to overcome the terrorist.

That's how bullies and dictators and gangs operate. They're able to hold the "masses" at bay, that way. It has always been that way and it always will.

91 posted on 10/01/2001 3:33:37 AM PDT by Star Traveler
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To: FITZ
What about truck bombs? They could blow up a bridge you're crossing, a building you're parking next to, or a dam upvalley from you. What about bioweapons? Did the last person to use that restroom stall come in with a virulent new genetically-engineered strain of influenza on his/her hands, and touch everything--stall door latch, lavatory, towel dispenser, doorknob--that you're going to touch on your way through, right before you rub your eyes?

Staying away from airplanes doesn't make you safe. Airlines are now the least likely vector for an attack. Bin Laden is not a one-trick pony.
112 posted on 10/01/2001 7:07:55 AM PDT by ChemistCat
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