No truer words could be said.

*** Dan, did you really think I'd miss out on all this fun! Besides, the topic is far too important to stay away.

tdm, your observations are dead on. Thanks for your input. Actually, and perhaps blatantly, my comments here were an attempt to get you back into the fray here, so I am doubly pleased to see your comments. I always appreciate reading what you have to say. Thanks.

The point made about the airlines stealing from the American taxpayers is exactly the point I was trying to make. It is correct that the government was never intended to--nor should it have ever attempted to--undertake a bailout of any industry for any reason. The whole idea of a free market economy is such that those who can't handle the financial pressures of the free market will lose, and more competent people will fill their shoes. Alas, our government always rewards incompetence, thus the crap we've had to endure over the past two weeks, the crap we've had to endure over the past two decades--the crap we've had to endure since 1914, and that which we'll have to endure at least until 2004.

We need to take a little time and smell the flowers and take a little time and watch the grass grow! That's an old church song by Leverne Tripp. I like it!

I saw an article today that said that Felons aren't welcome in the service. I thought about how many people, due to drug laws, won't be available to help if the draft comes back. I thought that was interesting.

"Phase 1: Eliminate threats to our freedom by other countries. Phase 2: Fix our own problems here at home."

Here's my revised list;"Phase 1:Eliminate threats to our freedom by our own country. Phase 2: Eliminate threats to our freedom by other countries. Phase 3: Fix our own problems here at home.

I just heard on the radio that the Presidet of UAL has quit taking his salary for the rest of the year, and most of the other high paid execs.

Phase 1: Eliminate threats to our freedom by other countries. Phase 2: Fix our own problems here at home.

I expounded a bit on this in a previous post: http://www.cannabisnews.com/news/thread10977.shtml#7

I have a better question: Why should the government ever bail out ANY industry for ANY reason? Governments should have (and ours is supposed to have) one role and one role only -- defending the individual lives and property of its citizens from all forms of violent attack or coercion. Any government that does otherwise is practicing statism.

Statism means any system that concentrates power in the state at the expense of individual freedom. (We here at CNews are all familiar with that.) As individuals, we agree to give up using force in our social interactions and instead give the government a monopoly in the use of force to protect us. Corporate welfare doesn't fall anywhere under this umbrella of protection from violence. In fact, taking my tax money by force and giving it to any other individual for any purpose other than my protection, violates the very trust I gave the government to begin with.

My comments about this particular government handout to the airlines is that it is the most digusting display I've ever seen by an industry in its attempt to get free money. The airlines are using the horrible tragedy of September 11 in an elaborate shell game to line their own pockets. In this game, we are not supposed to notice that the airlines were horribly managed and in severe trouble to begin with. Layoffs were imminent prior to Sep 11. Now in somber, respectful voices they intertwine comments about Sep. 11 with comments about how they need a few BILLION of our hard-earned dollars.

Interesting, when they first asked for the money they said they needed $24 billion. Then when it was clear they wouldn't get that, they lowered the number to $17 billion. I finally lost track of how much they claimed to need. If their rock bottom number was $17 billion or $15 billion, why did they ever ask for $24 billion?

You are right, FoM. The biological warfare stuff is far more scary than the chemical . . . much more frightening than what happened at the World Trade Center. I was reading something the other day (maybe it was here; forgive me if this is old news) that said a chemical weapon like Sarin could kill about as many people as were killed at the WTC, but a biological weapon one hundredth the size (say, smallpox) could wipe out 3 to 5 million people--maybe more.

And the abundance of air transportation would certainly facilitate the spread of such deadly diseases. Imagine if they let one of those germs loose in an airport!

I've been trying to figure out how biological weapons could hurt us since they have more broad range impact then chemical I think. Try this on for size.

I think that I was answering a different question than you were asking. I think that you were asking "Why is air travel so important to begin with? Why have we relied so heavily on air transportation up until now?" Whereas, I was answering the question, "Why is it so important to get back to normal in terms of air travel?"

Is that correct?

Why bail out an industry that won't take care of its own people? Sounds to me like the airline industry is using the attacks as an excuse for laying of 20% of its workforce, and that really is a shame. The government should not compound this atrocity by rewarding the behavior unconditionally.

The idea is that if we can just get people to get on planes again, we can then get them to vacation destinations, conference sites, and convention centers. The sooner that happens, the sooner hotels, motels, amusement parks, convention centers, restaurants and other travel-related industries can resume raking in all those American dollars.

It really is true that fear can drastically affect the markets. If people are afraid to fly, that affects not only the airlines, but a host of other air transportation-dependent industries. If we take a long time to get back to our normal transportation routines, more people will have to be laid off, thus producing more economic fear, thus sending us farther down the economic spiral.

Having said all that, I agree with you that we are far too dependent on air travel. In the age of the Internet and video conference calling, it seems ridiculous that we continue to waste time, energy and fuel to get people from one place to another just to have business conversations.

Still, I think that the people whose jobs depend on air travel (directly or indirectly) would beg to differ.

Dan B

Terrorism and the War on Marijuana. All Power to the Incompetents!

Value of 100 tons of Taliban opium stockpile: $3 million

Price of opium after America got them to cut production and drive the price up: $700 per kilo

Value of 100 tons of Taliban opium stockpile: $70 million

Net profit for the Taliban: $63 million

The Taliban clearly understand capitalism better than we do and are clearly capable of using our own blind spots against us. These guys appear to be smarter than we are, and I am worried that we may not be able to beat them.

Because look at what we just did: we got on our high American moral Drug War horse, and they used it to turn $3 million of opium into $70 million of opium.

They are smarter than we are. I can't see a single sign anywhere that anyone in journalism or public policy understands this. We are dumb and getting dumber every day.

So basically, the government can take whatever belongs to you, as long as they can "proove" that you are a terrorist. Give me a bleepin' break. Aren't these the SAME laws that we have been fighting in liu of the "drug war"? And so now these dark government powers which don't belong ANYWHERE are being exploted for mass use simply because they are ALREADY being used? This does not make sense. It's like cooking with food that you KNOW is rotton. This is horrible. God save us all.

sly in green, foxy in kind, (and colas, sometimes) ;)