Eminent Domain Stuff
New London Update (2/24/06)
Bad NLDC!
Coverage of the Rally at New London's City Hall (w/ pics)
Wednesday, August 04, 2004
The "New" World
Prior to the attacks on September 11, 2001, we lived in a nice shiny little bubble of good feelings and happiness. It's easy (and quite understandable) to get a bit nostalgic for the old days.
Unfortunately, those days are gone...and in reality they never existed in the first place, we were just complacent. For the past few decades, every single Israeli citizen has been under constant and immediate threat of being killed without warning. Even today, our situation is no where near that. And yet, we still don't know exactly how to feel about scenes like this:
These images are a sign of the times, and they're not going away. We may never win the War on Terror...but we can certainly beat the living pants off the bad guys...and maybe find a balance between the extremes of martial law and blissfully dangerous ignorance that is compatible with a free People.
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Unfortunately, those days are gone...and in reality they never existed in the first place, we were just complacent. For the past few decades, every single Israeli citizen has been under constant and immediate threat of being killed without warning. Even today, our situation is no where near that. And yet, we still don't know exactly how to feel about scenes like this:
WASHINGTON, Aug. 3 - Members of Congress often call the Capitol the People's House. But the house is looking more and more like a fortress.I will admit that I get somewhat uncomfortable at the site of police armed with automatic weapons standing outside the Capitol building. It reminds me too much of the pictures we see from time to time of airports in countries with tinpot dictators. It also reminds me a little too strongly of one of my top two fears: These scenes bring to mind the conspiratorial fears reminiscent of George Orwell's 1984 (the other fear in the top two being another destructive terror attack).
On Tuesday, one day after the Capitol police announced a series of heightened security measures, Capitol Hill resembled a walled city. The ring of concrete barriers encircling the Capitol building since the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, has now expanded outward to include the adjacent House and Senate office buildings.
These images are a sign of the times, and they're not going away. We may never win the War on Terror...but we can certainly beat the living pants off the bad guys...and maybe find a balance between the extremes of martial law and blissfully dangerous ignorance that is compatible with a free People.
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