Land of the free, and home of the brave

What happened to "Give me Liberty, or give me death?"

What happened to the memory of all the brave men and women, both military and civilian, who gave the ultimate sacrifice to defend the Constitution?

Why are we willing to give up so quickly and easily what those before us gave their lives to defend?

Does it matter if America the physical country is "safe" if the grand experiment that is America, the idea, the dream, is lost?

Land of the free, and the home of the brave? I think if we lose our courage, then we will lose our freedom.

Clearly the intelligence and law enforcement agencies that get so much of our tax money need to do their jobs and stop all crimes and threats to the country possible, but not at the sacrifice of the foundation of our country.

If we continue to sleep while our freedoms are eroded, one day we'll wake up and find that we have none left.

Danish cartoons and an Egyptian ferry

All around the Muslim world people are protesting the Danish cartoons which depict the prophet Mohammed in a negative light. They are not happy, they are burning flags, and even buildings in some cases.

At the same time, the outrage over the incompetence of the management of the Egyptian ferry that sunk in the Red Sea seems to be isolated to the friends and family of the victims. How is it that people can be so upset about some cartoons drawn by people who clearly have no undertanding of what they did, and be totally apathetic when it comes to people who we should be able to trust to keep us safe are so negligent?

It looks like about 1000 people died on that ferry, while returning from work in Saudi Arabia. Where's the outrage? Think of the impact that will have on all those families - many of which have just lost their primary source of income.

Free Speech and cartoons

There is a lot of discussion about the cartoons that many in the Islamic world find offensive. Most people that are not of the Islamic faith probably can't understand the anger. I personally find it hard to understand, but the cartoon was not about something that is near and dear to me.

Many people seem to think this is an issue of so-called "free speech". I'm not so sure I agree, since no one prevented them from publishing the cartoons. Now, they are reaping what they have sown. True proponents of free speech understand that sometimes free speech comes with consequences. For example, in Rwanda, much of the slaughter there was caused by a loud-mouthed bully inciting people to kill. Is this an issue of free speech? Should people be allowed to incite violence while hiding behind the protections of free speech?

I don't have the answers. I agree completely with Noam Chomsky when he said "You are either for free speech or you are against it - there is no middle ground".

Iranian Nukes

One thing I have trouble with, which no one seems to be discussing...why is it ok for some countries to have nukes, but not others? Clearly it would be great if only we had them, but since that's not the case, why is it that "everyone" agrees that Iran should not have nukes? Their current president yaps like an idiot, but they have not attacked anyone, to the best of my recollection. Do we really think that if they develop nukes, they'll start bombing everyone?

I fear that today, every country wants to have nukes to stave off an invasion. It seems to be working, since I'm not aware of any nuclear power being invaded.