Didn't We Learn Anything From London?

[Karin]

Even as the grim message of the London terror bombings sink in, the Bush Administration and the GOP-controlled Congress still refuse to take the steps necessary to make our trains, subways, buses and ferries safer from attack.

As columnist Neal Peirce notes: "Should the federal government be investing substantially more effort and dollars to protect (mass transit)? The London attacks on three crowded subway trains and a double-decker bus, on the heels of last year’s terrorist hit at Madrid’s commuter-rail system, ought to offer proof.

Thirty-two million times a day, argues William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Americans board trains, buses and passenger ferry boats. That’s 16 times the number (just under 2 million) who board airplanes daily. Yet since 9/11, Washington has allocated a scant $250 million for transit security, compared with the $18.1 billion it has granted the airline industry."

Peirce goes on to point out: “As for Congress, before the London bombings the Republican-controlled Senate had been set to reduce the allocation for public-transit-safety efforts from $150 million to $100 million in the $31.8 billion appropriations bill for homeland-security operations. While the federal government was spending $9.16 per passenger on airliner security in 2002-2003, its outlays for transit-security grants came to six-tenths of a penny per passenger. The federal government has never responded to a 2004 APTA survey in which transit agencies reported they needed $6 billion over three years for security equipment, technology and personnel overtime costs.”

Aren’t you glad your fate rests in the hands of the dynamic trio of Bush, DeLay and Frist?
americasdemocrats.org/

 

[Ani_Ibi]

Karin:

Aren’t you glad your fate rests in the hands of the dynamic trio of Bush, DeLay and Frist?
americasdemocrats.org/

My fate rests on the following:

1. Toronto Transit Commission Chair Moscoe who says that we have nothing to fear since we are not in Iraq;
2. Toronto Mayor David Miller who says we have nothing to fear;
3. Canadian Prime Minister who says different things according to which side of the pew he wakes up on.

We have had zero information about what anti-terrorism security we have. Probably because we don’t have any. There are outdated cameras on the subway. None on the streets.

 

[Karin]

Didn’t you hear about all of those security measures the US has taken. I swore people were talking about them …oops my mistake that was the wind I heard.

 

[Brad]

Karin:

Didn’t you hear about all of those security measures the US has taken. I swore people were talking about them …oops my mistake that was the wind I heard.

I just heard today that New York City has stepped up it’s transit security and I am sure other cities have done likewise.

A terrorist attack can happen anytime anywhere. We cannot cover every base but the fact that there hasn’t been one since 9/11 is a testament to outstanding security step up since that time.

I would think much Federal money is going into stopping a catastrophic attack like we have never seen such as a multi-city nuclear attack. There are only so many dollars. For example, planes can fly into nuclear plants. Trains cannot. Transit security is likely better handled locally.

 

[Karin]

Brad:

I just heard today that New York City has stepped up it’s transit security and I am sure other cities have done likewise.

Ah yes…only after the two London bombings did NYC decide to do something…what did they decide to do…random bag searches…Oh I feel so much safer now!
"Officials declined to specify where and how frequently the checks would occur or how long they would last. The NYPD had already doubled the number of officers who patrol the subway after the initial attack in London on July 7, at a cost of $2 million a week in overtime"
msnbc.msn.com/id/8660152/

 

[Brad]

Karin:

Ah yes…only after the two London bombings did NYC decide to do something…what did they decide to do…random bag searches…Oh I feel so much safer now!
"Officials declined to specify where and how frequently the checks would occur or how long they would last. The NYPD had already doubled the number of officers who patrol the subway after the initial attack in London on July 7, at a cost of $2 million a week in overtime"
msnbc.msn.com/id/8660152/

So they doubled the number of officers and are doing random searches.

What else are you looking for?

You’re not going to “feel” safe until all the terrorists are gone.

 

[Karin]

Ah…but NYC does not know how long they will do this(Officials declined to specify where and how frequently the checks would occur or how long they would last)…that is the point Brad. All measures taken are not long term or so it seems…it is all temporary…and the changes dont occur till after something major happens somewhere else. Why?
And the airport security is another joke…if you take a look at the screeners at Newark Liberty Airport you will understand this comment…the are 1/2 asleep, chatting about the dates they took the other night or coming up and not paying any or enough attention to the people they should be screening.
Ah, I feel so safe…think I will just keep flyin El Al and pray that they take over the security for the trains, and ferries!

 

[Brad]

Karin:

Ah…but NYC does not know how long they will do this(Officials declined to specify where and how frequently the checks would occur or how long they would last)…that is the point Brad. All measures taken are not long term or so it seems…it is all temporary…and the changes dont occur till after something major happens somewhere else. Why?
And the airport security is another joke…if you take a look at the screeners at Newark Liberty Airport you will understand this comment…the are 1/2 asleep, chatting about the dates they took the other night or coming up and not paying any or enough attention to the people they should be screening.
Ah, I feel so safe…think I will just keep flyin El Al and pray that they take over the security for the trains, and ferries!

What you are witnessing is the result of liberalism in this country. You can’t pin that all on Bush.

For one thing, the airports have to do “non-profile” random screening. That is nonsense. Screening little old ladies?
That ain’t no conservative idea.

 

[Karin]

Brad:

What you are witnessing is the result of liberalism in this country. You can’t pin that all on Bush.
For one thing, the airports have to do “non-profile” random screening. That is nonsense. Screening little old ladies?
That ain’t no conservative idea.

LOL!!! “non-profile” screening (clarify please)…heck I have not seen any worthwhile screening going on at all…old, young or otherwise!
An example…a 14 year old with a full length leg cast on crutches approaches security checkpoint…told to hand over crutches, take off shoe and walk (duh) through scanner. Cant walk by himself broken leg and needs crutches…so he kinds crawls hobbles through, sets off scanner and then is pulled aside to have a wand waved over every part of him but the cast…and allowed to go and board a plane. Go figure…sounds like GREAT security…have they not heard that even teens & kids are suicide bombers not just adults ???

 

[Brad]

Karin:

LOL!!! “non-profile” screening (clarify please)…heck I have not seen any worthwhile screening going on at all…old, young or otherwise!
An example…a 14 year old with a full length leg cast on crutches approaches security checkpoint…told to hand over crutches, take off shoe and walk (duh) through scanner. Cant walk by himself broken leg and needs crutches…so he kinds crawls hobbles through, sets off scanner and then is pulled aside to have a wand waved over every part of him but the cast…and allowed to go and board a plane. Go figure…sounds like GREAT security…have they not heard that even teens & kids are suicide bombers not just adults ???

Ummm. Not too many white,black, or hispanic kid suicide bombers running around.

I thought you were complaining about what the kid had to go through. I think it is ludicrous also.

 

[Karin]

Brad:

Ummm. Not too many white,black, or hispanic kid suicide bombers running around. **You never know, that is the point You are saying that all Arabs are terrorists…think again! **

I thought you were complaining about what the kid had to go through. Yeah I was I think it is ludicrous also.

 

[Brad]

Karin:
I’m not saying that all Arabs are terrorists. I’m saying that 99.9% of suicide bombers are Arabs.

Do you really want to be safe or do you want to be PC?

I want to be safe.

 

[iamrefreshed]

Karin:

Ah yes…only after the two London bombings did NYC decide to do something…what did they decide to do…random bag searches…Oh I feel so much safer now!
"Officials declined to specify where and how frequently the checks would occur or how long they would last. The NYPD had already doubled the number of officers who patrol the subway after the initial attack in London on July 7, at a cost of $2 million a week in overtime"
msnbc.msn.com/id/8660152/

As a former daily rider of the NYC subway system I assure you there is NO WAY to protect everyone 100%.

Have you any experience in NYC mass transit?

 

[Karin]

iamrefreshed:

As a former daily rider of the NYC subway system I assure you there is NO WAY to protect everyone 100%.

Have you any experience in NYC mass transit?

Oh yeah (and not impressed)…plenty of experience with the buses and the trains and the next 4 years my eldest son will experience NJ Transit commuting from Northern NJ to Jersey City for High school.

 

[Karin]

Brad:

I’m not saying that all Arabs are terrorists. I’m saying that 99.9% of suicide bombers are Arabs.

Do you really want to be safe or do you want to be PC?

I want to be safe.

How about both …FYI…some Arabs have blond hair and blue eyes…so how do you distinguish???

 

[estesbob]

Brad:

So they doubled the number of officers and are doing random searches.

What else are you looking for?

You’re not going to “feel” safe until all the terrorists are gone.

Her post had nothing to do with security-it was the usual lets find a way to blame everything that happens in the world on Bush post

If Clinton had paid as much attention to terroroidm as he did to interns we wouldnt have nearly the problem we have today. Thank God we have a president willing to take terrorism head on.

 

[Karin]

estesbob:

Her post had nothing to do with security-it was the usual lets find a way to blame everything that happens in the world on Bush post

If Clinton had paid as much attention to terroroidm as he did to interns we wouldnt have nearly the problem we have today. Thank God we have a president willing to take terrorism head on.

Oh I am so glad that you can read my mind estesbob…NOT! No my post was not the usual blaming everything that happens on Bush…it was more to the point of why are we waiting for things to happen before we make changes (is it not better to be proactive???)

 

[Writer]

Karin:

Even as the grim message of the London terror bombings sink in, the Bush Administration and the GOP-controlled Congress still refuse to take the steps necessary to make our trains, subways, buses and ferries safer from attack.

As columnist Neal Peirce notes: "Should the federal government be investing substantially more effort and dollars to protect (mass transit)? The London attacks on three crowded subway trains and a double-decker bus, on the heels of last year’s terrorist hit at Madrid’s commuter-rail system, ought to offer proof.

Thirty-two million times a day, argues William Millar, president of the American Public Transportation Association (APTA), Americans board trains, buses and passenger ferry boats. That’s 16 times the number (just under 2 million) who board airplanes daily. Yet since 9/11, Washington has allocated a scant $250 million for transit security, compared with the $18.1 billion it has granted the airline industry."

Peirce goes on to point out: “As for Congress, before the London bombings the Republican-controlled Senate had been set to reduce the allocation for public-transit-safety efforts from $150 million to $100 million in the $31.8 billion appropriations bill for homeland-security operations. While the federal government was spending $9.16 per passenger on airliner security in 2002-2003, its outlays for transit-security grants came to six-tenths of a penny per passenger. The federal government has never responded to a 2004 APTA survey in which transit agencies reported they needed $6 billion over three years for security equipment, technology and personnel overtime costs.”

Aren’t you glad your fate rests in the hands of the dynamic trio of Bush, DeLay and Frist?
americasdemocrats.org/

While perhaps it is true that the federal government could be providing more financial assistance to cities and states for the transit systems, the hard truth is that there may not be enough money to do everything the way we’d like to see it done. The local communities are going to have to shoulder more of these costs themselves now and in the years to come, and they had better find a way to finance it soon. As a guy who used to interact in a previous govt position with Customs Officers and the state police, I can also add that there is always a lot going on behind the scenes, stuff of which we will never know or read in the newspaper. The fact of the matter further is that there have been no more terrorist attacks in the US since 9-11. The terrorists have tried but failed in their attempts to launch another attack against our nation. This simple fact speaks vollumes in my mind that our president is quietly and resolutely doing what is right and just to keep the nation safe.

 

[Karin]

Writer:

While perhaps it is true that the federal government could be providing more financial assistance to cities and states for the transit systems, the hard truth is that there may not be enough money to do everything the way we’d like to see it done. The local communities are going to have to shoulder more of these costs themselves now and in the years to come, and they had better find a way to finance it soon. As a guy who used to interact in a previous govt position with Customs officers, I can also add that there is always a lot going on behind the scenes, stuff of which we will never know or read reported. The fact of the matter further is that there have been no more terrorist attacks in the US since 9-11. The terrorists have tried but failed in their attempts to launch another attack against our nation. This simple fact speaks vollumes in my mind that our president is quitely and resolutely doing what is right and just to keep the nation safe.

Another reason for my property taxes to go up becuase the goverment is pissing money away on things!!

 

[iamrefreshed]

Another reason for my property taxes to go up becuase the goverment is pissing money away on things!!

You can’t have it both ways. It seems to me you want the government to put you in a protective cocoon and let someone else pick up the tab!