Airline Passengers versusTerrorist Weapons

I noticed something on 9/11 that came back into my mind with news reports about the failed Christmas Day terrorist attempt.

What I noticed on 9/11 was that the terrorists' "weapons" were box cutters. I have used box cutters on jobs, and they're not very impressive. About 1/2" of razor blade protrudes from a handle, and that's it. I could not and cannot understand how the hijackers, 4 or 5 to a plane, cowed all the passengers and crew memebers with those things. Perhaps because of my background in poverty I know rougher people than airline passengers, but I could name a dozen or more people who would have taken those away from the hijackers and proceeded to remove any threat.

So now we come to 12/25/2009. The Christmas terrorist, inept though he apparently was, had a much more fearsome weapon than any box cutter. He sat there with a burning object in his hands, easily recognized as explosive, and was disarmed by a Dutch video director and producer. Giving credit where credit is due, this particular filmmaker displayed great courage and skill. What I wonder about, still, is all those people on 9/11 who did nothing constructive and died as a result of that. Were they really that afraid of box cutters??

First posting

I just created another blog. The intent here is to write about politics, society and all those "big" issues that I once discussed over too many drinks. Be advised that my political positions are typically but not always a bit to the left of mainstream and that I tend to be cynical.