There seem to be a lot of stories around now like
THIS ONE about how US citizens are getting panicked and worried. They claim there\'s a new FEAR in the United States over what the next terrorist retaliation will be. Nutty stories are flying around about how "a friend of a friend of my sister said she helped an Arab man, and the man repaid her by warning her not to go near a shopping mall on October 31st..." etc. etc. I admit that I\'ve seen it myself recently. I attended a planning meeting in my company in preparation for an evacuation drill, and ordinary people were asking all sorts of nutty questions, basically displaying their fear with no reservations.
I find this hard to understand because I\'m not afraid. I feel like, if some Islamic terrorists want to "kill all Americans wherever they find them" then let them come to Los Angeles. I\'d like to meet one, and I know some guys in Compton who would like to meet them too.
Are the majority of Americans really so shallow that they haven\'t considered their own death before? I\'ve thought about it, and I\'m not worried. If my number comes up, whether it\'s from breathing an Anthrax spore or crashing into a telephone pole, I\'ll accept it. I\'m going to take precautions and try not to increase my risk, but I\'m not going to live my life in fear just because some a$$hole in Afghanistan says he wants to kill me. I\'d like to see all of us, both our governments and as individuals stop making decisions out of fear, and start acting more boldly.
