[Leica] Thoughts on a day spent in front of my TV.

[John Collier <jbcollier@powersurfr.com>]

While I am not that old, I am old enough to remember a time when you boarded
a plane just as you would a bus. You just got on; no security guards, no
searches and no detectors of any sort. I can even remember running across
the tarmac to greet people descending the plane's stairs. We have now
crossed another threshold. A threshold where the inconceivable has not only
become reality but also too easily imagined happening again.

There has been much talk of revenge and retribution. All of which I can
easily understand as my family is only second generation Irish immigrants in
Canada. I myself would prefer that the responsible people be found, brought
to the US, and tried in the courts. I think that life imprisonment ­ a life
locked away while the USA goes on and they are only a dim memory of people's
parents ­ would be the best punishment. A miserable existence and a death
recorded in the back pages or only briefly mentioned in the "This Day in
History" columns. Obscurity was certainly not one of their goals and may be
the worst punishment we can exact.

My condolences to all those who have suffered, my admiration to all those
who are striving to get New York up and running again and, I do not mean
this in any light-hearted sense, a big "Bronx's Cheer" to the b*****s who
are trying to stop us from living free lives.

John Collier