1) These days, any important landmarks need armed guards 24/7! They might need to be armed with AK-47's or other similar weapons!
Police, while necessary, can't be around at every moment. Their job is to patrol the whole city! They can't be everywhere all at once!
Someone needs to be right there to protect at all times!
Some gun-control fanatics claim that having armed guards at schools, malls, etc. is "crazy". WRONG! Leaving public places undefended is the real insanity!
Once the bullets start, time for negotiation is over! Every second that passes is an eternity in those situations!
You can't stop those people with singing "give peace a chance". It's too late!
It's also too late to confiscate guns from people! Guns are already invited, and someone will find a way to get them!
The good guys need to win the arms race against the bad guys! That's reality! The bad guys ain't gonna give up their weapons without a fight! Why should the good guys!
If a good citizen has a gun and shoots the terrorists on a rampage -- that's good! That's taking initiative!
The police can't be there all the time!
Remember the LA riots in 1992? The police backed down in the 1st few hours! They were outnumbered and they left the scene! That sent a message to everyone -- "it's all yours, enjoy the vandalism". Those who were the wrong race were brutally attacked, and the police were NOWHERE to be found!
Remember New Orleans after Katrina! Some cops left town, some committed suicide, some even joined in the looting! There weren't enough cops to stop the looting
Yes, we need a good police force, but we also need citizens to take initiative! The citizens need to be the first line of defense!
2) Common Dreams had an article blaming poverty, capitalism, etc for the terrorism in Mumbai!
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2008/11/27-10
The recent attacks in India are morally repugnant, but the debate on how to curb terrorism needs to consider why people engage in such desperate acts in the first place. The perpetrators of yesterday's violence targeted two of Mumbai's most luxurious hotels: Taj Mahal and the Oberioi Trident. One night at either of these hotels costs, on average, Rupees 17,500 (US $ 355) in a country where the annual salary is Rupees 29,069 (US $590)
The article also had statistics on how much in India are living in poverty, as well as description of life in Indian ghettoes!
While India has been growing economically within the past decade, it is still recovering from centuries from extreme poverty!
However, what the writer left out ON PURPOSE, was that this incident has NOTHING to do with rebelling against poverty!
If India is 80% Hindu, 13% Muslim, 7% other --- you would think among the millions in India still living in poverty, many would be Hindu, right? And they would doing most of the rebelling against poverty, right?
But all signs are pointing to Islamic extremists!
It's got nothing to do with Indian poverty!
It's probably got more to do with feeling left out as a religious minority, and possibly over the disputed area of Kashmir (which is split between India & Pakistan)!
Some say the terrorists were from Pakistan, but it's unconfirmed so far!
But as conflicts in Africa, Middle East, South & South-East Asia, as well as attacks in Europe & North America has shown, there is a tendency on Islamic extremists to use terrorism as way to make non-Muslims afraid & submissive! They believe that violence is neccessary to get everyone to conform to ultra-conservative form of Islam! That's the politically incorrect fact!
Now, it should be common sense by now that there's millions of Muslims are NOT involved in terrorism or any other extremist activities!
But it is dangerous to pretend that there isn't a disturbing sign of violent extremism within the Muslim world!
Also, it should be common sense by now that criticism of Islamic extremism isn't always racist! Islam is a religion, NOT a race! Any blond-haired Caucasian can convert to Islam anytime, and any Middle Eastern person can quit Islam anytime!
India & Pakistan had wars over Kashmir in the past!
Those were in the past before both nations got nuclear weapons!
If they ever go to war, billions of people can die in seconds!
It's more important that the US have a missle defense system! Any arguments against a missle defense is DANGEROUSLY NAIVE in the age of nuclear weapons!
Even more so, if Iran, which has ties to anti-American terrorist groups, has nuclear weapons!
I already worry about North Korean missles hitting Hawaii! Let's hope it doesn't go that way!
4) While the following got nothing to do with the Mumbai incident, it's still related to India in some way. I want to clear up some things on the use of the word "Indians"!
People are still referring to Native Americans as "Indians"
While Christopher Columbus landed in the Carribean islands, he noticed dark, reddish-brown skinned people, so he thought he landed in India. So he called the people he saw "Indians".
But this is the 21st Century, we should already know that Native Americans (including all the natives of all the Americas, not just USA) and the people of India are very different from each other!
Yet, even within my family, when the girls were wearing the Native American style hats, people were saying "you look like an Indian", even though no one in India is wearing those hats (unless they're imitating Native Americans)
When I use the word "Indian", I'm only referring to people from India! When I am talking about the native people of the Americas, I use the word "Native Americans". That way there is no confusion over who we're talking about!
It's even more important now that we clear with confusion, especially with increased immigration from India. Even in Hawaii, I'm seeing more Indians here than before!
So let's reserve the use of the word "Indians" for those with roots in India, and "Native Americans" for those with native roots in the Americas!
And NO, this is NOT political correctness, it's FACTUAL CORRECTNESS!
