If you haven't been following the blogging commentary from Gary Trudeau in his internationally syndicated Doonesbury comic strip, check it out here:
For the earlier Blog strips jump down here.
Amtrak?
Did you read about the latest Al Qaeda threat where the US rail system is a likely target? Now you can't fly, ride the train and until this weekend, driving where you might need to stop to fill up your tank with gas you could be a victim of some sort of terrorist attack.
So I start doing some digging. You know some people have had fear of flying phobias for some time. Perhaps the most famous include John Madden. Of course, Erica Jong wrote about it years ago. But aviation was not quite what she was thinking.
So back to the train. There is only one state in the Union (in the 48 contiguous states) that is not served by Amtrak. Only one state! I couldn't believe this. Which one? South Dakota. Why? I don't know. Can anyone tell me? My mother currently resides in South Dakota. She just sold her business and a beautiful piece of property on more than 20 acres in the shadows of Mount Rushmore. So we're going to take the train! Obviously not in South Dakota. But the Coast Starlight from Los Angeles to Seattle and onto Vancouver.
The Google Censors.
I can't believe it's happening. My favorite (yours too) search engine is succumbing to the almighty witch hunt of full-of-fears governments or other organizational bodies. Hey. Protect your assets. Your ass, too. I don't know the extent of this, but it's alarming. While we know Al Gore invented the internet and therefore it's a manifestation of American or US ideals. Right? And while we'd like to think these ideals transcend borders, we do understand those companies HQ'd outside our borders may have to adhere – ah, rather obey – the laws that govern business or personal life. Protect your assets.
But the USA? Aren't we the quintessential example of free speech, freedom of information (did someone say, press?) and well, you get the gist. I own a small business. I don't want people telling me what I can say, what I can print and what I can do. So Google does have a choice, after all. If there choice is to censor. Then do it. But let's honor our customers with disclosure. Don't you think. Let's keep our eyes peeled on this story — for the sake of clarity.
