Madrid comes to mind & it's sad what happened. I spend time in Spain each year and have been at the same train stations in Spain. Sure, it could of been me in the wrong place at the wrong time. I've been in NYC many times, have also been in the Trade Center as well as the Pentagon in DC... all targets... I'll gladly go back to Spain and have no fear of using the trains, when in London (which is quite often) I am a regular on the Underground - it doesn't scare me the least and I'm quite comfortable.

However, all this doesn't leave me scared nor does it justify the window dressing BS being used in the name of security. In essense, they will be shutting down NYC for the convention, as they did with Boston for the convention by making it so damn difficult to travel or get anywhere.

EWR has a great link to NYC via the Air Train and the NJ Transit Service from EWR station to Penn. This exists so airline passengers and luggage can quickly and efficiently get from the city to the aiport and return. With these new "GOP" rules, it'll make the process quite difficult, especially if you have much more luggage than a small suitcase or backpack.

No luggage on the overheads?

Gee, now the transit doesn't sound like a good way to the airport... might as well drive, take a taxi, and just get out of town since the city will effectively be shut down for a multi-million dollar "party". Of course the GOP had to pick the largest city, with three major airports, a major transport hub, and the city where many are still recovering from the horrors of 9/11.

Why do we need to shut down big cities like Boston and NYC for this? Much of Boston came to a standstill, many main interstates closed, public transportation nightmares, etc., to the point where people just avoided Boston and many locals just left.

Why not hold the convention in a smaller city like Lexington, Kentucky, or another college town where convention / stadium facilities exist? It'll not only be a lot cheaper, but it'll result in less hassle for less people.

Fact is, it's in NYC for political reasons -- to capture "what bush did after 9/11 and the fight on terrorism" -- All of this extra security is not for the common person, it's for the GOP convention in the case of NYC. In fact, with all this focus on NYC and these "targets", now would be the perfect time for an evil-doer to hit somewhere else completely unexpected.

I'm sorry, but I don't trust the government. If the government wants to do anything to increase security here in the states, we can pull out of Iraq, let the UN take a major role and we should stop poking our "big stick" into other peoples business, or more specifically oil rich countries. Bush is in Iraq for the oil and to finish daddy's job. If we leave Iraq, the US will become safer... but now we've made an entire mess and completely destabilized the area, making it more dangerous than ever before, IMHO. Saddam wasn't a saint, neither are the Kuaiti rulers that we saved -- but at least he kept the area stable and he was no theat to the USA... none at all. Bush would like everyone to think Saddam was connected to 9/11, which sadly many people believe, but it's just not the case as the known facts seem to dictate -- unless you wish to spin them.

Best,

SDF_Traveler