About the same number of people died from peptic ulcers in 2007 as died in 9/11. Twice as many Americans have died in Iraq and Afghanistan (not to mention the 1.4 million Iraqis and 7000 Afghanis).

While this in no way excuses the atrocity perpetrated on 9/11, perhaps it puts things in a broader perspective. If terrorist actions terrify residents of “the land of the free and home of the brave” into reshaping America into a police state, who’s winning this war, exactly?

I don’t think the last two years are any different than the previous eight. You can “condemn” terrorists all you want — condemnation ain’t gonna deter them.

If you read the entire piece by Schneier, you’ll see that he’s advocating that we grow up and come out of the fetal position long enough to realize that the world isn’t safe and that we can’t make it 100% so. Some security is meaningful, but we can’t make people take off their shoes and go through backscatter x-rays to ride the bus, go to the post office, or go to a national monument and still call ourselves a free and adult country.