Do you see that flag?

The Union Jack, the direct ancestor of our own flag. Blood relative, if you will. And it comes down to the old saying, "There but for the grace of God go I."

I could have been here, this was a no-brainer attack. You hear the experts rambling on about this and that, but it all boils down to the fact that once they got the explosives - they had the method. The plan is secondary once you have the means. I spent a good portion of a year riding the NYC Subway and the LIRR daily, and I can personally attest to how many people wear backpacks or have briefcases with them when they ride.

I carried a roll of chef's knives stuffed in my backpack. 10 of the sharpest blades you've ever seen. And I was never once stopped, never questioned. I saw the police enter trains before they entered the tunnel under the East River heading towards the WTC, I saw the officer stationed at the entrance to the tunnel. I know very well that there were more officers than the ones I saw, I probably sat next to these officers.

I did not see any explosive materials sniffing devices. I saw dogs, but mainly in the larger stations. I saw the TITAN Tactical Response team floating around, carrying the big guns.

I saw guys who looked shadier than any cartoon villan, and I watched as everyone in the subway car watched them. Gave them a hard look-over, especially if they were carrying something. But no one stopped them for a check.

If you can blend in with the locals, you have little to fear.

I saw, on the same subway car, orthodox Jews praying and Muslims reading the Koran. Pakistani businessmen standing toe to toe with Jewish doctors. This is to the credit of NY, that diverse cultures can co-exist without destroying eachother on sight.

But it is also the greatest vunerability of any city. How do you single out the bad seed in a load of grain? Without "chatter" and intelligence, you can't. And thats why it happened in London. Because we have no way of identifying terrorists on demand. If you have seen "Total Recall", you will remember in the movie, when Arnie goes to the 'airport' he has to walk behind a wall, which displays an x-ray image of everyone who passes behind it.

We have a similar technology, minus the computer-designed graphics. But because we have this technology, we have people who say it infringes upon our rights.

They say the average Londoner is photographed no less than 300 times a day as they go around town. London is one of the most heavily surveiled cities in the world. And this still was not enough to deter the idiots.

It's going to happen, and there is nothing we can do about it.
What matters is how we react to it when it does happen, and limiting the reasons it happens in the first place.

More to come