Bjorn wrote:

>It's a whole new world out there, and safety rules. I'd prefer the phrase
"the late Brad Stambaugh" to remain a joke ;-)<

Not all that new. I spent a few years (as a kid) in a country with an
ongoing colonial war. Getting shot at on the road wasn't all that rare.
Your "run-of-the-mill" European tourist has always been exposed to the ETA 
in Spain, or assorted other crazies in Turkey or Israel, Algeria, Tunis
(bomb earlier this year), Egypt, Yemen, etc.  I've also traveled
extensively in Central America and Columbia. When was that ever safe? The
big change was that 9/11 happened in the US, where people always felt
unaffected by all of this. And now of course Bali, which seemed so
peaceful. And I am really sorry to hear about your mates.

And how many places in this world were "safe" to travel to 100 years ago?
Not many. 

And what do I really worry about when I fly MUC-DXB and beyond? Not
necessarily Saddam's air force,  but trigger happy US military on Aegis
cruisers and F-15s are certainly on my mind. Remember Iran Air?. Just to
put this into perspective a bit. And now maybe also the CIA, in case they
think they detected some bad guys who happen to stay next door to where I
am at an inappropriate time.

To bring this back slightly  on-topic, I do not plan on cancelling any dive
plans - unless Dubya forces me to do it on short notice. Hey, funniest
comment I heard on the US election results was when someone in D.C.
commented that "I think we've sent a message to countries like Germany and
India". Huh, India? Ahh, ok, Pakistan's Pervez M. is the good Muslim for
now.

M