I have to take exception with Jon Samuelson's letter saying that safety is an illusion ("Americans' freedoms should not be eroded," Nov. 19). Consider this example. We don't have the freedom to choose whether or not to wear seatbelts because you can get a ticket if you don't. But wearing that seatbelt can prevent you from being killed in a car accident.

Also, I am severely offended by his assertion that if someone really wants to blow something up, nothing will stop him or her.

Remember the guy who tried to blow up the plane by lighting his shoe? A bunch of passengers stopped him, didn't they?

Also, as a member of the military, I say that aggressively seeking out terrorists will stop them from striking again, because they're too busy running for their lives to plan a sophisticated attack. If you wanted to say that firewall issues weren't in place for safety reasons, go ahead and just say it. Don't ludicrously compare firewall issues to terrorism and murder. That's just wrong.