[meteorite-list] OT: Death fears vs. probability My un-expert opinion

Mark Miconi mam602 at cox.net
Sat Sep 3 10:59:32 EDT 2005


I agree with you Rob.

It is the same with the losses in Iraq. The military has accidents every 
year, even when not at war. Where are the protestors when marines die from 
hypothermia in a swamp, where are they when men die jumping from an airplane 
and crash into the desert? Why is it a needless death when they die in Iraq 
and not when it is a training exercise.

Many in America are bitching about the time it is taking to help the 
stranded. If I remember correctly they were told to EVACUATE New Orleans. It 
is not like the problem with the levees is new....THEY HAVE BEEN INADEQUETE 
FOR OVER 100 YEARS.  I do not remember seeing throngs marching in the city 
prior to the storm TRYING TO ESCAPE, yet they can sure get out in horrible 
conditions to loot, rob, rape and murder now. If 30,000 people were in the 
streets trying to evacuate I think someone might have noticed

Why is not the ever present and all knowing Michael Farmer running the damn 
show if he is so freaking smart? Farmer your mouth is always running about 
the wrong shit. If you know so damn much get your ass to the region and help 
our president do it right. Where is all your massive fortune Mike? Lets see 
a public contribution, other than your witty bullshit here on the list. How 
many families from the region are living with you? I HAVE AN OFFER ON 
CRAIGSLIST TO TAKE A FAMILY OF 4.

MIKE, SHUT UP AND DO SOMETHING TANGIBLE FOR A CHANGE.

I do not care what you did in the past...THIS IS HERE AND THIS IS NOW, WHAT 
HAVE YOU DONE FOR THEM LATELY?

I do not make enough money to save the world. My family has already donated 
$300.00, and my brother in law who is the biggest DJ in Arizona on KMLE in 
Phoenix is on the air raising money and starting a clothes drive. My sons 
class is taking contributions of school supplies for the children of the 
disaster including giving up some of there own badly needed supplies.
At my office we all paid for a week($2.00 a day) of casual dress(jeans) and 
this week we will all wear our dress clothes and send the money to the red 
cross.

YES things were done wrong, and yes they could have been done better....THAT 
DISCUSSION IS FOR A LATER TIME AND ON ANOTHER LIST.

If anybody HERE thinks you can do better get your boots on the ground...if 
you can help, then do it. You know that $5.00 is not much today NOT EVEN 2 
GALLONS OF GAS, but if all of us sent $5.00 to the Red Cross it will make a 
difference, all your bitching is doing is wasting air and creating 
greenhouse gasses.

Our people...AMERICANS, need us now. Later we can get together and discuss 
what we need to do to fix what happened. Now we just need to open our homes 
our wallets and our hearts and help....who cares who screwed this up, lets 
just fix it and hang those that be damned later.

No one on earth could have stopped this storm, no one on earth is 
responsible for the storm, everyone can have a hand in fixing it.

Alot of people here bitch that there is too much government in America, and 
then expect that same government to pick their asses up out of the thick of 
things when ultimately the responsibility for your OWN LIFE RESTS WITH YOU. 
Next election get out and vote, get involved, your government is YOU when 
you participate.

Thats my look on the issue. My challenge to everyone is to quit looking for 
the devil to hang and get your asses in gear, give money, give clothes, 
start auctions to benefit the people that need it most, offer to take in a 
family if you can do it. JUST DO SOMETHING OTHER THAN ARGUE ABOUT WHAT 
HAPPENED, IT WILL NOT CHANGE THE FACT THAT IT HAPPENED.

To everyone that has given already...THANK YOU and find a way to give some 
more.

Thanks for listening, and please find a way to help.

Mark M.


----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Matson, Robert" <ROBERT.D.MATSON at saic.com>
To: "'Sterling K. Webb'" <kelly at bhil.com>; 
<meteorite-list at meteoritecentral.com>
Sent: Friday, September 02, 2005 12:21 PM
Subject: [meteorite-list] OT: Death fears vs. probability


> Sterling makes some excellent points about the psychological
> impact of tragic deaths attributed to various flavors of
> Mother Nature flexing her muscles.  When it comes to fear and
> risk, humans can be very irrational.  They worry about tornadoes,
> hurricanes, volcanoes, supervolcanoes, tsunamis, global warming,
> airplane crashes, lightning, shark attacks and bear attacks, not
> to mention whatever the latest fear of the week might be (e.g.
> anthrax, dirty bombs, West Nile virus, Ebola).
>
> The common factor in all of these fears is that the probability
> of dying from any one of them is practically zero.  In fact, if
> you add up all the probabilities of dying from each of these, the
> chances are still next to zero.  But this is what people worry
> about because it's reported each and every day on their TV sets.
> They think nothing of getting in their cars each day and driving
> to and from work (perhaps smoking a cigarette or wolfing down a
> supersize meal from their favorite fast-food joint as they do so.)
> When 2000 people die from a hurricane-caused flood, that's news.
> But 42,000+ people dying in automobile accidents ANNUALLY in
> the U.S. alone?  No one cares.  No one is suggesting that we ban
> automobiles.  But if there were 42,000 deaths a year from shark
> attacks, it would be a different story.
>
> Here's a list of some selected average annual deaths for the
> U.S.:
>
> Shark Attack                    1
> Roller Skates                  10
> Dog Bites                      20
> Avalanche                   20-25
> Mud/Landslide               25-50
> Skydiving                      30
> Skiing                         34
> Hurricane (1940-1981 avg.)     47
> Bee/wasp stings                50
> Personal Watercraft            54
> Lightning '95                  89
> Chickenpox                     90
> Needle Sticks                 100
> Fire Ants                     100
> Flood 40-81                   109
> Tornado 40-81                 128
> Police Officers 2000          151
> Lightning 1940-1981           188
> Airline                       200
> Car Deer Collisions           211
> Campylobacter(chicken)   200-1000
> IllImm Mex-US Border '97      300
> Childbirth                    302
> CJD brain disease         300-400
> Heat related illness          318 Newsweek 8/13/01
> Struck by trains 1999         530
> CO Poisoning                  594
> General Aviation              600
> Recreational Boating 1996     714
> Bicycle 1995                  800
> Water borne disease         1,200
> CO Poisoning                1,500
> Rec Boating 1973            1,754
> Motorcycle                  2,500
> Car Phone 2002 Harvard      2,500
> Subcompact cars NHTSA     2-3,000
> EPA Second Hand Smoke       3,000
> Fire                        4,500
> Drowning                    4,621
> Teen car accidents          5,500
> Pedestrian accidents        6,000
> Occupational Injuries       6,200
> Adverse Drug Reactions      7,000
> Food Illness                9,000
> Skin Cancers                9,733
> Bladder Cancer             11,700
> Falls                      12,662
> Shooting Murder            15,456
> Diet related Cancer        16,000
> Alcohol Driving            17,126
> Influenza                  20,000
> AIDS                       20,000
> Radon (EPA high)           20,000
> Leukemia                   21,000
> Suicide 1994               31,142
> Prostate Cancer            40,000
> Breast Cancer              44,560
> Motor Vehicle              50,000
> Leukemia & Related         56,000
> Colon Cancer               60,000
> Medical Mistakes           98,000
> Alcohol Related           100,000
> Adverse Drug Reactions    106,000 JAMA '98
> Trauma                    125,000
> Medical Negligence est    150,000
> Lung Cancer               158,700
> Diabetes related          169,000
> Influenza/pneumonia       200,000
> Obesity                   300,000
> Tobacco related           500,000
> Cancer                    500,000
> Diseases of heart         733,834
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