yankeeclipper Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Sorry, David, the heart of this debate is concertinas and airport security, not political rants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chris Timson Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 (edited) The New Scientist article plays an interesting game with numbers, counting 9/11's 246 air passenger fatalities, but blithely ignoring 2,651 deaths on the ground. Not so. That is a misrepresentation of the article. The point being made, and it remains a valid one, is the people in general have skewed ideas of risk. The threat of terrorism is a real one, but there are many greater threats around that kill far more people but no-one worries. To be more blatant with the statistic I quoted earlier, the equivalent of 9/11 happens on Britain's roads every year. The number of deaths on American reads will be proportionally greater. All I'm asking for, really, is a sense of proportion. Think things through. And don't, ever, assume that the authorities always have our best interests at heart. They also are human, after all, and just as capable of woolly thinking as the rest of us. Chris PS Sorry, David, the heart of this debate is concertinas and airport security, not political rants. You are correct in that assertion, but David's only sin is that of caring. I would not use the phrase "political rant" to describe such a deeply felt and honourable position. Edited January 10, 2010 by Chris Timson Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Randy Stein Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 http://photos-g.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc3/hs178.snc3/20535_1348217264146_1192761704_31028197_704205_s.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yankeeclipper Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 The point being made, and it remains a valid one, is the people in general have skewed ideas of risk. You don't demonstrate a "skewed idea of risk" by a skewed example. The New Scientist article's claim of "six times as many" deaths on the roads is accomplished by carefully selecting a small portion of the 9/11 fatalities, and ignoring the ground fatalities which far outnumbered their example. Unfortunately, people engaging in political rants tend to be economical with the truth. “I suspect the cost of the ticket keeps quite a lot of them at bay” Dirge Obviously untrue. Abumutallab's family has immense wealth. Al Qaeda's budgets run well into the millions. “The enemy has no way of carrying the war either to the US or to the UK. They have zero delivery capability.” David Levine Obviously untrue. Ask the victims of 9/11 or the London tube and bus bombs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ken_Coles Posted January 10, 2010 Share Posted January 10, 2010 Thread closed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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