What Caught My Eye Today

Fear - Remember the old saying, "you have nothing to fear, but fear itself."? In this day and age, there is plenty to scare the pants off anyone...several times over. But here is any interesting question--are we really fearing the right stuff? Let's find out shall we? What should you really be afraid of (answers are posted at the end of this post)?

• Murder or suicide?
• Children abducted by strangers or Children who drown in pools?
• Burglary or identity theft?
• Shark attack or dog bite?
• Killed by terrorist attack or seasonal flu?
• Death by allergic reaction to peanut or accidental poisoning?
• Women's death from breast cancer or cardiovascular disease?
• Death by airline accident or car crash?
• Audit by the IRS or death?

Nuclear Proliferation - Uncharacteristically, we have some good news here. The 189 member nations of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty adopted a detailed plan of small steps down a long road toward nuclear disarmament, including a sharply debated proposal to move toward banning doomsday arms from the Middle East. Under its action plan, the five recognized nuclear-weapon states — the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China — commit to speed up arms reductions, take other steps to diminish the importance of atomic weapons, and report back on progress by 2014. The final document also calls for convening a conference in 2012 "on the establishment of a Middle East zone free of nuclear weapons and all other weapons of mass destruction." Fascinating idea. I wonder, did anyone mention this initiative to the Iranian government? This Arab idea of a WMD-free zone is designed to pressure Israel to give up its undeclared nuclear arsenal. Oh yeah, I'm sure the Israelis are totally up for that. Establishment of a verifiable Mideast nuclear weapons-free zone should help allay international concerns about whether Iran's ambitious nuclear program is aimed at building bombs, something Tehran denies. The Iranians have long expressed support for a nuke-free Mideast. They sure have a funny way of showing it, don't they. Still, in the interest of a nuclear free planet, however many lifetimes from now it might take to realize that day, I say bravo to the progress made here.

Potpourri - It's been awhile since we've had one. This time our theme is, "how exactly does this qualify as news?"

• Stress - A recent report found that 51 New York City bus drivers took off an average of more than two paid months in the past year to recover from the emotional trauma of being spat on by passengers.
  I'm not saying that the actions are justified, but this sounds a lot more like an occupational hazard rather than a reason to claim emotional trauma.
• Role Models - Bristol Palin, Sarah Palin's 19 year old daughter, charges $15,000 to $30,000 per appearance to tell teens why they should practice abstinence...so they don't become unwed mothers...like her.
  Funny and tragic at the same time, don't you think?
• Current Events - A recently published study found that Britons were spending slightly more time reading news online than looking at pornography.
  I get the feeling that this is intended to suggest that civilization has not completely deteriorated, but here's my question. Is the gap between watch news rather than porn increasing or decreasing? Funny how the study seems to omit that little nugget.

Fear - So are you fretting over the right stuff?

• Murder or suicide?
  In 2008, there were 14,180 murders in the U.S. compared with 33,289 suicides.
• Children abducted by strangers or Children who drown in pools?
  In 1999, 115 children were abducted compare with 288 who died by drowning in 2006.
• Burglary or identity theft?
  There were 2.2 million burglaries reported in 2007 compared with 8.3 million incidents of identity theft reported in 2005.
• Shark attack or dog bite?
  In 2009, there were 28 attacks by Jaws versus 4.5 million by Cujo.
• Killed by terrorist attack or seasonal flu?
  There were 33 terrorist attacks on Americans in 2008 versus more than 36,000 deaths due to the common flu.
• Death by allergic reaction to peanut or accidental poisoning?
  Less than 100 died from peanut allergies compared to 27,531 who died "accidentally" from poisoning in 2006.
• Women's death from breast cancer or cardiovascular disease?
  There were 40,170 women who succumbed to breast cancer in 2009 versus 432,709 who died from cardiovascular disease.
• Death by airline accident or car crash?
  There were 321 fatalities related to airline travel in 2005 compared with 34,017 auto fatalities in 2008.
• Audit by the IRS or death?
  1.4 million Americans were audited in 2009; 2.4 million died. No correlation I'm sure.