The Peanut Threat
Earlier this week, Schneier wrote about a short paper from the CATO Institute that attempts to give some everyman-context to the risks associated with terrorist threats. Although it was BoingBoinged the same day, apparently not enough people read it because the media is ablaze all over again with totally irrational commentary since the incident in the UK. A choice quote from the CATO paper puts the risk of dying in a terrorist incident into perspective:
Even with the September 11 attacks included in the count, the number of Americans killed by international terrorism since the late 1960s… is about the same as the number of Americans killed over the same period by lightning, accident-causing deer, or severe allergic reaction to peanuts.
This one compares airline terrorism to the risks associated with driving:
University of Michigan transportation researchers… determined there would have to be one set of September 11 crashes a month for [flying to be as risky as driving an equivalent distance].
So I say enough is enough. Forget about this terrorism baloney, what I want to know is what the government is doing to protect America from destruction by the new Triangle Of Terror: lightning, rogue-deer, and peanuts. Now please excuse me while I go buy some lotto tickets.