This link has been bookmarked by 3 people . It was first bookmarked on 21 Jun 2008, by Arne Løining.
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21 Jun 08
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05 Jul 05
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After getting fed up with hearing about the constant terror threats, and hearing about how certain passengers flying into the USA will now have to be fingerprinted and photographed, I thought it would be interesting to see how many people are killed from dull, mundane stuff in this world. I am not doing this to have a go at the USA. I am not anti-American, I just don't agree with Bush and Blair. I do not condone the 9/11 attacks. I am using the number killed on 9/11 as a reference point to compare other causes of death against. These figures are simply to put the number of 9/11 deaths (and the general 'Terrorist" threat) in some kind of context. I think my main motivation for gathering up all this info was to simply show that the vast amount of political energy that is being invested in the "War on Terror" is somewhat skewed given how many people die from less glamorous causes each and every year. This does not mean I think 9/11 was insignificant, or that I am an uncaring brute. I just think that the figures speak volumes. If politicians were really concerned about their public, then maybe they would do something about tackling some of the more mundane causes of death. Another common criticism I have read about this piece is that it paints too simple a picture of things. When I gathered the stats re. starvation for example, I was not writing it thinking that the world will ever be free from starvation, or that politicians would ever be proactive enough to think beyond what'll get them voted in next time around, I was just trying to show that if there was a will, then there are clearly sufficient resources to help resolve the problem. All these causes of death routinely wipe out far more people than 9/11, each and every year. My point is that politicians like to exaggerate whatever is the current big threat, be it Communism or, for today, Terrorism...
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