[extropy-chat] news in perspective

[spike]

Amara wrote:
> And so is the ~1000 people in Baghdad who died on a pilgrimage
> during the time of New Orleans' terrible misfortune. (was that
> reported?)
> 
> And so is 200,000 people who died in the tsunami.
> 
> Death is bad. And I wish the American media would learn to put
> news in perspective. Even Boing-boing has gone over the top (I
> don't remember them reporting this much after the tsunami for
> example).
> 
> Amara


They did mention it, but didn't really get to the 
point.  Reuters:

http://today.reuters.com/news/NewsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=uri:2005
-08-31T135023Z_01_DIT131351_RTRIDST_0_NEWS-IRAQ-DC.XML&pageNumber=0&summit=

The important point of this tragedy is that now
the terrorists have figured out a way to slay huge
numbers of the other guys without a bomb and without 
a conspiracy: one guy could do it and probably 
wouldn't even get trampled or caught, since he 
would be at the rear of the stampede.

Next time the other guys are having one of their
gatherings, such as that exercise where they
hurl rocks at the devil (?) I fear someone will 
begin shouting "He has a bomb!  Run for your lives!"

That particular exercise already caused numerous
deaths by trampling, without anyone deliberately
starting it.

Terrorists could start fatal stampedes here by 
offering cheap Apple computers:

http://www.cnn.com/2005/US/08/16/computer.frenzy.ap/

We humans are weird apes.

spike