Reading ajc.com and saw there was another tragedy up at Clarks Bridge launch. So far this year, ten people have drowned on the lake.
By contrast there have been six fatal shark attacks this year - worldwide.
Trot out most of the stuff the media uses to try to stir up our anxieties and they usually pale against the stuff around us everyday including car crashes, drownings and domestic violence.
/rant
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source: http://www.mrlovenstein.com/comic/608#comic
--- The Arrogant Jerk: Crabby and irritable since 1998.
Earlier this year I visited a number of remote sites in the Pacific where sharks can still be found in relative abundance. In heavily-fished areas (most of the World's oceans) they have become quite rare.
The large grey sharks in these photos were hanging out in deep water near the mouth of a channel. I was told by islanders that, at night, they swim through the channel and hunt in shallower waters inside the coral reef. As SCUBA divers, the sharks didn't appear to consider us prey, so after a period of initial fear, I was able to put the risk in perspective. The dive itself was probably riskier than being underwater with the sharks.
Barrett
[rimg=862,500]http://i.imgur.com/oI6An6s.png[/rimg]
Webguy - your chart leaves out one very important cause of death - suicide. Much more prevalent than murder. (about 1100 to 600.) Not many people fear that, I would think. If you want to fear something, perhaps it should be yourself......
Also be interesting to see where Ebola ranks on this chart - widely feared, yet pretty low number of deaths, at least in the US.
Another interesting chart would be good things people think are likely to happen (e.g. winning the lottery, the Braves winning the World Series, etc) vs. the actual odds......Of course I'm a pessimist. If I'm going to be the recipient of a 1 in a million scenario, I expect it to be a plane crash, not a winning lottery ticket.
BTW - does your chart mean we can now sail in thunderstorms?
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
Sadly, the paradox of suicide is that it isn't feared (enough) by those most at risk. I'm reminded of the quote from one of the few to have jumped from the Golden Gate Bridge and survived. Just after he let go of the rail he realized: ‘everything in my life that I'd thought was unfixable was totally fixable - except for having just jumped.'
More students died eating lunch at school this week ... :cry:
I think the statistic is for the general population. I'm not sure that probability still applies if you run around with a fifteen foot lightning rod in your hands while standing in/on water.
I hope it blows soon, so you guys can have something else to talk about.
PeelSkid
So how's this for a danger. The other day when I put my helmut on I felt like a needle or something was poking me in the head. I took my helmut off and though I saw a sandspur in it (common in OBX where I was the week before) - but upon closer look it was this thing. Moral - look inside you helmut before putting it on. (Anybody know what this is? Barrett?)
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.
The photo is a bit fuzzy. It might be an immature "walking stick" insect. Good you didn't have a black widow spider hiding in your helmet.
Barrett
Thanks Barrett - I was thinking about a Walking Stick bug too based on pictures I saw.
Now there is a new danger at Lake Lanier. I have actual night vision camera photos of an alien "probing" my board. Note spaceship up in the sky.
What happens in a black hole stays in a black hole.