Uncratin' in the rain, O-C tarantulas, & the Cost of Freedom

[skreidle]

With Jeanne all poised and ready to slap the DC area with heavy rain--I know, we got nothin' on Florida, but the current rain image really looks like a wave of rain about to crash over the area--I'm scheduled to head into DC and help uncrate several large, expensive pieces of computer equipment, at a building with no loading dock. Figures.

(And my current mood would more accurately be expressed as "oppressed" or "humid," as it's 70ºF with 100% humidity, and while the heat pump behind the house is working, it would appear that the fan to push the cool, dry air throughout the house isn't. I should verify that to see if Nathan needs to call someone to fix it (if I can't.)

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Hehe! Via tarantulalovers via metaquotes:

"Today I read an article about tarantulas. There was a bit where it talked about a pet tarantula which was kept in an aquarium with multicoloured gravel in the bottom, and the spider, apparently not having anything better to do, spent a few weeks meticulously sorting the gravel into piles by colour. In other words, not only are tarantulas big, hairy, ugly, and have colour vision, they are smart enough to get bored. This worries me deeply."

Now I want to read this article!

Interesting post via kitiara on the Cost of Security.

Fatality rates are normally calculated with 10-year averages. How many American civilians does terrorism kill in ten years? Well, in 2001 it killed 2,978 people, including both the World Trade Center attacks and the Anthrax in D.C. which everyone seems to have forgotten by now. But that was an anomaly. Terrorism in the United States killed no Americans in 1997, three in 1998, one in 1999, none in 2000, and none since 2001. The 10-year average fatality rate from terrorism is approximately 300.

Three hundred!? We spent $33.8 billion on the Department of Homeland Security, with the intent to mitigate a threat that kills approximately three hundred people a year? By way of comparison, heart disease kills an average of 700,142 people per year. Thus, logically, if our priorities are straight and we want to save as many lives as possible, we should be spending $78.8 trillion per year on heart disease research.

The logic may be a little skewed, but it's an interesting read.

Comments

More about spiders, etc.

[fervid-dryfire.livejournal.com]

That tarantula thing really is...well, I find it amusing, since spiders don't generally worry me.

Speaking of, do you know of any graphical reference sites for spiders? I've noticed a few of the critters in my apartment, and they can't ALL be wolf spiders, so I'd just like to be able to identify them along with any others I'm unfamiliar with that may be in this region, too.



...oh, and I have to throw in this question to pose regarding "Costs of Security": why is this "average" of deaths so narrow in scope that it makes terrorism look nearly benign except where it kills civilians on US soil? Surely it's understood that terrorism is a threat to be fought against in ALL of its forms!

It looks like a pretty dishonest appraisal of the situation, if you ask me.

Furthermore, why were the numbers of the Oklahoma City bombing and Theodore Kaczynski's escapades not included in this "compelling" ten-year estimate? Do those victims all of a sudden not count because most of them were government employees?

Gah, I need to stop before I fly off the handle...

Re: More about spiders, etc.

[xviragox.livejournal.com]

spiders don't generally worry me

I don't know if you are being facetious, but I think the point was concern for the spider's mental well-being in a cage. (Apologies if I just unfunnied a joke. Hate it when that happens.)

Anyway, your question about identifying spiders reminded me of a page that I viewed recently. Not helpful, I know, but interesting enough. ;-)

Re: More about spiders, etc.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

On spiders, I'd suggest Audubon, but I don't know if a) they have a spider guide, or b) it'd be available online.


Well, a) the numbers do indicate that terrorism is much less of a threat than the various other dangers mentioned, on a purely numerical basis. Now, it's more or less true that terrorism is easier to prevent--admittedly, through significant restriction of civil liberties--but it still kills fewer people.

As for OK city, it looks like his data either a) just doesn't cover that timespan, or b) only considers terrorism of foreign origin.

[evelynne.livejournal.com]

The tarantula thing is AMAZING!!! I want to see pictures of this! I hope she tells you where the article is from.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Alas, no such luck..

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

However, the comments to the [latest] post in tarantulalovers have some interesting anecdotes. :)

[xiaoshira.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the logic is all kinds of screwed up in that excerpt. It assumes that the money spent ISN'T working to prevent further attacks like the one on 9/11, which, if happened, would drastically raise the average number of deaths. Plus, the entire premise that we should go after "causes of death" based on raw numbers has no basis in reality.

[skreidle.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, there's no way to know if it's helping or not, nor to know what magnitude of attacks/deaths might occur either way. I wouldn't entirely write off the raw numbers, though, either--the costs/benefits/results do have some basis in reality, some of them even relevant.