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Friday, January 7, 2011

Just a reminder that you should still be afraid

In the book, I discuss how the news media like to connect one event to others (called "linkage").

Here is an astounding example of it from a recent article in the news.

Two packages ignited in Maryland.

Why? Who knows at this point.

But this offers the press an opportunity to review every such incident in the past, even though none of them are at all related.

So they report:

"Two parcel bombs exploded last month inside the Swiss and Chilean embassies in Rome, wounding two men. An anarchist organization claimed responsibility for at least one of the blasts, according to news reports.

AND

"... in October, authorities in Britain and the United Arab Emirates intercepted packages sent from Yemen containing powerful bombs. American officials have said the bombs appeared to have been designed to blow up airliners on their way to the United States, adding that they bore the hallmarks of a fugitive Saudi bomb-maker who has targeted the United States.


AND

"Between 2005 and 2009, he said, inspectors investigated 13 confirmed mail bomb incidents nationwide. None of those caused any injuries because they didn't explode as intended.

AND


"For over 250 years, it's safe to say, we've been investigating things like this," said Inspector Michael Romano of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service.

AND finally,

 "Perhaps the most notorious mail bomber was Theodore Kaczynski, the "Unabomber." He killed three and injured 29 in a series of 16 mail bombings across the country between 1978 and 1995.

So the most famous bomber only killed three people over a period of two decades?

Clearly there are much greater threats to us than mail bombers. Yet, many of those threats are ignored. So we remain afraid of the things least likely to hurt us.


http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2011-01-06/news/bs-md-mailrooms-closed-20110106_1_mail-bomb-bomb-incidents-walter-leroy-moody

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