The War On Terror and Rational Risk Perception

I read a posting from an American the other week. He wondered if it was irresponsible to fly from Florida to Europe, and questioned whether it was safe to travel at all. I wondered if he checks under his bed each night for anarchists with fizzing bombs – you know the ones like bowling balls with firework fuses sticking out of them.

His concern with terrorism led me to doing some risk assessment for myself. After all, I live in a British city with maybe twenty thousand Mulims in it. Here’s what I came up with as the most likely non medical threats I have to face:

1. Riding my bike in traffic
2. Cutting a limb off with a powered garden implement
3. Falling down stairs after drinking beer
4. My wife, finally driven insane by my unreasonable conduct, murders me while I sleep
5. Car crash
#
#
99. I get stabbed by a mugger
#
#
9997. I get shot by Islamic madmen
9998. I die in a terrorist bomb attack
9999. I am poisoned by deliberately released toxins, viruses or radiation

My advice to the worried American? Get a life pal! You're a million time more likely to die from eating McDonald's Supersize, than from anything Islamic.