Summarizing Our Predicament

Absolutely.  The government has really cracked down on my ability to harm myself - I am left with illegal drugs and riding a unicycle without a helmet around and around the house.  My father-in-law said the other day, in reference I think to the warning on the inside of our car door that tells you you might hit your head on it, that 'there is a dangerous trend towards safety'.  We had one child (and yes, sad) die on a school trip in a swimming pool when my youngest was in grade 5 - not at our school, or even from our home city, or in our province - and the principal of our school made a rule that no kid could go within 60 feet of the edge of any water.  Made our trip to Pioneer Village on the St Lawrence a real hoot.   10's of thousands of kids from Ontario go to Quebec for school trips, and vice versa (because nous parlons le francais, le bas) and they all swim in pools every year.  My kid skate boards - and I hate this - he simply won't wear a helmet.  Now I could 'make' him, and then he would take it off once he was around the corner.  I could take away his skate board - yeah - that would really help him - he lives to snowboard and skateboard - and his marks are great.  I could take away his skateboard and he could get hit by an asteroid.  When they made better hockey equipment the game got more vicious as well - so minimizing risk maximizes risky behaviour - always a trade off.

In my best Dana Carvey impersonating Poppa Bush voice: "Not gonna' do it":)

Now that is a warning I did not need!  We used to practice getting under our desks in grade school - but they forgot to tell us not to snack!  We could all have been killed - but at least we wouldn't have been hungry as we were immolated.

"Signifying the mood of caution among the world’s central bankers, 71% of those polled said gold was a more attractive investment than it had been at the start of last year. Central banks made their largest purchases of gold in more than four decades last year and have continued to buy the precious metal in the early months of 2012. "

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/central-banks-favour-gold-imf-warns-“collapse-euro”-and-“full-blown-panic-financial-markets”

it's hereby forbidden to stop breathing

http://www.infowars.com/tsa-to-search-bags-question-passengers-on-housto...

Feds to watch for suspicious activity, pre-crime behavior

Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee unveiled the program, labeled Bus Safe, during a press conference on Friday. According to a Metropolitan Transit Authority of Houston (METRO) press release, agencies involved in the scheme will, “ride buses, perform random bag checks, and conduct K-9 sweeps, as well as place uniformed and plainclothes officers at Transit Centers and rail platforms to detect, prevent and address latent criminal activity or behavior.”

“While local law enforcement agencies focus on overall safety measures noted above, representatives with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) will also be on hand, lending their counter-terrorism expertise and support during the exercise,” states the press release.

...that Vietnam is still separated by North and South. We're so screwed.

Democratic Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee unveiled the program, labeled Bus Safe, during a press conference on Friday. According to a Metropolitan Transit Authority of Houston (METRO) press release, agencies involved in the scheme will, “ride buses, perform random bag checks, and conduct K-9 sweeps, as well as place uniformed and plainclothes officers at Transit Centers and rail platforms to detect, prevent and address latent criminal activity or behavior.”