From Bill Bonner, from acting-man.com, via davidstockmanscontracorner.com:
……The terrorist threat was gaudy and spectacular, but never serious. Statistically, we Americans are more likely to be killed by our own children than by terrorists. We are more likely to starve to death. Or die after tripping over furniture.
A list of probabilities (info-graphic by Meg McLain).
As we have often pointed out, American furniture, electrical wiring and fair weather are far more effective in killing people than terrorists. And yet, neither are being discussed at the current G7 summit.
And for every American killed by a terrorist, there are about 100 who are gunned down, run over, or tasered to death by their own police. Still, eavesdropping was sold to the public as a way to head off terrorist attacks. How many attacks did it thwart?
Zero.
The Washington Times reports:
“FBI agents can’t point to any major terrorism cases they’ve cracked thanks to the key snooping powers in the Patriot Act, the Justice Department’s inspector general said in a report Thursday that could complicate efforts to keep key parts of the law operating.
Inspector General Michael E. Horowitz said that between 2004 and 2009, the FBI tripled its use of bulk collection under Section 215 of the Patriot Act, which allows government agents to compel businesses to turn over records and documents, and increasingly scooped up records of Americans who had no ties to official terrorism investigations.”
So we salute Rand Paul. Good on you. In the long march to a police state, the feds were forced to take a small step back. This example made us think about other people doing good work. (Who says we are always negative!)
There are millions and millions of people who do good work every day. Few of them get their names in the paper. They clean their homes. They drive trucks and analyze stocks. They weld steel and teach children. The saints are all around us … unnoticed.
I think this analysis of ‘risks’ misses the point. Americans were told to go back to ‘normal’. Go back to the shopping mall. Nothing to see here. Move along. Meanwhile, the government and it’s minions armed up to assault our freedoms in the name of ‘protecting’ us when in truth it is due to the ineptness of our so-called leaders that has led the terrorists to our shores with motivation and an open door. People need to hang for this. I agree for your list of ‘workers’ except maybe the ones ‘analyzing stocks.’ Most of that is a no-value add scam setup by the it’s-too-complicated for you little people to deal with … let the pro’s handle it crowd!