The Psychology of Danger

Hearing of another terrorist plot on U.S. soil uncovered, reminds me of the vedic passage,"Padam padam yad vipadam na tesam," or, roughly translated into English, "In the material world there is danger at every step."

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/09/22/AR2009092201113.html?hpid=moreheadlines

We innately know this at all times, yet when such news surfaces, we feel more vulnerable.  The fact is, millions of people ride the transit system in New York every day; if a handful of people are killed, what are the odds it will be you, even if you regularly use the system?  Miniscule. That's right.  On the other hand, the odds of dying in some way eventually, are 100-percent.

Why are we so afraid of becoming a victim of terrorism when the fact remains that we are already destined to become a victim of the worst result of terrorism, namely death?  We don't walk around in fear of that everyday, do we? But the fact also remains that it could come at any time and happen in any way.

I, for one, while a reasonably prudent man, don't want to live the rest of my life in fear. Perhaps Bob Dylan, in his song "Let Me Die in My Footsteps," put it best:

I will not go down under the ground

Cause somebody tells me that death's comin' 'round
An' I will not carry myself down to die
When I go to my grave my head will be high,
Let me die in my footsteps
Before I go down under the ground.

The Pipe Dream

It is often argued that people should turn to tap water to help the cause of the environment.  Well, I'm all for preserving the environment and my activities hopefully show it.  I recycle, drive a car that gets 40 mph, and perhaps, most importantly, am a vegetarian.  I, however, have balked at the idea of drinking tap water over bottled water for the very reason reported here:

http://www.aolhealth.com/healthy-living/pollution-water-effects?icid=main|main|dl4|link3|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.aolhealth.com%2Fhealthy-living%2Fpollution-water-effects

According to the article, about 40-percent of all U.S. community drinking water supplies violate the Safe Water Drinking Act.

In short, I'm not drinking it.  Therefore, I go to those reverse-osmosis machines and fill up 5-gallon containers for $1.50.  They last a long time.  If I do use bottled water, I only use the companies that have actually been tested pure, and I recycle.  Even if I have to carry the plastic bottle around all day or leave it in the back of my car until I get home.

So, yeah, clean it up and I'll drink it but I'm not drinking toxic waste in the name of recycling.  Until then, it's just a pipe dream.

Control Freaks Gone Over the Edge

It appears as if Anie Le's accused killer, Raymond Clark, is being described by those who knew him a little differently than how accused killers are normally described.  The ABC News headline, "Raymond Clark's Co-Workers Describe Him as a 'Control Freak,' " marks the first time I can remember that a neighbor or co-worker hasn't described a man accused of a horrible murder or host of murders as a "quiet" or "nice" guy who "mostly kept to himself."

http://www.abcnews.go.com/GMA/raymond-clark-silent-motive-annie-le-murder/story?id=8607846

While perusing through Barnes & Nobles Booksellers on Thursday, I noticed a book that claimed that 1 in 25 of us are psychologically capable of killing someone in a cold and calculating manner.  If that is indeed true, it's something for me to think about considering how many people I come across every day just walking around campus. 

I would think to kill someone so coldly, you would have to be an extremely self-centered person with very little respect or internal emphasis on the value of life.  To take something away from someone so dear and vital, is vile and offensive to any individual with any semblance of a heart.

Whether a person keeps it to his or herself or wears it on their sleeve- it would seem that a person who commits cold-calculating murder is a person with major control issues.  I can only  imagine that such a person sees the free will of others as far less significant than his or her own.  

In such a state of consciousness,  such a person's illusory sense of  domain increases exponentially to the point where they become quite capable of pulling the trigger, stabbing with the knife or strangling with the hands, in order to somehow appease their false sense of place in the world.

It's In His Kiss

What's that song called written by Rudy Clark and performed by Betty Everret, who made it a number one song in 1964?  I believe it's called "The Shoop Shoop Song," or perhaps it is better known as "It's In His Kiss."  It goes something like, "If you want to know if he loves you so; it's in his kiss."

Well, here's a kiss of a different nature, that although seemed to start sweet enough, almost turned into the kiss of death:  

http://news.aol.com/article/kiss-cited-as-cause-for-pennsylvania-car/675483

According to the story, as posted by AOL, a man proposes marriage while driving with his girl in their car, kisses her, and then crashes. Someone could have been killed , but fortunately, no one did.

Which just goes to show you, as Gilda Radner used to say-  Even if your vision is tainted by love,  you still have to at least somewhat watch what you're doing. 

Thoughts On Summer Celebrity Deaths

In the summer of '08, I was flipping through some George Carlin cds at a Virgin store in Times Square.  Later, I found out that he died that day.  While I was there, I had bought a T-shirt with John Lennon in military fatigues with the caption "Revolution" on it.  It brought me back to the night of December 8, 1980, when a 16-year-old version of myself visited a local record store in my home state of Connecticut and purchased John and Yoko's Double Fantasy album.    That night, I heard of Lennon's terrible murder.  The next day, there was no school because of a snow storm and I walked around the snow-covered yard in shock.

Just a few nights before Carlin's death, I had watched an HBO special with Carlin broaching the subject of erotic asphyxiation, where a man cuts off his air-supply at the point of sexual climax in order to enhance his orgasm.  Apparently, many males have died this way during the act of masturbation.  Suffice it to say, Carlin didn't recommend it, calling it "too risky."  Whatever the case, he died shortly thereafter of heart failure despite his caution.

One person who did not make it through the summer of '09 was David Carradine.  According to reports, it is likely that the 73-year-old died by this very method of erotic asphyxiation.  Not a very dignified way to go, in my opinion but, after all,  everyone has got to go somehow.  According to the website Pop Eater, (http://www.popeater.com/2009/09/01/summer-of-death/?icid=main|main|dl2|link2|http%3A%2F%2Fwww.popeater.com%2F2009%2F09%2F01%2Fsummer-of-death%2F), 21 celebrities left us during the summer of 2009, including Micael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett, who died on the same day.  Usually, publications report on obituaries of note at year's end but this time they felt the numbers significant enough to file a report of summer celebrity deaths.  

My visit to Virgin that day has become somehow significant to me.  It loosely brought together three of my childhood heroes, Lennon, Carlin, and Carradine, in one day, all who have now met their demise.  Shortly after the visit, the Virgin Mega Store also bit the dust, a reflection of the dying cd.  Times Square just doesn't seem the same to me anymore.

White House Backing Down on Health Care Reform

When Barack Obama campaigned for the office of president, one of his main platforms was health care reform.  Now it appears, with the announcement that the White House is not completely firm on the need for a public option (http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5jlMpJGn28kqCcgU-aGcYE_ZHW-ywD9AHRLFG0), that health care reform may be falling flat again, just as it did during the early Clinton administration.  

So, in light of this turn of events, the question that naturally arises is- If every industrialized nation in the world has free health care available to their citizens, then what is the problem with the United States?

When asked about the struggle for health care reform, 30-time emmy-award-winning journalist Bill Moyer had this to say on a recent Real Time with Bill Maher show:

"This is harder because there's more money on the side of those who oppose health care reform than there was in the '60s.  Money was important in the '60s but it was not as persuasive and as powerful as it is today  Having been there, I find it hard to understand why this country has not embraced the notion of health care reform as a common human need to which everyone should have access- regardless of their economic resources."

Apparently,  the position of President of the United States is not as powerful of a position as many think it is. Now, assuming that President Obama actually cares about all the citizens of the United States having access to affordable health care, the question naturally begs- Should President Obama compromise with these powerful interests (i.e. the insurance companies and pharmaceutical industries) in hopes of staying in political power come 2012 or should he fight for what he believes in and go down a noble man if he has to?  Time will tell what he decides.  At least 50 million people's future hangs in the balance.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6gSQ2DWkVE0

Women Fear Spiders More

In a favorable development for men everywhere who fear they may one day become obsolete, the BBC News reports (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8237691.stm) that according to a recently completed study, women genetically have a much greater fear of spiders and other dangerous creatures than men do.   Reminds me of the Woody Allen movie Annie Hall, when a spider in Annie's bath prompts her to call Alvy in the middle of the night, and as the story goes, they get back together.

The article states:

The new research was headed up by developmental psychologist, Dr David Rakison, from Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, 10 baby girls, and 10 baby boys were subjected to a number of pictures of spiders to gauge their reactions.

First the babies were shown a picture of a spider with a fearful human face, followed by images of a spider paired with a happy face - alongside an image of a flower twinned with a fearful face.

The results showed that the girls - some as young as 11 months old - looked longer at the picture of the happy face with a spider than the boys, who looked at both images for an equal time.

The researchers concluded that the young girls were confused as to why someone would be happy to be twinned with a spider, and were quick to associate pictures of arachnids with fear.

The boys, it seems, remained totally indifferent emotionally.

Rakison attributes this "genetic predisposition" to "behavior inherent in our hunter-gatherer ancestors." Whether this tendency evolved or has been part of the genetic makeup of the sexes since "creation" is a matter of an on-going disagreement.  Whatever the case, the good news for men is, it doesn't seem like it's going to change anytime soon.

"If there's a spider in your bath/ Phone me up and I'll just laugh."-  from the 2001 song Finishing Credits by the Scottish band the Supernaturals.