Are you going to play the shell game?

Biased writing? Of course! Modern media generally comes in two flavors: the one you like and the one you don't.

But read this piece for the factual references, do a little poking around on your own (you'll have to because no references are cited), then spend a little private time doing some selfish thinking. Don't worry, nobody is going to quiz you or demand that you justify some future action based upon opinions you might form from this little exercise, that's why it's private time. All that's being asked is to do a little research on your own instead of accepting what's spoon fed to you by your media outlet of choice.

Then take those opinions with you to the polls.

*GURK*

[damn I'm all political and stuff this morning]

From http://www.cnn.com/2005/AUTOS/tipsandadvice/11/03/backover/index.html discussing SUV back-over deaths:

It's a problem the industry isn't addressing right now, said Ron DeFore, a spokesperson for SUV Owners of America, an organization partially funded by car companies.

There's not enough data, he said, to require automakers to come up with a solution.

Cited numbers in the article were 2400 children involved annually, with about 100 killed. To provide a little context, according to this report from the US CDC:

Since December 2003, a total of 112 H5N1 cases in humans have been reported to WHO in four countries (Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam); 57 (51%) persons died. In August 2005, three cases (including two deaths) were reported in Vietnam. In July, one fatal case was reported in Indonesia (5).

When a couple of solutions were presented in the context of mandatory equipment:

"If we take the attitude that any new technology, down the road, should just be mandated because it saved a few lives," he sad, "that is very dangerous public policy because you just start pricing vehicles well beyond what a lot of people can afford."

We all are victims of this kind of dangerous public policy. I'm sure many of you are currently walking/biking to work or are restricted to public transportation solely because of those darn mandatory seat belts and airbags. I myself was not able to afford the spinners I wanted due to the extra cost imposed on me because of the mandated safety "features" in my ride.

Where do they find these people and is there some way to stopper the tap?