[geeks] What desk toy or "tchotchke" says "geek" to you?

[Phil Stracchino]

Charles Shannon Hendrix wrote:
> Mon, 27 Mar 2006 @ 13:21 +1100, Chris Petrov said:
>>Every two years more Americans die from firearm injuries than the  
>>total number of American soldiers killed during the 8-year Vietnam  
>>War. In 2003, the total number of people killed by guns in the United  
>>States was 30,136.
> 
> 
> If you are trying to say those were accidents, then the number is 100%
> bullshit.
> 
> I suspect it includes murder, suicide, etc.

As previously noted, it includes everything, including police shootings
and lawful self-defense shootings.

> The most reliable stats I've seen is there are very few accidental shootings
> in the US, and it is not even in the top ten causes of accidental death.
> 
> The number one causes of accidental death are automobiles and medical
> practice.
> 
> Doctors make patient killing mistakes by the thousands. Should we outlaw them?

That's "by the hundred thousand", I think -- iirc, the number I've heard
quoted for annual 'iatrogenic' deaths (i.e, 'the doctor made a mistake')
in the US is something like 440,000.

>>- Based on data from CDC National Center for Health Statistics  
>>WISQARS online data collection system, 2006.
> 
> Either the CDC has an agenda, or you have misinterpreted the data.

The CDC *distinctly* has an agenda.  The CDC is still pushing (hard) the
idea that gun ownership is a public-health issue like, say, AIDS or
hemorrhagic fever.

> The most reliable stats I've seen is just around 1500 accidental deaths in the
> last N years, where N is a number I've forgotten.

That would be for N of about 2.  And under 150 of those are legal
minors, let alone what we would call "children".  More kids die in
swimming pools and on bicycles and skateboards every year.

>>they consume more lead than necessary? i.e. the Romans love of  
>>lead... lead lined vats for the sapa, lead lined aqueducts etc.
> 
> They consume lead because it works.
> 
> Newer rounds will get rid of the lead and also have other benefits.

Totally lead-free centerfire ammunition is coming slowly, but you can
already buy shotshells loaded with shot made from steel, bismuth, or
tungsten based alloys, and totally metal-jacketed ammunition with
lead-free priming that puts no free lead into the air on firing has been
available for years.  Recently, several manufacturers have begun to
increase their use of solid copper bullets containing no lead at all.


-- 
 Phil Stracchino                     Landline: 603-886-3518
 phil.stracchino at speakeasy.net         Mobile: 603-216-7037
 Renaissance Man, Unix generalist, Perl hacker, Free Stater