On Fri, Apr 21, 2006 at 07:51:06AM -0700, Etaoin Shrdlu wrote:
Joseph S D Yao wrote: (stuff) ... where it took off. I don't mean to add to the hysteria, but I also would prefer that you not discount it. Much will depend on your local area, on whether people are tightly clustered (NYC, LA), or thinly populated (Wyoming, North Dakota).
E.S., I apologise if I sounded like I wished to discount any danger. There is a possibility of danger. There often is. I may just be tired of people making noises as if this particular danger were guaranteed. Although it is guaranteed that SOME disaster will befall us, at SOME time, and so we should in general prepare for A disaster, there is no guarantee that this is that one (nor that it isn't!). I also have enough trouble fully comprehending the entire theory of statistics that I feel it necessary to question when a study based on the 50 worst cases is used to extrapolate to the entire population. And I am a mathematician by nature and training. Just, it would seem, not THAT kind of a mathematician. ;-) -- Joe Yao ----------------------------------------------------------------------- This message is not an official statement of OSIS Center policies.