This post could kill you

It seems the news media's main function these days is to warn us all about all the things which might bring about our untimely end. For example, were you aware that your dull job could kill you? How about sleep apnea, or the ingredients found in meth labs?

Rarely are these warnings useful.

What is the psychological effect of hearing the words "could kill you"--or any of its many permutations, like "may be fatal," "potentially life-threatening," and "deadly"--on a daily basis? Is there any sense to this relentless drumbeat of morbidity? What should we truly be afraid of? How does being told of threats on a regular basis alter our perception the world, our treatment of others? These are not questions I can answer.

What I can do is conduct a little experiment. For the next 30 days, I'll use Google News' search and alert functions to find out what, according to newsmakers, "could kill you" and what "could be fatal." Edited results will be posted on this blog. Visitors are encouraged to post additions to the roster in the Comments space provided. Perhaps when all is said and done we'll be able to discern some telling pattern in the litany of perceived deadly foes that could save your life. Or mine. Maybe not.

July 7-8, 2005
The following could be fatal:
Restoring the blood flow to a severely injured limb
Lost drugs
Bush's stance on friendship as a requirement for Supreme Court nomination