View From the Bushes

I came across a piece of trivia the other day which claims that "2,500 left-handed people die each year from using stuff that was designed for right-handed people." A Google Search on the phrase "2,500 left handed people" reveals that this bit of blatantly untrue information has been regurgitated some 2,430 times. I mean, come on, really? We're honestly expected to believe this figure? (a fairly thorough search did not reveal any core citations or documents to support the figure) We're expected to believe that more lefties die every year from using stuff designed for righties than the number of 20-24 year olds who commit suicide?

Of course, that figure assumes we're only talking about the US rather than the entire world. Generally you have to assume that, because only a country as industrialized as the US has the time to keep track of figures like people who die from using incorrectly-handed tools. I doubt very much that the countries of Sub-Saharan Africa, who need help from first world agencies to keep track of their AIDS deaths have the time to track their deaths do to handedness incompatibility. The moral, of course, is that there's a lot of crap out there, and you have to be careful not to spread it.

I watched the Oscars last night. I'm not sure why; I guess I got caught up in the hype. I was happy to see Morgan Freeman win an Oscar, and I always enjoy the In Memoriam segment. Did you see Tim Robbins flipped Chris Rock off after he said that Tim was too political? Looking at the picture it looks like it was good-humored, and no one was offended (I'm talking about Robbins and Rock -- I'm sure there is some decency group out there who was). I think we need more of that, if you ask me.

Carpe Diem Quam Minimum Credula Postero
Ross