There is always talk of preventing the next terrorist attack, but there is almost no talk about what is considered acceptable risks. The attacker inflicted hor

There is always talk of preventing the next terrorist attack, but there is almost no talk about what is considered acceptable risks. The attacker inflicted horrific mayhem and death for sure, but let not forget people die of other more common untimely causes all the time. We put more anger against human agents rather than the impersonal forces of nature. And it also gave people excuses to revel in their bigotry and suspicion. What do I know? I wasn't angry that people die in a terrorist attack in France. Nor am I angered or saddened by the attacks in California. Even now, I respond to the fact that the FBI are the bad guys because of an abstract threat to our privacy. Terrorists don't matter to me. They can kill a thousand men and women in a single day, and I wouldn't bat an eye. What they did was certainly horrible, but they are of no more consequences than a thousand tragic motor accident until congress pass laws and law enforcement demands more power or that we should torture people. Funny how that works. That's not to say that I don't have emotion. On the contrary, the most common emotion for me seems to be cringing for other people when they made fools of themselves. But it is true that terrorist attacks make for interesting news story, in the Chinese sense of the word.