August 7, 2006
THUS THE STATE BORDER RULE:
Safety and security misconceptions and myths (David Grossman, 8/7/2006, USA Today)
Which city is more dangerous: Baghdad or Caracas, Venezuela? If your answer is Caracas, you are correct according to Dr. Peter E. Tarlow, an expert in crime, terrorism, and risk management in the travel industry. Though similar in population, Baghdad is on pace to have 7,000 murders this year, while 15,000 will be killed in Caracas."You have double the chance of being murdered in Caracas than you would in Baghdad," Tarlow told a surprised audience at a session on "safe" travel at the recent National Business Travel Association annual conference. Protecting personnel on the road is a growing concern among corporate travel managers.
Many people say they feel safe when traveling. But our sense of "safe" is often distorted by media coverage (or the lack of it) and distance, according to Tarlow. For example, the disappearance of Natalee Holloway gained worldwide attention and caused a decline in visitors to Aruba, even though it is the safest island in the Caribbean with only one murder reported in the last 20 years.
By contrast, "Right now there are 1,000 people missing in Las Vegas," said Tarlow. Your chances of being a victim of foul play are far greater in Las Vegas than Aruba, yet no one is canceling their trip to Las Vegas.
Posted by Orrin Judd at August 7, 2006 8:11 AM
Those 1,000 murdered in Las Vegas haven't been featured non-stop in the media like the disappearance and presumed death of the beautiful, blonde young woman in Aruba. Neither do they have a Fox News personality who spent (spends) almost every night rehashing the precious few facts in the case for maximum prurient interest.
Posted by: erp at August 7, 2006 8:47 AMerp,
Not to mention, there isn't a major media focus based on an ongoing story. Take the Katrina aftermath, for example. Just this past week, the state of Louisiana shut down its missing victims department after nearly a yearlong effort at finding people after Katrina. There are still about 49 people still missing.
Posted by: Brad S at August 7, 2006 9:07 AMOnly 49? I'd have thought there's be a lot more than that taking advantage of the chaos to "disappear" and not want to be found, ever. Which may mean Big Brother really is watching all of us.
What happens in Vegas . . . .
Posted by: John Resnick at August 7, 2006 2:31 PMJohn, sound of smacking forehead, I forgot about that. Let's change the locale to Orlando where the murder rate is skyrocketing. After all what happens in Orlando is fair game to be exploited by one and all.
Posted by: erp at August 7, 2006 5:41 PM