Mike,

I apologize for over-reacting, dude. Its just that I hear statements like "so called scientific improvements" and "life expectancy is a relative term" and my hackles go up. Its the same kind of thing I hear out of my Rastifarian, 20-something nephew who has plenty of scorn for society but rarely contributes to it in any meaningful way. Its nice that these people want to save the planet (whatever THAT means), but they need to actually get out and do something instead of criticizing everyone else.

If by saying life expectancy is relative you mean that it is an average and a great many of us will fall short of the mark, then I agree.

And its certainly true that a relatively small asteroid could wipe us out like the dinosaurs. But I think fewer of those threats exist now than in the past. Kracotoa (sp?) might have been enough to wipe us out in the right place and at the right time, but not any more. It might cause a lot of suffering for a lot of people, but it wouldn't threaten the species at large.

As far as drug resistant viruses go... that's a discussion in and of itself. I do disagree with you on that one, but I'll leave it to some of the M.D.s and paramedics we have on board to discuss that one.

Again, sorry to all for taking the conversation out into the weeds!

Ben