New bill banning the web?

[DonRotolo]

Originally Posted by petek

These days our country is so focused on protecting everyone from percieved risks that we're becoming a herd without the will or wit to judge whether the risk is real and take appropriate steps ourselves. Present company excluded.

How true. Reminds me of a Science Fiction story titles "Extra Ellies" by Julia Ecklar. I wish it was easily available on the web.

The basis of the story is a future where every activity was gauged in terms of your Life Expectancy, or LE. Some activities (like swimming) were considered so dangerous, nobody did them anymore. The hero gets out of a jam by jumping into a pool, something the (younger) antagonist never considered someone could actually do and survive.

Heaven help us when the Government has to protect us from ourselves.

Some things, where it takes specialized expertise to evaluate the risk, are often helpful - take the National Electrical Code for instance, which is mandatory in most places. But mandating an airbag in a car is, for some, too far: there are people who weigh 80 pounds that drive - an airbag going off in their face might be worse than what it's supposed to be protecting the driver from.

Don