Your post is best read in the voice of Jack Donaghy.

I sympathize with you. You tried to make a point using sarcasm, or irony, or whatever you want to call it. That doesn't work here. You did fine; your comment drips with sarcasm. Koko the gorilla would get it if someone signed it to her, and would make little laughing noises. Unfortunately, we're not dealing with Koko's caliber here.

This has got to be the best discussion ever. This guy here, and the one up there that wants to know what "moral right" other people have to use his taxes for education.

These are the people that eat all the food on the life raft.

today, at least.

I had no idea that NOAA, NIST, and USGS operate on such small budgets. Color me impressed.

So, sorta like a capacitor that explodes every ten years or so? I gotta get me some of those.

Nice try, Mickey.

Braaaiiinnnssshhhh...*hic*

They don't say as much, but that seems to be the target for about 50% of the zombies in Dead Rising.

Let's not beat around the bush: We're hoping it was Mickey.

So, to "deal with" customs and export laws. Should we just be using the word "smuggler", or am I missing something?

And what the hell does Bora Bora have to do with anything?

Tricksy Legosesers, precious Legoses.

That's OK. We smart people have thought up some uses for you. It'll be great. We got all the bugs worked out this time. We promise.

I detect just a small amount of sarcasm there, which means you must be at least familiar with the stuff. I'd like you to turn that sarcasm detector up a notch or two, reread the posts, and then see what you think. Here, I'll help (without sarcasm, I promise):

We're actually in agreement. My original post references the sample bias that can lead to counterintuitive statistical trends when you look at the introduction of protective gear. There are plenty of examples of this: helmets and head injuries in WWI, Abraham Ward's observations about bomber damage in WWII, body armor and limb injuries in present day conflicts, etc. We're basically talking about protective equipment providing the opportunity to treat people after some event rather than bury them. Your anecdote is an excellent example of that. It boggles my mind that someone would willing choose to forgo a helmet when cycling at 20 mph or so, let alone forgo a seat belt at 60. However, there are people that feel very strongly about it, and they always seem to have some twisted statistic in their pocket to justify it. My original post was a sarcastic jab at both.