After 9/11, the fear of another attack on U.S. soil cleanly supplanted the fear of having one`s penis chopped off by a vengeful lover in the pantheon of irrational American fears.

While we`re constantly being told that another attack is imminent and that radical Islamic fundamentalists are two steps away from establishing a caliphate in Branson, Missouri, just how close are they? How do the odds of dying in a terrorist attack stack up against the odds of dying in other unfortunate situations?

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A recent editorial by Amitai Etzioni in the Washington Post discussing drivers’ licenses was "brave" enough to point out that "In a civil libertarian utopia, they would not exist." Etzioni declared, "I know that driver's licenses as a means of identification are a joke. Fake ones can still be ordered on the Internet or purchased for about $60 in many cities, and real ones can be obtained fraudulently." He had the facts to back him up. "[T]he General Accounting Office described a test in whi...