>Of course the reason for providing the data in the
>manner given was to make a point.

I think most people miss the point - it's a joke. Note the last lines: "Please alert your friends to this alarming threat. We must ban doctors before this gets out of hand." In fact, the first versions I saw were from "humor" mailing lists.

Most versions of this include this statement as well: "Statistics on lawyers were withheld for fear that the shock would cause people to seek medical aid."

Interestingly, all versions I've seen, even those from years ago, used exactly the same numbers, making the data itself suspect or suggesting that the numbers are seriously outdated. If, as suggested the numbers are "accurate and easily checked" why did no one ever check and update them? But considering that it's just a joke, who cares.

Being a joke, the numbers may even be made up and completely untrue, but from all evidence no one EVER checks!

But just as on this forum, I've seen it stir emotions and sometimes serious gun/anti-gun controversy. Some people even pass this on blindly with commentary meant to inflame.


Sadly, this type of tripe shows no sign of ever stopping. Note this web page on the gun/doctor subject from "Break the Chain - Stop junk e-mail and misinformation": http://www.breakthechain.org/exclusives/drguns.html

The site even has an interesting list of more internet nonsense:
http://www.breakthechain.org/jk.html


Note: even if we pretend the gun/doctor statistics are serious and the numbers are accurate, to put this into perspective a more useful list would include other accidental deaths such as from automobile accidents. Or (ack!) how about tractor deaths per tractor owner?

JKJ

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