Another fine piece from ScrappleFace, the website that coined the term "Axis of Weasels" last week. Sometimes satire can nail a point better than anything else. Ignore if you must the political slant of the piece and just consider the mindset of some people - that risk must be avoided at all costs. Thank goodness this mindset didn't win throughout history or we'd all still be living short brutish lives in caves.

Are 'Manned' Vacations Worth the Risk?
(2003-02-02) -- Many Americans are asking whether manned vacations -- by car, plane, train or ship -- are worth the risk of accidents and illness. Congressional Democrats may introduce a bill this week mandating unmanned, robotic family vacations.



"It would be just as fun as a manned vacation trip," said a Congressional aide, "except you wouldn't leave the house, so you couldn't get in a crash, or get some strange intestinal illness."

Under the plan, a family would still go through the ritual of looking at maps and web sites to plan the vacation, and the parents would still take a week off from work. Government-funded web sites would simulate the entire vacation, using web cams on user-controlled robots to show the interesting places they might have gone. A government-issued software package would include realistic animated tour guides.

"Risk is bad," said the Democrat aide. "We must prevent people from getting hurt, sick or killed at all costs, even if it means eliminating the so-called American spirit of adventure and discovery. It's the federal government's job to keep everyone absolutely safe all the time."