Safety and Legal Issues

--- In spacesettlers@y..., Ryan Healey wrote:
> --- spider_boris wrote:
> >
> > Um, guess what...EVERYBODY eventually dies. If there was a
product
> > that would ensure that>99% of the people using it would _never_
die,
> > then such a product would have an immedieate market of around
six
> > billion, no?
>
> Yes, but we should try to delay the death.
>
> Also nano-technology looks promising when it comes to curing death
(mostly).

I agree with you on this point, but try to convince Bill Joy...

>
> > You pay your money, you takes your chances, right? And if you
don't
> > do your homework, then whose fault is it?
>
> We already tried that. It didn't work.
>
> As for not doing your homework how could you do enough for all the
purchases
> you make? Afterall it's not just buying a ticket on a spacecraft
and getting a
> car, you also have to buy food, a house and a lot of other
things. With all
> those the amount of homework that would need to be done to find
out if any will
> kill you would be far too much.

Does anybody buy a car without taking it to their mechanic? You
don't have to do the homework on every car you buy, but you should
do your homework on your mechanic, and be careful to select a
competent one.

As for buying food: do your homework by reading the labels. If you
don't trust GM foods, then don't buy anything labelled "Monsanto".

When you buy a house, you do have it inspected by a professional or
series of professionals before signing on the dotted line, don't
you? (it is amazing how much the price of a house will drop if you
invest a few bucks by hiring a plumber and an electrician as
consultants)

> > I have been a cigarette smoker for about 14 years, and it will
> > probably give me lung cancer or emphysema (sp?) or some other
nasty
> > ailment, which will be the end of me. But, it is MY CHOICE to
fill
> > my lungs with poison, nobody is FORCING me to smoke. Nobody is
> > forcing those fools who end their lives attempting Everest,
either
> > (something like six fatalities per year, on average). And
nobody is
> > forcing people to put their hard-earned money into the Russian
space
> > program, $20M to visit the ISS for a week at a time.
>
> No one is forcing you to smoke but if you're in a public place
then your smoke
> is affecting them. As such you're forcing other people to be
smokers everytime
> you light up in a room that has other people in it. Passive
smoking despite
> what the cigarette company front groups may claim does kill people
and is a
> serious problem.

Exactly. The right to swing my fist ends at your nose. (RA
Heinlein)

:) ed