Are you worried about dying from the West Nile or Ebola virus?   Do you fear being killed in a terrorist attack? Worried that your plane will crash or blow-up? Are you afraid that food is poisoned with salmonella or E. coli will bring about your sudden demise?

Calm down.   You are not going to die that way.   Really!

Everyday, the government and media fan the flames about scary topics like these, instilling false fears in millions of people.   But the truth is that the American public should consider, instead, the issues which are real risks.

What should we really worry about? How about dying in an auto accident? How about death from the old fashioned common flu that we get every year?   What about drowning in a river, stream, lake or swimming pool? And don’t forget death by electrocution or from multiple bee stings!

Perhaps you worry about dying from the Swine Flu. But do you realize you’re actually at least 300 times more likely to succumb to the common flu we deal with each year?   It’s true. In an average month, about 3000 Americans die from the regular, common flu! Yes, about three thousand!   So compare the numbers: Swine Flu will kill about 10 Americans this month, while the Common Flu will kill about 3000.   Now which flu should you fear?

But perhaps, instead of Swine Flu, you worry about being killed in a terrorist attack.   We all know that in 2001, nearly 2900 people died in the terrorist attack in New York City. But that very same year about 36,000 American deaths were caused by the common flu!

Do the comparison: in the past eight years, nearly 2900 Americans died in terrorist attacks, while almost 290,000 have been killed by the common flu! So why do so many people fear Osama Bin Ladin more than they fear catching the common flu? Because they simply do not understand which killer presents the much greater risk!

Consider two of the frightful stories that have been in the news during the past few years. Remember the story that exploded in the media last year about the Salmonella infected tomatoes?   Night after night, they made it sound like it was a major threat to millions of people. But actually, only two or three people in the entire nation died from that overblown salmonella tomato scare!

It’s been a similar story for several years with the West Nile virus. Each West Nile incident is treated on the television news as if it’s a national epidemic!   Yet the combined death total in 2008 and 2009 from West Nile is less than 60 people. Compare that number to the more than 500 people who are electrocuted each and every year in the USA!   It makes much more sense to worry about electrocution, than the West Nile virus!   For that matter, even Bee stings should worry you more than West Nile. Believe it or not, about 200 people die nationwide each year from bee stings!  Really!

One very important story about risky behavior that you will definitely not hear on the news is that ten more people died, today, by drowning!   Yes, it’s true! Each day in America, an average of ten people die in drowning accidents. That’s about 3500 drowning deaths every year!   More people drown each and every year in our rivers, lakes, streams and swimming pools, than all of those who died in the 9/11 terrorist attack.

And last, but certainly not least, death by automobile is the truly high-risk possibility that should worry all of us! More people die each year in auto accidents then from the combined annual death toll of the common flu, electrocution, bee stings and drowning!   Auto accidents take about 42,000 American lives every year. That’s about 115 auto accident deaths each day, and about 3500 every month!

Since 9/11, more than 330,000 Americans have died in auto accidents. But everyone seems to accept this chilling result of our love affair with the automobile. And nobody speaks the truth about the risk of driving! The national silence regarding this huge toll of accidental auto deaths is deafening.

So watch the national news tonight. And listen for the latest dramatic story of impending doom. Will it be a new disease? A secret terrorist plot? Or some strange chemical lurking in our peanut butter?

Whatever it is, you can be just about 100% certain that it will be a false fear, instead of a real risk.