CRIME: Is it as important as "Terrorism"?

I read through a nice blog about being prepared for terrorism and bad things happening. I have been thinking the entire "Terrorism" things we hear have been way over blown. The chances of the average guy being hurt by a terrorist is slim yet the changes of an American family being harmed by a local criminal is great. Now we are spending billions on wars to protect us from a terrorist as we cut spending on local crime prevention. Over the last 60 plus years I cannot count the number of times a member of my family or myself was harmed by a criminal act. In some cases costing us a lot of money and some hospital bills. Yet our government has gone to war to protect me from a "terrorist" ignoring that which really threatens me and my family. My personal thoughts are simple the "terror" thing was a political move by certain groups and the current politicians are afraid to stop the hype in favor of doing the right thing and protecting Americans from local crime, drug wars, and the things that really affect us. It would be nice if we spent just some of those billions we spend on foreign wars to protect us from a terrorist on simple local crime prevention or stopping the growth of drugs in this county. I have read that 80% of the crime here is drug related and who knows how many American families are harmed by the drug problem. I would venture to say more Americans have been killed by local criminals than any terror attack. Before I prepare myself to avoid a terror attack I better prepare myself from a local criminal. When I can I will find those figures that show what I am saying, we should devote more attention to preventing local crime then any terrorist.

PS- If I am reading the statistics correctly at this link about 10,000 Americans have been murdered a year. Since the 9-11 terror attacks about 3 times the number of Americans per year are killed by local criminals rather than terrorists. Each year it seems to increase. Not to mention the other crimes that cause harm to the average guy. Here is the link,http://www.disastercenter.com/crime/uscrime.htm

Look at the harm criminals cause and compare to the hype about terrorism. Where should we be spending those billions? Protecting us from a terrorist, which is important, or a criminal which seems a lot more important?

This blog lists all the statistics here http://newsblaze.com/story/20090221100148tsop.nb/topstory.html

u are 17,600 times more likely to die from heart disease than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 12,571 times more likely to die from cancer than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 11,000 times more likely to die in an airplane accident than from a terrorist plot involving an airplane
-- You are 1048 times more likely to die from a car accident than from a terrorist attack
--You are 404 times more likely to die in a fall than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 87 times more likely to drown than die in a terrorist attack
-- You are 13 times more likely to die in a railway accident than from a terrorist attack
--You are 12 times more likely to die from accidental suffocation in bed than from a terrorist attack
--You are 9 times more likely to choke to death on your own vomit than die in a terrorist attack
--You are 8 times more likely to be killed by a police officer than by a terrorist
--You are 8 times more likely to die from accidental electrocution than from a terrorist attack
-- You are 6 times more likely to die from hot weather than from a terrorist attack

http://newsblaze.com/story/20090221100148tsop.nb/topstory.html

Five Years After Katrina

Old French Quarter Balcony New Orleans by figstreetstudio
More ""Art Prints

I was in the Great Smoky Mountains a place I visit now days during most of hurricane season and decided to head home for the five year anniversary of Katrina. Programs, news, and friends all were going to discuss where we are now. Personally the storm made many changes to my family. People are displaced, in new cities, in new homes. Just my two daughters have braved it back and bought flooded homes to fix up. Yes, to fix up because the effects of the flood are still around and both homes still need repair. One big thing was the sinking of foundations. Both my daughter and son had to have their houses shored and leveled 4 years after the flood. I am not sure why or how the ground was affected but it is so common now here in post Katrina New Orleans. Trees died, were removed so I think the roots died too. Ground water must have changed, and I am sure just plain rot of the old foundations occurred. That is another high expense that no insurance covers.
One daughter bought a house in Mid-City that one apartment was not repaired since Katrina. It had mold behind the wall paper, electrical and plumbing problems, and a lot of rot. She fixed it up the best she could and it now looks nice, before repairs it would have been impossible to live in yet the old owner tried to rent it out? So we make progress even if it is slow and in fits and spurts.
Me, I stayed in my cabin in the woods on the North Shore. I still cut,and remove broken trees and branches each day. Only about half of my two acres are cleared from Katrina debris. I get a lot of exercise though. The barn is falling down, too costly to repair. No tin on the roof and I would need heavy equipment to tear it down. It can wait to whenever. Everything stored in it got ruined and most is still sitting there until whenever. I always have had plans for a pond, plant grapes, or some goats and chickens but that is again whenever. Still there isn't enough time to get the repairs needed just from that one storm. Helping family, painting, work are still the priority and cutting trees or cleaning out a falling down barn is rated low on the list.
If you want to help and do not have time to put on work clothes and help cut trees and burn branches or clean out an old barn, just buy some of my art. I try to live off the income it generates but with the economy faltering art sales are a slow go.
I paint, do graphic designs and try my best to sell them on the web at my Fig Street Studio web page http://www.figstreet.com/studio. I also have shops at Cafe Press, http://www.cafepress.com/figstreetstudio and Zazzle, http://www.zazzle.com/figstreetstudio*. Both shops have lots of neat stuff from an old New Orleans artist. Christmas cards and ornaments, prints, invitations, t-shirts, fridge magnets, great gifts that help me out when you buy them. Things from $3.00 to $300 so they fit in every budget. Stop in and look around. This Christmas use one of my many Christmas Cards with New Orleans art, it helps me pay my bills. get a porcelain Christmas Ornament, or buy a print. And I have some of the funniest t-shirts available. Now go visit my shops and tell all your friends.