conditioned to fear

this is just nonesense!

most well adjusted, intelligent people living outside the US wouldn't even recognize the world Tim O'Reilly talks about and microsoft builds products for

depressing and scary in equal measure....

software for emergencies.....

http://mashable.com/2009/04/28/microsoft-vine/

the shock doctrine in all its glory....

microsoft launch a piece of software so you can keep track of your "loved ones" in an emergency

wow - what a useful piece of kit - thanks microsoft - thanks for caring so much about me that you want to keep me in a perpetual loop of fear and anxiety.

swine flu isn't going to kill you, (statistically) I can tell you with some certainty you are never going to fall out of the air whilst flying / get caught in a firestorm / get blown away by a hurricane

yes - bad things do happen, but it is illogical, irrational and unhealthy to spend the time and energy we all do worrying about stuff that is (statistically) never likely to happen to us - in doing so we distort and reduce our lives to mere existences.