A little off-topic perhaps:<p>&gt; This is why terrorism is so effective despite being an irrelevant statistical blimp.<p>Is it effective?  What are the criteria by which one could judge?<p>I lived half my life in England while the IRA was active, I have a friend who was in a building in London when the IRA threatened to blow it up (it wasn&#x27;t an empty threat, the device was in place and armed).  Neither of us lose any sleep over it.<p>My children have friends and acquaintances who were shot at Utøya (we live not far away).  None of them are letting the event stop them being politically active.<p>But if I read English language newspapers like the Daily Mail now I am bombarded with &#x27;terrorism&#x27; related &#x27;news&#x27; and the newspaper tries very hard to give the impression that everyone is really worried.<p>I&#x27;m not convinced that people are that worried.