In America, the number of workplace deaths has declined — but not for Hispanics.

The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics says worker deaths overall dropped from 6,217 in 1992 to 5,657 in 2007, a reduction of about 8 per cent. Yet Hispanic worker deaths in the same period increased from 533 in 1992 to 937 in 2007, the latest year with set statistics. That’s a rise of  almost 80 per cent in Hispanic workplace deaths.

Larger numbers of Hispanics in the USA’s workforce account for some of the increase, but only a small amount. Since 1998, Hispanics in America’s workforce went from 10.4 per cent to 14 per cent in 2007.

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America is at war — not with another country, but with its own drunk drivers. You may not sense that your country is at war with them, but drunk drivers — by default if not design — are definitely at war with America, inflicting far more deaths, injuries and damages that many military conflicts.

Each year, the car carnage caused by drunk driving totals around 16,000 deaths, hundreds of thousands of injuries and many billions of dollars in damages.

For far too long, enough has been enough. Yet the plague continues. Each day, law-abiding people die in horrific accidents, and all because drunks were loose on our roads and highways. Despite decades of effort and outstanding crusaders such as Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), the terrible toll persists.

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As the swine flu crisis nears pandemic proportions, millions worldwide brace for possible exposure to a virus more dangerous than many other flu bugs — a virus so dangerous it could kill.

But while fighting swine flu is vital, in some ways the media coverage of it and public panic toward it are disproportionate, at least in the context of other deadly infections which assail us daily and rarely are noted on the public radar that swine flu now commands.

These other afflictions are varied and many, but they include what is virtually a hidden epidemic: hospital acquired infections.

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Your car was just rear-ended by a distracted motorist blabbing on his cell phone and now — through no fault of your own — you’ve got bills to pay for damages. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

You’ve waited months for your insurance company to make good on its policy and pay for your property damage after Hurricane Ike or some other calamity — and now you’re still waiting. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

Your child was injured in a Yamaha Rhino accident when the ATV rolled over on a flat surface due to manufacturer design negligence, and now she faces surgery. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

Your loved one suffered a near-fatal overdose of powerful narcotic fentanyl from a defective Duragesic pain patch, and now requires special care. What time is it? It’s HAMMER TIME.

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