21st Century Has Distinct Advantages

We take for granted just how easy things are in 2005. For most of human history, "life" meant a 45-year period of abuse and travail. Life was tough and so were the people it victimized.

This first-person account of a gun accident in Greenland in 1899 (click on August 2003) is a perfect snapshot of how dangerous and unpredictable life was for early settlers who lived off the land. It's almost comical how stoic and matter-of-fact the writer is.