Outliving Elvis – Five More Tips

Outliving Elvis' 42 years is not really setting the bar very high. However, let's take each year one at a time. In eight years, at age 51, I can write about how to outlive Michael Jackson?

Five more of my secrets for surviving in today's dangerous world.

1.   Don't travel by Indonesian budget airlines, especially avoid flying in Soviet era passenger planes no matter which airline operates them;

2.   When writing about conflict zones (Swat) do so from the comfort of your own living room. Be an armchair general - real generals have thousands of troops to protect them in the Zone. I don't;

3.   Restrict your intake of fried peanut butter and banana sandwiches. It helps keep your cholesterol in check;

4.   Obey mundane traffic rules like speed limits and red lights, especially when living in Dubai. Dubai has one of the highest per capita traffic accident fatality rates in the world;

5.   Don't mess with Singapore's drug laws (or chewing gum restrictions)!

Humans have a tendency to try and measure stuff, including life, by quantifying. The 'quant' approach did not work in the world of finance – witness the mathematical risk management systems which failed the world's banks so spectacularly.

What are the odds a 'probable scenario' tactic will work in real life?