The first I heard of a dead pool was when I watched a Dirty Harry movie of that title released in 1988. Today, it seems, "dead pools"---in which participants draw up lists of people they believe will die within a specified period of time, usually a year---are somewhat popular. Do such pools treat people as objects?

   Inductive reasoning would indicate each of us is mortal. Humans who have lived before us have been unable to live beyond 160 years, or thereabouts, at best. One could argue the Undead live forever (as is suspected of the coach of the New England Patriots), but there is little evidence (other than Belichek's existence) to support the notion those beings are about. Also, as Stalin is quoted as having said, one human death is a tragedy, but a million human deaths are a statistic.

   There will be no prize for a "win" in the dead pool of Civil Discourse Now, only the boost to one's ego one may obtain from having predicted prominent or "celebrity" people who do not reside in Indiana will cease to exist between now and January 1, 2015. There some obvious means by which one would improve the probability one's predictions will prove true, aside from the affirmative actions taken by the antagonist, as I recall, from "Dead Pool." Age would seem to be an obvious factor. Lifestyle would seem to be another factor, but that may be negated by unknown factors. After all, Keith Richards of the Rolling Stones should have deceased in the early 1990s if lifestyle were any gauge of longevity.

    There will be a couple of categories, other than the straight up dead pool, in which to compete. Listen to The Show tomorrow, from 11 am to 1 pm. Also, we take calls at 317.489.9219. 

   I just started my list. Carlos Danger---is he dead yet?