Steve,
You are playing watchtower tricks by using extreme examples. Overall, percentages are more meaningful than absolute numbers. Slim has a good point.
I can play the same trick, but better. Actually, in this case is not even a trick: Killing 10 people in one day in a town of 100 people is far more shocking than killing 10 people in Mexico City (population over 20 million). It's 10 % versus .00005 %. Percentages here, as in most cases, are more relevant because they provide context; absolute numbers don't..