by a youngster. I don't think its worth laughter. Very sad to read this thread.

that kinda stupid could end up hurting other people sooner or later!

Yeah, let's make fireworks legal for anyone to buy.

We are truly getting more stupid as a country.

Guns are like that and look at how safe we are on the streets.

some credit for cleaning up the gene pool.

Famous last words, sad what alcohol can do.

Make My Head ache!

and thank you so much, Gov 38%, for ruining every 4th for me -- and my terrified dog -- since 2012.

Permanently removing yourself by stupidity from the gene pool is an automatic win.

The other rule is doing something that ensures you'll never reproduce. Like the guy who stuck a bottle rocket in his anal cavity and fired it. He lived, but all of the low portion of his torso never functioned properly again.

...did that?

I'll see if I can find it.

...weekends as a unit clerk in the trauma section of our emergency department. Taped inside the doors of the metal supply cabinets, there was an interesting assortment of FBs (foreign bodies) that had been removed from various locations. The basic principle seemed to be that if there is an orifice available, someone will stick something in it.

But, a bottle rocket? I could not ever get that drunk, as I would be fast asleep before ever coming close to even thinking up something that stupid, let alone doing it. (I was a cheap date.)

He used to bring home some interesting stories. Not saying I've led a squeaky clean life, but mother of god on a rocket sled, some people seem to live in an alternate reality that I don't even want to imagine.

"How the hell did they get it out!?"

"With difficulty and a great deal of screaming."

I wouldn't mind it if it were say a 15-20 minute thing every year...but..Nooooooo...the pricks across the street and down the block must spend half the National Debt determined to keep people up until 2:00 AM.

I used to build rockets with payloads when I was in college....heh...heh....

(No..It's crossed my mind...."You want to hear a bang?"... )

Last night and there was a huge BOOM that rattled the windows and set off every car alarm on the street.
Stupid jerks almost woke up my kids.

I live in West Oak Cliff in Dallas and we usually get more gun fire than fireworks noise. This year, it was mostly firecrackers going off and lots of them on both Friday and Saturday. The fireworks stands must have made a huge profit this year.

my neighbors kept me up til about 2 am. on the 3rd and the 4th. Probably will tonight. So loud you couldn't hear the tv or anything. My kids didn't sleep. Thank heaven the cat doesn't freak out.

for me and truly getting worse every year. Some m-80's last evening just topped everything off. I'm not impressed anymore. The noise is upsetting to say the least. What I must have done to veterans when I was young....my dog...terrified as usual. took him a while to get settled after people stopped 'celebrating'.

in the grand scheme of things. Terribly sad for his family.

Should serve as a warning to others.

I understand who some folks react with the "Darwin Award." It was a foolish thing to do.

But young people's job includes doing foolish things. Many, many, many years ago, when I was a young man, I did more than my share of foolish things. And more stupid and dangerous things than I can remember. And I usually had fun doing them.

This was a human being, someone's son, grandson, nephew, maybe brother and cousin. It's not that we would want young folks to be scared of life. But be careful. Some dumb things can kill you (or others) in a split-second. And once you're gone, you can't come back, as Neil sang.

But nothing ever made me do anything that stupid.

(That you didn't do anything that stupid.)

I will admit that, as a youth, I drove while intoxicated. Not a lot. But each time, I was risking not only my life, but the lives of others. There wasn't as much publicity back in those days, regarding the risks .....a lot of cops would just drive you home, and not give you a hard time. But I knew better. Bad choices.

.. for example I learned that motorcycles and alcohol, even a LITTLE alcohol, do not mix.

But there is stupid, things that are risky, and there is stupider, things with which you are almost ASKING to die. This and the gator guy qualify well.

I'm sad for these folks' loved ones and yes these may be have stupid acts in a sea of responsible behavior, but the fact is they practically killed themselves and they definitely took themselves out of the gene pool, hence Darwin Award.

The devaluation of human life, especially on a Progressive board, makes me sad.

unless you count there hooking up with one of these "charming young men ".

Recently I saw a story about a guy that held a sausage or bratwurst in his mouth so that his buddy could slice it in half with a Medieval replica sword. Guys nose is now split in half. He was with a group of friends, who were all standing at the ready with their cell phones up to get the photo. The picture of the friends' faces as it happened is pretty priceless. What could go wrong, right???

Last edited Mon Jul 6, 2015, 04:38 PM - Edit history (1)

YouTube fame, or even just by the natural human monkey-see monkey-do impulse.

And then there are those "challenges," like the one where young people were challenged to pour a small amount of alcohol on some part of their body and then light themselves on fire.


<iframe width="854" height="510" src="

I almost don't think Maine should have to call this a "fireworks fatality." It's a "stupid fatality."

I presume a mortar would launch something out of a tube. It's still pretty damn stupid to put one on your head.

There is propellant gas coming out of the end he had placed on his head as there is coming out of the other end. That way, the tube can be light as it doesn't have to be strong enough to contain the detonation.

"A recoilless rifle (RCLR) or recoilless gun is a type of lightweight tube artillery that is designed to allow some of the propellant gases to escape out the rear of the weapon at the moment of ignition, creating forward thrust that counteracts some of the weapon's recoil. This allows for the elimination of much of the heavy and bulky recoiling mechanisms of a conventional cannon while still enabling the unit to fire a powerful projectile. Besides this, the lower pressures involved allow thinner walled and lighter tubes, lowering further the weight of the cannon."

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recoilless_rifle

You have a tube, open at one end. The mortar consists of a sphere of fireworks, with all the pretty sparkly colorful stuff in there, plus powder to make it explode.

On one side of the sphere is a propellant charge, a lump of black powder, that shoots the mortar a hundred feet or so into the air before it explodes and gives the audience the "Ooooh! Aaaah!"

There is a foot-long fuse attached to the propellant lump, and you always put the mortar into the tube propellant side down. Put it in upside down, and the whole thing explodes in the tube and potentially hurts people.

And yes, the propellant, being a charge of black powder, launches the mortar with a THUMP! A mortar isn't a rocket. It is a cannon. Not a good idea to have that cannon fire on your head.

...the resulting explosion that takes place right in your face is quite powerful...

I tell you, a triumph!

Get the government off our backs

I can do anything

No regulations

Free market thrills

The GUBBBERMINT says to use caution with Fireworks,
they don't know goober peas

This stuff can't kill ya, the exhaust gases all go UP because they're hot

I'll be on National TV

This is better than flaming sword swallowing

Hey Rocky, watch me pull a rabbit out of my hat!

Oooops!

Now here's something you'll really like

what a disgusting thread, gloating over a death to someone's child.

young people, alcohol, and dangerous toys (or anything they believe is a toy) have always been a bad combinatiom.

I hope it was near the end of the festivities.

Who says you can't fix stupid.

...may not come forth on the 5th....."

Where are the Darwin Award folks??

... I've done my share. I'm sorry it cost him his life.

that they had gone around the bend. They were lighting up everything under the sun, and when they broke out the gasoline, we left.

I have NO IDEA how those idiots escaped major injury, but the boom that resonated was frightening.

I don't have a problem with setting off fireworks; I have a problem when you drink a bunch of things and decide everything in the garage is the same as a firework.

Bad publicity and another million dollar idea goes up in flames.

His last words were: "Hold my beer and watch this!!!!!"

"Progressives" smugly laughing at someone's horrifying death, and using the dead man's lapse of judgment to pretend that makes it all right.

Vicious.