Three Precious Souls were lost today, in one respect, you

could say that God Himself picked up the phone and took the fear away :cry:

I don't know what you insensitive bastads are all bickering about, it's NOT FUNNY, it's NOT CUTE, and DS1 can suck my ass. SO THERE!

NOW BE NICE, and mourn this waterlogged tragedy like your mother told you!

http://www.cnn.com/2004/US/10/25/nj.suv.drownings.ap/index.html



Rafael Miranda said he saw the Jeep go off the road and into the water. He grabbed a flashlight and ran to the vehicle, banging on its roof and windows as he attempted to free the victims.

"I tried and I tried and I tried, but I couldn't do it," Miranda said. "They were conscious. They were screaming, screaming 'Help me, help me!"'

Poor Rafael, you're a special special man for trying to rescue those helpless women. :hug:

"They will NOT be missed."

I'm sure there are some who will miss them.

What a bullshit post.

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It's called a "message board" and not "email", so next time you don't care about an opinion, it's not necessary to respond to the post -- though, since you're less than 200 away from 20K, I think I understand.

verrrry important, it's why I look down on 90% of the place, yep that's it :eyes:

I guess I'll use the tags next time.

:bounce:

it was certainly not neccessary for you to call this a worthless post, or whatever you said either.

because despite what I said earlier, I care about each and every one of you and felt invalidated as a human being.

:cry:

you...



is that all better, honey?

But I did. And I didn't say "worthless", I said "bullshit post". If it starts a conversation, positive or negative, it has its worth -- I was just mildly disgusted, that's all. I'm not some anti-black humor prude -- to the contrary, I usually dig on morbid dark humor. But this is just a really weak case of it. This isn't "Darwin awards" material -- I could easily imagine this happening to anyone.

my life was in DANGER!

GET OUT OF THE FUCKING CAR, morons!

:eyes:

Move your asses! You're seriously pushing buttons as you're sinking into the river? FUCK!

:snort:

as in -- "Shit I'm gonna die without having found out who got fired on Apprentice, let me call my friend and ask before this fucking water drowns me". They were probably trying to call for help or for instructions on what to do (since a lot of people know that you're supposed to do something that's not exactly intuitive if you're sinking in a car -- but they don't exactly know what). I don't know, I wasn't there. Maybe 911 was busy -- I've called 911 and got a busy signal before.

and I am sure they are nice people and fine democrats and all, but... sorry, if you live around rivers and drive cars, you have an obligation to know what to do.

And the Passaic and Hackensack rivers are notorious for this sort of thing.

...you have an obligation to know what to do"

My admittedly unscientific guess is that 75% of people, at least, don't meet this "obligation". That kinda dillutes the Darwin Awards, don't you think?

It's not natural to be under water, people should take measures to prevent themselves from being under water, not pick up the phone to report a lost bicycle at the bottom of a river.

"report a lost bicycle at the bottom of a river."

Now that _was_ funny.

I'm pretty sure they tried to escape from the car but the doors wouldn't open. Then they tried to call for help. I'm sure it wasn't the other way around.

it is weird.

that's why someone submerged in a vehicle needs to use the phone to bust a window.

I saw a special on this (a 'be afraid, be very afraid' Dateline, I think) and it was suggested that people who drive near water should have an awl or punch of some sort on a lanyard in the cab of the vehicle that is tied to something that will reach a window. Take the last deep breath and shatter a window.
It's hard to break car windows, unless you are a car prowler.

to me

by a standard equivalent to your own.

(And so would I -- I'm not trying to diss on your intelligence, but your standard)

For example -- have you ever been hiking without snake bite serum?

Do you know what to do if a thunderstorm catches you in an open field?

I am a long-time and long-distance solo hiker.

If I die from snake bite, that would be my fault.

with people since cellphones became popular.

Many people believe a cellphone is a lifesaving device, and, yes, I admit, it can be.

But you can't rely on it as such.

You have to still know how to start a fire to keep warm, find water adn food, swim, and whatever else comes up.

Too many people are depending on technology for too mucy, IMHO.

how long do you think it takes for a rescue truck to show up?

isn't it a little feckless to wait around for some1 to save your useless butt when you're an RCH from fishfood?

It's sad.

ok, i'd be furious if this was about cats. going around the block several Xs, i don't really understand panic anymore, even though it was 1ce my job to understand & interdict it.

i shdnt let my personal rage over-ride my feelings for people, it dehumanizes me.

point seriously taken, redqueen. my apologies...

Didn't mean to chastise you, either... just striving for understanding.

i'm not always right.

appreciate it when some1 points out i'm effing up & points me straight.

that person is a friend.

Hope you'll do the same for me, friend. :)

:pals:

Do you know that they didn't try to open the door or break the windows? I am assuming they did, since that would be the initial insinctive reaction of anyone, and once they were unsuccesful they called to ask for advice and/or help. People drown in cars all the time -- are they all ridiculously stupid? Or are these women stupid because once they realized they couldn't open the doors, they didn't say "aw, shucks" and just sat waiting to die, but made a phone call?

...The dead were identified as Nicole Floyd, 34, who worked at a drug rehabilitation center; Gail Williams, 35, a homeless shelter counselor; and Monique Hawkins, 39, a nurse's aide, all of whom lived in Newark.

Real losers, huh. :eyes:

Hang up and drive never had a more meaningful ring to it, eh?

ring

They don't deserve to be made fun of this way.

her leg hitting a truck on her motorcycle is a real side splitter for you.

And my grandfather forgot to take his blood pressure medicine, stroked out and died. Isn't that hilarious?

Funny stuff!!!!! I think anyone who isn't as smart and perfect as I am is only fodder for my amusement, especially when they die. Don't you?

The article said that the car sank quickly - that prevented them the easiest way of escape while the car was on the surface. Once the car is submerged, you can't open the door until the car is filled with water and the pressure between the inside and outside of the car equalizes - the water pressure is too great. Breaking the window is hard, too, unless you have the right object to break it with. You could try to push out the rear window with your feet, but they may not have known to try that, and it may have been hard to do in an SUV. They may have tried to open the door when the car first went in, found it impossible, and when the car finally filled with water, they were probably too panicked to try the door again.

I do think that calling a friend instead of 911 is odd, though.

"Once the car is submerged, you can't open the door until the car is filled with water and the pressure between the inside and outside of the car equalizes"

The BBC tested this with an untrained TV presenter (Richard Hammond, Top Gear), a car and a dunkn tank. He couldn't do it and they gave him three attempts. The only way he could get out was to do so as soon as the car hit the water.

Basically the moral of the story was, if you don't get out before the car submerges you'll die.

link

and open the windows, no?

The last thing I would worry about was a cellphone call.

Cars sold in Holland must have manual windows, by law, for this specific reason. Most cars sold in Europe come with a little brochure on how to escape a submerged vehicle. Why don't auto-makers here do the same thing?

at least they are supposed to

...if the battery shorts out, or if one of the cables comes loose from the impact, nothing electrical will work.

I've never understood why it's legal to have the battery installedin the high-imact front area of a car. The thing is a potential bomb. Whenever I'm building a 4x4, I usually relocate the battery lower and further back.

Most British cars still have the battery in the boot (trunk), but the less said about British cars' electrical systems, the better.

:evilgrin:

but, yeah, I wonder about that too. Also, inspections should worry less about my wipers and more about the battery being bolted down.

Lucas Aphorisms

Lucas - Prince of Darkness

Lucas - Inventor of the first intermittent wiper.

The three position Lucas switch - Dim, Flicker and Off.

Or what about the other 3 settings: Smoke, Smoulder and Burn?

"The British drink warm beer because they have Lucas refrigerators."

"I have had a Lucas Pacemaker for years and never had any trou..."

How to make AIDS disappear? Give it a Lucas parts number.

Lucas systems actually use AC current; it just has a random frequency
that's all.

It is not true that Lucas, in 1947, tried to get Parliament to repeal
Ohm's law. They withdrew their efforts when they met too much
resistance.

QA called and told the engineer they had trouble with his design
shorting out so he made the wires longer.

Recently, Lucas won out over Bosch to supply the electrical for the
new Volkswagens. So, now the cars from the Black Forest will come with
electrics supplied by the Lord of Darkness -- how appropriate!

Alexander Graham Bell invented the Telephone.
Thomas Edison invented the Light Bulb.
Joseph Lucas invented the Short Circuit.

Recommended procedure before taking on repair of Lucas equipment:
Check the position of the stars, kill a chicken, and walk 3 time
sunwise around your car chanting "Oh, mighty Prince protect your
unworthy servant..."

They can't find a way for them to leak oil and work with no power.

glad i saw your 'Lucas' post...I know the english car.

An excellent way to create jobs!

"Most British cars still have the battery in the boot (trunk), but the less said about British cars' electrical systems, the better. "

Which British cars have the battery in the boot?

My XK8 did, and it was a current model.

You had an XK8?

Awesome.

What do you have now?

Two of the doctors at work have XK8s, and another has an Aston Martin DB7.. it always takes a little longer to walk past the consultant's carpark when those three cars are parked in there.

...I'm being sued for spousal support and stuff, and my industry is in a downturn, so right now it's a '92 Toyota 4Runner (aka Hilux Surf, in the UK).

She's only 5 months old. Can't wait til she gets bigger.

the pressure equalizes.

:eyes:

Thinning the herd.

Hey you! Out of the gene pool!

oooooh :spank:

may have not only lost precious lives but 3 votes for Kerry.

I'm laughing so hard I can't stand it. People dying for my amusement. It's a great world, isn't it? Anyone who doesn't find 3 dead people funny is just a humorless schmuck. What's wrong with you?

When I die, it will be perfect. Because I never panic. I never make mistakes. No one will be able to laugh at me, I'll make sure of it.

Edited to add this was sarcasim. I think this thread is awful.

landed upside down in the water a couple of years ago.

Lucky for all of us, she was able to get out.

I can think of few things more terrifying then that.

That woulda been worse

AND the subject line.

*poke*

i thought it was headed for locking

They all love and adore me so.

*fully expects to click out of this thread and find his felate question locked :evilgrin: *

Sounds like they panicked. :(

Don't you think so?

Edited to clarify. I was being sarcastic.

This is a disgusting thread. It even states in the article that there was nothing anyone could do. These three women probably knew they were going to die. They all had jobs that helped others. This is horrific. I can't see how anyone could find anything even remotely funny about this, and I have a twisted sense of humor at times. Nothing funny at all.

I think of that guy with his flashlight looking at those srcreaming, panicking women, probably knowing they'll die, and that he can't help them... I don't think 'funny' at all. Not at all.

It's a very sad story. What a horrible way to go.

I think this thread is disgusting.

Subject: The moral and ethical implications behind the "darwin award" mentality
Message:
Is disgusting. Its not even one step, morally, from eugenics, the same eugenics that Bush's grandfather supported (and Hitler actually put into practice). Thats why people say bad things to you, you poor picked-on thing you, because you are espousing nazi crap.

You think "stupid people" deserve to die. Needless to say, you are smart. So, because you were fortunate and won the birth lottery when it came to the one attribute that you value most (and of course its the one you have, funny how your moral universe equates with your self-interest) you feel entitled to pass judgment on their fitness to live.

Now here is a question for you: Do you think that people who are physically strong are better than people who are physically weak? Do physically weak people deserve to die?

Because Darwin's natural selection, even today, selects for physical strength far more than for intelligence. The weak are picked off by disease and predators, the frail and sickly (and geeky) are less likely to attract a mate and more likely to die without offspring. Hell, if these women were physically stronger, they might have been able to break the windows and escape, right? Proving their superiority, by your Darwinian moral compass.

So, do you cheer the efficient operation of natural selection when weak old ladies are murdered by strong young men? If not, why not? Its Darwins law, improving the genetics of the species, after all.

Of course, you probably, and wrongly, think that natural selection in humans selects for intelligence. There is no indication it does, above a certain minimal standard of intelligence. The stupid generally out-reproduce the intelligent by a huge percentage. The highly intelligent are often emotionally unstable and less succesful than your diligent plodders. Population geneticists are concerned with the possibility of a decline in average intelligence because of these factors.

But you feel compelled to publicly cheer the tragic deaths of these three people, all of whom I see, were public health workers, because they deserved to die, exactly why again?

You know, your whole premise is so wrong on so many levels. Its ironic that you seem not to be intelligent enough to understand the effects of the very strong chemical compounds (adrenaline and other hormones) that flood the body of a person in an emergency situation and can make it simply impossible to think clearly and logically. So what you are really criticizing here may in fact by the physical, physiological weakness of these women, after all. If they were less physically susceptible to the effects of extreme stress, they'd be okay.

Its really all about the fact that you happen to have been born lucky, because you are intelligent, and therefore, you place a high value on intelligence. So here is your chance to crow about the wonderfulness of your intelligence by pointing out one of the rare instances in which natural selection does select for intelligence, as opposed to physical strength.

Click here to go back to the main forums.

But I still defy you to read Underpants' "Oh Mah Gawd Wanda you won't believe where we AAAaaare!" post and not laugh your ASS off. :)

I spit water all over myself when I read his post! Clearly something is wrong with me!

Oh my god, I said water! I'm going to go kill myself now.

Really, nice picture, I know that references to Hitler are really rhetorical dirty pool, but still, aren't you espousing eugenics? Or just amusing yourself by delighting in the deaths of people you don't know based on a news report with incomplete information which for some reason make you feel so happy? they did call a friend instead of 911, and the friend actually got 911 on the other line, so they didn't fail completely, did they? maybe the friend was a cop or a fireman, that information wasn't in there, they may not be as stupid as you assume. But leave the facts aside, I am not going to back down or apologize. You are dehumanizing people to the point of denying their right to live based on an arbitrary characteristic, intelligence. And pseudo-justifying it with half-baked notion that this is somehow natural law, when, again, natural selection in humans does not strongly choose for intelligence, above a bare minimum.

I think you are just resentful of the fact that natural selection does not favor your best attribute. So on the rare occasion where intelligence actually does confer a real life advantage, you crow about it.

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Then you're a humorless twit and deserving of mockery by very intelligent people with wit much sharper then yours. They know what is funny. You don't. So, just go about your business, there. Forget you ever saw this thread.

But you're probably wasting your time with a couple of posters. Because you're crushing their groove, you know? Cause having three people drown is just so damn funny!! Anyone who doesn't agree is obviously wrong.

Honestly, some days...

Dragging your cellphone out of your pocketbook while your jeep sinks is.

I can't imagine the level of abject terror one feels after plunging deep into water in their vehicle like that. I'm sorry if I don't find their reaction to their impending doom funny. I certainly don't think that others who also don't find it humorous are deserving of being mocked for that. I also don't see how it's so surprising that some are shocked that there are those who DO find that funny.

In addition to my grandfather stroking out after forgetting his pills, there's my friend who slipped and fell on a patch of ice and lost her baby. Oh, and then there's my cousin who didn't have her helmet on and died in a motor cycle accident. I also have another relative who died when their appendix ruptured because they didn't go to the hospital. I wonder if they're wetting their pants, now? Funny, funny stuff.

You should be proud of that whopper

then you mocking the people in this thread who don't see the humor? What's a little mocking, among friends?

half as dumb as you think I am :eyes:

It's only funny if you do it.

you aren't implying that I made that stuff up? Because then, well, it's getting kind of personal, isn't it? I like you. I often enjoy your threads. I'm just in protest of this one in particular. But, if you want to imply that I'm lying about the misfortune of people I've known and love, well... I don't know what to say.

had a fighting chance. These ladies did, long enough even for Rafeal to come running down the riverbank flashlight in hand. So what do they do?

Get out the car? No. Break the window ~with~ their cellphone? No.

They call a friend, like they're on Who Wants to be a Wet Millionaire.

Seriously. :wtf:

One could argue that at least a couple of them did. Staying home from the hospital when it feels like your gut is going to explode might not be the smartest thing. My grandfather could have taken the medicine he was prescribed. He knew that it was vital to his health. I realize that those scenarios aren't the same as those women, though.

They may not have been able to get out of the car. Panic does funny things to people. I'd like to think I'm a smart woman. I would know better than to do those things, sitting here calm as a cucumber on my couch. The sudden shock of veering off the road and plunging into the water is much different.

love, that everyone displays their superior IQ in trying to save their own lives. Otherwise, your disdain for their stupidity might get in the way of experiencing something real.

Why, poor DS1 your life must be so miserable to have so much hate in you.

Actually, I'm a pretty happy dude, I laugh a lot, people love me, life is good. Yet, going down with the ship, cellphone in hand, is just waaay fucking stupid.

It's not against the rules to be a coldhearted bastard, but it is against the rules to call someone a fucking asshole. So, get off your high horse :hi:

I figure this bullshit merited the label.

It's so nice to be superior to everyone else, isn't it? Guess some of these folks are 100 percent sure that they will NEVER panic, never make the wrong decision, and certainly NEVER hit the wrong button on their cell phone, while being terrified and facing death. No sir, they are WAY too superior to do something as darwin-esque as that!!

cause I'm a bad bad person.

cause I'm not. (KIDDING!)

They panicked. Smart people can panic, too.

Auto window glass can be really hard to break if you don't have leverage.

Also, October in New Jersey... the water is likely cold enough to cause hypothermia to set in really fast. Hypothermia screws up your cognitive abilities, and your muscle coordination.

How fucking jaded are you?!

I read it somewhere

and flies away... ;)

I'll keep quiet now. :-)

the water could have shorted them out.

That's a picture of the vehicle in question.

If your thread has some subtle sarcastic humor not directed at the occupants of said SUV, I'm not getting it.

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among other things, is that I don't like giving our opposition fuel to confirm their stereotypes of democrats/liberals.

Now, if I'm being extraordinarily dense, and not seeing the wit of the thread you may think is self-evident, please explain it to me, and use small words. Or, if you were just hitting the bong particularly hard tonight, say so. I don't count stoned/drunk posting against anybody.

Take a look at my posts at CU... I spend a good deal of time defending the liberal/democrat position.

But I also recognise there are certain threads here at DU that make it very, very hard to do sometimes.

messageboard because of one or two posts.

There's no wit in here, there doesn't have to be.

"The dead were identified as Nicole Floyd, 34, who worked at a drug rehabilitation center; Gail Williams, 35, a homeless shelter counselor; and Monique Hawkins, 39, a nurse's aide, all of whom lived in Newark.

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

:7

Yep, my twat is one of the most righteous twats around. I imagine that you wouldn't know a righteous twat if it slapped you upside the head, you misogynist little dweeb.

and then I changed it. So yeah, I'll admit to that after adjusting. :shrug:

On tv about a woman who had gone off the road into a canal. She couldn't open the window or the door so she grabbed her cell phone and called 911. The operator wasn't trained in what to do and didn't know what to tell her. They played the tape. It has haunted me ever since. I can find no humor in this story at all. It gives me the creeps and makes me sad.

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The type of post I'd expect see on freerepublic, not the DU...

.