NationStates Jolt Archive

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060604/ap_on_re_us/brf_balloon_deaths

College students found dead inside balloon

LUTZ, Fla. - Two college students were found dead inside a large, deflated helium balloon after apparently pulling it down and crawling inside it, officials said.
The deaths of Jason Ackerman and Sara Rydman, both 21, appear to be accidental, Hillsborough County Sheriff's Maj. Bob Schrader said.

Really! Just like public smoking, talking on the cell phone while driving, the .08 BAC and G-strings on public beaches helium balloons must be BANNED NOW!

:rolleyes:

Has anyone been calling for their banning?

Helium is a very dangerous chemical and I hope that this tragic event will be used by special interest groups to pursue an agenda of authoritarian censorship, because thats what tragic events are for! It's about time we recognized the helium threat and if it takes death to make that recognition, so be it!

:confused:

At least it's safer then hydrogen?

It's practically standing still now. They've dropped ropes out of the nose of the ship, and it's been taken a hold of down on the field by a number of men. It's starting to rain again; the rain had slacked up a little bit. The back motors of the ship are just holding it, just enough to keep it from...

It burst into flames! Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Get this, Charlie! Get this, Charlie! It's fire and it's crashing! It's crashing terrible! Oh, my! Get out of the way, please! It's burning, bursting into flames and is falling on the mooring mast, and all the folks agree that this is terrible. This is the worst of the worst catastrophes in the world! Oh, it's crashing... oh, four or five hundred feet into the sky, and it's a terrific crash, ladies and gentlemen. There's smoke, and there's flames, now, and the frame is crashing to the ground, not quite to the mooring mast... Oh, the humanity, and all the passengers screaming around here!

I told you... I can't even talk to people... around there. It's... I can't talk, ladies and gentlemen. Honest, it's just laying there, a mass of smoking wreckage, and everybody can hardly breathe and talk... I-I'm sorry. Honest, I can hardly breathe. I'm going to step inside where I cannot see it. Charlie, that's terrible. I... Listen folks, I'm going to have to stop for a minute, because I've lost my voice... This is the worst thing I've ever witnessed

Heh, I wasn't going to bother dignifying this one with a response, but I liked this one especially:

the .08 BAC

Fuck no! It's my right to get as hammered as I like and go out driving - stop fucking with my rights, you big evil naughty naughty *naughty* oppressive government! So what if i'm putting other people in danger, IT IS MY RIGHT TO. If they don't like the risks that come with sharing a road with intoxicated people, well they can stay home, right!?!?!? Heheh.

All you need is a gun smiley or two in there B0zz!

Has anyone been calling for their banning?

Hold up, i'll place it down on the leftist conspiracy agenda somewhere.

Everyone knows Hydrogen is more efficient than helium anyways.

Yes, because we all know that no innocent people have ever been killed by drunk driving and that it's perfectly okay to put others' lives in danger through smoking in a public area. :rolleyes:

I guess I also forgot the impairing affects of helium consumption, or perhaps the dangers of second-hand helium exposure because we all know there are direct and fully compatible similarities between helium and nicotine or alcohol.

Hell, why not decriminalize murder? It's your personal responsibility not to get murdered, and if you do it's your fault!

oh boy... ANOTHER war for America to start...
The War on Helium.
The squeaky-voice killer. :rolleyes:

Everyone knows Hydrogen is more efficient than helium anyways.

But does it make your voice sound funny? :D

Hell, why not decriminalize murder? It's your personal responsibility not to get murdered, and if you do it's your fault!

Damn straight!

It's not the government's job to babysit you - if you are too weak or incompetent to defend yourself, then too bad.

Has anyone been calling for their banning?


If you apply the same standards to helium balloons that many others apply to other items and substances then yes - if they are to be consistent they must.


http://forums.jolt.co.uk/showpost.php?p=11046510&postcount=29
quote=Vetilia]
Even if only one person died from drunk driving, that would make it unacceptable. [/quote]

I really and truly hope that this was a joke on the side of the author of this thread. but if it isn't, let me just say that helium, as an inert gas does absolutly no damage. Those kids died because they entered an environment with no oxygen. So, they could've walked into a baloon filled with cheese they'd still die.
So if we're on a banning trip here already, why don't we ban water! you know, if you get into a baloon full of water you'll be dead in minutes!

Fuck no! It's my right to get as hammered as I like and go out driving - stop fucking with my rights, you big evil naughty naughty *naughty* oppressive government! So what if i'm putting other people in danger, IT IS MY RIGHT TO. If they don't like the risks that come with sharing a road with intoxicated people, well they can stay home, right!?!?!? Heheh.

All you need is a gun smiley or two in there B0zz!


You, more than anyone else I've et here yet, need desperatly to educate yourself at the following sites;

The Non-Crime of Drunk Driving (http://www.freerepublic.com/forum/a3b6c17d95f4a.htm)
The state criminal statutes concerning drunk driving are unjust, and are so vague and broad that certainty of compliance with the law is impossible. The law threatens anyone who mixes drinking, no matter how temperate, with the operation of a vehicle. I should know. I worked briefly as a deputy district attorney in a rural California county, prosecuting DUI cases. And I sincerely regret having had anything to do with the enforcement of the drunk driving laws.

http://www.getmadd.com/
What happens when the thought control groups reach their goal that it's not drunk drivers but all drinking drivers that are the scum of the earth? It used to be "Don't let friends drive drunk." Now it's "You drink, You drive, You lose." What does that mean? Is it illegal to drive after drinking? If you have a beer and get behind the wheel are you, in MADD's words, the same as a "drive-by shooter?" Say it on TV for 25 years and, the public subliminally gets the message. "It must be true, why would they lie?"

I really and truly hope that this was a joke on the side of the author of this thread. but if it isn't, let me just say that helium, as an inert gas does absolutly no damage. Those kids died because they entered an environment with no oxygen. So, they could've walked into a baloon filled with cheese they'd still die.
So if we're on a banning trip here already, why don't we ban water! you know, if you get into a baloon full of water you'll be dead in minutes!


Ban water?? Absolutely - it kills more people than drunk driving every year.

Yes, because we all know that no innocent people have ever been killed by drunk driving and that it's perfectly okay to put others' lives in danger through smoking in a public area. :rolleyes:

I guess I also forgot the impairing affects of helium consumption, or perhaps the dangers of second-hand helium exposure because we all know there are direct and fully compatible similarities between helium and nicotine or alcohol.

Hell, why not decriminalize murder? It's your personal responsibility not to get murdered, and if you do it's your fault!


Did you just try drawing a moral equivelence between murder and smoking?!!?!

You too really need to visit those sites mentioned a few posts ago.

oh boy... ANOTHER war for America to start...
The War on Helium.
The squeaky-voice killer. :rolleyes:


ROFLMAO!!

Did you just try drawing a moral equivelence between murder and smoking?!!?!


Our tax dollars hard at work, funding anti-tobacco special interests which play propaganda for public schools.

Did you just try drawing a moral equivelence between murder and smoking?!!?!

No, I could draw a lesser comparison if you would like, something like being a public nuisance or violating parking laws.

I could equivocate them though, seeing as how public smoking cand trigger a lethal asthma attack or start a fire which leads to deaths.

"Helium don't kill people, balloons kill people because of SIN"


(An modified quote from a columnist published at the NRA website :p )

Ban water?? Absolutely - it kills more people than drunk driving every year.
You know it almost happened once too?


In March 2004 the California municipality of Aliso Viejo (a suburb in Orange County) came within a cat's whisker of falling for this hoax after a paralegal there convinced city officials of the danger posed by this chemical. The leg-pull got so far as a vote's having been scheduled for the City Council on a proposed law that would have banned the use of foam containers at city-sponsored events because (among other things) they were made with DHMO, a substance that could "threaten human health and safety."

http://www.snopes.com/science/dhmo.asp
:D

No, I could draw a lesser comparison if you would like, something like being a public nuisance or violating parking laws.

I could though, seeing as how public smoking could trigger a lethal asthma attack or start a fire which leads to deaths.

Heh. Well you know, an antismoker bitching at me about how I'm murdering people could trigger a heart attack or psychological distress. SO ANTISMOKERS ARE MURDERS! ;)

"Inhaling helium can quickly lead to brain damage and death from lack of oxygen, according to the Compressed Gas Association, which develops safety standards in the gas industry."

Or, to not "criminalize" a gas humans learned to control, you could just say that not inhaling oxygen was the problem. Helium just being an "innocent bystander." It's all in how you word things.

And banning all these things is ridiculous. And I THINK the person saying drunk driving shouldn't be illegal was being sarcastic.

Heh. Well you know, an antismoker bitching at me about how I'm murdering people could trigger a heart attack or psychological distress. SO ANTISMOKERS ARE MURDERS! ;)

And we could all blink out of existence right...now.

Seriously, the risk of a smoker triggering a serious medical condition is very low but it makes sense for them to be not allowed to smoke in places where such behavior could present a danger to others, like in a hospital. And private establishments have every right to ban smokers from their restaurant or segregate them...and usually do.

However, there is no question that DUIs do kill people and those who take those kind of risks are breaking the law. You have a right to kill yourself through your actions, but you don't have a right to put others in danger by doing it.

Seriously, the risk of a smoker triggering a serious medical condition is very low but it makes sense for them to be not allowed to smoke in places where such behavior could present a danger to others, like in a hospital.

Well, yeah. But when people try to convince me that the sidewalk, or a park, is the same sort of place as a hospital, no dice.

And private establishments have every right to ban smokers from their restaurant or segregate them...and usually do.

I agree, they should have that right... and also the right NOT to ban or segregate smokers. (In which case the nonsmokers would self-segregate.)

Well, yeah. But when people try to convince me that the sidewalk, or a park, is the same sort of place as a hospital, no dice.

The only places outdoors where it should be banned would be obvious ones like wildfire risk areas or places that don't have ways to get rid of the smoked cigarettes and ash without littering. Other than that, there's no reason not to allow smoking outdoors...cars produce a lot more irritants than a cigarette.

I agree, they should have that right... and also the right NOT to ban or segregate smokers. (In which case the nonsmokers would self-segregate.)

It's your property, it's your decision on how to run it. In my opinion, anything else infringes on the right of people to assemble freely...unless there is a clear danger being presented by a certain behavior (like smoking at a gas station or storing chemical waste in a basement) or the lack of a permitnecessary to allow that behavior to occur safely.

We need to ban birth too. Beacause that's the first step towards death, don't ya know.

We need to ban birth too. Beacause that's the first step towards death, don't ya know.

End of conversation.

, seeing as how public smoking cand trigger a lethal asthma attack or start a fire which leads to deaths.


So can scented candles.

So can scented candles.

So can pollen...that's why it isn't a valid example in most cases.

I'm confused. Who here is serious and who's joking?

And banning all these things is ridiculous. And I THINK the person saying drunk driving shouldn't be illegal was being sarcastic.


Not exactly - I said the .08 BAC was ridiculous... Big diff.

I'm confused. Who here is serious and who's joking?

You




:)

You




:)

Ahhhhh...That explains everything. *grabs popcorn*

Everyone knows Hydrogen is more efficient than helium anyways.

*Laughs when you get exploderised*

Really! Just like public smoking
Since when has that become an accident? :rolleyes:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20060604/ap_on_re_us/brf_balloon_deaths

[I]College students found dead inside balloon

Have they been nominated for the Darwin awards? Obviously, they had not taken any science courses in high school. :(

Let's see, 21-year-olds voluntarily enter an oxygen-free environment likely to deform and be difficult to exit becuase of their very entrance. Situation is complicated by oxygen-starved brain unable to cope with deflating balloon. Situation results in death of 21-year-olds.

Sounds like Darwin Award criteria to me.







And for the Hicks fan:

"Number of gun deaths in England last year, where guns are regulated? Fourteen. Number of gun deaths in America -- and you know how we feel about guns, I'm gettin' a warm tingly selsation just sayin' the fuckin' word -- 23,000. And yet there's no connection between having a gun and shooting someone with it and NOT having a gun and NOT shooting someone with it -- and you'd be a fool and a Communist to make one."

God bless the Goat-Boy.

Those kids died because they entered an environment with no oxygen.

Duh! These were college kids, high school graduates. Should they not have known that O2 is nessecary to sustain life and a helium filled baloon is lacking in O2? :rolleyes:

Duh! These were college kids, high school graduates. Should they not have known that O2 is nessecary to sustain life and a helium filled baloon is lacking in O2? :rolleyes:
If you've done any research into the scientific literacy of the public, you wouldn't be surprised that someone could get through highschool and not know this.
Hell, there are graduates of MIT who can't make a circuit from a battery, some wire and a lightbulb.

They probably thought helium baloons have some oxygen in them. Or they were just proud citizens of braindeadland.
Now, about smoking: the problem with it in public, closed places is not of the danger smoking poses as much as the nuisance it is to other people.
You see, when you smoke in a bar, everyone else is forced to smoke with you.
That's why civilized members of society will come out of the door and smoke on the street where it's still legal and should stay legal because killing yourself is (supposed to be) your right.

If you've done any research into the scientific literacy of the public, you wouldn't be surprised that someone could get through highschool and not know this.
Hell, there are graduates of MIT who can't make a circuit from a battery, some wire and a lightbulb.

Doesn't speak well for our educational system does it?:(

Doesn't speak well for our educational system does it?:(

Nein...I even use capacitors in the circuits I make. Woohoo, I beat MIT!

I'm confused. Who here is serious and who's joking?

With 6,000+ posts you can't tell? :confused:

Doesn't speak well for our educational system does it?:(
No, it really doesn't.

Nein...I even use capacitors in the circuits I make. Woohoo, I beat MIT!

Just as long as you don't use polarized caps and put them in backwards. :D

Nein...I even use capacitors in the circuits I make. Woohoo, I beat MIT!
MIT's General Relativity class was much easier than ours too. I don't know what the big deal about them is, they're just a big name, expensive school it seems.

With 6,000+ posts you can't tell? :confused:
When in doubt assume everyone is joking. More laughs that way.

Alchohol is a terrible liquid, always killing people! It is so banned! Oh wait, that doesn't work (http://www.cato.org/pubs/pas/pa-157.html).

With 6,000+ posts you can't tell? :confused:

I figured it all for a joke, but so many people seemed to be responding seriously...

When in doubt assume everyone is joking. More laughs that way.

Hell yes!

I figured it all for a joke, but so many people seemed to be responding seriously...

Well, the OP did provide a link to the news article, and unfortunatly that was no joke.

I figured it all for a joke, but so many people seemed to be responding seriously...

Well, the OP did provide a link to the news article, and unfortunatly that was no joke.

And for the Hicks fan:

"Number of gun deaths in England last year, where guns are regulated? Fourteen. Number of gun deaths in America -- and you know how we feel about guns, I'm gettin' a warm tingly selsation just sayin' the fuckin' word -- 23,000. And yet there's no connection between having a gun and shooting someone with it and NOT having a gun and NOT shooting someone with it -- and you'd be a fool and a Communist to make one."

God bless the Goat-Boy.

Not all gun deaths are bad.

Armed intruder shot dead in Dunedin (http://www.sptimes.com/News/080901/TampaBay/Armed_intruder_shot_d.shtml)

Exchange of bullets hospitalizes teen (http://www.sptimes.com/News/081501/TampaBay/Exchange_of_bullets_h.shtml) Not dead - too bad...

Gun Saved Lives at Law School (http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/615519/posts) OK - well other than it saved Lawyers - it was good.

"However, when Kellerman and Reay calculated their compari-
son, they did NOT include those cases, they only counted the
times a homeowner KILLED the criminal. Because only 0.1% (1
in a 1,000) of defensive gun usage involves the death of the
criminal, KELLERMAN AND REAY UNDERSTATED THE PROTECTIVE
BENEFITS OF FIREARMS BY A FACTOR OF 1,000! " (http://www.hoboes.com/pub/Firearms/Data/Deaths/Medical%20Folks/Doctors%20for%20Public%20Integrity/Gun%20Facts%20and%20Fallacies)

Guns are used defensively by good people 1. to 2.4 mil-
lion times every year - lives saved, injuries prevented,
medical costs saved, and property protected

They probably thought helium baloons have some oxygen in them. Or they were just proud citizens of braindeadland.
Now, about smoking: the problem with it in public, closed places is not of the danger smoking poses as much as the nuisance it is to other people.
You see, when you smoke in a bar, everyone else is forced to smoke with you.
That's why civilized members of society will come out of the door and smoke on the street where it's still legal and should stay legal because killing yourself is (supposed to be) your right.

Then complain to the bar owner and if he refuses go to a bar which will accomodate you. It is HIS business - not yours.