[Eug Wanker]

Thousands watch as parachutist plummets to death - CNN.com

Thousands of people watched a parachutist jump to his death from a bridge during a festival Saturday when his chute opened too late, a sheriff said.

Brian Lee Schubert, 66, died of injuries suffered when he hit the water 876 feet below the New River Gorge Bridge during West Virginia's annual Bridge Day festival, said Fayette County Sheriff Bill Laird.

Video

[Weezer]

that was hardly the video I was expecting

[Buckaroo]

Splat!!!!

[JoshuaZ]

Wow, Buckaroo and I are on the same wavelength. He posted the first thought that came to my mind after reading that article.

[dcmacdaddy]

Originally Posted by Eug Wanker 

Thousands watch as parachutist plummets to death - CNN.com

Thousands of people watched a parachutist jump to his death from a bridge during a festival Saturday when his chute opened too late, a sheriff said.

Brian Lee Schubert, 66, died of injuries suffered when he hit the water 876 feet below the New River Gorge Bridge during West Virginia's annual Bridge Day festival, said Fayette County Sheriff Bill Laird.

Video

Thanks for the news, Cody. Now, who is to be blamed for letting this happen?

[Eug]

Cats of course.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by Eug 

Cats of course.

Lack of educational discounts for grade schoolers led to the purchase of second-hand parachute equipment.

[Atheist]

Jumping at the festival continued after Schubert's body was recovered and taken to a funeral home.

No respect for the dead it seems.

Mathis Reimann, who jumped within an hour after the accident, said Schubert's death made him think about safety.

Wow...that guy is profound. Prior to watching the dude splat in the river, I wouldn't have been thinking about safety either!

[JoshuaZ]

Dude, just because you see someone die in a car accident doesn't mean you're going to stop driving a car.

[PB2K]

thousands of people watching a man plummeth to his death and not one tried to help him?

[euchomai]

Originally Posted by PB2K 

thousands of people watching a man plummeth to his death and not one tried to help him?

???

[mdc]

They should've tried to catch him?

???

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ 

Dude, just because you see someone die in a car accident doesn't mean you're going to stop driving a car.

Your analogy doesn't quite fit.

Anyway, I was referring to a lack of respect.

Schubert, from Alta Loma, California, had been well known in the sport of BASE jumping since 1966, when he and a friend became the first people to jump from El Capitan, a nearly 3,000-foot-tall rock formation, in California's Yosemite National Park.

I just figured the other BASE jumpers might forgo the jump as a sort of tribute to him.

[DeathToWindows]

At that point, you can't do anything to help him

[Buckaroo]

Originally Posted by PB2K 

thousands of people watching a man plummeth to his death and not one tried to help him?

WHAT? What would you have done if you were in a boat in the river and you saw this guy coming down 32 feet per second (actually faster, but I don't have the formulas, or the ability to enter a squared symbol).

No one knows theres a problem until he went splat. The time difference between the second he should have opened his parachute and the time he went splat was one or two seconds.


Are you upset that Superman didn't jump up and fly under this guy and catch him? Or maybe Spiderman could have done something with his Spider goo. I don't think even Batman could have saved this guy.

Every single person that jumps off one of these know the danger, and they live for the danger. They would be upset if there was a big air bag that filled half the distance of the fall that would have saved thier life.

Approx. 100 people have died Base Jumping over the past 25 years.

[climber]

Originally Posted by JoshuaZ 

Dude, just because you see someone die in a car accident doesn't mean you're going to stop driving a car.

Anyone remember that game called lemmings?

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

WHAT? What would you have done if you were in a boat in the river and you saw this guy coming down 32 feet per second (actually faster, but I don't have the formulas, or the ability to enter a squared symbol).

Terminal velocity for the average human is approximately 120 mph. Air resistance stops them from accelerating faster than that.

[PB2K]

I was just j0king

but remember, if you have an audience watching you fall down and your chute doesn't open : move like you are swimming ! It's the only thing you can do and THAT will surely puzzle them for the rest of their lives

[kick52]

how are you guys watching the vid?

windows media player for mac is too old for that.

[lpkmckenna]

wmp for mac? Nutz to that. Use Flip4Mac.

[Rumor]

I'm getting an image of Wile E. Coyote...

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

No respect for the dead it seems.

Well, as an atheist, you should agree, right ?

-t

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

Well, as an atheist, you should agree, right ?

-t

No.

[TheoCryst]

Squish. People forget how hard water can be at terminal velocity.

EDIT: Disregarding air resistance, the speed of a falling body can be found using the equation velocity = acceleration * time. On Earth, acceleration is 9.8 m/s, or ≈32 ft/s.

[Dale Sorel]

Originally Posted by TheoCryst 

EDIT: Disregarding air resistance, the speed of a falling body can be found using the equation velocity = acceleration * time. On Earth, acceleration is 9.8 m/s, or ≈32 ft/s.

In a vacuum: v = sqrt(2gh)

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

Well, as an atheist, you should agree, right ?

-t

Ok, I'll bite. What on earth does being an atheist have to do with respecting the dead?

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Ok, I'll bite. What on earth does being an atheist have to do with respecting the dead?

If there is no higher being, there is no afterlife.
Also, there is no meaning to life, it's all chance.
If it's all chance, why does ANYTHING matter ?

Any value and respect you ascribe to people and their feelings are grounded in values outside the natural realm, but an atheist would not believe that there is something beyond the natural.

So, my question is: based on WHAT do you ascribe ANY respect to the dead ?
Why do people have value ? Where does that value come from ?

-t

[Jawbone54]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

Ok, I'll bite. What on earth does being an atheist have to do with respecting the dead?

Serious question: respecting the dead as an atheist would be based around respecting the memory of the deceased, correct?

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

If there is no higher being, there is no afterlife.
Also, there is no meaning to life, it's all chance.
If it's all chance, why does ANYTHING matter ?

Any value and respect you ascribe to people and their feelings are grounded in values outside the natural realm, but an atheist would not believe that there is something beyond the natural.

So, my question is: based on WHAT do you ascribe ANY respect to the dead ?
Why do people have value ? Where does that value come from ?

-t

Dude... you need to think outside the box. Life can have plenty of meaning without a belief in a god or gods. One can find meaning and order in life without a supreme being. One is also not automatically driven to immorality without the presence of a god who sits in judgement.

I can't respond to the bit about value and respect only being grounded in values outside the natural realm. It doesn't make any sense to me.

The value and respect I ascribe to others is based on their actions. It has nothing to do with spirituality.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Jawbone54 

Serious question: respecting the dead as an atheist would be based around respecting the memory of the deceased, correct?

I would argue that respecting the dead has NOTHING to do with one's spiritual inclinations (or lack thereof).

Let me turn it around. Why would you have to have a belief in God to respect a human life? Is that what you think atheism is about? If so, you need to do some research. Atheists reject the idea of a god or deities. They don't reject morality.

[Buckaroo]

Pleaes don't let this turn into another Atheist/Religion argument.

I'm getting sick and tired of it. If you don't believe, keep it to yourself.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by Buckaroo 

Pleaes don't let this turn into another Atheist/Religion argument.

I'm getting sick and tired of it. If you don't believe, keep it to yourself.

You are more than welcome to ignore this thread.

[puppetswhokill]

Originally Posted by TheoCryst 

Squish. People forget how hard water can be at terminal velocity.

EDIT: Disregarding air resistance, the speed of a falling body can be found using the equation velocity = acceleration * time. On Earth, acceleration is 9.8 m/s, or ≈32 ft/s.

Jumpers off the Golden Gate bridge hit the water at 80 m/h. Water = near concrete.

A human reaches a maximum velocity of 120 m/h from a plane.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by climber 

Anyone remember that game called lemmings?

I used to play that game on my grayscale Tobshiba LCD notebook ... yikes... that was ages ago... I had completely forgotten about it.

[TETENAL]

Originally Posted by puppetswhokill 

A human reaches a maximum velocity of 120 m/h from a plane.

So a drop from a plane at 10.000 feet would take more than one day?!

[Dark Helmet]

Was the fall caught on video?

[TheoCryst]

Originally Posted by TETENAL 

So a drop from a plane at 10.000 feet would take more than one day?!

I think he meant miles per hour, not meters per hour.

And assuming this all happened in a vacuum, he hit the water at a bone-crunching 160 mph. Of course, after accounting for air resistance and his open parachute (it opened, but too late), I'd say around 70 or 80 mph sounds more accurate. Still way too fast to survive, obviously.

[Dark Helmet]

many people have survived jumping out of a plane having the shoot fail and landing on solid ground/grass.

You just have to have all the right circumstances.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

The value and respect I ascribe to others is based on their actions. It has nothing to do with spirituality.

But their actions ultimately don't matter.
They won't be judged for bad things, and won't be rewarded for good things.
Once they are dead, actions don't count anything. So why even bother ?

And btw, who is to judge me if I disrespect the dead ?
Based on what standards do you define respect anyways ?

-t

[imitchellg5]

Originally Posted by PB2K 

thousands of people watching a man plummeth to his death and not one tried to help him?

Thee hast spoken in unusual terms, methinks. Thou hast had a most difficult time imagining how to catch one as one plummeths.

[Rumor]

I felt jipped by the video.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

But their actions ultimately don't matter.
They won't be judged for bad things, and won't be rewarded for good things.
Once they are dead, actions don't count anything. So why even bother ?

And btw, who is to judge me if I disrespect the dead ?
Based on what standards do you define respect anyways ?

-t

Again... I'm finding your arguments difficult to follow. What does judgement have to do with anything?

How do I define respect? 3 words... "Ethic of Reciprocity"... it's simple and effective.

[turtle777]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

How do I define respect? 3 words... "Ethic of Reciprocity"... it's simple and effective.

But why would I follow abnd subscribe to that ?

-t

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

But why would I follow abnd subscribe to that ?

-t

I presume because your belief system has you burning in hell if you don't. But I really couldn't say since I know nothing about you.

[Shaddim]

Originally Posted by Atheist 

I presume because your belief system has you burning in hell if you don't. But I really couldn't say since I know nothing about you.

You're surprisingly backwards if you believe that all religious people (let alone all Christians) believe in a place called Hell.

[Rumor]

I've been to Hell...













Michigan.

[Atheist]

Originally Posted by MacNStein 

You're surprisingly backwards if you believe that all religious people (let alone all Christians) believe in a place called Hell.

I sometimes feel like I'm on a different planet. How do people make these weird conclusions? I had no basis to determine the foundation of his belief system so I went with the most rational choice. (From a statistical perspective.) Christians, by far, are the majority religion. And although some may not subscribe to the tenets of hell, I would argue that most do. Thus my supposition that he would follow the Ethic of Reciprocity because he was afraid of suffering the consequences if he didn't. It was just a guess. I really have no idea why he would do anything.

[olePigeon]

Originally Posted by what_the_heck 

won't be rewarded for good things.

You're right, which is why I have more respect for an athiest doing good for the sake of good, than any religious fellow doing "good" out of fear of divine retribution.

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by dcmacdaddy 

Thanks for the news, Cody. Now, who is to be blamed for letting this happen?

AHAHhA YOU MADE A JOKE ABOUT CODY!! HAHA YES YOU DID!!

[Kevin]

Originally Posted by mdc 

They should've tried to catch him?

???

That is what I was thinking.

I mean what could they do?