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2007 Darwin Award Winners
Web Goddess writes "The 2007 Darwin Award Winners have been announced. Precarious sex, squashed thieves, animals eradicated with electricity, the obligatory macho competition involving a train, and one computer (which survived.) But think twice before you read them. Do you really want to know about The Enema Within?"
First of all, it could have been murder.
Secondly, the guy was nearly 60... married twice. If he was childless at that point he wasn't going to contribute to the gene pool anyway, alcohol enema death or no alcohol enema death.
Heard it, no doubt snopes has as well. The Darwin awards aren't even trying anymore.
These awards are like listening to that crusty old "story teller" uncle at reunions. Everyone has heard the storits a hundred times before, everyone knows they're bullshit, but we just humor him because we've only got to go through it once a year if that.
Done with slashdot, done with nerds, getting a life.
A pack of thieves attempted to steal scrap metal from an abandoned factory in Kladno. Unfortunately for them, they selected the steel girders that supported the factory roof. When the roof supports were dismantled, the roof fell, fatally crushing two thieves and injuring three others.
Stuff like this must happen pretty often. Two guys broke into a shut-down foundry near here with the intent of stealing copper wire. Unfortunately for them, they cut into a 12 kilovolt line that was still energized. One of them died from suffering burns to 60% of his body.
http://www.roanoke.com/news/roanoke/wb/124519
Better known as 318230.
The term "Nerds" encompasses a very wide range of people and personalities. You'll find all types here, although politically it's a safe bet to say most Slashdotters lean towards liberalism--at least as it's applied to social issues. I'm no libertarian (-5.62, -5.33). As much as liberals and progressives would like to consider themselves compassionate and caring we're still humans, we still can't help but look at the car accident as we pass by. There's a morbid fascination with death that all humans have. It's a strange urge to take a peak at something you'll have to experience first hand in the end, and it scares us, but it also captivates us. I don't think there's anything wrong with commentating on someone's death; and Slashdot certainly didn't invent dark humor, nor is it the most extreme example of it to be found on the web. Not by a long shot. I've seen things you wouldn't believe.
We're not laughing at people we killed, they died by their own hands. Speculating on the ramifications their removal from the gene pool has on the larger society doesn't make them any more or less dead. I will grant you that my opinion would change if it was a loved one or a friend being talked about and laughed at. Isn't that the essence of comedy though? Something bad happens, to someone else. And It's not always your day to be merely a spectator.
If you build it, nerds will come. Soylentnews.org
I humbly protest the DA each year, but not with any judgment or anger about it.
Exploiting death for humor turns me off somehow (except for the occasional hard criminal - good riddance to them).
Of course that's not the INTENTION, but that's what it is really...
I suggest you read Slashdot
meh.
I've got a pretty twisted sense of humour, but not too many of these are very funny. maybe the mole/electrocution one...but:
couple dies after falling off the roof they on which they were having sex?
man has a car accident and dies because he was trying to use his laptop while driving?
I don't know - seems like a poor crop this year.
maybe people are just getting smarter?
HAHAHA (*wipes tear from eye*)
As a funeral director I think Darwin awards should be handed out not to the stupid but to the senseless. The following list is based on my own professional observations of people I think qualify for a Darwin Award.
1. pedestrians who ignore traffic
2. recreational drug users
3. drivers who drive distracted, intoxicated or stupid
4. people who commit suicide (if you find yourself in this spot, seriously talk to someone. I've seen the aftermath and its never clean, neat or peaceful -- and anyone who tells you different... has never been there)
The real tragedy isn't that we do stupid things but we keep doing the same stupid things with the same tragic results and always act surprised when people die.
So seriously folks, next time you think its safe to cross on a red light, drive and talk on a cell phone or take hit of cocaine at a party, just remember that millions of people ahead of you of made the same decision and are either dead or killed some poor innocent person.
A senseless death stops being senseless when we learn from it and resolve not to let it happen again. Give the real Darwin Awards to the tens of thousands who never learn.
It's also a good way to get past initial trauma and depression, but apply with care in long term situations. I have a coworker that was in an accident, headaches and shit. In the beginning it was all wisecracks like "Not tonight dear, I have a headache" and it helped him and us all deal with it. The problems lasted, the jokes grew stale and so they stopped. Then it suddenly got all glum and serious and solemn at the same time as he was trying to deal with it being long-term or perhaps even permanent. Right then I felt really sorry for him, but when the balloon had popped like that it wasn't easy to change. Somehow, I'd do things differently if I had the chance...
Live today, because you never know what tomorrow brings
You would think in this day and age that a standard Apache config would include a redirect to the Coral Cache if the referer is /.
Be who you are and say what you feel, because those who mind don't matter and those who matter don't mind. - Dr. Seuss
Eventualy, you end your life dying. Face it, that's life. But what you're never told is you die *twice*, because save a handfull of really important people for their contribution to History (with capital 'H'), after 50 years everybody will totally forget you.
But if your exit is at least newsworthy there's still a slim chance it won't be forgotten in your own family. The grand father of my grand-grand father (5 generations above me) was the only one we knew by tradition before my mother did some genealogical research. All others above him, at his level, and some under him, were completely lost. But he was remembered because he died kicked by a horse in the head. Not especially funny, but newsworthy.
The Darwin winners of today will have their memories cherished *longer* by *many more people* than those dying a peaceful and natural death.
Think about it. Now, where's my axe, I have a barn to bring down.