Bad News on GP!
The only people I know that have expressed 'concern' about the safety of coasters are people that don't even ride them!(and not out of fear of safety--just don't like them and/or scared of heights,etc.)
Wonder if Markey has ever been on a coaster?
Catherine said: Wonder if Markey has ever been on a coaster?
I read one of many interviews with him where he stated that the last time he had been to a park was when he was a child and he didn't comment on the last coaster he rode or if he had ever refused to ride one because of safety concerns. How can he propose legislation on something he knows so little about?
Stitch said:
I tried to tell some of them facts for over ninety minutes, and gave every possible statistic and example, but still won't ride.
A 90 minute disertation on coaster safety complete with statistics? I think that would not only fail to change my mind, but it may make me go screaming from the room as well.
Ask anyone who is not directly involved in "the industry" or does not spend all of their time hanging out on boards such like this, and they will say Ed who? if you mentione Markey's name.
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"I wasn't always this cynical, but then I started kindergarden..."
I think any of you who make stupid generalizations about the media, Republicans, Democrats or hedgehogs are too lazy to think.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"We used to hate people, now we just make fun of them. It's more effective that way." - KMFDM, "Dogma"
This propoganda by the media is affecting the GP. I get questions every day now about these brain injury stories. We are taking three kids with us to Cedar Point this summer and their mother called me the other day freaking out asking if they would really be safe on these rides.
The fact of the matter is that if you have swelling in the vessels in your brain you are already a ticking time bomb. You could go off at a mall, at home, in a pool, at an amusement park, anywhere.
The press likes to sensationalize everything and it is this sensationalizing(is that a word?) that has fed this witch hunt that Congressman Markey is on.
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Bob Hansen
A proud CoasterBuzz Member
"So you think your'e really brave, gonna see the DEMONS cave.
You silly dude, your'e only food, for the DEMON"
Regardless of the political bent of the mass media, the sorry truth is that far too often their stories are incomplete, misleading, and just plain wrong. A famous commentator compared the mass media reporting as if they were lecturing a 5 year old--and the level of the reporting was that of an 8 year old.
The danger is this false info. being repeated so many times that people believe it--my future sister-in-law (an MD!) mentioned an article in US News/World Report about coasters/brain injuries for my GF to read.
As pointed out above, if enough people believe it, and it leads to shorter lines, fewer rides will be built in the future.
*** This post was edited by Lankster on 7/3/2002. ***
Sorry Jeff, I do think which is how I come to my conclusion. I know all of every type of person is not a certain way. Obviously
But it just seems more often then not that those "generalizations" are what I see. Of course I seek them out so that may be why LOL.
Anyway half of it is the way I was raised the other half is personal experience. I am anything but lazy when it comes to this. Many credit hours of political scienced courses, countless hours of reading and countless hours of absorbing everything I can have brought me to this.
Oh yeah and if ya wanna know, I CAN'T STAND RUSH LIMBAUGH!!! He is the generalization of the right wing, Rich, Out of Touch, and it's us against them.
It should never be left against right, it should be working together to solve problems. Unfortuanately most politicians are too interested in what interests groups may be giving them then what their constituents really want.
BTW I really shouldn't have started this.
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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly
*** This post was edited by MagnumForce on 7/3/2002. ***
I won't go off on any political rant on wich way the media leans (heaven knows I could and often had), but the fact of the matter is, as Lankster said, the level of reporting is geared toward a 5-8 year old level... and it is getting lower I swear.
Attention spans seem to be so short than anything more than a blurb... more than a sound bite... is too much info? I am thoroughly convinced that the masses are, on the average, not the brightest. I remember a story about a local political race (I forget where it was or when it was), but one candidate, not able to find any dirt or having any real issues, decided to win by telling the truth about his oppononent "My opponent is a known Homo Sapien and a practicing Extrovert! Why would you want someone like that in office?" And the guy won by telling the truth and relying on the ignorant public's misunderstanding of "big words" to do the rest.
And the best way to attract attention in a news story? Sensationalize!
It reminds me of a cartoon in an old issue of The Hockey News. It read: "The good news: In your first NHL game you get three assists and two goals, including a game winning goal in OT... along with one minor tripping penality. The bad news: Sports Illustrated covers the game" and the picture that goes with it is a hockey player reading Sports Illustrated with the headline "Rookie Goon Brawls Way to Victory."
Same with this: A park is crowded on a hot day (105 degrees in the shade)... a person collapses from heat exhaustion after riding a coaster (and not drinking any liquids for 5 hours). The Headlines read: "Are Parks Safe? Man collapses after riding scream maching." It makes much better headline than "Idiot passes out from heat after not drinking fluids during heatwave."
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Face it, call ourselves what we want, but to the parks we are all "GP".
*** This post was edited by SLFAKE on 7/3/2002. ***
Jeff said:
I think any of you who make stupid generalizations about the media, Republicans, Democrats or hedgehogs are too lazy to think.
Just because MY hedgehog is kinda....*introverted* doesn't mean yours is.....but I think it's part of their general nature. People are a *tad* more complex, or at least that's my "hope".
Would you like to pet my hedgehog? Just remember, front to back...
BTW, Kick The Sky is right about these people being "ticking time bombs"....it might *go off* on a coaster, or it could be the next time they defecate, sneeze, or have an Or-GASM...(keeping with my history of double-entendres)....
*** This post was edited by rollergator on 7/3/2002. ***
Thanx for effectively diffusing the situation rollergator
:)
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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly
Here's what I ask anyone who brings me an article or tells me about a news report they saw that said coasters cause brain injuries, just ask them this question:
Why isn't the injury rate higher in the coaster enthusaist community? We ride coasters WAY more than the average person.
It tends to shut them up pretty quickly ;-)
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Face it, call ourselves what we want, but to the parks we are all "GP".
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Top 10:
10)MF 9)Medusa 8)Raptor 7)DD Fire 6)S:RoS 5)Boulder Dash 4)Hulk
3)Beast2)Nitro1)Magnum
perhaps someone who lives in Markey's district should email him with that question. Anybody here from New Jersey?
It would make sense that us who take 100's a of coaster rides a year should have a much higher percentage of brain injury then someone who takes maybe 10 coaster rides a year.
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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly
From NJ? I thought Markey was from Mass?
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Face it, call ourselves what we want, but to the parks we are all "GP".
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Can we change the name of Top Gun to your mom so no one wants to ride your mom?
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The Beast and Night, They go together like Peanut Butter and Jelly
Jeff said:
I think any of you who make stupid generalizations about the media, Republicans, Democrats or hedgehogs are too lazy to think.
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Jeff - Webmaster/Admin - CoasterBuzz.com, Sillynonsense.com
"We used to hate people, now we just make fun of them. It's more effective that way." - KMFDM, "Dogma"
That is the best quote I've heard in a while!
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Magnum Allan - FLCC member. My website: http://dropzone224.tripod.com
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