Dells Extreme World operator charged in accident smoked pot three days earlier

Maybe I don't remember it right, but I thought the cable break happened at the top.

But the point here is that the failsafe here is that the operator decides when to go, and he said himself he did it too soon. I don't know anything about the ride, but if it simply has a continuous range and he stops it early, he screwed up. If he didn't get whatever all clear signal he was supposed to get/read/see, he screwed up.

RatherGoodBear said:

I think the second paragraph is also a sound reply to dj's assertion that lighting one up in his living room affects nobody else. Unless he is the entire supply chain.

Incredibly broad readings of the Commerce Clause pretty much let the feds regulate anything they want using that same argument. Bogus one to me but its too late at this point.

The legalization/economic argument sounds good in theory. But I still can't imagine those who make huge amounts of money dealing in contraband, whether it be drugs, guns or whatever, willingly giving it all up without a fight to become normal retail employees, dutifully filling out their 1040s, and debating which strip mall is the best location to set up shop.

The suppliers don't really get the choice. Buyers would have make that determination. Folks ho buy drugs now don't buy from gangs, in dark alleys, etc. because they want to but because they have to. If big pharm and retail is making/distributing/selling, I suspect you won't find a lot of folks who want to go back to the back alleys. Also seems like an odd argument that we have to leave regulations in place that created an underground economy because the folks who run it are pretty nasty folks who won't take so kindly to losing their livelihoods. Though politicians are loathe to scale back programs fearing the wrath of those who become dependents of them. :)

As a society, we tend to be hypocritical. We really want to just do what we want but understand that doesn't anyways sell well. So we make up other neutral/objective looking reasons for doing what we want. If we like something, we let it go and ignore whatever problems it may cause. But if it falls out of favor, we will use any and every problem (no matter how big or small) as an excuse to prohibit/regulate it.

More for arguments sake, but my brain works this way. What responsibility might the operator have for knowingly working on a ride without a fail-safe? The article said he had worked there since 16. Not sure how long he has been on that ride. I know I would not put myself in a position to work in an unsafe setting. I know the manufacturer would be the primary negligent party. But?

Did he have a responsibility not to participate in an unsafe operation? Or is he an innocent victim? I could argue both sides.

Aamilj said:
We don't no what other illegal substances he may have ingested. It has been stated more than once. There is reasonable cause to drug test an admitted drug user. Why would a thorough investigation not dot all "i's" and cross all "t's"?

Because as I said in my original post, " Obviously the police did not believe he was impaired when they interacted with him after the incident. No need to perform a drug test when he's already admitting he's used recently."

Say he had used something other than marijuana three days before the incident. It doesn't change what happened, doesn't change the fact that the police didn't feel he was under the influence of anything at the time of the incident, and a drug test still wouldn't tell you when he had used. A drug test would really be quite pointless.

-Nate

I'm not really one to hit up enthusiast events, but if I do attend one in the future, I now know which of you are cool to hang out with. :)

Sadly, I now know who among you probably raised your hands in grade-school to volunteer to be hall monitors...

I raised my hand to be hall monitor so that I could get out of the classroom and go smoke pot.

I couldn't raise my hand and volunteer, I was asleep on my desk. :)

I was too busy daydreaming about roller coasters and heavy metal music to hear the teacher ask.

You are all free to carpool with me. :)

I would have volunteered, but hallway enthusiasts kept throwing paper footballs at me, so I asked ffej to monitor the hall for me instead.

Never volunteered to be hall monitor, but I'm not cool to hang out with, either.

Can a one-room school have a hall monitor?

Lord Gonchar said:
I raised my hand to be hall monitor so that I could get out of the classroom and go smoke pot.

Simply awesome response. The rest of you who replied after Gonch are simply low rate wannabees!

That includes you, y'know.

So if I reply now, then that breaks a hole in the space/time continuum or something, right?

No, you're just a gay Muslim who hates babies and Blue Streak.

^And apparently I'm a wannabe[e], um...that.

You're a Bee You're a Bee You're a You're a You're a bee...

While I can't say that I am a Gonch wannabe, I have to agree that Gonch's reply was simply genius. :)

Tekwardo said:
No, you're just a gay Muslim who hates babies and Blue Streak.

I know this joke has continued in several threads, but this was the first one that came up when I searched for "gay muslim babies." Last night's Colbert Report included a setup which reminded me of gay Muslim babies (just watch the first 1:15):

http://www.colbertnation.com/the-colbert-report-videos/360018/septe...nchez-bump