idiots!!

Darwin Award candidates. Idiots is right!

Lack of respect; paid with a high price!

"But...but...but... they NEVER do that in the Walt Disney films!?!?"

Idiots. What did they THINK was going to happen if they got that close to a cow elephant and her calf?

Walt Disney would be proud of them.

This is what happens when parents entrust the education of their children to the collected works of Walt Disney.

First rule of "observing nature":

DO NOT GET BETWEEN A MOTHER AND HER YOUNG!

I may not be from Africa, but everything I saw showed very little respect on behalf of the herd and an obvious ignorance of the aggressive behaviour exhibited by the animals upon exiting the water. I lay the blame directly at the feet of the "guides" as they should know better then to put the lives of the tourists in such direct danger.

Anyone want to start a pool on how many eco-tourists we feed to the bears this year?

Wooo!
Three minds in synchronicity.

This should be a leason for all..Wild animals kill and mame. Whether you are a naturalist or not.
Idiots of the highest degree.

Are these idiots related to the women who went to the North Pole or the Antartic, because it was warming, and ended up in -51 weather, and one losing her toes to frostbite.

Meh...no doubt Democrats killed by Elephants...too ironic ;-)

"Are these idiots related to the women who went to the North Pole or the Antartic, because it was warming, and ended up in -51 weather, and one losing her toes to frostbite."

Don't be overly harsh, Mary...they were merely trying to reduce their "carbon footprint"... :)

"carbon footprint" ... how about an elephant footprint?

Why do people want to make "friends" with animals in the wild??? Animals see everything as a predator, especially people gawking at them, with a camera pointed at them.

My instincts watching this, told me they were too close, and yet I wasn't even "there". What happened to following your instincts? Don't people have them anymore???

*Crikey*

So do we now start a campaign against the elephants? The did after all kill an idiot,and idiots are suppossed to be protected by government!There is a word for these fools,but I can't think of it right now.

Stupid is as stupid does... Getting around female elephants with youngsters, then hanging around while they are leaving the water, and the matriarch is assuming an aggressive pose (the ears moving forward). I'd hate to have these tour guides take people around hippos or rhinos (both have short fused tempers).

"My instincts watching this, told me they were too close"

No kidding. As soon as the elephants came out of the water flairing their ears, I would have been out of that boat and swimming the opposite direction.

I blame Global Warming.

;)

These folks could be of any political stripe or bent, and they could have cared nothing for Kyoto; whatever their affiliations, it made no difference to the elephants.

"... one killed; two injured"

Normally I'm the first to howl at the folly of boneheads (especially leftards), but this is not unlike snickering at somebody nailed by a car while jaywalking.

These people could be parents, or anybody you might know. The survivors may one day watch this video, too.

Or read the comments on this thread.

C'mon, guys. I think this little display of schadenfreude is beneath most of the regulars on this blog.

mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm

That's classless. Utterly classless. Do you hang around car accidents and make fun of the injured as well? People make bad decisions, it's part of being human. It's ghoulish to know a person's final moments are being mocked by some faceless vulture half a world away.

I blame Global Warming

Darn, someone beat me to it.

In movie Jurassic Park they showed all the herbivores as friendly and pettable, and all carnivores as unrelentingly violent. And then there's the real world...

We must not forget that Moonbats are called that partly because their "ideas" - or whatever we call their mental activities - are dangerous to THEIR health. In most instances, moonbat activities damage us as well as them. Here we see purest moonbattery.

Zookeepers, I have heard, consider polar bears and elephants to be the two most dangerous animals, because they are powerful, fast, smart, and a little unpredictable. But honestly, the ecotourists were very close to the elephants (if I were swimming I wouldn't like them that close to me), and elephants are no doubt more vulnerable while swimming than on the land. Bad scene, for the elephants. The moonbats deserved everything they got.

...well I blame Bush. If it wasn't for Global Warming the river wouldn't be so high and those guys in the boat would be driving instead.

So there.

;-)

Snuff films on SDA...no further comment necessary.

Good Lord, lberia, you're a dick. I expect you to turn on the news tonight and, while watching video from Iraq, exclaim "Snuff films on TV...no further comment necessary"!

mhb I hear you but your compassion doesn't remove the extreme naivety--to the point of arrogance, unintended as it was--of the anthropomorphists who mistake Nature for a Teddy Bear. Fools!

Caveat emptor--Buyer beware--is a good philosophy. But today's entitled "adult toddlers" have been so brainwashed by politically correct cr--er, I mean, pap--that they have a totally false understanding of human and every other kind of nature. If one gets the first things wrong--as the modern metrosexual invariably does--everything else, sooner, I think, rather than later, goes off the rails.

Too bad for these silly people, who made the wrong choice. I'm surprised, actually, that some "nanny" didn't stop them before they could do something so ignorant and dangerous.

Ironically, it's the nannies--as in the Canadian nanny state--who have removed almost every ounce (gram?) of common sense from a critical mass of the populace: "It's up to someone else to solve my problems before I make them."

E.g., I know of a challenged, "viz. min."--Sorry, UN, for my insensitivity!--student who blames every unfortunate occurrence on either "somebody" or "nobody", as in, "Isn't there somebody who can . . .?" or "Nobody did this or that." The "somebody" or "nobody" he appeals to in the ether should actually be HIM but the system--not me!--allows him to blame these ghost people for his own utter lack of responsibility. And where did this come from? If one met this kid's immature mother--a poster person for "adult toddler", if ever there was one--who is supported and treated with kid gloves by the system, one would altogether understand.

(This is altogether politically incorrect to note. However, I HAVE noted that mainstream "adult" behaviour is approximating the kind of irresponsible shenanigans one used to associate only with marginalized, not terribly respected types of people. It seems that irresponsibility is becoming more and more "acceptable". Daniel Patrick Moynihan coined it "Defining deviancy down".)

Because of litigation--that damned and damnable Charter again!--school boards have regulated just about everything--wind chill too low? The kids (but never the teachers) get to stay in--so the kids are NOT ALLOWED to make decisions about anything of possible danger. Does this produce problem solvers and reasonable risk-takers? NO WAY! It produces glaze-eyed, gutless wimps, who are eminently malleable and prone to making ridiculous--even dangerous--magic thinking choices.

Sorry, mhb, but you sound like one of these hand wringing jellyfish. Yes, it's very sad that this tragedy occurred. However, it was NOT inevitable and if the participants in this little river jaunt had respected the true nature of elephants with young, rather than indulging in their infantile and dangerous--yes, dangerous--fantasizing, this would not have happened.

Caveat emptor. In this stupid, over regulated age, would that we could!

P.S. Edward Stun(ned?), my post is for you too. You also "sound like . . . [a] hand wringing jellyfish".

That's why I don't watch TV, Eeyore. I suppose you get a giddy thrill watching the last few seconds of someone's life, followed by the smug self-satisfaction of knowing that you would never be caught doing anything stupid enough to get you killed.

The heck with John Paul, I think iberia is bucking for sainthood.

People can and often are stupid with a capital S. Some people cannot see that this video is actually making a very important point about wild animals being, well, wild. I've watched too many stupid people try to hug an elk or feed a bear and most will not learn.

Terrible that they died, but this is a perfect illustration as has been noted before of what happens when people "grow up" in a socialist state expecting others to look after them. They have no instincts or even the slightest grasp of right and wrong.

Timothy Treadwell, welfare moms, etc. The list goes on of people who chose to be ignorant of the dangers of life assuming that someone else has made a risk-free path for them.

Sorry Iberia. This is something that should be publicized and all people should be made aware that wildlife is not a bunch of cuddly disney creatures. Not something that most people with common sense need to be told, but it is something that leftards need to have repeated to them over and over again for their own safety.

Hey, Iberia. Why should anyone care for the lives of people who don't take their own seriously?

What these folks did was so far beyond bone-headed that I struggle to find an appropriately descriptive word.

These people made an error in getting too close to a large animal with young. And they paid for it with their own lives and the lives of their loved ones.

Why make this sad incident an occasion for self satisfaction and levity? Anyone here made a really dumb move in traffic recently? If so then ask God why they died and you didn't.

I can't believe they didn't notice the one Elephant kick sand at them as a warning , chalk this one up as part of cleaning the Gene-pool
of the idiots with no survival skills or Fright/Flight/fight auto response system which the Phants displayed .

Reminds me of Rachel Corrie and the bulldozer.

In fairness, I don't think this one can be blamed on the modern nanny state. One of the main attractions in Banff a hundred years ago was feeding (and teasing) the bears.

This is more likely an illustration of the difference between urban dwellers and rural hicks. If your only experience with living animals larger than a shi tzu comes from the zoo, then you have no real idea of the concept of keeping a safe distance, or of what a threat display looks like, and of how FAST animals can move when angry or frightned.

A few years ago I ran into some Japanese tourists trying to hand feed a deer. When I tried to explain what a bad idea that was, they couldn't comprehend the idea that bambi could be dangerous. The problem wasn't language so much as experience - they had no frame of reference to understand that deer have a very nervous disposition, sharp hooves, and can kick forwards.

If you have that frame of reference, that video is a slow motion trainwreck - way too close to babies, way to close to animals in a vulnerable situation, circling those animals the same way a predator would, repeated refusals to back away when warned off by a number of animals. If a strange dog did those things to you and your child, what are the odds you'd try to whack it with a stick? I bet the answer would be different depending on how urban you are.

Same difference really with the issue of gun control. If you live your entire life in the city, it would be hard to imagine how a normal person could have a legitimate use for a gun. If you live in Churchill, Manatoba however ...

*****Anyone here made a really dumb move in traffic recently? If so then ask God why they died and you didn't.*******

maybe you could post gOD's phone number so I can call and ask, as I don't see no gOD in the directory!!

This is par for the course with city folks who didn't grow up around wild animals, as I did.
Rule of thumb: stay the hell out of the way, at a safe distance, from any wild animal bigger than a squirrel.

About 30 years ago, my mother and younger brother were traveling between McBride and Prince George, on the Yellowhead highway. They pulled over at a rest stop. They noticed a couple of bears sniffing around the cars and garbage cans. One couple thought it was a great photo op, so, when a bear approached their car, they began snapping pictures.

Then the woman held her infant through the side window, head first, while the man gleefully snapped pics of the bear licking the baby's head. Mom, who was raised in the country, damned near had heart failure.

Fortunately, nothing happened,the bear wandered off, but the actions of that ignorant couple still astounds me to this day.

Hey, lberia and mhb: lighten up. There are far more people being killed by the Islamofascists than got killed by the maurauding elephant who, rightfully, felt his/her kind were being threatened.

lberia and mhb: are you objecting to Al-Qaeda's savagery and violence? After all, people are being killed, and often innocent people, not idiots who need their heads read. If you have a problem with this video, how about the footage that ISN'T shown by our MSM of innocent Afghanis being taken out by Islamofascist terrorists? How about being upset about our own Canadian soldiers who are being killed by these terrorists?

Your inverted priorities--I know, I know, making priorities is so difficult for liberals--is predictable but tiresome.

It looks to me like the people in the boat were tourists to some African country, with "guides" paddling the boat. What the H*ll were the guides thinking? As the boat began to gain on the elephants and then actually went in front of them, I thought, "now you've done it."

'Guess my instincts that they should have stayed behind the elephants and way out in the water when the elephants were leaving the river were right.

RIP the person who was killed.

I find it hard to believe that someone out of this group on the boat didn't have the good scense to get them out of danger.
There have been many shows available to watch over the years such as, National Geografic, Learning Channel, DIscovery Channel, Any of the many wildlife shows that have been on TV over the years.
Or were/are these people just to smart for their own good.
I don't care what anyone has to say. This is NOT like a car accident.
These people were just plan stupid.

"According to the National Geographic Channel documentary Elephant Rage, some 500 people are killed by elephant attacks each year. Such attacks are becoming increasingly common, researchers say."

http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2005/06/0603_050603_elephants.html

Any guess how many are killed by sharks a year? What would you call an eco-tourist That decided to swim with the sharks?

Bart F - Compare to a dumb move in traffic ... gimme a break. If you must have cars in your example, at least have them playing chicken.

Those of us who hunt and kill critters for sport watch this and have the hair stand up on the back our necks. The elephants did their job ... they warned ... they tossed sand ... they bluffed.

"Gett the F out of here" they said ... loud and clear ... "especially after you harrassed us in the water!"

As a human predator (hunter), I can say that watching this made me absolutely cringe, I'd have turned my skin inside out to get away with the first ear flapping glance from "mom".

Now, compare that to the guides. Whoever they were, they were fakes, because anyone who's been around dangerous game would've read the signs instantly... hell, anyone with one ounce of instinct would've.

And as far as the tourist(s) ... simple post-modern road kill expecting to get what she paid for ... exciting eco-tour in Africa ... "Come canoe the so-and-so River of cute-little-black-kids-in-poverty Land ... we'll show you African animals ... like you've never seen them before ... no fences ... wild ... maybe even a lion kill"

The world is being drowned in "eco-tourists" longing to escape their concrete jungle homes and get really close to Tarzan's world ... complete with "quaint" poor people in huts ... drop in for a week; get a little dirty; maybe a mosquito bite or two; then back home to Chapters and Espresso.

This video should be standard viewing on "Lonely Planet".

Darn. I guess Gaia isn't the all loving spook we though she was.These people found life as it is.To bad it isn't to the socialists liking.

I stand by my nanny state comments.

whoevr, you sound like a kind, pretty reasonable sort. But I don't buy your excuses for these people. I don't think it's just an "urban" thing, though the rise of urban living and our distance from nature--not shared by our ancestors--is most certainly a factor.

We've tried to tame both nature and downgrade evil--see D. P. Moynihan--which is a very foolish thing to do. In fact, we invert the nature of evil: abortion's no problem but killing baby seals or whales is OUT. When a whole society does this, we're in trouble. The very unwise choice shown on this video--"Hey, isn't this fu . . ." THUD! WHAP!--is, IMO, just a symptom of the increasing amount of magic thinking that a critical mass of MODERN--not just urban--entitled, nanny state types are prone too. And, as I said, they'll probably sue the travel agent back home.

After letting them off the hook, you then write, "If you have that frame of reference [ignorant of the danger of big wild animals], that video is a slow motion trainwreck - way too close to babies, way to close to animals in a vulnerable situation, circling those animals the same way a predator would, repeated refusals to back away when warned off by a number of animals. If a strange dog did those things to you and your child, what are the odds you'd try to whack it with a stick?" Your words demonstrate that these people were pretty bone-headed, despite all kinds of warnings.

So, I can't understand why you reject the reason I've posited for such obtuseness. I don't think my hypothesis contradicts your observation about these people's behavior in any way.

But maybe you just think I'm being too hard on them. Too bad they weren't harder on themselves. If they'd used their brains, rather than going into automatic pilot anthropomorphism and emotionalism--"Oh look. HOW cute!!"--altogether encouraged and even promoted by the politically correct, magic thinking nanny state mode of (un)consciousness, the dead (RIP) would probably still be alive and the injured still enjoying their holiday.

Forrest Gump was right: "Stupid is as stupid does." And, yes, we're all stupid sometimes. But I've noticed an exponential increase in stupidity about a lot of serious issues--e.g., discipline of our kids--in the last few decades: just when the tentacles of the nanny state have multiplied in both number and scope. I think there's a connection here.

Obviously the elephant was corruptyed by some human pollutant, just like those loveable bears in Canada.

What I noticed was that EVERY adult elephant, as it exited the water, stopped and faced the "oh, that's awesome" hippies, and in a very threatening manner.

It appears that one decided that these hippies needed some learning.

For those who are annoyed, upset or in any way opposed to the laughing at this video, let me explain.

We on the right are constantly berated by eco-babblers, tree-huggers and whale-watchers about our lack of concern for the natural environment.

We see here such an eco-tourist (Oh, that's SO awesonme) meeting reality, which is something us right-wingers respect. Thus we understand that big animals and carnivores are dangerous, no matter how cuddly they look. We also know that, in some situations, we are not at the top of the food chain.

We laugh because we see delusional people suffering the ultimate price for their delusion. It is poetic; sad, yes; but poetic.

I wonder if we can see the video after May turns into a Grizzly and mauls Dion?
Naw...just fooling!!

Hey Cjunk, you missed "maybe even flattened by an elephant"

The truth of the matter is the eco-tourists wanted to become "one with nature" - and nature obliged them.

we the naked ape will have the last laugh as we globally warm their fat elephant a$$es out of existance.

Al Gore is starting to look like a pachederm.

lberia, I did not laugh at the video clip. I found the video clip and the posting of it here in poor taste, but I'm not going to feign outrage or play it up as some example of the horribleness that you want to think that SDA is. I responded negatively to you because of your feigned shock (I won't believe you if you claim it wasn't feigned).

Watching the video clip was like watching a slow-motion train wreck...you know that something terrible is going to happen but you can't turn away. And a certain amount of morbid humour creeps in when you think of how utterly stupid those folks were.

I think some of the comments were in poor taste, but no amount of crying or handwringing is going to help them now, so you may as well laugh at their misfortune. What's the harm in speaking ill of the dead? It's not like they're going to haunt us or anything.

It is tragic that a life was lost in this whole exercise of stupidity but it seems to me that anyone with an ounce of common sense knows that you you do not approach closely wild animals that are known for being unpredictable when they feel threatened (especially when they have young in the vicinity).

Although I mostly blame the guides for this fiasco, the tourists in the boat also bare the burden of much blame for not learning just a little of the habits of the animals that they were STALKING! These elephants obviously felt they were being hinted.

VL

That's hunted

I'd like to read more about the events. Are there any links to a news article regarding this incident?

I'm standing with the mother elephants, when you are that dumb you are dead. Threaten my kids in a manner that I find credible and horrifying, you die.

Not seen on the video is the vacuous little birdbrain narrator, dumber than a rock, so entitled, a stupid fool liked Rachael Carrie of the terrorists-are-cool crowd(dead too), you play with fire, you die from it - dumb little lefty broads and the parents that finance this nonsense.

BATB:

Since you bring up Al-Qaeda, would you also mock those westerners stupid enough to get caught and have their heads chopped off by the terrorists? Or those "contractors" stupid enough to have their car attacked and then had their burnt corpses dragged through the streets to be hung up on a bridge? They should've known better than being in a war zone, right?

"How about being upset about our own Canadian soldiers who are being killed by these terrorists?"

It does upset me. However, anytime questions are raised about them dying, the accusations start to fly in from the right: "You support the terrorist"..."If you're not with us, you're against us" etc.

Tell me again who has inverted priorities?

Eeyore:

I didn't write that I was shocked...just disappointed at what passes for entertainment around here. As long as you think it's ok to laugh at other people's misfortune...

Eeyore:" ... laugh at their misfortune"

Make that fortune ... I'm not laughing ... I doubt anyone is.

penny:" ... Threaten my kids in a manner that I find credible and horrifying, you die"

This is how we progressive human beings are so much better than animals. We've grown beyond the shackles of protecting and nurchering our own offspring. Back to nature means giving up everything nature demands.

Eco-tourists are being killed every year because their view of the world is grossly out of touch with reality. It's bad enough when dangerous animals kill under circumstances that can't be avoided ... but putting oneself into the zone of dangerous game because you want a cheap thrill ... and are only armed with a camera ... is evidence of Darwinian natural selection at work.

All things considered, I think that cranky, skeptical, pragmatic Right-whing-nuts have the Darwinian edge over their reality-challenged counterparts:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/295918/elephant_and_the_stupid_tourist/

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5399314.stm

http://english.pravda.ru/news/hotspots/26-03-2007/88642-Elephants-0

Those elephants flared their ears and bluff attacked at least twice, in that video.

Any experienced hunter or guide should have taken his party out of there fast. Irresponsible.

Iberia: Soldier volunteers in a warzone as compared to eco-tourists ... aren't we comparing apples to bricks here? Let's stay logical please!

What's the diff, Cjunk? In both cases people die because they are where they shouldn't be. Besides, BABT brought up Al Qaeda, not me.

I'm not batb, but I'd like to respond to Iberia's ridiculous parallel. What a numbskull.

Iberia, elephants might be very smart, but, unlike the fanatics of Al-Qaeda, they are not human (nor fanatic): elephants defending both their threatened territory and their young by violent means--after due warning--is in a totally different category from the premeditated and calculated cruelty and intransigence of Al-Qaeda TERRORISTS.

Elephants are not terrorists, Iberia.

If it will jump start your faculties of reason, shake your head.

lberia: "... In both cases people die because they are where they shouldn't be"

Like the WTC?

lookout:

Quit being an idiot. Have you forgotten the oft said "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"? Now I suppose you'll accuse me of supporting al qaeda. I don't - clear enough for you?

Reason means being able to see both sides of an argument. It means being objective.

ural:

Are you implying that people deserved to die in the WTC?

...a stupid fool liked Rachael Carrie of the terrorists-are-cool crowd(dead too)...

Ah, she was run over by a terrorist on a bulldozer. Okayyy.

"Reason means being able to see both sides of an argument. "...

...and recognizing that one side is infantile, illogical and clueless.

Chill, l beria.

The POINT here is that the worldview of these people did not encompass the reality that this activity was fraught with danger. These people were after a thrill and gave no thought for consequences.

Death is, indeed, not something to be rejoiced in. Far the opposite: it is a horror and an enemy. However, this activity is akin to taking a bottle of whiskey and drinking it while strolling the cliff tops.

The outrage over stupidity must triumph over meaningless sentiment, if we are ever to escape childhood.

This thread is an example of what can happen if a person views the world through strictly a political lens. You've sucked the humanity out of them. That people are able to take another person's tragedy and use it to highlight their own political likes and dislikes is eye opening.

Comedy is tragedy. If I was stupid enough to get killed in this manner I would hope the entire world would be splitting their sides.

I do hope it was a guide that was killed. However, like drunk driving incidents, it's rarely the drunk that gets killed.

One less idiot emitting CO2.

Wow...Hot and heavy...many valid opinions.

My opinion?

The tourists were foolish...bordering on presumptuous lunacy.

The guides were completly incompetent...too much ganja?

The elephants...harrased beyond reason and fearful for their safety when swimming,(check out the footage when they are neck deep in the water...they're already very disturbed)

The damage?...Elephants...bad experience

Humans...fatal experience

Lesson...Nature doesn't play favourites.

Edward: Would you feel better if the discussion was, say ... sociology based instead of political. Or, say, psychology based.

After all, it is sociological structures that breed the type of human who could cause their own "tragedy", as witnessed ... or we could talk about what kind of a psychological construct would cause one to do as we saw in the video... for no more than a cheap thrill mind you.

The world is full of "real" issues and "real" tragedy and "real" dangers ... so it would make for an interesting discussion to see what sociological and psychological forces combine to cause the lunacy that would lead the most intelligent creature on earth to play "cuddly elephant".

Just curious ... would that be less "humanity sucking" for you?

Or, is it "humanity sucking" simply because the "humans" involved weren't acting like humans at all ... devoid of the common sense and instincts that should be there. They were acting like voluntary prey species ... which becomes political when you consider what structures within society cause one to act in such a incredibly stupid way.

Edward Stun:" ... the world through strictly a political lens"

As far as I know elephants, or the rest of nature (with the exception of man), neither knows or cares about politics. Is it different in your world?

Reminds me of the video of the German tourist who decided to leave his car to take photos of lions feeding on a kill ... lions don't take kindly to that kind of thing. They attacked him and tore him up ... on video ... infront of his wailing and crying family. What sociological, psychological, and yes, political, structures create a human so devoid of instinct that they'll do that in order to get a "picture".

That's what we are talking about.

Good grief, lberia.

If you can't tell the difference between elephants charging very stupid tourists and their negligent "guides" and terrorists who strap bombs to their bodies to kill as many civilians and soldiers as they can I'm afraid I can't help you.

I saw no video references to the political inclinations of the tourists/guides. Nobody railed against Bush, Stephen Harper, the war on terror, or against global warming. I saw no evidence anyone was a "tree hugger" or enviro-nut. What difference, either way?

These people screwed up - big time - and at least one of them has paid with his or her life. That was all, but it was enough for me.

Why the typecasting of these people? To say nothing of the (my paraphrasing) "nanny-state fed eco-hippies deserved what they got" brickbats. Lookout accuses these people of anthropomorphism - an interesting but otherwise fifty-cent wheeze that has no factual basis to back it up, other than they were out of their depth (literally) and paddled to close to the beasts for their own well-being.

Good grief!

As noted wisely, above, WHO is reading this blog - right now - that can't admit to doing something utterly foolish in their lifetime? I sure can't. And I bet none of the rest of you can, either. We're just fortunate enough that the dice came up in our favor and we're here today to reminisce at our emerging from misfortune unscathed. Yet some of us forget our own stupidities and mortality to eagerly mock these people – superciliously, yet - who fared less favorably in their own moment of blunder.

I have many Big-C friends and acquaintances, and I'm not 100% certain that a few of them might not pull the same stunt under the same circumstances, with the same unfortunate results. What then?

Suppose those people were - God forbid - Republicans or Conservatives? Would we still respond the same way on this blog? I wonder.

I agree with the statement above: I believe this was more a case of unknowing city-dwellers messing up in an unfamiliar setting, and there are no further implications than this.

Lookout, if your enlightened description of my earlier post labels me as a "hand-wringing jellyfish", that's cool by me; knock yerself out, pal. And by all means, do bring in the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms and the handicaps of the Nanny State to your argument, because although it's not relevant to what happened to these people, it makes a great red herring and I'll bet you felt super-duper after that particular venting, eh? Good show.

And 'been around the block - I'd have treated your posting with the contempt it deserved and ignored it, however, it blunderingly referred to me as "liberal", and that's one insult to which I must respond.

Apparently you were aching to somehow construct your Al Qaeda straw man with which to saddle me. How on earth you ever saw fit to equate the fate of these tourists to the despicable acts of the islamofascists utterly escapes me; your reasoning and deductive processes apparently function differently than mine. I saw some unfortunates in a canoe who met a tragic end due to their own ignorance of the animal kingdom; you saw terrorist horrors in Afghanistan and the slaughter of Canadian soldiers, and somehow found a correlation between events. Who knew?

Congrats - that was likely one of the most moronic posts I've ever seen on this blog.

Rather than leap to your keyboard to cast off hasty delusions, BATB, why not google "mhb23re", read a sampling of my posts on any site (including this one), and then come back and tell me I'm a "liberal".

But before your do that, as you seem to enjoy straw men, why not try mine:

Imagine a child of yours, or your spouse, sibling or good friend decides not to wait for the train at a level crossing and slaloms around the lowered guard, and... whoops! Dead, dead, and dead.

Now imagine yourself somehow surfing Rabble (yes, it's a long shot, I realize) and note that the railroad surveillance camera has recorded the whole horrific thing, and here it is posted for the world to see.

And now imagine you read all those rabblers cackling about how stupid your child/spouse/sib/acquaintance was by ignoring the controls and safeguarding provided by the Good Nanny State, while speeding off to their doom:

Fools, I say! Dumb right-wing morons! Serves 'em right for not respecting the pervasive wisdom and protection of Good Government.

Think about folks making light of your loss to underscore the righteousness and wisdom of their own political and social beliefs.

How's that make you feel? See any parallels here?

Maybe - sometimes - there's no need to inject partisanship or score political points at certain events (liberal/NDP posturing over CF deaths in Afghanistan comes to mind). Perhaps all one should do is shake one’s head in disbelief, be thankful for their own personal good fortune, and move on.

mhb23re
at gmail d0t calm

BATB:

1. You brought up terrorism, not me.

2. At issue is not the elephants or the terrorists but stupid people placing themselves in harms way.

...and what mhb wrote!

Looked to me that by cutting them off they were putting the young elephant in danger of drowning. Stupid clients and even stupider guides. Criminally stupid in fact. The clients have no idea of the danger, the guides should have known.

Pat

Jesus Christ, I'm a fan of SDA but this laughing at people dying is digusting. LiveLeak is basically a snuff site too, it used to be Ogrish.

I recall going slowly down the Rufiji River, in southern Tanzania, in a flat-bottomed boat, where there were many hippos in the water, (not all in one place, so it was impossible to avoid them); they'd submerge as we approached and pop up like corks once we'd passed over.

Fun...but always the fear that, (and hippos are tres aggressive), that one would decide to join us.......which meant, at BEST, we'd be in the water...where there were crocs.

Do NOT piss off wild animals.

In the same vein, I was driving a small camper in South Africa.....middle of nowhere....when a large bull elephant came onto the road.

He did the 'ear thing' and I backed up, which was all he wanted......recognition that we were subordinate.

I would like to state that:

1. This was guest-posted by Cjunk, not Kate, so it is logical that this posting will be different than normal SDA fare...got complaints, direct them to Cjunk.

2. Despite the claims to the contrary, this is not a "snuff" film. Quit trying to make it more than it is. It is no more a snuff film than the evening news is.

3. It is correct that you cannot tell the political leanings of the tourists from the film, but you sure can tell that they have no idea about how to take care of themselves properly. Conservatism / Libertarianism is more about the responsibility and ability of the individual; socialism puts the responsibility onto the state. Therefore, it is reasonable to suggest that the action of these people would correspond more closely to those suffering a socialist mindset.

4. The video clip was in poor taste, but not so much that a morbid chuckle isn't entirely out of line.

Okay...back to regular programming.

Surfer Almost Snuffed by Playful Sea Lion.

Sea lion hungry. Ugh, Tonto.

It's sea lion's fault. Marine scientist says "attack" is "bizarre". Scientist is bizarre. ...-

Report: Sea Lion Attacks Teen Surfer

PERTH, Australia - A sea lion leaped out of the sea and attacked a 13-year-old girl as she surfed behind a speedboat off Australia's west coast, a newspaper reported Sunday.

A marine scientist said the attack by the sea lion, which can grow to more than 880 pounds in weight but usually stay away from humans, was bizarre and that the sea lion may have been trying to play with the girl. ...-
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1817662/posts

Thanks, Eeyore: reasonable, thoughtful post.

mhb writes, "I agree with the statement above [whoevr, I think]: I believe this was more a case of unknowing city-dwellers messing up in an unfamiliar setting, and there are no further implications than this."

That's head in the sand--Edward Stun too. There most definitely are political considerations here. Believe me, working in a taxpayer funded system that aids and abets magic thinking and provides none or few consequences for the most egregious stupidity to premeditated criminal behaviour, I've been a front row witness to the serious deterioration of responsible behaviour in our society over the three decades the nanny state has functioned in this country. If I were you and Edward, I'd be scared--or at least very worried. (mhb, if the disease isn't diagnosed correctly, solutions don't happen. Your "me in my small corner" viewpoint might work for you. It's a free country, so go ahead and indulge yourself. But I'd then say you're part of the problem.)

And I'm certainly not laughing at the person who's dead or those who are injured. I'm rather outraged, though, at a system which victimizes them--discussed above--by indulging their magic and, in this case "anthropomorphic"--"What cute, cuddly baby elephants!"--thinking. I've acknowledged that this incident is a tragedy--one that shouldn't have happened. And, yes, I've had the audacity to suggest that the victims bear some responsibility for what happened to them--just as I would if a member of my family detoured around a lowered railway guard. (Stupid attempt at a parallel situation, I think. Let's be reasonable here.) Yes, I'd be stunned with grief, but not stunned enough to exonerate the stupid behaviour and the corresponding culpability of my loved one. (The idea of culpability goes hand in hand with both setting and expecting high standards. That shows true love. Dumbing down is not a loving thing to do. In fact, it not only makes victims, it makes them more vulnerable.)

BTW, I avoided the other disaster videos attached to this one. But, as people have pointed out, this was in no way a snuff video.

I suggest that some of you should check out Daniel Patrick Moynihan's "Defining Deviancy Down" thesis, which closely parallels my thinking. You can Google it.

'Looks like I've pushed lberia and mhb's buttons.

Such indignation!

I guess you can't take the long view with some people. I brought up Al-Qaeda because this thread has endured a number of leftist rants from lberia, where he seems to blur the distinction between "freedom fighter" and "terrorist." On this thread, he blurs the distinction between "snuff film" and an instructional film of what happens when you treat wild animals as cuddly cuties.

Keep up the indignation, guys. When it tires you out, maybe you'll be in a zone where you can make clearer distinctions--or maybe not.

Good luck.

I hope the elephant wasn't hurt.

I've lost count of the number of similar incidents in the Canadian wilderness, the difference being that in these cases humans are the victims of encounters with bears. In almost every case, it seems to be considered necessary to track down and eliminate (in the rare case, relocate) the offending bear. I only hope that the same thing doesn't happen with the elephants in this video - they actually did nothing wrong, only protecting themselves.

Also, if it makes even one person more aware of the potential danger, keeping a distance from wildlife, etc, then I say that it is perfectly valid to show this video. After all, the details at the end were left to the imagination.

Since I put up this "snuff" film, as some call it, I'll explain to you why:

It's a perfect example of how our world can turn the most intelligent creature on earth into an absolute fool, devoid of instinct, devoid of appropriate fear, devoid of common sense, and devoid of all those brain cells whose function is survival.

These were adults involved, not inexperienced children, yet they behaved as such; and that scene can be repeated hundreds of times over, fortunately with less tragic results as "eco-tourists" go out to get cheap thrills. This is not a case of swimming in the ocean and being attacked by a shark, it's not a case of a tree falling in a storm and hitting someone, it's a case of humans so stripped of logic and reason that they put themselves into a position so dangerous that even most of us here can see it all coming.

As far as "laughing" at or "mocking" those involved ... most disparaging comments were sheer contempt for the humans so devoid of reason that they'd commit suicide in this way ... or so trusting they'd put their lives in the hands of obvious charlatons.

One can handwring and bemoan or avoid altogether the topic ... that's their right, but I prefer to call a spade a spade and an embarrassment to the human species what it is. It's interesting that those who rage against the posting of this at all, don't have a word to say about what kind of society creates such victim-bent humans.

The tourist(s)were there for their own selfish thrill ... obviously that was more important than their families and responsibilities to others back home.

** There were no other "snuff" films included, as someone has alluded to.

http://www.citizenreviewonline.org/oct_2003/california.htm

Just have to mention this one, my personal favorite, on animals and humans interacting. Timothy Treadwell and his wife, studying grizzlies in Alaska, and got too close. result; 2 dead people, Park rangers hunted down and killed the bear.

Which death(s) cause PETA more anguish?

I altogether agree with you, Cjunk.

You say, "It's interesting that those who rage against the posting of this at all, don't have a word to say about what kind of society creates such victim-bent humans." I've tried to make a case but the head in the sand types aren't biting--except me!

I didn't suggest that this was a snuff film. In fact, I agreed that it wasn't. However, when the video's over, there are links to other videos, with disclaimers and even a contract to agree to. Not being the mean-spirited, callous voyeur some of us are accused of being, I wasn't the least bit interested in seeing any of those--and you posted none of them.

Keep up the good work.

The message: shit happens when you mess with wild animals. The result is disturbing and sad, but treating wild animals like cute little domestic pets usually ends in disaster.

The tourists got what they deserve. Should've taken their brains on the trip and left the camera at home!!

I laughed at his stupidity when Treadwell became a brown bear appetizer and and Iaughed at the tourists naivety when I saw this video. People just don't get it that life is not a Walt Disney Bambi movie and yes, it is indeed the survival of the fittest.

I've just Googled Tim Treadwell, who was killed by the grizzlies he loved.

In Outside Magazine (January, 2004), Doug Peacock wrote, "Treadwell's methods of chumming up to grizzlies, however, were considered unsound by much of the bear-research community. He gave the bears names like Mr. Chocolate and Booble. He filmed himself chanting, "I love you, I love you," as he inched up to a grizzly. Scientists belittled him for his ANTHROPOMORPHIZING. [emphasis mine] Mainstream researchers either cautioned Treadwell that his behavior would put bears and humans at risk or dismissed him as a loon."

mhb, I seem to be in good company re the problem of anthropomorphizing (often eco-insanity): I don't understand your put-down on that score.

For those who think this thread should be apolitical--it simply ISN'T--I hear that some public school boards plan to "green" the entire curriculum: more magic, dangerous thinking there. Good Lord, deliver us.

I am apalled at those of you comparing this to the WTC or a car crash! These people had fair warning and it doesn't take a genious to understand basic body language. I knew what was coming the second the boat circled around and impeded the elephant's path. But why were they not armed? Anyone around wild animals should be armed because the potential for death or injury is always present. I'm sorry if I offend you eco-libs but these people were the author's of their own misfortune and I will not shed a tear for their stupidity.

Gaia is a murderous bitch.

What happened here is very simple. The elephants were living in the real world, and the idiots were having an 'experience.' Reality trumps, every time.

Dave_RoA , couldn't have said it better...

Lberia - "In both cases people die because they are where they shouldn't be"

So soldiers were meant to be put on display like toy G.I. Joe's? Soldiers protect a nation against threats, which sometimes lead to death. In war, unless your fighting with equipment made from Hasbro, Death is inevitable. A war where no-one dies isn't a war. These people were plain ignorant. No-one would be here talking about the video if they acted correctly. The soldiers have to go to war, these dumb asses didn't have to be there.

Lberia - "Have you forgotten the oft said "one man's terrorist is another man's freedom fighter"?" Whose freedom are the terrorists fighting for? they kill everyone, including themselves. Only person whose freedom is protected by them is the most wanted man in the world...

whoevr - "If your only experience with living animals larger than a shi tzu comes from the zoo, then you have no real idea of the concept of keeping a safe distance, or of what a threat display looks like, and of how FAST animals can move when angry or frightned."

Ive never seen a large wild animal but if i were in that boat i'd get my ass out as soon as the first elephant come out. common sense. I thought they were gunna get hurt in the water. Thats when I saw the danger, They only saw it after, wonder what world they were living in, but as richard mcenroe said, "The elephants were living in the real world, and the idiots were having an 'experience.'" Guess they never woke up from the dream they had the week before the trip.

Fright/Flight/Fight system mustve been under maintenance.

Cjunk - "These were adults involved, not inexperienced children, yet they behaved as such"

I even know inexperienced children who would've done better than these adults...

These people were tracking the herd like a predator, and they were in position when when the herd was at its most vulnerable, on the shore just leaving the water. They were obviously well within the comfort zone of the herd (notice how they bunched up in the water?).
Did I laugh when they got what they deserved?
Hell yeah. I also laughed when I heard about the bear man and his girlfriend getting eaten.
I laughed when I heard about a local teen who was killed when he was riding on the roof of a car (but not as much as when people with good intentions do something stupid). I expect that if I die doing something stupid, people will laugh at me. I guess that makes me a cruel and unsympathetic character. Oh how will I live with myself?

I think I can add something to the conversation. My wife was almost squashed by a "domesticated" elephant on a crowded city street in India. I had to push her out of the way. Inches to spare. He had pulled a "Crazy Ivan" because his "driver" ordered him to suddenly back up. The driver was the one responsible.

Me, conservative, country boy half of life on a farm in Canada. Her, conservative, city girl, all her life in mega-cities in India. The difference, when I see an animal that can kill or harm me, I stop and assess the situation and don't take my eye off the threat. My wife was walking merrily along, not looking at the elephant (just another day in a Indian city). That stupidity almost got her killed. I saved her.

Read Kipling's "The Sons of Martha" and you'll know the dynamic at play here.

BTW chose your guides/scuba instructors/sport rental companies/etc. very carefully. Overseas there is little enforcement on meeting qualifications. They can give you a false sense of security that can cause you to let down your normal caution. People desperate for your money, will put you in situations you should avoid. Hopefully, that is the one lesson from the video we can all agree on.

Some of these enviromentalists wackos will claim we dont need logging farming and mining and other natural resource industries anymore we replace them all with his ECO-TOURISM what a bunch of poppycock we dont need tree huggers telling us how to live TREE HUGGERS GO HOME