About 20 years ago, long before I ever heard of the Darwin Awards, I coined the phrase "Active Darwinism" to describe the phenomenon of people doing moronically stupid things that end up getting themselves killed. And this weekend, in New Hampshire, we apparently had another example of someone who self-chlorinated his personal gene pool.
Saturday night, a 47-year-old New Hampshire man took his OHRV (Off-Highway Recreational Vehicle, or "four-wheeler") out for a spin. He was apparently a bit sloshed at the time, as he neglected the "off-highway" part of the name and the time of night, as the police spotted him tooling down a main road with his lights off. They tried to pull him over, but he ran. He raced down a trail, presumably hoping the cruiser couldn't follow him, but didn't see the gate across the trail. Two hospitals, including the world-renowned Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center, did their best, but they couldn't save him from his own stupidity.
The lesson to be learned here is simple, and one I've said before: the laws of Nature are much harsher than the laws of Man. Under man's laws, Mr. Eastland would have faced a fine and some jail time. But Nature deemed his offense a capital one.
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Comments (18)
Yes, the laws of nature are... (Below threshold)1. Posted by Am I A Pundit Now? | June 27, 2005 11:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Yes, the laws of nature are much harsher than the laws of man - and apparently the lag time between trial, sentencing and execution is very short as well . . .
1. Posted by Am I A Pundit Now? | June 27, 2005 11:11 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:11
2. Posted by Mark | June 27, 2005 11:11 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Possible corollary to the laws of man:
Family of deceased sues owner of fence and wins millions in damages.
2. Posted by Mark | June 27, 2005 11:11 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:11
3. Posted by TheEnigma | June 27, 2005 11:22 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Don't be surprised to find his family filing suit against the local police. Their reasoning, "If the police had not chased him down the trail, he would not have crashed and died."
Stupid? Yes, but I don't put anything past some people any more.
3. Posted by TheEnigma | June 27, 2005 11:22 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:22
4. Posted by chris | June 27, 2005 11:26 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Let us not ignore some true Darwins, members of the deluded Neo-Con family.
How can you continue to support a bunch of hooligans who on one week will declare the insurgency in its last throes, and then turn around and admit it will go on for years, and that it will not be the US Army seeing its end , but a native police force?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5101278,00.html
How can you continue to support a cabal that will stop at nothing in vilifying others for seeking diplomacy and justice, as opposed to blood and guts brutality, and then behind closed doors seek to use those very methods to ameliorate their mess?
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/26/AR2005062600096.html
This should be a lesson to all, that the right has not the ability to lead effectively, lacks the ability to admit when they have made mistakes, and has not a shred of decency. History will not be kind in the telling of your story. If there is history to be written in fifty years time, it will illuminate the conservative cause as rife with fault that was in every way responsible for the collapse of this once fair and noble republic.
Satisfied yet you louts?
4. Posted by chris | June 27, 2005 11:26 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:26
5. Posted by Russ | June 27, 2005 11:37 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
I'd be more impressed with Active Darwinism if it actually did its work before its victims procreated. I'll bet Eastland already passed his genes along to the next generation.
5. Posted by Russ | June 27, 2005 11:37 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:37
6. Posted by joe | June 27, 2005 11:51 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
chris is sad. Anybody up for a group hug?
6. Posted by joe | June 27, 2005 11:51 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:51
7. Posted by Elizabeth | June 27, 2005 11:52 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Yeah I agree with whoever - the family is gonna sue those cops on account of this guy being so stupid.
Ahh, the American Courts System
7. Posted by Elizabeth | June 27, 2005 11:52 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:52
8. Posted by mesablue | June 27, 2005 11:56 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Satisfied yet you louts?
The last dying squawks of a species on the verge of extinction?
8. Posted by mesablue | June 27, 2005 11:56 AM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 11:56
9. Posted by Peter | June 27, 2005 12:02 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Poor chris. He's so apoplectic that he can't even post correctly.
Onward: The most simple and best example of Darwinism I've ever read about was when one SoCal fellow decided to play Russian Roullette....with a semi-automatic 9mm.
9. Posted by Peter | June 27, 2005 12:02 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 12:02
10. Posted by chris | June 27, 2005 12:17 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
The last dying squawks of a species on the verge of extinction?
If by species you mean human, kudos for your assesment.
...he can't even post correctly
If you are referring to the overrun of the link, it previewed fine. The inability of the software to paginate after the fact is not my fault.
chris is sad. Anybody up for a group hug?
Is substantive dialogue possible, or is the only form of communication here limited to tangental belittlement?
10. Posted by chris | June 27, 2005 12:17 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 12:17
11. Posted by meep | June 27, 2005 1:03 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
You're talking tangential, chris?
Why not be involved in the actual conversation on this actual thread, which is people killing themselves doing stupid stunts.
If you want to pick the topic, I recommend you start your own blog. There are plenty of free sites for the very purpose, you know.
11. Posted by meep | June 27, 2005 1:03 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:03
12. Posted by chris | June 27, 2005 1:18 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Why not be involved in the actual conversation on this actual thread, which is people killing themselves doing stupid stunts.
Our involvement in Iraq is a product of Darwinian behavior. Blind allegiance to the destructive forces exhibited by political ideologies currently in play is a Darwinian behavior. Inability to recognize and discuss our peril is a Darwinian behavior.
If there is a difference to be found, it is only in the persons identified as the trigger pullers, and those being mowed down. Again I ask, can you actually address the issues, or is it your sole purpose to use whatever to avoid them?
12. Posted by chris | June 27, 2005 1:18 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:18
13. Posted by McGehee | June 27, 2005 1:23 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Chris, there's a word for people who hijack comment threads to gripe about their personal obsession: troll.
Get back under your bridge.
13. Posted by McGehee | June 27, 2005 1:23 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:23
14. Posted by Jay Tea | June 27, 2005 1:25 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Chris, not EVERYTHING I write is about the Gulf War. My first posting of the day was about it, and the one going up at 2:00 EST will be. Kindly keep your comments on topic, and I won't be forced to break out the clue-by-four.
J.
14. Posted by Jay Tea | June 27, 2005 1:25 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:25
15. Posted by John | June 27, 2005 1:49 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
Shhhh. Don't say Darwin too loud or Paul is gonna freak all over you.
15. Posted by John | June 27, 2005 1:49 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:49
16. Posted by FloridaOyster | June 27, 2005 1:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
If it's not belittlement, then "lout" must be a dear of endearment. Or this is simply another "I can dish it out, but...." episode.
16. Posted by FloridaOyster | June 27, 2005 1:53 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:53
17. Posted by FloridaOyster | June 27, 2005 1:53 PM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
PIMF: "must be a TERM of endearment. Sheesh.
17. Posted by FloridaOyster | June 27, 2005 1:53 PM |
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Posted on June 27, 2005 13:53
18. Posted by SteveB | June 30, 2005 2:13 AM | Score: 0 (0 votes cast)
"Our involvement in Iraq is a product of Darwinian behavior."
And here I thought that we were in Iraq because of an international war on terror. Silly me.
Going back on to the topic though, some of these Darwin Award worthy stories can be really funny. There is actually a website dedicated to the Darwin Awards, the address is not so unexpectedly darwinawards.com
18. Posted by SteveB | June 30, 2005 2:13 AM |
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Posted on June 30, 2005 02:13