Which generation bore, raised, educated and let loose these so called idiots. Some one should be held responsible for allowing this to happen. 

Perhaps they just appeared out of nowhere and did not inherit the fabulous genes of their Einsteinian parents and grandparents.

After all, we are all a bunch of geniuses, always have been.

Aaaah yes, the new age of the "influencer". Where kids are led to believe they can make a fortune without a full time job by posting inane mindless videos of them selves doing not much at all...then bragging of their thousands of "online followers"..

I cannot see it getting any better as the Governments look for more ways to hand out tax payer money to the population to keep votes coming their way...the most ridiculous brain f**t was Qld's Education Minister calling for school hours to be reduced from 5 days to 4. It seems the little petals are being over worked having to attend school for 5 days a week between their several weeks of "holidays".
But the School Teachers would still be required to attend the schools for all 5 days to baby sit those kiddies whose parents were working are unable to stay home. Not that the kiddies would be at home anyway, more than likely running riot at shopping centres or skate board parks...

DMaxer wrote:

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Which generation bore, raised, educated and let loose these so called idiots. Some one should be held responsible for allowing this to happen. 

Perhaps they just appeared out of nowhere and did not inherit the fabulous genes of their Einsteinian parents and grandparents.

After all, we are all a bunch of geniuses, always have been.

---

 Do you have a theory on how Chris Bowen came to be? a prime example of peak stupidity.

It is ridiculous just to select a few dead heads and then brand a whole generation of young people as following a similar course of behaviour.

When I was their age I did pretty stupid things and a few smart things as well. There are some very bright kids out there if people would stop criticising the obvious and look a bit harder.

I used to have final year students placed with me assisting in trial and legal research and they were just brilliant.  I have friends in the medical profession who held the same view with the med students placed with them. Their knowledge would leave us for dead compared to what we knew at the same age.

The media love to select an idiot or two and parade them as an example of what the majority represents. I don't know who is the most cerebrally challenged, the clowns they parade of the dopes who read the articles.

As for the comment regarding Chris Bowen I don't have any theories nor do I consider him stupid. I am sure he speaks highly of you though Peter67. Care to remind us of your achievements in the academic world.

Perhaps those of you who love to criticise young people could take a wander down to your nearest university and just wander into the medical, legal, engineering, science, whatever faculty and give them a rundown on your own massive intellects. Let them know where they are letting down society and then demonstrate your own brilliance. I think it would result in more laughs than the end of year comedy revue.

-- Edited by DMaxer on Wednesday 10th of January 2024 01:03:10 PM

DMaxer wrote:

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It is ridiculous just to select a few dead heads and then brand a whole generation of young people as following a similar course of behaviour.

When I was their age I did pretty stupid things and a few smart things as well. There are some very bright kids out there if people would stop criticising the obvious and look a bit harder.

I used to have final year students placed with me assisting in trial and legal research and they were just brilliant.  I have friends in the medical profession who held the same view with the med students placed with them. Their knowledge would leave us for dead compared to what we knew at the same age.

The media love to select an idiot or two and parade them as an example of what the majority represents. I don't know who is the most cerebrally challenged, the clowns they parade of the dopes who read the articles.

As for the comment regarding Chris Bowen I don't have any theories nor do I consider him stupid. I am sure he speaks highly of you though Peter67. Care to remind us of your achievements in the academic world.

Perhaps those of you who love to criticise young people could take a wander down to your nearest university and just wander into the medical, legal, engineering, science, whatever faculty and give them a rundown on your own massive intellects. Let them know where they are letting down society and then demonstrate your own brilliance. I think it would result in more laughs than the end of year comedy revue.

-- Edited by DMaxer on Wednesday 10th of January 2024 01:03:10 PM

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Have to agree with DMaxer.

It's easy to cherry pick and find a few dead heads, the truth is, as much as we may hate to admit it, the world belongs to the young.

Some will excel, most will be mediocre/average, and some will be less than smart, it's the human condition.

The cliche of 'If it's flooded, forget it' ignores the condition of simple water over the road. There is a huge difference between the sheer stupidity of driving into fast flowing flood water and wading through standing water over a sealed road. A recent rain event here dropped up to 153mm in a two hour period. Several local roads were rended unpassable and some were simply covered in ponded runoff water. My vehicle has a technical wading limit of 435 mm. Traversing 25 metres of road through 20 - 50mm of water is of no forseeable danger to me. Cliches like 'Flooded, forget it' are without nuance. Simply driving in heavy rain, especially at speed, risk a horrible death after aquaplaning. Wading through standing water at walking speed over a known stable surface is much less dangerous. Vague, generalised statements about people without thought of what decision making process an individual might go through doesn't cut it. On the other hand, any person who puts themselves in a situation requiring rescue after ignoring evacuation orders or after driving into fast flowing water should be held accountable for all the associated rescue and care costs.

A lot of grey areas come up for me in these rescuse discussions. I have participated in a winch rescue of a Yachtie 85 NM off Mackay and heve helped a couple of Station owners off their roof in flood conditions where the nearest dry land was over 20K away.

The media love to single out people who may have driven through a flooded causeway or stayed when told to evacuate when a fire storm is approaching.

I was in the Lismore area when the floods hit and if it was not for those brave people who took massive risks to save others, the death toll would have been very high. It's easy to criticise someone for doing something but the media doesn't bother to find out the reason why some people disobey the warnings given. Many occasions, the person disobeying the warning is in the process of going to assist someone that may well be in trouble. You cannot rely on the SES, rescue services whatever when an event like a major flood occurs. Look at Lismore. If not for the locals taking risks, it would have been carnage.

As for people staying to fight bush fires, good on them. This is all they have and they are prepared to defend their property. Countless homes and buildings were saved by people during the fires of a few years ago because of their determination and bravery. A town not far from me was told to evacuate but they stayed and saved most of it. There was no one else to do it.

Instead of dopes trying to work out what would be the best punishment, why not have a look behind the sensationalism and poor reporting and just see what the person was trying to achieve and what alternatives were available before calling them idiots.

Rant over.

How do we protect people from their own actions / inactions??

Tonights news in Adelaide the driver of a vehicle cleaned up by a train says the crossing needs flashing lights.

The crossing has a Stop sign.

If he had stopped and given way to the train his car would not have been written off and he would not have been injured.

"The last 6 times I stopped at this Stop sign I did not see a train so in future I am going to ignore it".

Risk assessment done....

Back in the 1980s we were looking for a camping spot around a lake very late at night on a moonless night. My car had great headlights. 

 

It was a perfectly still night, I knew there was water somewhere. Drove in first gear as slow as I could. Also noticed the road now going a little bit down hill.

 

Suddenly I stopped because the light from the headlights didn't look quite right. 

 

There was the lake, now a metre in front of the car. The water was so clear & not a ripple, the headlights simply lit up the road under the water.

 

It was an eye opener just how close we got to the water without seeing it. But we were driving so slowly we could stop before going in.

dorian wrote:

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I'd like to know the actual story behind a recent crash involving a road train and a goods train. Unfortunately, both train drivers were killed. The truck driver was apparently unhurt.

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 Unless the truck was stalled on the railway, for some unknown reason, the only other explanation must be that the truck driver didn't obey whatever traffic control measures were in place?

Very sad when innocent people simply going about their business are needlessly killed. 

yobarr wrote:

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BarneyBDB wrote:

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"The last 6 times I stopped at this Stop sign I did not see a train so in future I am going to ignore it".

Risk assessment done....

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 Love it!

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 I take it you are not going for 7 round hardware!

yobarr wrote:

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dorian wrote:

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I'd like to know the actual story behind a recent crash involving a road train and a goods train. Unfortunately, both train drivers were killed. The truck driver was apparently unhurt.

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 Unless the truck was stalled on the railway, for some unknown reason, the only other explanation must be that the truck driver didn't obey whatever traffic control measures were in place?

Very sad when innocent people simply going about their business are needlessly killed. 

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 Wasn't stalled on the line as far as I have read so far.   Other truck drivers have stated that that particular crossing is supposedly on one of those big S bends.   They seem to be suggesting that you can see for a long way both directions there but they are assuming going too fast to stop. As a couple suggested  he could have gone straight ahead at the bend and possibly had a lot more time to pull up even if he run along side of the rail line and glanced off a couple of carriages, but we will possibly have to wait sometime before the Coroner's inquest tells us otherwise

I read that the truck driver has been charged with several counts. The criminal proceedings will take place through a committal hearing first of all and if there is a case to answer then it proceeds to a different jurisdiction. The time taken for that will depend on whether it is defended or contested. I imagine about 18 months will elapse if it is contested. After that procedure is finalised the coroner will then determine whether an inquest is required.