Not.
More and more, this nation is becoming the Ultimate Nanny State. And, as with any good, growing UNS the lawsuits and laws limiting personal freedoms are burgeoning.
But, on the other hand, make no mistake: it is only because the Public is demanding it be so. The Public is absolutely unwilling to accept any form of personal responsibility for themselves, their children, their family and, on the other hand, more than willing — in fact, desperate — to place the blame and any possible responsibility squarely on the shoulders of those with the deepest fiscal pockets.
Two cases come to mind, one my area, one from New Jersey.
I work in Sacramento, the capital of Fornicalia. This city finds itself adjacent the confluence of two large rivers: the Sacramento and the American. The American River is fed from the bitterly cold snowpacks of the Sierra Nevada Mountains and, at this precise point, the past few days have seen Sacramento temperatures in the high-90s and the low 100s, meaning two things: 1) the runoff from the Sierra snowpack is now kicked into High Gear and 2) due to the first heat of the season, the river(s) are where people go to cool off.
And now, during the first heat of the season, there were two deaths from drowning:
In one case, a 20-year-old man was pulled out of the American River on Saturday evening.He died just before 7 p.m., the Sacramento County Coroner’s Office confirmed Sunday. Teha Pen of Sacramento had disappeared under the water’s surface near the Howe Avenue boat ramp.
Pen’s drowning followed the death Friday of an 11-year-old girl. Monserrat Alegere of Richmond had been swimming with family members at Tiscornia Beach when she vanished under the water. Rescuers found the girl about 30 minutes later. Authorities said she was not wearing a life jacket.
Firefighters and paramedics were called to the same location shortly after 7 p.m. Saturday. A 4-year-old boy had been pulled out of the river (CPR revived that young boy).
That a 4-year-old and an 11-year-old were sucked into the river with one resulting death is unconscionable. Therefore, after these two recent deaths, there are screams for more laws. No drinking anywhere near the river. Mandate everyone in the river have life vests — no more “free swimming”. Some are advocating the complete closure of the rivers for swimming.
Let’s not hold the parents of the two affected children criminally or, at the very minimum, civilly responsible. Oh no; let’s instead tread upon the rights of everyone else. Let’s remove the rivers entirely as a recreational venue. After all, it’s “for the children.”
The family of a now-14-year-old boy are suing because their son, 12 at the time of the accident, was pitching in a little league game when a line drive hit him in the chest and sent him into cardiac arrest. He stopped breathing for about 20 minutes, which resulted in a coma and a permanent brain injury due to oxygen starvation.
From ABCNews.com:
The Domalewski family is suing Hillerich & Bardsby, the parent company of Louisville Slugger, which manufacturers the kind of bat used in the accident. Also named are the local Sports Authority, where the bats are sold, and the New Jersey State Little League, which uses the bats. The family claims that all three were aware of the inherent dangers of the aluminum bats, according to the complaint obtained by ABCNEWS.com.
Yes, you read that correctly: the family is suing the bat manufacturer, the business selling the bat and the little league involved.
At issue is the metal bat used in the incident. Metal baseball bats may cost more on initial purchase but last longer than wooden bats. Some say metal bats “perform” more than wooden bats, meaning that balls smacked with metal bats go farther, faster, than with wooden bats. Some little leagues use metal bats because they can take a beating and last longer.
Now some people are considering not just limiting their use, but a total ban.
As far as I am concerned, these incidents illustrate the continuing Pussification of America, enabling the UNS. I listened to a local radio talk show yesterday; 100% of the female callers advocated mandatory life vests for all persons in the river or the complete shutdown of the rivers themselves. The men said things similar to “bad things happen.”
Yes, I am sorry that children and adults are dead. But Life is tough. And place me into the list of those who say “removing freedoms in order to eliminate a small percentile of injuries or deaths is untenable and destructive.”
I am certain there are those of you at this point who are calling me insensitive: “what if those were your children, BZ?” you might be asking. My response would be: “first, I wouldn’t be suing — and if those were my children who drowned, I should be criminally prosecuted for negligence.”
We are on a path that assures only one thing: generations of persons who expect to occupy a risk-free world, who have expectations that will never be met, unchallenged, leading to nothing but a life of disappointment and fear. Which then leads to a nation of cowering, uncompetitive toadies expecting to be coddled, cuddled, guided and thoughtless.
Oh wait, that’s right; we call those persons Demorats.
BZ
The attitude is insidious, and is going to bring our country to ruin. nobody wants to be responsible for any of their own actions whatsoever. they want to vote for Idiots and complain about their idiotic government, get drunk and roll their SUV and sue the car company, spill hot coffee on their self and sue Mc Donalds! and constantly demand more free shit from the government. and the sad thing is there’s no end in sight, but total social collapse.
those parents will probably sue the state and win because there was no warning signs along the river stating that inhaling water may cause drowning.
You can drown in under 2″ of water, therefore we need to be restricted from bathtubs with more than that: from now on all bathing will be done in pans 1.5″ deep.
Falls can kill you, therefore all building taller than 3′ high will be levelled.
You can still hurt yourself falling, therefore all people will wear 1′ of foam padding at all times on their body.
Thinking is bad for you, all books will be banned and the internet turned into a broadcast only media featuring Muzak.
You cannot make good choices on your own, voting will be banned and all choices removed from you.
You will lose your will.
You will lose your spine.
You will turn into spongy masses… just like Congress.
Everything not illegal is allowed.
Everything is illegal.
You are not allowed.
Developing states look upon us as a nation of soft, marshmallow-like fools ripe for the plucking. Lowering standards has resulted in our being overtaken in, for example, education and technology and science by what once were third-rate nations. We are rapidly becoming a nation of feminized hypochondriacs, complainers, whiners, jackanapes.
BZ
I’m with you, BZ.
Hold the parents responsible. Just like when we were growing up, our parents were responsible for our actions, and they held us accountable for what we did reflecting on their good name.
I’m a father, I have grown children and I have grandchildren, and as such let me say, my sympathies go out to the Domalewski family over this injury and the disability their son has suffered, as a parent I know it must be a gut wrenching experience…
That said, I have to ask this, how damned stupid are you people??
Saying that the maker of the bat, Little League Baseball and the sporting goods chain that sold the bat are all responsible for your son’s injury is about as stupid as these people that want to sue gun manufacturers over someone being shot…
If I remember correctly, when my son was playing baseball and football, we had to sign a release and we had to acknowledge that there was some danger involved and that we would not hold the school responsible as long as they didn’t engage in negligence…
I’m guessing that the Domalewskis signed a similar release and I am also guessing that a judge is going to throw them and the shyster that convinced them to do this right OUT of court…
A while back my Aunt was killed in a collision with an 18 wheeler, maybe we oughta sue Kenworth for selling the trucking company that truck, and maybe we need to sue Bridgestone because of the tires and Bendix because they made the brakes that the driver didn’t apply when he ran a stop sign and broadsided my Aunts car, makes about as much sense as these dunderheads suing the bat maker…
Nothing personal folks but pull your heads out of your asses and deal with this in a mature and SANE fashion, maybe the ball does come off of a metal bat faster, maybe your son should have reacted quicker, did you think of that??
I know, this sounds cold and heartless to some of you, but someone needs to slap the crap out of Mom and Dad and knock some sense into their heads, life offers NO guarantees, accept that fact for what it is, and then realize that in life, things happen that are no ones fault, it’s just life and that is exactly what happened to your son, he was living life and he got a bad deal…
Parents to Sue Maker of Metal Baseball Bats Over Son’s Injury
As for the river drownings I am sorry for the kids who were hurt or died. I will bet that it happens EVRY F ING YEAR. Which means that rather than making EVERYONE pay for the ignorant,(prepare for sarcasm) have a qualification test and licensing for those responsible enough to go to the river and actually touch the water. Those that cant pass cant go near the water and must suffer in the heat.
As for aluminum bats they should be outlawed anyway as being against the true ideals of the sport of baseball. Its the “crack” of the bat not the “doink” of the metal tube. If you cant hit the ball hard enough to move it TOO F’ING BAD learn to hit it where they aint.
I agree with you, BZ, and I absolutely love A Jacksonian’s comment!
Every year at Belton Lake here in Central Texas, people are warned not to swim during the heat of summer because of the danger of inhaling water and thus sucking in an amoeba that can kill you. It has happened several times since I’ve lived here, but people still swim in the lake during the heat of summer. No one has sued yet, but I’ll bet it’s only a matter of time.
I don’t have a new post up. Just thought I’d stop by.