I've always wondered at what point do you give up and say, "welp, I've had a good run, time to live under an overpass and beg for change for the rest of my life"

If nothing else, why wouldn't you find a fishing pole and go live somewhere in the millions (billions?) of acres of national wilderness?

Ive seen this in Arizona, well not this exactly but Ive seen this situation. Up close and personal.

It was about 6 PM, dark, and I was crossing over highway 101, on Broadway road just south of ASU.

And this guy starts doing the Jesus walk out into traffic, I didn't see the results, but I remember his face about 2 inches from the window.

I think he jumped of the overpass, I can't remember.

>> ^lucky760:
I once hit two birds with one car.
Three were gathered in the road just over an overpass so I couldn't see them and vice versa. As soon as we saw each other the three scattered into the air, but only one escaped and the others smashed into and bounced over my windshield leaving a gooey mess my wipers worked hard to clean.
My heart jumped and I felt (and still feel) bad for taking the lives of the little fellows, but mainly I just chalk it up to evolution in action. The strong survived.

Don't feel bad. Just pretend they were all planning the murder/rape of another bird.

I once hit two birds with one car.

Three were gathered in the road just over an overpass so I couldn't see them and vice versa. As soon as we saw each other the three scattered into the air, but only one escaped and the others smashed into and bounced over my windshield leaving a gooey mess my wipers worked hard to clean.

My heart jumped and I felt (and still feel) bad for taking the lives of the little fellows, but mainly I just chalk it up to evolution in action. The strong survived.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pine_tar_incident

From Wikipedia:

"In Major League Baseball lore, the Pine Tar Incident (also known as the Pine Tar Game) refers to a controversial incident that took place in an American League game played between the Kansas City Royals and New York Yankees on July 24, 1983.

Playing at New York's Yankee Stadium, the Royals were trailing 4-3 with two outs in the top of the ninth and U. L. Washington on first base. In the on deck circle, George Brett was heard remarking to a teammate, "Watch this baby fly" as he shook his bat. He then came to the plate and connected off Yankee reliever Rich "Goose" Gossage for a two-run home run and a 5-4 lead.

As Brett crossed the plate, New York manager Billy Martin approached home plate umpire Tim McClelland and requested that Brett's bat be examined. Earlier in the season, Martin and other members of the Yankees (most notably, third baseman Graig Nettles who, as a member of the Minnesota Twins, recalled a similar incident involving Thurman Munson) had noticed the amount of pine tar used by Brett, but Martin had chosen not to say anything until the home run. According to Nettles' autobiography, "Balls," Nettles claims that he actually informed Martin of the pine tar rule, as Nettles had previously undergone the same scrutiny with his own bat while with the Minnesota Twins.

With Brett watching from the dugout, McClelland and the rest of the umpiring crew inspected the bat. Measuring the bat against the width of home plate (which is 17 inches), they determined that the amount of pine tar on the bat's handle exceeded that allowed by Rule 1.10(b) of the Major League Baseball rule book, which read that 'a bat may not be covered by such a substance more than 18 inches from the tip of the handle.'

McClelland signaled that Brett's home run was nullified and the game over. An enraged Brett stormed out of the dugout to confront McClelland, and had to be physically restrained by Kansas City manager Dick Howser and his teammates. (As one commentator stated, 'Brett has become the first player in history to hit a game-losing home run.') Despite the furious protests of Brett and Howser, McClelland's ruling stood. The Royals protested the game ('TAR WARS!' blared a New York Post headline), and their protest was upheld by American League president Lee MacPhail. MacPhail (who coincidentally had once been the Yankees' chief executive) ruled that while the bat was illegal, it didn't violate the 'spirit of the rules.' He added that the bat was not 'altered to improve the distance factor,' and that the rules only provided for removal of the bat from the game, not calling the batter out. Baseball writer Bill James concurred, saying that, unlike other sports, 'in baseball, when you hit a double, that's a double.'

MacPhail ordered the game resumed with two out in the top of the ninth inning with the Royals up 5-4. He also ruled that Brett was to be ejected for his outburst.

On August 18 (a scheduled off day for both teams), the game was resumed from the point of Brett's home run, with about 1,200 fans in attendance. Martin symbolically protested the continuation of the game by putting pitcher Ron Guidry in center field and first baseman Don Mattingly at second base. Mattingly, a lefty, became the majors' first southpaw second baseman since Oakland's Gonzalo Marques [1] a decade earlier; there has been one only lefty middle infielder in a big-league game since (Thad Bosley, in 1987).[2]

Before the first pitch to Hal McRae (who followed Brett in the lineup), Martin challenged Brett's home run on the grounds that Brett had not touched all the bases, and maintained that there was no way for the umpires (a different crew than the one who worked July 24) to dispute this. But umpire Davey Phillips was ready for Martin, producing an affidavit signed by the July 24 umpires stating that Brett had indeed touched all the bases. An irate Martin continued to argue with the umpires and was ejected from the game. Yankees reliever George Frazier struck McRae out to finally end the top of the ninth, twenty-five days after it had begun. Dan Quisenberry then got New York out 1-2-3 in the bottom of the ninth to preserve the Royals' 5-4 win.

The bat is currently on display in the Baseball Hall of Fame, where it has been since 1987. During a broadcast of Mike & Mike in the Morning, ESPN analyst Tim Kurkjian stated that Brett used the bat for a few games after the incident until being cautioned that the bat would be useless if broken. Brett sold the bat to a collector for $25,000, had second thoughts, repurchased the bat for the exact same amount from the collector and then donated the bat to the Hall of Fame.


The winning pitcher for the Royals was reliever Mike Armstrong, who went 10-7 that year in 58 appearances, notching career highs in wins and games. In a 2006 interview, Armstrong said a angry Yankees fan threw a brick from an overpass at Kansas City's bus cracking the windshield as the Royals were leaving for the airport after the make up game. 'It was wild to go back to New York and play these four outs in a totally empty stadium' Armstrong said. 'I'm dressed in the uniform, and nobody's there'. Mike was still pitching baseball as recently as 2006 at age 52 in the Athens Area Men's Baseball league in Athens Ga, where he still has a fastball in the mid 80's."

Basically, this was a totally unprecedented event, in that (a) a super-old, completely outdated rule was dug up by an opposing manager, (b) it was upheld by the umpire, (c) the ruling was overturned and the game was resumed later on in the year. This has become the most famous event in George Brett's career, something he doesn't mind at all, considering that before this, he was most famous for suffering with hemorrhoids during the playoffs.

Wow, very cool - my sister and I were driving right behind that storm along I-80 on our way back from Colorado. The severe part of the storm was traveling east perfectly in line with I-80, so we got a good view of the extent of damages. We saw over 10 semis blown over, power line poles snapped in half with cables strewn across the highway, a few trees uprooted, metal guard rails wrapped around columns of an overpass, a large aluminum shed ripped to shreds, and we counted over 20 divots in the corn fields completely twisted apart and blown over.

We only experienced gusty winds and a little rain, but were so close behind the storm that they were calling the mile markers off on the radio where the tornado warnings were... between markers 369 and 381, right as we passed 360, etc. Literally ten minutes after passing certain portions of the interstate they were being closed down and re-routed. Despite living in Nebraska for 23 years now, I hadn't ever been that close behind the path of a tornado (at least while still being outside), so it made for an exciting finish to our torturous 8-hour ride back home.

Am glad that they at least discuss this in the US, in my country they just evict everyone at gun point, demolish their houses and build an overpass because the President always wanted one.

I "graded" your quiz

1. What do you do when you are not at the computer?

• Paint - That figures
• Watch DVDs - Wow you don't leave the house?
• Attend movies - By yourself most likely
• Work Sudoku puzzles - Afraid of real math?
• Get together with friends - Free meals at the soup kitchen don't count as "get together with friends
• Dine at restaurants - Translation: Dig in the dumpsters behind restaurants
• Attend art presentations - Staring at the back tattoo of a tranny prostitute hardly counts as "attending art presentations"
• Attend Mac meetings - ...
• Visit art museums/exhibitions - You already said that, but then again you probably don't have much going on in your life
• Take digital photos and videos - Draw "cave paintings" on the walls of the overpass you live under.
• Attend parties/receptions - Always the crasher never the invitee?
• Read books on art - Read...books...on...art. hmmm...fascinating

2. What is your favorite of your posted videos?

“MANtage” - you spelled "MANspooge" wrong

3. How many avatars have you had since being a member? What were (are) they?

Ten
• dot art – levee break waves
• dot art – 40 shades of blue
• dot art – green Chinese lion
• dot art – purple design from plaster relief
• dot art – leopard-like patterns
• dot art – eye shapes orange on black
• rainy windshield photo
• Dutch Alley blur
• pond goldfish photo
• Chinese dragon float profile photo (current one)
^Just can't quite encapsulate your mediocrity through visual aids, eh?

4. What non-self-involved site do you visit most often?

Apple Movie Trailers - To look at coming attractions nobody will ever invite you to see

5. If you had a time machine would you keep it clean?

Clean?!? What does that mean?!? - You know, clean like how you feel after your bimonthly dip in the sewers

6. What is your ratio of pairs of shoes to underwear?

1: 21 - Make that 1/2 : 1

7. Is that underwear boxer, brief, or birthday?

Boxers - Women's panties

8. Do you run a Mac OS, Windows, or Linux?

Mac OS - Coincidently Mac & Cheese is your main source of nutrition too

9. Would you most prefer to be involved in a monumental one-of-a-kind hiking expedition, working on a breakthrough cure for a debilitating illness, or presenting the discovery of a revolutionary new way to parse data?

presenting the discovery of a revolutionary new way to parse data - Pretending to have a girlfriend while dry humping his semen encrusted matress

10. What is your favorite ice cream topping? Favorite (non-ice-cream-related) spice?

Topping – chocolate syrup - By the time you get to the ice cream, it's already melted
Spice - saffron - Dried eucalyptus leaves

11. Are you a tits, ass, or legs man?

Yes - Translation: "I'm desparate"

12. What kind of pet(s) do you have? Include name(s).

Used to have cats:

Red (orange tabby) - killed and ate it
Storm (gray tabby with white socks – picked out Spring 1991 during Desert Storm) - Road kill that you found and dragged around on a leash for the summer of '91
Pierre (peppered fur mix) - Make believe animal that keeps me company during those lonely nights

13. What kind of pelt(s) do you have? Include name(s).

None. However, a former girlfriend brought me The Australian Lucky Pouch when she returned from her trip her trip Down Under. - Hahahaha! girlfriend...that's rich

14. What is your favorite kind of soup?

Turtle with a splash of sherry - Whatever's being served at the shelter

15. What is your most frequented source of news?

WWL Radio - 2 week old newspapers that you use to wipe your ass

16. What is your beverage (poison) of choice?

Iced Tea - "...you know how I know you're gay?"

17. Have you ever been arrested?

No. - The Phantom Pooper still hasn't been caught

18. What’s your go-to move for making a good first impression?

Get a person talking about her/himself and pray its not over my head. - Try not to get close enough to the person to be smelled

19. How would you describe your coif: bangs, balding or rug?

Thinning - HAHAHAHAHA

20. Is your face clean-shaven or do you have a beard, a goatee or a mustache?

Beard - Translation: I can't afford a razor

21. List your five most cherished possessions.

• House - Cardboard box
• Volvo - Shopping Cart
• Mac - & Cheese
• Camera - Old crayon or feces drawn on walls and sidewalks
• DVD player - "I can't play it, cause I don't have a TV but it sure is pretty and it'll score me a couple crack rocks"

22. What religion, if any, did you practice as a child?

Roman Catholicism - suppressed memories

23. What about now?

Same. - Translation: I do to little boys what was done to me

24. What is your favorite memory?

Surprise trip to Disneyworld even though us kids were told to pack for Gulfport, MS - Finding a quarter on the ground

25. What was your favorite childhood television show?

“Speed Racer” - It was really "My Little Pony"

26. How would you describe your personal style/sense of fashion/taste for life/artistic flair?

personal style – put my stamp on what I do - Translation: I fart wherever I am
sense of fashion – I like color, except the days I prefer black - "OH, woe is me I'm such a DEEP artist type"
taste for life – take time to appreciate whom I’m with, where I am and what I’m doing - Translation: Sit in an alcove yelling at people who don't give me spare change
artistic flair – experimentation and reinvention - Translation: Crap nobody will like and stealing other people's work

27. What is a reason not to go to Burning Man?

I already live in a hot climate. - No transportation, no friends, no car, no water, you're missing a shoe

28. Who is your favorite Sift Hero?

Fedquip - Translation: Rottenseed

29. Do you have any image(s) of yourself online that you're willing to share?

‘Will link shortly. - "uh...er...well you see is, I'm horribly disfigured and I hope everybody will forget about this question"

30. What goal to you have while a Videosift member?

Contribute to the “good of the order.” - Find somebody that'll love me for the stinky, poor, pseudo-artist I am

31. Do you upvote comments more for their originality, sense of humor, or self-deprecation?

I upvote on impulse, PERIOD. - "I can't read."

'Tornado vs. Overpass - the Battle Rages On!'


I'm writing the screenplay. It stars Samuel L. Jackson, and Mel Gibson.

>> ^grinter:
...now, I don't know what I'm going to do when the killer bees come.
Pray for a convenient tornado?

I wouldn't be surprised if this were yet another example of public safety officials feeding the public misinformation because they feel that accurate advice would be too complicated to follow.
of course, the majority of space under many overpasses would be dangerous... but some overpasses will have great little nooks to hide in.
..and even a giant vacuum won't suck someone out unless there is a lot of airflow over them.
There is a Great slide show about this issue here:
http://www.srh.noaa.gov/oun/papers/overpass.html
obviously, the message behind the slide show is that overpasses are a bad place to be in a tornado.. Still, the point is made that construction of the overpass needs to be taken into account:
"Of particular note, the reader's attention should go to the construction of this particular overpass. Note the small crawl space where the underside of the bridge meets the embankment, and the presence of the large girder beam that might provide at least a handhold. The unique construction of this bridge is in stark contrast to the construction of most overpass bridges."
_If I've got a choice between a comfy overpass nook, and a ditch... I'm choosing the nook.
..now, I don't know what I'm going to do when the killer bees come.

I'm not sure you're right about that ReverendTed.

I believe it's not just a wind tunnel, but when the tornado winds are strong enough, the entire underside of the overpass becomes a giant vacuum.

The majority of the space under an overpass becomes a horrible wind tunnel of deadly debris in a tornado but, depending on the construction, there are usually areas at each end that create "pockets" with the road above, the embankment below and behind, and support girders on each side which would be relatively safe. (I believe this is illustrated in the video.)

From http://www.crh.noaa.gov/ddc/?n=over

Many people mistakenly think that a highway overpass provides safety from a tornado. In reality, an overpass may be one of the worst places to seek shelter from a tornado. Seeking shelter under an overpass puts you at greater risk of being killed or seriously injured by flying debris from the powerful tornadic winds.

The idea that overpasses offer safety probably began in 1991, when a television news crew and some citizens rode out a very weak tornado under an overpass along the Kansas Turnpike. The resulting video continues to be seen by millions, and appears to have fostered the idea that overpasses are preferred sources of shelter, and should be sought out by those in the path of a tornado. In addition, news magazine photographs of people huddled under an overpass with an approaching tornado imply that this is the correct safety procedure. Nothing can be further from the truth!

In the Oklahoma City area in May, 1999, three people were killed and many had serious injuries by a violent tornado while seeking shelter under an overpass. Eyewitness accounts from others in the area indicated that roads were blocked at times as people stopped cars to run up into small crevices under an overpass. Not only is the overpass unsafe as a shelter, blocking roads denies others the chance to get out of the storm's path, and impedes emergency vehicles from their critical duties!

Wind speeds in tornados can be over 200 mph. These destructive winds produce airborne debris that are blown into and channeled under the overpass where people might try to seek shelter. Debris of varying size and types, including dirt, sand and rocks, moving at incredible speeds can easily penetrate clothing and skin causing serious injuries and possibly death. Very fine debris can also be forced into eyes causing injury or loss of sight. A person could even be blown out or carried away from the overpass by the fierce tornado winds. People positioned at the top of the overpass encounter even high wind speeds and more missile-like debris. Wind direction will also shift abruptly as the tornado passes tossing debris from all sides.

In the 1991 Kansas Turnpike video, the tornado was relatively weak when it passed near the overpass. A stronger tornado striking the overpass directly would likely have caused serious injury to those attempting to find shelter there.

The safest course of action when a tornado approaches is to get out of the tornado’s path, or to seek shelter in a sturdy, well-constructed building. Lying flat in a ditch, ravine, or below grade culvert also offers protection from flying tornadic debris. Do ot try to outrun a tornado in a car. Be aware of your surroundings, check weather forecasts often in changing conditions and take personal responsibility for your own safety. Remember: Overpasses offer no protection from a direct hit from a tornado, and should not be used as shelter.

Tornado Safety-Related Internet Links:

National Weather Service Tornado Safety Brochure:
http://www.nws.noaa.gov/om/brochures/tornado.shtml




More myths about tornadoes.

Not my words but damned salient:

I already said my piece about the decaying infrastructure in this country - the situation is way beyond critical. And nothing will be done about it, because building bridges and overpasses doesn't buy votes. Giving the money that should've have gone to that enterprise and was mandated by law for that enterprise to 'poor' people, after school programs and all the other feel good wastes of money those scum suckers in Washington can dream up, buys votes. By now, you've already heard that the collapsed bridge was deemed 'deficient' several years ago. And yet, it was not due for replacement until 2012 at the earliest. You should have also heard that there are at least 80,000 other bridges in the same, or worse, shape. But let's put that aside.

I am no expert on demolition or explosives but I have had experience in both. I can safely say with no doubt, that I could have brought that bridge down with two backpacks of the appropriate explosives. Next time you see a wide shot from the scene, look closely and you'll notice that there's a very heavily wooded area UNDER and adjacent to the support structure of that bridge. Perfect cover for two guys with backpacks. And, this is not unusual across the land. Do you realize that fifty 2-4 man teams spread out across the infrastructure could destroy enough bridges and tunnels to bring commerce to an immediate halt. Such an action would effectively shutdown every major freeway and railway in the United States. The damage would be so wide spread that crops, meat, health products and all the things you take for granted would be nearly impossible to deliver.

Meanwhile, Congress is concerned about wiretaps. cameras, Miranda rights, freedom of information, 'comprehensive' immigration and the like. Do you see where I'm going with this? While those idiots in DC are arguing about the trappings and the trivial - this nation is so vulnerable that it boggles the mind. You may say that they're all the same, and you'd be almost right. But there is absolutely no doubt that the Democrats will do nothing about anything of substance as regards YOUR security. The Republicans at least go through the motions.

Listen to me very carefully. Republicans brought this nation out of WWII and built all the infrastructure you take for granted. They also established all the intelligence networks you count on for security. And yes, all that building and construction made corporations like Halliburton and Morrison Knudsen filthy rich. Then the Democrats took the reins in 1960, and not a godamnn dime has been spent on the infrastructure since AND they gutted and emasculated the entire intelligence network AND the military starting with the end of Vietnam. They spent all the money that should've gone into Social Security, infrastructure, intelligence, and the military on crap like after school programs and bi-lingual education. And if they win in 2008, they will continue that waste PLUS spend even more on national health care and the like. And they will raise your taxes to do so. That is the truth. There is no denying it. And do what you will with it.

But you think about THAT the next time you drive across a bridge.