*beg

*promote

For this reason I kinda hope we actually burn through our earthly helium supply ASAP. Then we'd finally have an incentive for urgent planetary exploration that the government understands.

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Wingsuits have already been landed twice without a parachute: once into a giant pile of boxes and another French guy fell into some trees when he stalled out above a forest. Jeb Corliss skipped off a boulder and only broke his legs, which is close enough. However 76 people died - those are pretty shitty odds.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DEP8juRSBRo
http://vimeo.com/50817449
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFk6hxHIR0Q
http://www.blincmagazine.com/forum/wiki/Fatality_Statistics

So I stand by the notion that he was pretty darn close to dying - one might say that he was almost there.

But, if you guys really want to be the semantics police, here are some more illicit video titles for you guys to fix:

http://videosift.com/video/Almost-Died-Whoa-that-was-close-WHOA
http://videosift.com/video/Girl-nearly-gets-decapitated-for-a-photo
http://videosift.com/video/Day-9-Story-Time-How-I-Almost-Died
http://videosift.com/video/Near-death-trainspotter-47-secs

I agree that it's only a matter of time before someone survives another crash, particularly if it is into snow, but first keep in mind that those guys are in a dive and flying closer to 130-140mph and they are also flying head first. Taking a hit in that position would hardly ever be survivable.

Wingsuit terrain flying is kinda an either - or sort of thing. If something goes wrong you either have spectacular footage of a close call and you walk away scot free, or you die. There isn't much middle ground where paramedics would be useful.

This guy was incredibly close to dying pulling a turn like that.

*promote

Yep - I accidentally sifted the subsequent video in the playlist. It's fixed now. Thanks!

*beg

*promote

*promote

who were the other former basketball stars playing?

Mass shootings and irresponsible gun owners represent a small fraction of gun violence and as such they shouldn't be the main justification for gun laws.

The problem is that our gun culture creates an environment that makes illegal guns more available (in Mexico and urban environments, among others), and that it puts guns within reach when someone gets a violent urge (whether against themselves or others).

Laws should be tailored to help gradually change that gun culture over the long term.

Over the long term, the comparative levels of scarcity that would result from a complete hand gun and assault rifle ban would make it difficult for these weapons to play such a common role in violence amongst minorities.

But of course we can't ever ban these weapons because we need to have the option of starting a guerrilla war against the US government in suburban Cleveland - because that's the only way to get rid of tyranny!

I really wouldn't be able to pick Piers Morgan out of a line up. I wrote that first comment over a year ago in the immediate aftermath of the Newtown shooting and it was largely a response to the rhetoric pro-gun advocates were displaying all over my Facebook feed.

What I wrote is not at all an over-reaction to what I saw during that time.

Totally normal and sane friends of mine applauded a ten year old girl who shot and killed a home invader, enthusing that this is how America should be.

Totally normal and sane friends of mine waxed romantic about how concealing and carrying a weapon transforms a vanilla suburban dining experience into a potential battlefield. Whereas most people get lost in one of the many flat screen TVs at an Applebees, they spend their time sizing up potential adversaries and keep close tabs on every exit as they feel the reassuring bulge of their Glock at their side.

I totally agree that most of these guys will never end up needing to use their weapons in an adversarial situation, and I totally agree that these guys are responsible gun owners if responsible gun ownership is defined by a safe stewardship of the guns you acquire, but that is not the point that I'm trying to make.

The problem is that these sorts of people and the gun culture they have created has an enormous impact on the type of gun laws we pass. This wouldn't be a problem if they were coming from a place that wasn't obsessive and wasn't paranoid and wasn't delusional, but they are and this is unfortunate because it enables and accentuates much of the violence you lament in inner city culture.