The NRA strikes again: Golden Gate Bridge board OKs $76 million for suicide barrier
But not anymore: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-going-to-get-suicide-nets-5585482.php
Of course, we have the gun lobby to thank. Step by step, they are lobbying to get rid of all the non-gun related suicide options. Wanna kill yourself? Better get a gun! The Golden Gate bridge provided a safe and beautiful opportunity to end your life. An integral part of the American Dream since 1937, the Golden Gate bridge was a possbile end point in the far west for a journey that, for many, started with the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the very east of this country. If you didn't make it big, looking for opportunity state-by-state from east to west, at least you were provided with the most beautiful suicide option on the planet. Dropping into the pacific ocean at sundown, it was peacful and poetic.
It was also free. And, in the former "land of the Free", we can't have that anymore. If you want something, you better pay for it. Buy a gun. So now, I might have to do just that. But the idea of splattering my brains all over the walls of a cheap Las Vegas motel is not exactly my idea of ending a massive downswing. After this suicide net is installed, Vegas, and even America, will never be the same again. Thanks, NRA.
Quote: CanyoneroIf I were to lose it all in Vegas, until now, there was always the option of taking the trip to SFO and going out in style.
But not anymore: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-going-to-get-suicide-nets-5585482.php
Of course, we have the gun lobby to thank. Step by step, they are lobbying to get rid of all the non-gun related suicide options. Wanna kill yourself? Better get a gun! The Golden Gate bridge provided a safe and beautiful opportunity to end your life. An integral part of the American Dream since 1937, the Golden Gate bridge was a possbile end point in the far west for a journey that, for many, started with the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the very east of this country. If you didn't make it big, looking for opportunity state-by-state from east to west, at least you were provided with the most beautiful suicide option on the planet. Dropping into the pacific ocean at sundown, it was peacful and poetic.
It was also free. And, in the former "land of the Free", we can't have that anymore. If you want something, you better pay for it. Buy a gun. So now, I might have to do just that. But the idea of splattering my brains all over the walls of a cheap Las Vegas motel is not exactly my idea of ending a massive downswing. After this suicide net is installed, Vegas, and even America, will never be the same again. Thanks, NRA.
These nets going up - spring breakers will use them as hazing rites.....I'll bet on this....
Quote: PaigowdanThese nets going up - spring breakers will use them as hazing rites.....I'll bet on this....
Actually, I wouldn't be surprised if one of the real reasons for the nets (as opposed to a fence) is to prevent something similar to this that has been happening for at least 40 years. Not many people know this, but the bridge already has nets in place to catch painters who fall (the nets may be left over from when the bridge was first built), and thrillseekers have been known to go to the bridge at night and jump into them (and then climb back out, of course). I have a feeling the new nets will include 24-hour surveillance cameras that will not only watch for suicide jumpers but the thrillseeking kind as well.
Quote: Dicenor33Cleaning blood and brains, aftermath of a suicide, becomes a good business. Do they use Clorox ?
Does that answer your question?
Lord, I'm bored...
Quote: Dicenor33Cleaning blood and brains, aftermath of a suicide, becomes a good business. Do they use Clorox ?
Wet 'n' Dry Vac from Sears....
Edit: graveyard humor can get too dark...there are outfits that come in and handle these tragic things, and I really cannot suppose what their technical specs are.
Quote: Dicenor33Cleaning blood and brains, aftermath of a suicide, becomes a good business. Do they use Clorox ?
Probably something equally as simple.
First, a large bag. In it goes the body, parts, or internals that still have integrity (see also: ain't mush).
A large bucket or drum. In it goes fluids, greases, and organs which have lost integrity.
You need some sort of shovel for the gelatinous bits (putrefied organs, congealed blood, etc), some sort of scraper to get the dried stuff off the floor / wall, some sort of knife / saw to remove ruined drywall / carpets. Hospital grade disinfectants (Clorox may work, but it might ruin whatever you're trying to clean. Off cement? It'll work). Some hardcore deodorizer (not Febreeze), some solvent (to get the stubborn bits), and CDC level HazMat gear. All that, several hours, and a bunch of elbow grease makes the scene good as knew.
Anything remaining after all that requires a different type of cleanser.
wait until the nets fail and someone still dies and then the family sues the bridge board.
Quote: CanyoneroIf I were to lose it all in Vegas, until now, there was always the option of taking the trip to SFO and going out in style.
But not anymore: http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Golden-Gate-Bridge-going-to-get-suicide-nets-5585482.php
Of course, we have the gun lobby to thank. Step by step, they are lobbying to get rid of all the non-gun related suicide options. Wanna kill yourself? Better get a gun! The Golden Gate bridge provided a safe and beautiful opportunity to end your life. An integral part of the American Dream since 1937, the Golden Gate bridge was a possbile end point in the far west for a journey that, for many, started with the first glimpse of the Statue of Liberty in the very east of this country. If you didn't make it big, looking for opportunity state-by-state from east to west, at least you were provided with the most beautiful suicide option on the planet. Dropping into the pacific ocean at sundown, it was peacful and poetic.
It was also free. And, in the former "land of the Free", we can't have that anymore. If you want something, you better pay for it. Buy a gun. So now, I might have to do just that. But the idea of splattering my brains all over the walls of a cheap Las Vegas motel is not exactly my idea of ending a massive downswing. After this suicide net is installed, Vegas, and even America, will never be the same again. Thanks, NRA.
I read most of the link and it just pisses me off.
All the survivors all think its all about them and spend these mega millions so no one else has to go thru with what they suffered, blah blah.
I think you humourously stated the NRA wins because the only suicide left was by gun. And then following gallows humor.
Does anyone consider the suffering of the person that made a rational choice to end their own life? I've heard that called cowardice. I don't see it that way. I had a friend lately who went through the Oregon state "death with dignity" program and ended his life. He owned plenty of guns, that wasn't his chosen method of leaving. It makes a heck of a mess. It isn't always successful and the families suffer as well. The bridge was a pretty clean way out and the corpse drifts out to sea and feeds the fish, mostly no harm done. Splat on a sidewalk from a tall building not so much. Not to mention maybe landing on someone and the trauma of the next passers by.
I do believe that a persons opinion of what they would do under the same circumstances can be drastically different when they are right up against it themselves. When there is distance between a person and their eventual demise all kind of brave statements can be spoken. When you have twenty seconds or twenty months your opinion will probably change.
Hasn't anyone here ever thought about how they would end their life if they decided to do it themselves? Typically guns for men and pills for women. Both of those methods have had a lot of failures. Then there is some real stuff to deal with as it is illegal in many states to commit suicide and NO one will ever look at you the same or try to understand why.
Quote: petroglyphI read most of the link and it just pisses me off.
Agreed. Since you took the "rights" route, I'll take "common sense".
$75,000,000. And that's not a one time cost. You have maintenance of the net. You have maintenance of surveillance. You have someone to man it. You have maintenance of the retrieval device. Someone to man it. Etc and so on.
According to Wiki, the most deaths in one month was 10, in Aug 2013. Using that MAX number, that's 120 a year. The real number is obviously less.
Imagine if that $75mm plus had been spent on something else. You know, a real problem. How many lives could be saved with $75mm?
Bah. Forgot the GGB was in SanFran, which is in Cali. Silly me, trying common sense in Cali. Forget I was even here =p
Quote: GWAEif someone wants to kill themselves I am pretty sure nets are not going to stop that. They will just find another way. What a waste of money.
wait until the nets fail and someone still dies and then the family sues the bridge board.
The theory is, if it looks like it's going to be much harder to actually kill yourself than you first thought, then you just might decide not to do it. I don't think there's anything stopping somebody who really wants to die from jumping into the nets, then jumping from the nets themselves into the water - or from jumping from the new walkway on the eastern part of the Bay Bridge, for that matter.
Quote: DeucekiesWhy a net? Why not a plexiglass wall like I've seen on many other bridges?
Any fence would alter the view (both of the bridge and from it) - and this is the Golden Gate Bridge, after all. There's a reason that, for many years, it was the only bridge over SF Bay Area that you could walk across, despite the fact that the winds probably made it the least safe to do so. At least one long-sitting member of the bridge's board of directors that voted for the nets made it clear he would vote against any fence-style barrier.
There's already a fence near the southern end of the bridge; I think it's there to prevent things from falling over the side and onto the land below it.
Quote: JohnnyQI also wonder if the money could be put to better use on funding for Mental Health programs, Counseling, etc, etc. Try to address the fundamental root causes.
The money in question doesn't belong to a federal or even state agency - it pretty much has to be used on the bridge, or on the bridge district's bus and ferry systems. (I for one would like to see somebody get to work on making the lower deck usable by cars. Most people don't realize the bridge has 6 10-foot-wide lanes, no shoulders, and no permanent barrier dividing the opposite lanes of traffic (it can't have a permanent one as the middle two lanes have to change directions every workday to handle the commute).)
There are already phones along the walkway for potential jumpers to talk to crisis management centers and counselors. However, there will always be some cases where the reason for jumping can't be talked out of someone. There was an incident about 20 years ago when a radio talk show host jumped unexpectedly; it turned out he was something like $4 million in debt.
