The Mayberry volunteer firefighters were called to action as the Mayberry firefighters had to disband due to lack of funding. The dead child had to be transported on a bicycle built for two as the emergency staff had been cut to one full time employee. In another note the Governors personal jet is due to land in Dubai for his bi-monthly week vacation. No plans to return have been announced.
@unkbob – A child died; have a heart. There’s a time and a place for focusing on political & social issues with satire – this is not one of them.
I know this is a political site, but really, your comments seem inappropriate. The inclusion of this article itself on TPM is questionable (the fact that it’s a someone’s son who is involved in politics seems a long reach).
Yea kind of agree about not making fun of a death especially a kids death. As far as TMP post they pretty much always post some on the face non-political articles that could entail politics as far as legislating safety etc.
Also weird for me to wake up to this after a day with the wife and kids at Carowinds amusement park. They have water slides but we didn’t do them, just the roller coasters. Would have been nice heat wise, but we were a bit hesitant to mix it up in the water with other folks due to the recent issue at another NC water park!
This is just incredibly sad.
Not funny.
Politics is about the polis and its creatures, reflected in the rules we make in the process of living together sharing space and resources. It is concerning that the child was allowed on the ride. The age confusion – he was actually 10, though first reported as 12 – when the age restrictions for the ride required riders to be 14. His family was with him at the park, this article says. The ride stated it was not designed for children, but for thrill-seeking adults. This is an incident where all the safeguards failed. How did this happen?
But there’s always time and place for libs to suddenly get superstitious and pious because that “makes them the better person” or some such self-aggrandizing holier-than-thou nonsense. Ranks up there with “thoughts and prayers.”
He wrote what he wrote. BFD.
Feel free to flag.
It sounds like we are going to discover this was the result of poor ride design.
No flag, just ignore.
From the Washington Post:
Jeff Henry was at a trade show when he decided he wanted to build the tallest, fastest waterslide in the world, according to CNN.
“The world’s largest slide had been in Brazil, and we couldn’t have that,” he told USA Today. “I’m from Texas. It was a matter of pride.”
Henry reportedly chose Kansas City because of its lax height restrictions.
I don’t even know what to say about that.
I think it is a clear example of GOP states successfully barring regulations that ensure the safety of businesses (because those regulations kill jobs). I’m willing to bet that this GOP legislator will now be more circumspect about allowing business to pursue profit in an unregulated fashion. Amusement park rides are quite dangerous and this has been upheld by many studies… That we don’t regulate those dangers (given the large number of minors that can be impacted) is much sadder than this one boys death (which very sad).
I didn’t see anything about an age restriction, only a height restriction (54 inches). The average 10 yo boy is 58" tall, but this is not the critical data, as per the article. The ride is tested with weighted bags (which are most likely not 58" tall) and thus weight of rider is most likely a more relevant variable for determining escape velocity than height of rider. Of course, in regulation-free Kansas, this discussion of facts is secondary to generation of profit.
Will be interesting all around to see what the investigation comes up with. Investigations and lawsuits seem to be our form of quality control since gov agencies have been hamstrung by lack of funds. As for the weight restrictions vs age, yep. Can’t argue with physics. As for age, I’d only say that there is a psychological component to making judgments about danger, real and imagined, and how its experience might shape the psyche.