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Strange Deaths

How did they not realize she'd be swept away if this is a river?
(Sorry, couldn't watch, too close to watching someone commit suicide for me.)
I'd say it was Darwinism in action, except the poor woman had already passed on her genes.
I did not watch the video for the same reason. It is enough to know that it happened without seeing it for myself.
YouTube footage, as you might expect, appears to be slanted towards younger ladies in bathing costumes and skimpy clinging shifts - there's a lot of that out there - so it took a little while to find a more objective explanatory article.
Ah yes, I also diligently watched 15 hours of footage of young ladies in bathing costumes and skimpy clinging shifts before finally stumbling over the detailed factual analysis I was seeking.
cutting the ice hole in a river with a ripcurrent underneath does seem to be negligent, and definitely puts a lot in the hands of God.
Pedantry alert: just a current, not a rip current. Rip currents are found at beaches where a wave breaks along part of the length of a beach and the water is then funnelled back into the sea by the contours of the beach to form a single narrow, fast and powerful current away from the beach.
I noticed how that frogman wasn't as keen.
Frogman? Last time I saw a "frogman", eggs was fourpence a loaf. It's all yer scuba divers now. :)
 
Ah yes, I also diligently watched 15 hours of footage of young ladies in bathing costumes and skimpy clinging shifts before finally stumbling over the detailed factual analysis I was seeking.



:)
Be fair, for every Olga Korbut or Anna Kournikova, there's a tractor-driver or a shot-putter. For every Vasilisa, there is a Babayaga. It isn't all fun on youtube!
 
YouTube footage, as you might expect, appears to be slanted towards younger ladies in bathing costumes and skimpy clinging shifts
Industrial analyst Ivan Nikiforovich Rubashechnyi was at a loss to explain the marked uptick in visits to his website examining Post-Soviet shift patterns.
 
Fron Yakutsk in Siberia, a place where even other Russians consider the locals take it to extremes. I gather everywhere else in Russia considers Yakutsk to be a little bit odd. Ice-bathing is done here at -50, not for religious reasons, but because it is thought to be healthy. YouTube video carefully curated for visual impact.

 
And this is the religious version, showing an individual who is considered attractive by many, undergoing the epiphany ritual immersion to set a good example, and to honour the Russian God

 
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I was reminded of the description by Casanova in his autobiography one January visiting the River Neva in North-West Russia. A hole was cut in the thick ice over the river, and the priest was baptising newly-born children by immersion. Apparently with his hands getting wet, one unfortunate infant slipped through his fingers and was immediately swept away in the iced-up river beyond hope of rescue. The priest simply shouted “Next!” but what Casanova found strangest of all was the reaction of the parents. Far from being upset, they were joyful that their child, having died at such a holy moment, was certain to have attained heavenly bliss for eternity.
 
I was reminded of the description by Casanova in his autobiography one January visiting the River Neva in North-West Russia. A hole was cut in the thick ice over the river, and the priest was baptising newly-born children by immersion. Apparently with his hands getting wet, one unfortunate infant slipped through his fingers and was immediately swept away in the iced-up river beyond hope of rescue. The priest simply shouted “Next!” but what Casanova found strangest of all was the reaction of the parents. Far from being upset, they were joyful that their child, having died at such a holy moment, was certain to have attained heavenly bliss for eternity.
The Neva is the local river for Leningrad/St Petersburg, and is in the same geographical region as that of the lady who immersed herself into the river and never came up again (the one that started ths sub-thread off). Must be something in the water.
 
The benefits of ice bathing and cold exposure in general are expounded by Wim Hof.

https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

But the religious dips must surely be done with minimising risk, most of Russia will be aware of this now.
 
The benefits of ice bathing and cold exposure in general are expounded by Wim Hof.

https://www.wimhofmethod.com/

But the religious dips must surely be done with minimising risk, most of Russia will be aware of this now.
Having lived abroad, I can say that not every country has the same obsession with risk avoidance that we have in the UK. It's a cultural thing. In places where life is cheap, people take more risks.
 
Having lived abroad, I can say that not every country has the same obsession with risk avoidance that we have in the UK. It's a cultural thing. In places where life is cheap, people take more risks.
I once watched them building a second storey concrete floor in Egypt. A young lad, about 12 years old on the ground (wearing flip-flops and a galabeya) was mixing the concrete in a mixer, then he'd tip it into a steel bath and it shot up rails onto the deck of the house for the other guys to spread out. I expected to see arms and legs everywhere when I went back later on.
 
I once watched them building a second storey concrete floor in Egypt. A young lad, about 12 years old on the ground (wearing flip-flops and a galabeya) was mixing the concrete in a mixer, then he'd tip it into a steel bath and it shot up rails onto the deck of the house for the other guys to spread out. I expected to see arms and legs everywhere when I went back later on.
Back in the late 1990s in Chiapas, Mexico, I took an excursion to some Maya ruins in the jungle. Chiapas was still experiencing Zapatista guerrilla attacks, so the 4WD from the tour company (containing me and 3 other tourists) was accompanied by a police car and an army pick-up. The 4WD ran out of petrol, so a 16-year old army conscript (who looked a very cynical 14) jumped out of the army truck, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, grabbed a petrol can and a funnel, and proceeded to fill our vehicle, still smoking. Fiery death hovered nearby but didn't strike. Now it makes me think of that scene in the beginning of Zoolander...
 
Back in the late 1990s in Chiapas, Mexico, I took an excursion to some Maya ruins in the jungle. Chiapas was still experiencing Zapatista guerrilla attacks, so the 4WD from the tour company (containing me and 3 other tourists) was accompanied by a police car and an army pick-up. The 4WD ran out of petrol, so a 16-year old army conscript (who looked a very cynical 14) jumped out of the army truck, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, grabbed a petrol can and a funnel, and proceeded to fill our vehicle, still smoking. Fiery death hovered nearby but didn't strike. Now it makes me think of that scene in the beginning of Zoolander...
Are you Indiana Jones?!
 
Back in the late 1990s in Chiapas, Mexico, I took an excursion to some Maya ruins in the jungle. Chiapas was still experiencing Zapatista guerrilla attacks, so the 4WD from the tour company (containing me and 3 other tourists) was accompanied by a police car and an army pick-up. The 4WD ran out of petrol, so a 16-year old army conscript (who looked a very cynical 14) jumped out of the army truck, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, grabbed a petrol can and a funnel, and proceeded to fill our vehicle, still smoking. Fiery death hovered nearby but didn't strike. Now it makes me think of that scene in the beginning of Zoolander...
Israeli humour (Hebrew not needed);
 
Back in the late 1990s in Chiapas, Mexico, I took an excursion to some Maya ruins in the jungle. Chiapas was still experiencing Zapatista guerrilla attacks, so the 4WD from the tour company (containing me and 3 other tourists) was accompanied by a police car and an army pick-up. The 4WD ran out of petrol, so a 16-year old army conscript (who looked a very cynical 14) jumped out of the army truck, lit cigarette hanging out of his mouth, grabbed a petrol can and a funnel, and proceeded to fill our vehicle, still smoking. Fiery death hovered nearby but didn't strike. Now it makes me think of that scene in the beginning of Zoolander...
Could the FWD have been diesel-powered? If so, the fuelling-while-smoking process may not have been as dangerous as it looked.
 
I thought the same thing. I don't know much about guns but I'm guessing the wall wasn't solid stone or brick, which I'd have thought would have lowered the velocity by quite an amount.
There are weapons that can shoot through brick walls (i.e. 'anti-materiel' rifles, which are typically .50 cal) - but I suspect it was probably a building mostly made of wood, hence the ease of penetration.
 
There are weapons that can shoot through brick walls (i.e. 'anti-materiel' rifles, which are typically .50 cal) - but I suspect it was probably a building mostly made of wood, hence the ease of penetration.
During the Troubles in Northern Ireland, British Army bullets would cut through walls like they weren't there - I remember reading about a little boy killed in his flat by army gunfire that tore through his building, the account I read was quite graphic, horrible.
 
Yes, I think Max has some 'gen' on shooting through stuff.
AFAIK a regular handgun or small calibre rifle will not penetrate a typical UK brick wall, but anything of a larger size has a fairly decent chance of getting through a single bond of bricks. Cavity walls not so much.
 
An Australian man was killed when he allegedly drove over a speed bump and apparently triggered an explosive vest he was wearing.
Australian reportedly killed when explosive vest detonates

Police say they are investigating the death of a man who was reportedly killed when an explosive vest he was wearing detonated while he was driving his car in a suburban street in the Australian city of Melbourne

By ROD McGUIRK Associated Press January 24, 2022, 5:27 PM

Police said on Tuesday they were investigating the death of a man who was reportedly killed when an explosive vest he was wearing detonated while he was driving his car in a suburban street in the Australian city of Melbourne.

The vest was understood to have been triggered by the car hitting a speed bump ...

Security camera video showed the flash of the explosion rise about the car's roof and from the driver’s side window. A speed bump wasn't apparent in the video.

The car continued to travel a few hundred meters before it hit a parked vehicle ...

A 43-year-old man from the suburb of Dandenong was found dead inside his car, which also contained “explosive items,” police said. Police have not released his name.

“Bomb Response Unit members attended due to explosive items located inside the vehicle and it took a considerable amount of time for the Bomb Response Unit to render these items safe " ...

“The circumstances surrounding his death are under investigation by the Arson and Explosives Squad and it is not being treated as suspicious,” police said. The term “not suspicious” means police do not consider the man was a victim of a crime. ...

Police did not say where the man was heading. He had visited the home of his ex-partner immediately before his death ...
FULL STORY: https://abcnews.go.com/Internationa...edly-killed-explosive-vest-detonates-82448295
 
Other sources call the device a 'homemade bomb'. There is speculation about where he was going with it.

Yep - I suspect there's an interesting - and possibly convoluted - back story waiting to be uncovered in all this.

Someone's had a lucky escape.

Whoever it was, it wasn't him.
 
Yes, I think Max has some 'gen' on shooting through stuff.
AFAIK a regular handgun or small calibre rifle will not penetrate a typical UK brick wall, but anything of a larger size has a fairly decent chance of getting through a single bond of bricks. Cavity walls not so much.

A lengthy presentation by an ex-Green Beret and a US Navy SEAL on the effect of various projectiles on different wall types. FF to 2:50 for the info:


maximus otter
 
Yeah interesting. So bottom line really is that it is only the larger projectiles that will make it through brick walls.
Also interesting that US construction techniques clearly differ from UK ones quite significantly sometimes.
I would have thought the 'dry wall' (plasterboard) would offer little resistance to anything really, seeing as I fell against a plasterboard wall once and my hand went straight through it and out the other side.
I remember seeing something once about how tank armour is made and they pointed out that they incorporate cavities in the armour as these slow down projectiles by dissipating the energy with each subsequent impact with the next layer, rather than one solid piece that can fragment when hit.
 
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