Thinning the Herd
Recurring Themes: A 19-year-old man in San Jose, Calif., became one of the latest to pay the ultimate price for attempting to clear a jam in a wood chipper by stomping down on the debris with his foot (November). And Albania's most wanted criminal, Riza Malaj, fatally underestimated the length of fuse he would need while dynamite-fishing for trout near Tirana (April). And a Salem, Ala., man became the most recent to fatally miscalculate the danger in trying to steal copper wire from inside an electrical substation (March). [San Francisco Chronicle, 11-9-04] [Reuters, 4-8-05] [Opelika-Auburn News, 3-19-05]

The old wood chipper. Ouch that is going to leave a mark. [img]smile.gif[/img]

These are fine examples of human stupidity.

Dinamite fishing?!?

I can't be positive, but I think dynamite fishing is when you throw a stick of dynamite into water where fish are, and the explosion kills 'em or knocks 'em out, and you just pluck the fish out of the water.

When I was a teenager, I did this with some fireworks (actually, I just threw an M-80 into a pond, not thinking I'd get a fish), but I can't imagine how powerful it would be with dynamite. I mean... I wouldn't think there would be any fish left!

I wonder if it is legal to fish in that manner. I mean maybe that’s why he was “Albania’s most wanted criminal.” [img]graemlins/happyteeth.gif[/img]

I think they showed Mick fishing that way at the beginning of Crocodile Dundee II...

I believe it's actually an illegal method to fish in a lot of countries. Especially near coral reefs.

Yes, dynamite fishing is illegal. But unscruplous people still use it. Easy to catch fish they say.

By the way, in reality he should have OVER-estimated the length of fuse needed, becuase then the dynamite would have detonated earlier then expected, leaving one of the world's dumbest criminals 'up s@#t creek'.

Oh no. I just re-read it.

I thought the thing read that he underestimated the amount of fuse he had, where i would have said that he had overestimated it.

goddamit.

My uncle recently told me about his first day in shop class at school. His shop teacher, showing the students how to use the wood chipper, cut his finger off while looking my uncle in the eye, saying "be sure to keep your eyes on the machine".

Scary.