Stupid things said on TV (1 Viewer)

[Holadem]

You have got to be fecking kidding me. Sorry, but this is right up there with anything in this thread.

--
H

 

[brentl]

"Some say the volcano had grown 300 feet, that's as high as a 30 story building"

It seems like a very obvious statement to me!

Brent

 

[Kirk Gunn]

Something us After Hours dudes can relate to:

"Some say the volcano had grown 300 feet, that's as high as 2,100,348 silica packets stacked on top of each other !"

 

[DaveF]

But it's not obvious to everyone, which is why the reporter said it. And obvious is not the same as stupid, especially for an explanatory comment for a very large and diverse audience.

 

[Chris_Morris]

Lightning can strike 10+ miles away, in front of or even behind the storm. One of the neatest pictures I have seen is of a giant storm with a bolt arcing out and striking about 10 miles behind the storm, under clear blue skies.


Chris

 

[John_Bonner]

quote: But it's not obvious to everyone, which is why the reporter said it. And obvious is not the same as stupid, especially for an explanatory comment for a very large and diverse audience.

Just like when 100 yard increments are referred to as "football fields" as in:



"The parade stretched for 500 yards, which is the same as 5 football fields"

 

[Lee L]

Actually, most office buildings allow about 12-13 feet from the surface of one floor to the surface of another, so most of these xx stories tall things are wrong anyway.

 

[Tim Hoover]

I believe the "30 stories" and "5 football fields" expressions are used to give people a sense of scale. Most people just cannot adequately picture something described as 500 yards long, but they will get a better sense of the distance when it's described as 5 football fields, because they've seen a football field quite often.

Holadem, air temperature IS related to the speed of sound. Air pressure plays the biggest factor in the actual speed of sound, and since pressure is proportional to temperature, it would logically follow that air temperature affects the speed...

 

[Matt Birchall]

"This is not good news."



--A local news reporter, on the discovery of a brutally-murdered woman in the woman's home.



And anything that comes out of this guy's mouth:

 

[Holadem]

quote:Holadem, air temperature IS related to the speed of sound. Air pressure plays the biggest factor in the actual speed of sound, and since pressure is proportional to temperature, it would logically follow that air temperature affects the speed...

I never said it wasn't, though I see how you could get that from the way I replied.



My point is, all those factors (and there are many more I am sure) are negligible in the case of a layman trying to ESTIMATE the distance of a lighning bolt.



Even if we weren't approximating, I strongly suspect that the laws governing an open, complex, dynamic and large scale system like a thunderstorm (or any other weather system) go beyond the simple relationships of sealed, self-contained systems established in Physics 101 (gas laws I believe they are called).



--

H

 

[Chris]

Ok, a doozy tonight, describing a high-speed police chase in which an innocent bystander was killed after they tried to go through an intersection:



"This was not what the police wanted to happen"



Well, I assume not. I mean, I can't think the police were sitting there saying "what would be good is if one of thse bystander people lept into the intersection, they get killed, and it sends both of us to the hospital"

 

[Patrick_L]

so...the cop mowed over said pedestrian? interesting how the "bystander" couldn't hear the siren(s)?

 

[Chris]

No, the way I got the story was a high speed chase went through an area and a car pulled out through an intersection and got plowed.

 

[Patrick_L]

quote:"what would be good is if one of thse bystander people lept into the intersection, they get killed, and it sends both of us to the hospital"

that statement implies that the cop hit them. also, that quote says "lept" into the intersection which means the person was on foot.

 

[Tim Hoover]

quote:all those factors (and there are many more I am sure) are negligible in the case of a layman trying to ESTIMATE the distance of a lighning bolt.

Okay, Holadem, I'm with you know

 

[Chris]

Correct, I used the wrong terminology, my apologies. Someone drove out into the intersection.

 

[Kevin M]

quote:What's important to remember to pass a ballot initiative is that more people have to vote FOR it then AGAINST it.

......oh, reeeeeeally?
I understand the need to represent scale to a layman with comparable terms such as football fields and 30 story buildings but.......what fuggin moron doesn't understand that if..........if.........ugg.