Ostensibly Hoops

[hedge]

About 5 seconds after I saw it. What, am I supposed to respond to every post the second after its posted? Do you think I saw it and then spent the next 8 hours researching the pic before coming back with the answer? Do you not think I have better things to do?

[Jungle Rat]

You?

Nope.

[AugustWest]

Sure he does. He was smoking rock and mis-counting hay bales.

[hedge]

Like I said...

[hedge]

For the record, I don't deal in hay, but there's good money in it...

[AugustWest]

spending a late summer throwing hay bales onto a flat bed trailer and then into the upper floor of a barn is one of the best ways to get in shape I know of. That shit will wear you out.

[eCat]

Martin Manley (a blogger and sportswriter in Kansas City) commits suicide and publishes a website dedicated to it after he does it.

http://martinmanley.org/january_1_2012.html

Martin Manley hated waking up early, but on his 60th birthday he did -- or more likely, never went to sleep the night before.

At 5 a.m. he entered a police station parking lot in a suburb of Kansas City, Kansas, walked to a spot beneath a tree on its far south end and pulled out his phone.

He dialed 911.

He said this:

"I want to report a suicide at the south end of the parking lot of the Overland Park Police Station at 123rd and Metcalf."

Then, the blogger and former sports reporter for the Kansas City Star pulled out his Saturday Night Special, a .380 pistol, and shot himself in the head.

The statistics -- Manley loved statistics; his "efficiency index" is still used by the NBA to rate players -- tell us that about 150 other Americans committed suicide that day, that somewhere around 38,000 of them will do so this year.

But chances are none of those people provided the world such a detailed picture of the event, the when, where, why and how of it. Because for more than a year, Manley had been secretly building a sweeping, intricate website that meticulously explained just that. He set it to publish later on the day he died.

[hedge]

Damn, I clicked on the "my IQ" tab on that site and some page came up that said "Page will redirect momentarily" and then went into some message from Anonymous:

Greetings citizens of the world. We are Anonymous.

On the 15th of August, a reporter by the named of Martin Manley decided to take his own life. Before doing so, he decided to leave a memoir in the form of a website (http://martinmanleylifeanddeath.com). We encourage all legion and citizens to view this site if they have not already. It is a in-depth look in to the mind of a man who has lost hope and faith in this world.

As news of this memoir spread across mainstream news the website experienced heavy delays and loads as Yahoo failed to compensate. Even now potential viewers are greeted with a '503 error'.

Anonymous is many things. We are legion. We are empathetic towards all those who have lost faith in the system that is constructed around us. We appreciate all offerings to the internet as the internet is our home and domain. We are here to protect, contain and display all information that can be progressive towards humanity.

We do not, however, condone suicide as means to right the wrongs of the system we live in and we feel strongly for those who have lost in their lives because of it.

Anonymous has lost some of it's own to suicide. Lest we forget Aaron Schwartz.

Thus, we humbly offer a mirror for Martin Manley for all to view and research and learn from. Please consider talking to a loved one before ending your own life.

We are all heroes in our own way.

Don't end your journey.

Suicide Hotlines

Suicide dot ORG

RIP Martin Manley

RIP Aaron Schwartz

RIP all fallen heroes

We are Anonymous. We DO NOT forget. We will not forgive. We are legion. Expect us.

[AlabamAlum]

Selfish. I would hope that if I had no personal reasons to live, and were in good health and finances, that I would dedicate my remaining days and resources to helping others before I slipped so needlessly from this mortal coil.

[AugustWest]

Live your life so your funeral is protested by Westboro Baptist church and you are eulogized by Anonymous. That would be pretty damn strong.

[hedge]

Life is selfish. Evidently death can be, too...

[eCat]

Selfish. I would hope that if I had no personal reasons to live, and were in good health and finances, that I would dedicate my remaining days and resources to helping others before I slipped so needlessly from this mortal coil.

I don't know, I can't help but think my life is just going to be one long depression when I get to the point where you just sit in the chair all day waiting to die because you've outlived your bodies ability to function. 60 is way too young, hell, 60 is the new 40 but I'm not going to expect the guy to go feed the homeless when he's given up on life.

[AlabamAlum]

I guess. I don't know what actual demons he had to slay, but I read his page. He wanted kids and never had them, and then poo-poo'ed that fact. Maybe that was the 'brave face' routine. I guess I bought into his 'I have health and all the money I need but I want to make a name for myself, rail for gun control, and then kill myself before I get senile' shtick.

In retrospect, his page is probably more a huge denial monument to his severe depression.

[eCat]

Hunter S. Thompson did the same thing

but he was kinda a dick about it. Wore his body out - saw that every day was going to be a little worse than the day before and decided to end it.

Made his wife listen to him shoot himself over the phone though. What an ego

[AlabamAlum]

Hemingway killed himself because - among other things - his cat died.

Both had demons. And I guess I shouldn't judge the baseball columnist either.

[AlabamAlum]

When I find myself grappling with depression, I travel. There is something therapeutic about drinking whisky on foreign soil.

[AlabamAlum]

A quick BBC article on the Hemingway cat:


http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-17561467

[AlabamAlum]

I'm surprised he didn't shoot the visitor who trotted out the 'in time to see the great Hemingway cry over having to shoot a cat' line.

[crotch]

60 is way too young, hell, 60 is the new 40 ......

Heh...... I've got a few body parts that would disagree with that statement........

[hedge]

When I visited Hemingway's house in Key West, there were about 10,000 cats running around the propery....