Going on a cruise can be an incredible getaway from the stresses of life on the mainland. However, that doesn’t mean there isn’t an element of danger when living on a ship 200-plus feet high, traveling up to 35 miles per hour and subject to the whims of the sea.
An average of about 19 people go overboard every year, and only around 28% survive. Cruise ship lawyerSpencer Aronfeld explained the phenomenon in a viral TikTok video, in which he also revealed the secret code the crew uses when tragedy happens.
“Here’s a secret most cruise lines don’t want you to know,” Aronfeld begins his video. “About 1 to 2 passengers a month are reported as missing or, man overboard, major cruise lines.” He adds that even though ships have radar systems that can detect when something has fallen off the boat there are a lot of false alarms caused by garbage, luggage and even deckchairs that people have thrown off the ship.
Further, after someone goes over the rail, the ship continues to move, so it is nearly impossible to find the overboard passenger who is probably seriously injured from the fall. “The truth is that by the time a passenger is reported missing and has gone overboard, there is likely no chance that passenger will survive and no chance that the ship will ever find them,” Aronfeld says.
Aronfeld concluded the video by sharing the secret code that cruise lines use when someone has gone overboard. “Code Oscar. Code Oscar. That’s how you know that a passenger has been reported as having gone overboard,” Aronfeld said.
Just minutes before 1:30am on March 26, shortly after leaving port in Baltimore Harbor, a cargo ship named Dali lost power and control of its steering, sending it careening into a structural pillar on Key Bridge. The crew of the Dali issued a mayday call at 1:26am to alert authorities of the power failure, giving responders crucial moments to prepare for a potential collision. Just 90 seconds later, the ship hit a pylon, triggering a total collapse of the 1.6-mile bridge into the Patapsco River.
Dispatch audio of those moments shows the calm professionalism and quick actions that limited the loss of life in an unexpected situation where every second counted.
In the recording of the conversation, we can hear authorities and responders quickly putting out a call to stop traffic onto the bridge and assessing what construction crew might be working on the bridge. No one knew that the entire bridge was going to collapse into the harbor, only that a possibility for collision was present. As one officer plans to drive onto the bridge to alert the construction workers, a voice announces, “The whole bridge just fell down. Start, start whoever, everybody … the whole bridge just collapsed.”
Listen:
It had to have been surreal to witness the bridge collapsing in its entirety. In the initial news reports it was unclear how much warning had been received, and at first it was feared that passengers traveling across the bridge may have fallen into the water. But as we gained a clearer picture of the moments before the accident, it’s clear that the everyday workers in the harbor and the first responders who were nearby to receive instruction did everything they could, and their calm professionalism and quick actions saved lives.
As we go about our daily lives, it’s easy to forget that there are countless workers who are chugging away behind the scenes to keep things running smoothly. Our systems of transportation, our supply chains, the safety of our roads and bridges—all of these things require people to be on the job, doing what needs to be done, establishing, maintaining and following protocols that keep all the moving parts harmonized. When it’s done well, we don’t even notice it—their work becomes invisible.
But when something goes wrong, when a wrench gets thrown into the system—like a massive, unsteerable cargo ship about to crash into a bridge—we see how valuable those systems are and how regulation and oversight of such systems is so important.
2/ Police dispatched with just a few crisp phrasesu2014ship has lost steering, close the bridge to trafficu2014and race to do just that.nnNo time for confusion. No time for u2026 u2018What do you mean, close the bridge? Who says?u2019nn4 minutes, alert to collapse.nnBridge successfully closedu2026nnu2014>
— (@)
As Charles Fishman pointed out on X, “A system worked—a government system. All those people just ordinary frontline workers in anonymous, sometimes invisible jobs. Maritime radio operators. Police/fire dispatchers. Bridge police & state police. All working 11p to 7a o’night shift.”
“All day, every day—that happens & we don’t see it,” he added.
Of course, the construction crew members who lost their lives, along with the two crew who were rescued from the water, will be remembered as biggest loss as the daunting bridge rebuilding process gets underway. The Key Bridge collapse is an unfathomable tragedy, but one that could have been even more tragic had it not been for the systems and people working as they’re supposed to. Kudos to those life-saving heroes.
Yale University and the University of Idaho could not be more different. Ivy League vs. state school. East Coast vs. Pacific Northwest. City vs. farm town. But in the first two rounds of the NCAA basketball tournament, extenuating circumstances brought them together as one, with the Bulldogs and the Vandals becoming the “Vandogs” for a weekend.
When University of Idaho athletic band director Spencer Martin got wind of the need less than a week before Yale’s game against Auburn, he sent out a message to his band members asking if anyone would be interested in stepping in. The response was a wave of immediate yeses, so Martin got to work arranging instruments and the students dedicated themselves to learning Yale’s fight song and other traditional Yale pep songs.
Idaho band members even reached out to Yale band members via social media to get tips and asked the spirit squad for suggestions for making their “Vandogs” performance the best it could be. Yale also sent spirit gear with the big yellow Y for Yale for them to wear.
“Everyone was really enthusiastic about covering for the Yale students who couldn’t make it,” Martin told the Yale Daily News. “Universities help universities, and bands help bands.”
That genuine act of sportsmanship and camaraderie touched people across the nation, much to the delight of the students.
“’Look Mom, I’m on ESPN,’” Martin told The Spokesman-Review, quoting his students. “You’re a farm kid in the middle of a farm town. How often do you get that? Never.”
And people loved seeing it as well.
“Kudos to the University of Idaho band! Band kids are the greatest!” wrote one commenter.
“Awesome job Idaho..this is a perfect example of true sportsmanship!!” shared another.
“This is such a great show of collegiate athletics and why they are important! Well done!” shared another.
It’s hard not to catch the energy of the tournament, as the Vandogs found out.
“It was awesome watching them play,” Idaho grad student Cody Barrick, who plays the tenor saxophone, told ESPN. “We were right on our feet with everyone else at the end there cheering them on for sure.”
And as it turned out, the pep in Yale’s step did seem to be extra “on” during that first game. The Bulldogs went into the tournament as an underdog, with #4 Auburn being their first competitor, but they pulled off a dramatic upset that moved them to the next round.
So not only did Idaho’s band play for them that first Friday game, but they also drove the 90 miles to Spokane again the following Sunday night for Yale’s second round game against San Diego State.
“If you choose the Vandal band, you know that it’s going to come through,” he told the Spokesman-Review. “It always has. That’s the tradition. There was no doubt that we would come through for them.”
An English doctor named Edward Jenner took incredible risks to try to rid his world of smallpox. Because of his efforts and the efforts of scientists like him, the only thing between deadly diseases like the ones below and extinction are people who refuse to vaccinate their kids. Don’t be that parent.
Wellness involves a lot of personal choices and the tradeoff between personal liberty and shared public good.
Measles is the starkest example. There were about 61 cases of measles in all of 2012, but in just the first seven months of 2014, there have been nearly 600.
As this chart shows, vaccinations are not like taxes rates or even freedom of speech. The impact of one’s personal health choices can have a significant impact on the population around them, in their communities and even on a national level. It makes that trade-off all the more complicated and one not easily distilled into one convenient political or religious ideology.
Obviously, the topic of vaccinations has become immensely more complicated since the onset of COVID-19 in 2020. But history teaches us valuable lessons and information is power. No matter how you feel about vaccines today, this chart is a reminder that medical science can be used for incredible good. Without breakthrough vaccinations in the past, many of us would likely not be here to have the debate about our personal choices now and into the future.
This article originally appeared on 11.21.14 and this infographic is based on data from 2012.
If you weren’t living under a rock in the 2010s, you’re probably familiar with the phrase “live, laugh, love.” The motivational slogan was pervasive in everything from home decor to clothing, and even became a popular tattoo. It eventually became so ubiquitous that it became “cringe,” but with Chastity Belt’s upcoming fifth studio album Live Laugh Love, the Pacific Northwest-based rock band is embracing the cringe. They’re reclaiming the phrase and using it to describe how grateful they feel to still be making music together after over a decade as a band.
On the upcoming album, which drops Friday, Chastity Belt approached making music with vigor, levity, and compassion. But as a whole, the record is about celebrating their friendship and their time making music in the studio together. And that sense of playfulness can be heard in the grunge-inspired melodies throughout the album. On catchy tracks like “Hallow,” “Funny,” and “Blue,” they inject both wisdom and humor into topics like isolation, growth, and change; “Don’t get upset about it / It’s gonna pass / Tell all your friends about it / They’re gonna laugh.”
Ahead of the release of Live Laugh Love, the band sits down with Uproxx to talk Angel Olsen, medieval harmonies, and Boggle in our latest Q&A.
What are four words you would use to describe your music?
It’s 2050 and the world hasn’t ended and people are still listening to your music. How would you like it to be remembered?
Lydia: In 2050 we will all have just turned 60 and we will still be playing music together so no one will have to remember us – I do hope that they are impressed by our lasting friendship.
Who’s the person who has most inspired your work, and why?
Annie: Dang one person?! Impossible to pick one person. I have always been very inspired by the Fleetwood Mac. We got to see them together as a band in 2015 and it was inspiring and magical to share that experience together.
Where did you eat the best meal of your life and what was it?
Annie: I recently started eating meat after being vegetarian/vegan for nearly 20 years and the hand-torn noodle chicken soup from 101 Noodle Express in Alhambra is the most delicious and comforting food I have ever tasted.
Tell us about the best concert you’ve ever attended.
Lydia: Angel Olsen played a series of solo shows at the Tote in Melbourne. I went to two of them and it was really fascinating how different the vibe of each night was in spite of her performing almost the same set. This was one of my favorite concert experiences not just because of the beautiful music, but also because it confirmed for me how much a concert can be a collective experience.
What song never fails to make you emotional?
Gretchen: “This Woman’s Work” by Kate Bush.
What’s the last thing you Googled?
Julia: “Ab implant woman.” Just curious what they would look like.
Where’s the weirdest place you’ve ever crashed while on tour?
Julia: We stayed at this really nice ranch once and got to ride four-wheelers around their acres upon acres of property.
What’s your favorite city in the world to perform and what’s the city you hope to perform in for the first time?
Gretchen: We always have really fun shows in San Francisco. I’d love to play any city in Japan!
What’s one piece of advice you’d go back in time to give to your 18-year-old self?
Gretchen: Spend less time playing sports and start playing music instead.
What’s one of your hidden talents?
Julia: I’m EXTREMELY good at Boggle. No one has ever beaten me.
If you had a million dollars to donate to charity, what cause would you support and why?
Annie: If I had a million dollars, I would divide it up and donate – directly to people seeking gender-affirming care, Palestinian families struggling to survive during an active genocide, Shout Your Abortion… It is so dark and twisted that people have to turn to raising money for themselves to have their basic needs met. Abolish billionaires forever.
What are your thoughts about AI and the future of music?
Julia: I’d love to hear an AI-generated Chastity Belt song.
You are throwing a music festival. Give us the dream lineup of 5 artists that will perform with you and the location it would be held.
Lydia: Kurt Vile, Courtney Barnett, Darren Hanlon, Radiohead, and Jay Som at Gundlach Bundschu Winery in Sonoma.
Who’s your favorite person to follow on social media?
Julia:@crisis.acting. There’s some wild videos on that account, highly recommend.
What’s the story behind your first or favorite tattoo?
Annie: During senior year of college, we had our first show in Seattle and decided to get tattoos from the Lesbian Mayor of Seattle – Lisa Orth (amazing artist). I wanted an outline of a pentagon and she thought I said pentagram so I showed up and she had printed out a pentagram and I was ALMOST too shy and nervous to correct her.
What is your pre-show ritual?
Gretchen: We all sing/wail together in a chorus of medieval harmonies.
Who was your first celebrity crush?
Lydia: Viggo Mortensen.
You have a month off and the resources to take a dream vacation. Where are you going and who is coming with you?
Lydia: Annie, Gretchen, Julia and I hire our friend Darren Hanlon to take us on a three week tour of all his favorite places across Australia, then all five of us fly over to Bali for a week of snorkeling and recovering from our wild time in the outback.
What is your biggest fear?
Gretchen: Falling through that little gap between the tarmac and the plane when I’m boarding an airplane.
Live Laugh Love is out 3/29 via Suicide Squeeze. Find more information here.
Ari Lennox may not have enjoyed all of the attention she got as a member of J. Cole’s Dreamville Records roster, but a little commotion for one’s birthday is rarely a bad thing, right?
With that in mind, Ari drew more than her fair share of attention with her beachside birthday pics, in which she sports a chain bikini and a cover-up dress of the same material by the ocean and in a studio. The Instagram post is generating a ton of engagement and even has fans on Twitter sharing their surprisingly respectful reactions (a favorite: “she looks like she smells good”).
It’s a nice reversal of the usual invective with which the singer has been faced over the course of her career. Despite some hiccups during the “fans throwing things at artists” point of the post-pandemic live music recovery, her fortunes have turned around plenty. After going sober in 2023 (she celebrated a year sober in December), she has apparently been off-the-grid and in the studio, judging from her Instagram Story.
Hopefully, this means the newly minted 33-year-old will have new music on the way, but if nothing else, may confirm fans’ suspicions that she was missing from this year’s Dreamville Fest flyer because she’s been working on her next move. Happy birthday, Ari!
Quarterbacks are the dominant topic of conversation in the 2024 NFL Draft, as is often the case. It’s the most important position on the football field in the modern game and every team is desperate to find the guy that can turn their franchise around like what we saw in Houston with C.J. Stroud.
At the top, Caleb Williams seems like a lock to go No. 1 to Chicago, but after him there’s all kinds of rumors about what order the other three top QBs — Jayden Daniels, Drake Maye, and J.J. McCarthy — will go. After that trio, there’s a bit of a gap to the next quarterbacks expected to come off the board, headlined by Bo Nix and Michael Penix Jr., one of whom could be a mid-to-late first round selection depending on how the early run on QBs goes.
After that, there’s some Day 2 or Day 3 names that have created some buzz for themselves during the pre-Draft process, with Michael Pratt from Tulane earning praise and Joe Milton from Tennessee unsurprisingly shining in the workout portion of the process.
Milton, who spent three years at Michigan before another three years with the Vols, has always been a guy that looks like he should be a really good quarterback. He has prototypical size (6’5, 235 pounds) and has an absolute cannon strapped to his right shoulder. He has always wowed when allowed to turn that arm loose, and there’s no better place to do that than at Pro Day where he put on a show for scouts in Knoxville.
Please enjoy the latest episode of Joe Milton Throws Ball Far:
“All right, we’re going to take the driver out.” — Joe Milton’s QB coach @JwPalms a few seconds before this throw. pic.twitter.com/0jp9ZhEQLR
This is a terrific followup to his Combine showing where he clocked the fastest ball speed and the longest throws of the day to the delight of everyone in Indy.
Milton is the definition of “toolsy” and it’s impossible for football coaches not to have just enough hubris to believe they could be the one that could harness all that power and get the most out of it. He never could capture that magic fully in Ann Arbor or Knoxville over his six years of college football, having his best year in his final one at Tennessee, but if nothing else he should be able to carve out a professional career off the hope all that arm talent can somehow come together into a complete quarterbacking package — or, at the least, playing scout team and being able to mimic any of the NFL’s livest arms in practice.
Shaquille O’Neal has never been shy about calling out NBA players who disappoint him for one reason or another. In the past, Ben Simmons has drawn the Hall of Fame center’s ire, with Simmons’ playoff woes during his tenure with the Philadelphia 76ers and what happened in the aftermath of his final postseason series with the team being particularly big sore spots.
Now, Shaq is back to calling out Simmons, this time on an episode of The Big Podcast. The big fella got asked by Adam Lefkoe which NBA players he’d buy a ticket to go watch, and perhaps surprisingly, Simmons immediately popped up.
Jamal, Shaq, and Adam reveal which NBA players they’d pay to watch live
“Ben Simmons, because I would wanna learn how you could make $80 million and play 55 games,” Shaq said. “Teach me. Teach me how you could play 55 games in three seasons and get $30 million, $40 million, and get another $40 million just by saying your back hurt. Get some f*ckin Icy Hot, man up.”
Shaq did go on to give a serious answer — he, once again, made it a point to make clear that he loves Nikola Jokic — but he really did lay into Simmons with this one. Anyway, Simmons only appeared in 15 games this season, the last of which came in late February. He will not play again this year due to a pinched nerve in his lower back.
Jones accuses Miami of both carrying drugs for Combs and of being a sex worker being paid a monthly retainer by Diddy, according to USA Today. Jones said Miami, real name Caresha Brownlee, was one of three women Combs kept on retainer, including wellness coach Jade Ramey and model/actress Daphne Joy. Incidentally, the latter is most notable for her connection with Curtis Jackson — better known as 50 Cent — the father of her 10-year-old son Sire. 50 has notably trolled his ex over her alleged association with Combs, which could be seen as at least part of why he’s carried on a one-sided feud with the fellow music mogul.
Jones’ lawsuit says Miami brought Combs a drug called “tuci” from Miami to Virginia via private plane when his alleged drug mule, Brendan Paul, forgot to bring it along. Tuci is also known as “pink cocaine” and is a synthetic drug made of pink food coloring, strawberry flavoring, ketamine, caffeine, and MDMA. Its effects are similar to those of ecstasy, rather than cocaine, according to drug treatment facilities such as The Willough at Naples and Avenues Recovery.
The second episode of LeBron James and JJ Redick’s “Mind the Game” podcast came out on Tuesday and featured a very interesting discussion of how to defend some of the hardest offensive actions in the NBA.
In the middle of their conversation about how you have to be so smart on the court to defend NBA offenses now, the two went off on a tangent (30:44 of the above video) started by LeBron about how watching college basketball drives them both insane. James, of course, watches more college basketball now than he probably has in his entire NBA career because his son plays at USC, and explained why it’s hard for him to watch an entire college game and that they give him anxiety just because so many things don’t make sense, particularly with how they use bigs in the post.
LeBron: The NBA is the best league in the world. That’s why it’s hard to watch my son play college basketball.
JJ: You wanna go there.
…
LeBron: It is hard watching a 40 minute college basketball game. It’s hard. I get more anxiety and I sweat more watching college basketball, especially my son now, than I’ve ever done in my life.
JJ: I still watch legitimate teams. Ranked teams. They will run a play and their best player will get the ball on the wing and they will have a non-threat big man posting up on the same side and the guard or the wing will drive into the occupied post. And I’m like, guys, it’s 2024, we can all watch YouTube. There’s a wealth of information out there. Why are we still playing this way?
LeBron: I’ve never understood why a coach will throw the ball into the post with his big with no business with the ball in the post. The only time the ball should go into the post with the big is if he’s automatically, as soon as he catches it, flattens the defense and he goes right back into a DHO uphill, roll – if he’s not a pocket passer you can’t throw it low, throw it to the rim – or it’s his job is to just shrink the defense cause his role is so dynamic. I watch college games and I see guys throw the ball in the post to guys and they’ll turn around and shoot a jump shot or a running left handed jump hook.
It really is fascinating watching men’s college basketball because it does feel at times like going back in time. The problem is not that there are some teams that play through a dominant big man and take advantage of a size mismatch inside. It’s, as LeBron and Redick explain, that there are a lot of teams that just can’t help but post up bigs that have no business being part of the offense as a post hub.
It is funny hearing LeBron talk about how he now finds himself locked in on college hoops and that it kills him a little bit inside every time he turns it on, because his brain can’t fathom why someone would consistently make the wrong reads (which is what college kids do a lot of the time) or call plays that don’t give your best players the best chance to make plays (which is what college coaches do a lot of the time).
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