Balloon Boy Family and Their Charges? (Congressmen, military, felonies, state)
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Ok, so now we know. It was a hoax and a bad one at that. Beyond stupid. It freaked out all of America and involved the media, military, helicopters, law enforcement at various levels and so on.
Their parents are facing two felonies and a misdemeanor and likely Federal Charges too. If convicted they could do 10 years and be fined over $1 million and this excludes any restitution and or Federal charges.
Of course they are not likely to get the full penalties here, but my guess is the father will get 2-3 years in prison, serve 14-18 months and have to pay $80,000-$100,000 in fines and restitution, as will the mother too. They will also likely loose custody of their children. I doubt they contemplated this when they devised this really stupid plan.
So, based on the above, do you think this is fair, or are officials making an unfair example of them based solely on the media attention here? I'm inclined to think, had the media not caught onto this story (something they wanted) this family would face a few fines and misdemeanors, 30 days in jail and their lives would go on. But due to the exposure, (the family sought) they are going to loose it all and do hard time.
More than fair. What's unfair is when something is not widely reported and the fools seem to walk away with any repercussions.
I noticed a couple of things when the family video was released. First, I did not see anything trailing behind the balloon, so it was apparent the kid wasn't there.Second, if the child had crawled inside the silver balloon itself, it would have allowed a lot of the helium to escape, therefore the balloon would deflate. Also if the child crawled inside the silver balloon, he'd be breathing more helium than oxygen which would be immediately life threatening.
Also on the family video, the father was kicking the ground and cursing when the balloon went off.This is VERY immature behavior on this part. Something that a kid would do, not a grown man.
Yes, the parents do need some jail time/fines here. They need a dose of what it feels like when reality "bites" you, and not some dumb reality show. The children need a far more structured environment that is SAFE. (Chasing tornadoes, not a safe family activity. Again, thinking so, is immature behavior.)
If the parents want custody of the children after they have served their jail time, they must clearly demonstrate that they are now grown ups. The father needs to be a grown up, and the mother needs to speak up when something appears to be wrong. This will require a considerable amount of work and family counseling. If they can't do it, or won't do it, no custody, no visitation, and termination of parental rights, mainly because the parents are unwillling to show parental responsibility.
Ok, so now we know. It was a hoax and a bad one at that. Beyond stupid. It freaked out all of America and involved the media, military, helicopters, law enforcement at various levels and so on.
Their parents are facing two felonies and a misdemeanor and likely Federal Charges too. If convicted they could do 10 years and be fined over $1 million and this excludes any restitution and or Federal charges.
Of course they are not likely to get the full penalties here, but my guess is the father will get 2-3 years in prison, serve 14-18 months and have to pay $80,000-$100,000 in fines and restitution, as will the mother too. They will also likely loose custody of their children. I doubt they contemplated this when they devised this really stupid plan.
So, based on the above, do you think this is fair, or are officials making an unfair example of them based solely on the media attention here? I'm inclined to think, had the media not caught onto this story (something they wanted) this family would face a few fines and misdemeanors, 30 days in jail and their lives would go on. But due to the exposure, (the family sought) they are going to loose it all and do hard time.
Do you think this is fair?
I can't really say what is and isn't fair in this weird account.
But you bring up a good point about the media. They went ape-nuts over this. Live footage on every single major network.
I guess that's part of what happens when you have all these 24-hour per day "news" channels. They're insanely competitive, even if it involves reporting stupidity, or just plain making stuff up.
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the balloon was too small to support a kid and float to 7,000 feet (on its side, no less). The lack of understanding of basic physics in this country is appalling. The desire for fame is appalling. The media is appalling. The over-reaction of police and rescue outfits is only a little less appalling. Everything sounds normal to me.
Location: God's Gift to Mankind for flying anything
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Quote:
Originally Posted by harry chickpea
It doesn't take a rocket scientist to know that the balloon was too small to support a kid and float to 7,000 feet (on its side, no less). The lack of understanding of basic physics in this country is appalling. The desire for fame is appalling. The media is appalling. The over-reaction of police and rescue outfits is only a little less appalling. Everything sounds normal to me.
Yep, you're right to mention that you sure do not have to be a rocket scientist.
Here you go
assume:
"Balloon shape- ??
Diameter: 20' Height: 5'
If it was a 20' diameter sphere (~x3 the volume)
4/3*pi*r^3 =~4200 cubic ft
1 cubic ft lift capacity ~ .045 lb
Lift capacity 183 lbs
So maybe about 60-70lbs if the thing was full ???"
All I am saying is that we should not make statements we can not back up.
Let us give a thumbs up to the PD there for not getting star struck.
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