Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search
 

cali

(114,904 posts)
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:06 PM Apr 2013

Ouch: Justice Breyer breaks shoulder in bike crash

Supreme Court Justice Stephen G. Breyer broke his shoulder in a fall from his bicycle and underwent surgery Saturday morning, according to a court spokeswoman.

The 74-year-old justice was resting comfortably and is expected to be released from Georgetown University Hospital early in the week.

Breyer was riding his bike Friday afternoon near the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, next to the Lincoln Memorial, when he took a fall, according to the statement. He was taken to the hospital by ambulance.

Breyer has had his share of out-of-the-courtroom troubles of late. Last year, he and his wife were robbed at knife-point in their winter vacation home on a Caribbean island. Shortly afterward, their Georgetown home was burglarized.

<snip>

http://www.latimes.com/news/nation/nationnow/la-na-nn-justice-breyer-broken-shoulder-20130427,0,7915835.story

27 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
Ouch: Justice Breyer breaks shoulder in bike crash (Original Post) cali Apr 2013 OP
I hope he wasn't wearing a helmet hfojvt Apr 2013 #1
That's a bit harsh. Buzz Clik Apr 2013 #3
How is it harsh? hfojvt Apr 2013 #7
Ah. I see now. Buzz Clik Apr 2013 #15
Okay, maybe not harsh, but definitely a stupid thing to post. morningfog Apr 2013 #26
how is it hijacked? hfojvt Apr 2013 #27
What an awful thing to say. n/t tammywammy Apr 2013 #4
Hey, he's one of the not-so-bad ones. LuvNewcastle Apr 2013 #5
I happen to not like hfojvt Apr 2013 #10
I see. I think bike helmet laws are silly, too. LuvNewcastle Apr 2013 #12
Seat belts on bikes are a very bad idea. ChairmanAgnostic Apr 2013 #14
Oooooh, that's bad. Glad you're all right. LuvNewcastle Apr 2013 #20
yeah RILib Apr 2013 #23
Because that's just what I said, huh? LuvNewcastle Apr 2013 #24
When did DU get so mean? Glitterati Apr 2013 #11
but is it really nice hfojvt Apr 2013 #16
Yeah, that was my Mom Glitterati Apr 2013 #22
HATEFUL thing to say about someone who is usually on our side. kestrel91316 Apr 2013 #18
I'm testing an hypothesis on this one: Buzz Clik Apr 2013 #2
see, so am I hfojvt Apr 2013 #8
Please stop taking english lessons from Sarah Palin Electric Monk Apr 2013 #17
I know the source hfojvt Apr 2013 #25
Justice Breyer is on the liberal side of the court. Here's to a quick kiranon Apr 2013 #6
He seems like a nice man, to boot. LuvNewcastle Apr 2013 #9
He is DFW Apr 2013 #21
This is his THIRD accident Tx4obama Apr 2013 #13
I bet it is more than that hfojvt Apr 2013 #19

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
7. How is it harsh?
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:23 PM
Apr 2013

He apparently did NOT suffer a head injury.

Thus the hope that he was not wearing a helmet, is not a hope that he would suffer a head injury.

It would demonstrate to the helmet-nannies that one can be in a serious bicycle accident without a helmet on and still be mostly fine. It would put the justice on the side against the helmet-nannies rather than with the helmet-nannies.

But if he WAS wearing a helmet it will just be another example of the helmet supposedly saving him from a head injury.

 

morningfog

(18,115 posts)
26. Okay, maybe not harsh, but definitely a stupid thing to post.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 11:54 PM
Apr 2013

Strange that you feel so strongly against wearing helmets that you rush into a thread and hijack it just because a bike injury was reported. Very strange. That is some chip on your shoulder.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
27. how is it hijacked?
Sun Apr 28, 2013, 12:09 AM
Apr 2013

a thread about a bicycle accident is sorta about bicycle helmets too, isn't it? Reply #2, written at about the same time as my reply, also was about bicycle helmets, although his was in favor and mine was against.

As I mentioned somewhere else, I tend to ride my bike to work, and other places, two or three times a day, so when it comes to bicycle helmet gestapo, I have some skin in the game (and from my bicycle accidents, I have some skin on the pavement too).

And I am NOT against bicycle helmets. I am NOT the one trying to pass laws forcing other people to live the way I do. I am NOT proposing laws preventing people from buying bicycle helmets. It is not me, that wants to run their life and make their personal decisions (although when I see people wearing helmets I do tend to roll my eyes and think "what a conformist putz&quot . It is they who want to control my life, because apparently they cannot stand to see somebody who doesn't think the way they do and who makes a decision that they would not make (one that my now almost 80 year old dad made too as he rode his bike to work every day, and one that my now nearly 78 year old mom made as she rode her bike to the store and the library.)

So what the heck, anybody, even Justice Breyer can wear all the helmets they want. Heck, wear two of them just to be doubly safe. I could care less about the helmets. It is the helmet LAWs that I hate.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
10. I happen to not like
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:35 PM
Apr 2013

bicycle helmets and mandatory helmet laws.

Since the story did not report a head injury, or a helmet, all I said was "I hope he wasn't wearing a helmet" and not "I wish he hadn't been wearing a helmet."

Maybe the fact that the story did not mention a helmet indicates he was NOT wearing one, but the media does not want to admit it.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
12. I see. I think bike helmet laws are silly, too.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:43 PM
Apr 2013

I don't like seat belt laws either, although I always wear one. Thanks for explaining your reaction, though. I was beginning to think Breyer had done something awful to you.

ChairmanAgnostic

(28,017 posts)
14. Seat belts on bikes are a very bad idea.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:54 PM
Apr 2013

Helmets? Not so much. When I used to bike to work in Chicago, one driver deliberately pushed my bike into a line of parked cars. The helmet worked great. The bike? I am still looking for a replacement.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
20. Oooooh, that's bad. Glad you're all right.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 05:26 PM
Apr 2013

There are times I would want to wear one and other times I would rather not. I would want to wear one while riding on a busy street in Chicago, for sure. However, I wouldn't want to wear one on a quiet street at a slow period. I'd like to be able to make that choice for myself without being ticketed or bothered by some cop with too much time on his hands.

Seat belts (in cars) are a different matter. I always wear one, no matter what. But having a law requiring people to wear them can open a can of worms, giving cops yet another reason to pull people over and get in their business. A cop can say, "It looked like you weren't wearing your seat belt." WTF? How can they see shit like that? It's usually just a pre-text for them fishing for something else you might be doing wrong. People should wear them, but it should be left up to the individual.

 

RILib

(862 posts)
23. yeah
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 06:08 PM
Apr 2013

Every time I read about a car accident where the one person not wearing a seat belt is thrown from the car and turns into a vegetable, I think how stupid seat belt laws are.

 

Glitterati

(3,182 posts)
11. When did DU get so mean?
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:37 PM
Apr 2013

I mean downright M E A N!!!!!!!!

I was raised with if you can't say something nice, shut the f*ck up!

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
16. but is it really nice
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 05:03 PM
Apr 2013

to tell other people to "shut the fuck up?"

Since he did not suffer a head injury, nor was a helmet reported, I was NOT saying "I wish he had NOT been wearing a helmet, so he could suffer a head injury"

but, rather, I was saying

"I hope he was not wearing a helmet" so he can show the helmet-nannies that one can be in a fairly serious bicycle accident without wearing a helmet, and still not suffer a serious head injury.

I sorta thought that would be pretty clear considering that no head injury was reported.

It must sound bad though, to people who think that "not wearing a helmet" means "you are dead"

But in about twenty seconds, I am preparing to get on my bicycle and ride to work, without wearing a helmet - like I do every frigging day, and sometimes, like today, three times a day (cursed split shifts).

 

kestrel91316

(51,666 posts)
18. HATEFUL thing to say about someone who is usually on our side.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 05:05 PM
Apr 2013

Are you sure you wouldn't be happier over at FR?

 

Buzz Clik

(38,437 posts)
2. I'm testing an hypothesis on this one:
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:11 PM
Apr 2013

My theory is: If a bicyclist has a bad wreck in which only the bike is involved and the headline reads, "Bicyclist Breaks (arm, collar bone, shoulder) in Crash", he was wearing a helmet.

If the headline reads, "Bicyclist Dies in Crash" he was not.

I hope we can find out.

hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
25. I know the source
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 11:46 PM
Apr 2013

but I still love the word.

I think it makes a boffo new word, a power word.

If something is refudiated it is not only repudiated or only refuted, it is both refuted and repudiated, or, refudiated for short.

As a word, it is therefore at least as strong as abjure.

kiranon

(1,727 posts)
6. Justice Breyer is on the liberal side of the court. Here's to a quick
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:18 PM
Apr 2013

recovery and many years on the bench to come.

LuvNewcastle

(16,820 posts)
9. He seems like a nice man, to boot.
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:31 PM
Apr 2013

Bone breaks are terrible for someone his age. Sometimes they never heal properly and can be the source of a lot of pain and suffering. Let's hope Justice Breyer heals up nicely without going through a lot of agony.

DFW

(54,057 posts)
21. He is
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 05:35 PM
Apr 2013

I've met him several times. Very un-pretentious. He just holds out his hand and says, "Steve Breyer." I hope he's on the court for a good long while to come.

Breyer is nothing at all like his majesty, Il Massimo Scalia. Once I was asked to give a short speech to a very distinguished group of which Breyer was a part, and he came up to me afterwards to compliment me on it. He didn't have to. I'm nobody to a Justice on the Supreme Court. But he did anyway.

Tx4obama

(36,974 posts)
13. This is his THIRD accident
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 04:51 PM
Apr 2013

-snip-

"The justice is resting comfortably" and is expected to be released from the hospital within a few days, the announcement said. The justice previously broke his collarbone in an accident in 2011 and sustained broken ribs and a punctured lung in a bicycle mishap in 1993, before he joined the court.

-snip-

http://www.democraticunderground.com/1014467702




hfojvt

(37,573 posts)
19. I bet it is more than that
Sat Apr 27, 2013, 05:05 PM
Apr 2013

since I have been in about a dozen bicycle accidents myself - without ever breaking a bone - just leaving a little bit of skin on the pavement - ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch.

Latest Discussions»General Discussion»Ouch: Justice Breyer bre...