Kobe Bryant dies in helicopter crash according to TMZ

[Ran]

4 minutes ago, Relic said:

The court reporter "accidentally" emailed it to 7 news organizations. That's...yeah. That's not an accident. 

Don't get conspiratorial.

After more digging, this makes clear what happened: the court reporter accidentally sent it to a mailing list for subscribers who wanted public transcripts for the case. The seven news organizations in question were the subscribers. The person had intended to send it to a different list, for authorized court employees only. The court reporter immediately saw they had messed up and notified the court.

One e-mail address. Not deliberately writing in seven addresses. Very easy, especially if they had some sort of autocomplete going on and the emails were similar.

[The Last Storm]

49 minutes ago, Relic said:

According to court documents, the facts of the June 30, 2003, incident to which I refer are that Bryant showed up at the Cordillera Spa in Edwards, Colorado, ahead of a knee surgery. A 19-year-old female concierge brought Kobe to his room. He asked her to return later to give him a tour of the hotel. She did so. At the end of the tour, he asked her to enter his room. She did. She said there was flirtation and consensual kissing. When he began groping her, she said, she tried to get away. He grabbed her by the neck, and she feared for her life. He bent her over a chair and removed her panties. She said twice that she begged him to stop but he penetrated her anyway. She left about five minutes later. Her clothes were messed up. She was upset. There was blood on her panties and on his shirt. That blood matched her DNA.

I’d post my rebuttal, but it will just get deleted like last time. 

[Relic]

Just now, Ran said:

Don't get conspiratorial.

After more digging, this makes clear what happened: the court reporter accidentally sent it to a mailing list for subscribers who wanted public transcripts for the case. The seven news organizations in question were the subscribers. The person had intended to send it to a different list, for authorized court employees only.

One e-mail address. Not deliberately writing in seven addresses. Very easy, especially if they had some sort of autocomplete going on and the emails were similar.

Well, if you believe all of the above you should probably email Vice and ask for an explanation, or a retraction. 

Who, in turn, leaked photos of her?

[The Last Storm]

Just now, Relic said:

Maybe if you kept away from referring the women as whores and groupies you'd get further? 

FB used the word groupie.  Again, the DA in Boulder, CO was 100% intent on going after Kobe. The accuser showed up for a rape examination with another mans DNA in her underwear. Her fellow employees and friends said nothing appeared wrong directly after the alleged incident. Is it possible she was money grabbing? 
 

[Relic]

2 minutes ago, The Last Storm said:

 Is it possible she was money grabbing? 
 

Sure, its possible. But unlikely given Kobe's own words - 

 

"

First, I want to apologize directly to the young woman involved in this incident. I want to apologize to her for my behavior that night and for the consequences she has suffered in the past year. Although this year has been incredibly difficult for me personally, I can only imagine the pain she has had to endure. I also want to apologize to her parents and family members, and to my family and friends and supporters, and to the citizens of Eagle, Colorado.

I also want to make it clear that I do not question the motives of this young woman. No money has been paid to this woman. She has agreed that this statement will not be used against me in the civil case. Although I truly believe this encounter between us was consensual, I recognize now that she did not and does not view this incident the same way I did. After months of reviewing discovery, listening to her attorney, and even her testimony in person, I now understand how she feels that she did not consent to this encounter."

[Ran]

13 minutes ago, Relic said:

Well, if you believe all of the above you should probably email Vice and ask for an explanation, or a retraction. 

"If I believe all the above" -- the above are statements of fact from a justice of the court in People v. Bryant, 94 P.3d 624. As to Vice, I rarely look at them for reasons largely related to things like what happened here, their making a claim and then linking to something that doesn't back it. If they had linked to something  credible that did support their claim, that'd be something else, but the NYT article is explicit that the accusser and her attorneys blamed the court, not the opposing side.

Quote

Who, in turn, leaked photos of her?

What photos were leaked? I was already living in Sweden at the time of the case and it's 17 years ago, so I have very little knowledge about it besides what one can find via Google. Were they photos from her medical examination or police interview?

[Relic]

2 minutes ago, Ran said:

What photos were leaked? I was already living in Sweden at the time of the case and it's 17 years ago, so I have very little knowledge about it besides what one can find via Google. Were they photos from her medical examination or police interview?

"Photos of the alleged victim were also leaked and plastered all over magazines in the supermarket."

 

https://thinkprogress.org/the-legacy-of-the-kobe-bryant-rape-case-6a42f159be7b/

[Ran]

Just now, Relic said:

"Photos of the alleged victim were also leaked and plastered all over magazines in the supermarket."

 

https://thinkprogress.org/the-legacy-of-the-kobe-bryant-rape-case-6a42f159be7b/

That may be referring to stuff like this:

Quote

The documents include notes from an interview with an acquaintance from Calgary. Kylie Robinson, on a visit in Canada later that summer, said the accuser said inappropriate things.

"Kylie did not feel that (the woman) was a victim of sexual assault because she seemed to make a joke of it and commented about money she was going to get from the trial," Sandberg reported.

Robinson and some other friends sold photographs of the woman dancing on barroom tables to supermarket tabloids.

Doesn't sound like the Bryant team leaked these. And indeed the Think Progress piece pretty explicitly links the photos and other tabloid matter to "friends, acquaintances, and even strangers"

[Relic]

6 minutes ago, Ran said:

"If I believe all the above" -- the above are statements of fact from a justice of the court in People v. Bryant, 94 P.3d 624. As to Vice, I rarely look at them for reasons largely related to things like what happened here, their making a claim and then linking to something that doesn't back it. If they had linked to something  credible that did support their claim, that'd be something else, but the NYT article is explicit that the accusser and her attorneys blamed the court, not the opposing side.

Honestly, If i were you I WOULD email. Or maybe I'll do it for you to get some more clarity on the matter. 

[Ran]

4 minutes ago, The Last Storm said:

She got 2.5 Million. If it wasn’t about money why not just go after him criminally?

The court repeatedly failed to protect her privacy and she was getting enormous negative attention that she wasn't equipped to take. Besides this, it was probably a fairly tough case to win.

[Ran]

1 minute ago, Relic said:

Honestly, If i were you I WOULD email. Or maybe I'll do it for you to get some more clarity on the matter. 

If you'd like to mail them, please do so and let me know if you hear anything back or if they make an edit. If they have information suggestion the name was leaked by Bryant's team rather than by the court on several occasions, that'd be interesting.

[Relic]

7 minutes ago, Ran said:

If you'd like to mail them, please do so and let me know if you hear anything back or if they make an edit. If they have information suggestion the name was leaked by Bryant's team rather than by the court on several occasions, that'd be interesting.

I'll do so tonight and message you on FB if they reply. 

[mcbigski]

Saw a graphic today showing the flight path taken on Sunday and all of the other flight paths the same helicoptor service took between the the two airports.  Sounds like on clear days they just followed the interstate on a straight shot but for some reason with the fog they flew a more eastern path.

With bad visibility why wouldn't a pilot take a more western path over the ocean instead of flying towards mountains and the Burbank airport?  Any pilots around with insight?

[Ferrum Aeternum]

17 minutes ago, mcbigski said:

Saw a graphic today showing the flight path taken on Sunday and all of the other flight paths the same helicoptor service took between the the two airports.  Sounds like on clear days they just followed the interstate on a straight shot but for some reason with the fog they flew a more eastern path.

With bad visibility why wouldn't a pilot take a more western path over the ocean instead of flying towards mountains and the Burbank airport?  Any pilots around with insight?

I'm no pilot but I've also been very curious about how this happened, so I've been reading up on the details. From what I can tell the main issue with this accident was that the pilot was flying under Visual Flight Rules (VFR), meaning that he relied on his eyesight, depth perception etc. to pilot the craft. The best anyone can tell at this point, he lost his visual cues (i.e. unexpectedly flew into a cloud or more likely a fog bank) and became disoriented, which is apparently a very common cause of small aircraft accidents. Flying a more westerly route would have taken them even closer to the ocean, so visibility may have been insufficient to fly at all. 

The question I had was, why not fly under Instrument Flight Rules (IFR) since this pilot was qualified to do so, and it's a safer option in bad weather? The consensus seems to be that private pilots don't usually prefer this because it involves filing a detailed flight plan and being in constant contact with air traffic control throughout the flight process - which also means being at their mercy. If the controller tells you to detour, you detour. If they tell you to land short of your destination, you land - that sort of thing. Basically a lot of private pilots don't like having to say "no" to their VIP clientele who undoubtedly have high expectations of getting where they want to be as soon as possible. Sounds incredibly stupid in hindsight, but I can totally see it being a thing. This certainly isn't the first case of a celebrity dying in a crash because the pilot decided to not play it safe.

[WolfOfWinter]

Everyone suddenly becomes a saint once they die. 

[The Mother of The Others]

This is our Princess Di.  

Based on the public gatherings and outpourings of lusty opposition to the death.  Also both were taken by a vehicle crash.

Will he become the neo Jesus?   In a world of deep fakes, it's conceivable we could see new video footage of him emerge as a form of resurrection, to make political endorsements or to help everyone live their best lives. Along with Elvis/Bigfoot style sightings claimed by those intent on keeping his memory alive.   A cult of personality that perhaps now continues through his community foundation, with thousands of people subscribing to his version of Mamba Buddhist teachings in a more formalized way than before.   I can see it happening.  Look out for merchandising.  Chia pets with the tongue sticking out are no doubt on the way, and my God the commemorative plates with Kobe shown together with MLK, fallen rappers and Dale Earnhardt and, yeah, probably Jesus.

I don't really believe Kobe will rise on the third day.  That would put him in a tie with Jesu.  For real, he'd either beat Jesus' time by returning on the 2nd day or show respect to God by waiting until the 4th day, but never a tie.  The point is that people are really taking this as a deep hit to their personal religion.   Their idol.   

And for Jim Gray this must be The apocalypse itself.   That man was not an impartial broadcaster.  It's well known how he was facially grafted to Kobe's backside for most of his broadcasting career, fully dependent on Kobe for his oxygen like a conjoined twin, which only makes Kobe's athletic accomplishments all the more amazing.

 

24.    His spirit lives on. 

Last night, specifically, Kobe lived on in Buddy Hield, who was inspired to spark the most impossibly late comeback any NBA team has ever pulled off since they began keeping such stats in '96.  Did it for Kobe.

 

 

[Relic]

Buddy Hield on his stats last night - 

 

"“In the overtime, I didn’t want to score no more,” Hield said. “I had 42 points, I had five rebounds, three assists. Turn 42 around to 24. Five and three assists is eight points.”"

 

24 and 8

[Ran]

And wearing 24 while he did it. Nicely done.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

3 hours ago, WolfOfWinter said:

Everyone suddenly becomes a saint once they die. 

No. Kobe is no a saint, but he was uniquely unappreciated for a mega star.  

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

Damn did I sure pick a terrible time to argue that Kobe was the most overrated superstar in American sports. I think my argument has validly, but it’s one I have no intention in ever making again. If life he was not on Jordan and LeBron’s level. In death he is.

Rest in power, Mamba.

I have to say though, there is something incredibly humanizing in his death. We view our great athletes as gods among men. It is kind of terrifying to think that such a strong person’s last moment was one in which he must have had an incredible sense of dread knowing what was coming and that there was nothing he could do to save his daughters life.

Thoughts go out to the other victims and their families.