A drunk Serbian man reportedly has become a hero in Egypt

I saw this Tweet today from the New York Post: 


New York Post: Drunk Serbian man reportedly has become a hero in Egypt -- by accidentally killing a shark with his butt http://t.co/ztqqx9S


I bought it hook line and sinker (hee). I mean what a story! A Serbian man reportedly has become a hero in Egypt -- by accidentally killing a shark with his butt while drunk. The article says that one "Dragan Stevic" was soused to the gills (not my fish reference) while partying at the Red Sea resort Sharm El Sheikh when he he inadvertently felled the beast that had been terrorizing tourists for weeks.


Stevic reportedly cannonballed into the water from a high-diving board, according to a Macedonian news outlet. Instead of making a splash, he reportedly came down right on the shark's head, killing the toothed terror instantly.  The story goes on to say that "The fun-loving party boy was immediately touted as a local hero who saved tourist season, which had dried up after the shark had injured three people and killed one vacationer. Stevic swam to shore and is currently in the hospital recovering from alcohol poisoning."

 Read more from the New York Post.

What happens when an outlandish story goes viral? Is there a lesson here for emergency managers?  Of course!  Rumor control can be a full time job.  Social media can put rumors on steroids but it can also help quickly debunk urban legends like this. It took me about 5 seconds to find out that this was a hoax that several news organizations took to be real news.


According to "Carolina Beach Today it turns out that the original story shows a picture of the shark dead on the beach. That photo is apparently a shot of a Basking Shark which washed ashore near Duck, NC last year. 


This viral "news item" titled "Sharks Wary of Drunk Serbs" quickly became a popular search item leading people to the blog.  


The original story on a Macedonian site repored that:


“Dragan climbed on the jumping board, told me to hold his beer and simply ran to jump. There was no time for me to react or to try to stop him, he just went for it” says Milovan.
“Dragan jumped high and plunged down to the sea, but didn’t make as much splash as we thought he would”, explained Milovan.


To see the original English version of the story, go to: http://macedoniaonline.eu/content/view/17081/48/

I love satire... 

Steve

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

It's Baaack! Bill to limit number of UASIs (Updated)

Image
Updated 4-21-11 Once again, there are efforts afoot to limit the number of Urban Area Security Initiative (UASI) cities.  However, this legislative maneuvering may be moot.  A combination of less funding and a new risk formula may result in less UASIs without legislative action.  Read on for a full explanation. UASI program funds address the unique planning, organization,  equipment, training, and exercise needs of high-threat, high-density  Urban Areas, and assists them in building an enhanced and  sustainable capacity to prevent, protect against, respond to, and  recover from acts of terrorism. The  proposed legislation, H.R.1555 , was recently introduced by  Rep. Nita Lowey [D-NY18]  as an effort to limit the number of cities and funnel more funding to New York City.  The bill's stated purpose is: "T o amend the Homeland Security Act of 2002 to limit the number of Urban Area Security Initiative grants awarded and to clarify the risk assessment formula to be used when ma
Read more

Consulting Honorably

There is an old saying that "There is honor among thieves". Honor connotes personal integrity and a belief in certain moral principles, and it can exist even among thieving bastards apparently. Today I ask the question: Is there honor among emergency management consultants ? Obviously there are no absolutes in life; and, in my experience, in consulting there are honorable and not-so-honorable consulting companies and individuals. My past experience with “ partner firms ” has been good and bad. I have some good partners and some soon-to-be-ex partners thanks to varying degrees of honor that they have exhibited. If someone says there is honor among thieves, they usually mean that even corrupt criminals can have a sense of honor or integrity, or justice, even if it is skewed by disregard of the law. Teams of people (thieves or consultants) can accomplish more than individuals in almost any undertakings. Customs, mores and informal rules evolve in a group. It is not good
Read more

What is an EOC information management system?

Image
What is an Emergency Operations Center (EOC) information management system?  With all of the talk about the use of Social Media in Emergency Management  and the use of new technologies for "Situational Awareness" and a "Common Operating Picture" it is important to remember the basics.  After all, EOC management is all about information and resource management. So I thought I would share a summary of EOC information management issues that we recently prepared. The EOC needs an effective information management system to work. INFORMATION MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS DURING A DISASTER The following problems are often seen at all EOC levels: Activation takes place after the fact resulting in a “catch up” process. Lack of good and complete information at the beginning. Possible loss or degraded communications capability. Possible loss or late arrival of key, trained staff. Often a shortfall of resources available to meet demands. Lack of inter-agency coordinati
Read more