gelfling68 Posted October 9, 2014 Share Posted October 9, 2014 It's time again for the annual 'Stella Awards'! For those unfamiliar with these awards, they are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled hot coffee on herself and successfully sued the McDonald's in New Mexico, where she purchased coffee. You remember, she took the lid off the coffee and put it between her knees while she was driving. Who would ever think one could get burned doing that, right? That's right; these are awards for the most outlandish lawsuits and verdicts in the U.S. You know, the kinds of cases that make you scratch your head. So keep your head scratcher handy. Here are the Stella’s for year -- 2014: * SEVENTH PLACE * Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas was awarded $80,000 by a jury of her peers after breaking her ankle tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The store owners were understandably surprised by the verdict, considering the running toddler was her own son Start scratching! * SIXTH PLACE * Carl Truman, 19, of Los Angeles, California won $74,000 plus medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hubcaps. Scratch some more... * FIFTH PLACE * Terrence Dickson, of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just burglarized by way of the garage. Unfortunately for Dickson, the automatic garage door opener malfunctioned and he could not get the garage door to open. Worse, he couldn't re-enter the house because the door connecting the garage to the house locked when Dickson pulled it shut. Forced to sit for eight, count 'em, EIGHT days and survive on a case of Pepsi and a large bag of dry dog food, he sued the homeowner's insurance company claiming undue mental Anguish. Amazingly, the jury said the insurance company must pay Dickson $500,000 for his anguish. We should all have this kind of anguish. Keep scratching. There are more... Double hand scratching after this one.. * FOURTH PLACE * Jerry Williams, of Little Rock, Arkansas, garnered 4th Place in the Stella's when he was awarded $14,500 plus medical expenses after being bitten on the butt by his next door neighbor's beagle - even though the beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. Williams did not get as much as he asked for because the jury believed the beagle might have been provoked at the time of the butt bite because Williams had climbed over the fence into the yard and repeatedly shot the dog with a pellet gun. Pick a new spot to scratch; you're getting a bald spot. * THIRD PLACE * Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania because a jury ordered a Philadelphia restaurant to pay her $113,500 after she slipped on a spilled soft drink and broke her tailbone. The reason the soft drink was on the floor: Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument. Only two more so ease up on the scratching... *SECOND PLACE* Kara Walton, of Claymont, Delaware sued the owner of a night club in a nearby city because she fell from the bathroom window to the floor, knocking out her two front teeth. Even though Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the ladies room window to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge, the jury said the night club had to pay her $12,000....oh, yeah, plus dental expenses. Go figure. Ok. Here we go!! * FIRST PLACE * This year's runaway First Place Stella Award winner was: Mrs. Merv Grazinski, of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, who purchased new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On her first trip home, from an OU football game, having driven on to the freeway, she set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the driver's seat to go to the back of the Winnebago to make herself a sandwich. Not surprisingly, the motor home left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Also not surprisingly, Mrs. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not putting in the owner's manual that she couldn't actually leave the driver's seat while the cruise control was set. The Oklahoma jury awarded her, are you sitting down? $1,750,000 PLUS a new motor home!!! Winnebago actually changed their manuals as a result of this suit, just in case Mrs. Grazinski has any relatives who might also buy a motor home. If you think the USA court system is out of control, be sure to pass this one on. http://www.snopes.com/legal/lawsuits.asp Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted October 13, 2014 Share Posted October 13, 2014 PETA slams Google for using camel to capture desert photos UNITED ARAB EMIRATES - One of the world's leading animal rights activists is upset with Google Inc. after a recent image-collection project involving a camel. To capture photographs for a Google Maps Street View of the Liwa Desert in the United Arab Emirates, Google strapped its camera onto the hump of a camel as it trekked across the sand. ... http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/national/google-straps-camera-to-camels-back-for-street-view-of-arabian-desert Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted October 18, 2014 Share Posted October 18, 2014 Giant inflatable 'sex toy' sculpture in Paris is meant to be a Christmas tree This inflatable “Christmas tree” erected in Paris is making passers-by feel a little uncomfortable. The 80ft-high object is raising eyebrows because of its uncanny resemblance to a sex toy, but is actually an installation by American artist Paul McCarthy. ... http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/giant-inflatable-sex-toy-sculpture-in-paris-is-meant-to-be-a-christmas-tree-9800261.html http://www.bedug.com/pics/Fun3/buttplug.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted October 18, 2014 Author Share Posted October 18, 2014 vandalized: http://a.msn.com/r/2/BB9Opbs?a=1&m=EN-US Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted October 28, 2014 Share Posted October 28, 2014 LAX flight delayed after WiFi hotspot name prompts concerns LOS ANGELES INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT (KABC) -- An American Airlines flight from Los Angeles International Airport to London was delayed Sunday after concerns over the name of a WiFi hotspot. A passenger saw the WiFi connection, named "Al-Quida Free Terror Nettwork," and expressed concern to a flight attendant. ... http://abc7.com/news/lax-flight-delayed-after-wifi-hotspot-name-prompts-concerns/367110/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Fan Posted November 4, 2014 Share Posted November 4, 2014 This from a local area news source as municipal elections get nearer Kids getting “gay serum” injections What the heck is going on in the Burnaby election? First there was the mayoral candidate who wants to ban all forms of public affection, now it’s a rumour kids are getting “gay serum” injections at school. Burnaby’s Mandarin community is the target of this latest “smear campaign” on the road to city hall, as one school trustee discovered while out visiting with potential voters. BCA school trustee Harman Pandher told Burnaby Now that a couple of weeks ago while going door-to-door he learned members of the area’s Mandarin community had received a flyer at a Recreation Centre claiming that their children were receiving injections of a serum that would make them homosexual. Mandarin-speaking parents were approached by someone outside the Rec Centre who told them only the Burnaby First coalition could protect their children, according to the Burnaby News Leader. One of the parents relayed her experience to the paper: “I asked [the campaigner] what happens if Burnaby First fails with the election. She said, if another party wins, they support the gays and they can also change the kids’ sex at school … at school they will give the kids something like a drug injection … and the school won’t tell parents.” Nothing like a little old fashion fear mongering!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonka Posted November 12, 2014 Share Posted November 12, 2014 Cops Raided Game Studio Because They Thought It Was A Gambling Den "There are also reports that "a policeman even punched building security in the face while trying to get in without warrant"." http://kotaku.com/cops-raided-game-studio-because-they-thought-it-was-a-g-1657565990 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonka Posted January 23, 2015 Share Posted January 23, 2015 Video shows Walmart shopper tackling concealed weapon carrier http://www.fox10phoenix.com/story/27906147/video-shows-walmart-shopper-tackling-concealed-weapon-carrier /smh Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted January 24, 2015 Share Posted January 24, 2015 Mandatory labels on foods containing DNA? 80% of Americans support that According to a recent survey (available in .pdf form here) by the Oklahoma State University Department of Agricultural Economics, over 80% of Americans said they would support “mandatory labels on foods containing DNA,” roughly the same number that support the mandatory labeling of GMO foods “produced with genetic engineering.” Oklahoma State's “Food Demand Survey,” called FooDS, is an online monthly survey which “tracks consumer preferences and sentiments on the safety, quality, and price of food at home and away from home with particular focus on meat demand,” according to the survey itself. ... https://www.consumeraffairs.com/news/mandatory-labels-on-foods-containing-dna-80-of-americans-support-that-011915.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rizzo03 Posted January 25, 2015 Share Posted January 25, 2015 O m f g Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted January 30, 2015 Share Posted January 30, 2015 Thomas Healy does not have tickets to the Super Bowl, but he plans to fly to Phoenix with something that is even harder to come by than seats at Sunday’s game: the first detailed, experimental data on how atmospheric conditions might have reduced the air pressure in footballs used by the New England Patriots in their victory over the Indianapolis Colts nearly two weeks ago. Those footballs, which the N.F.L. has said were deflated to pressures below league standards, have created a national meta-bowl whose outcome is seemingly as important as who wins on Sunday. The question driving the public dialogue is whether the Patriots tampered with the balls to make them easier to handle, or whether simply moving them from the warmth of a locker room to the chill and dampness of the field could account for the deflation. ... http://www.nytimes.com/2015/01/30/sports/football/deflation-experiments-show-patriots-may-have-science-on-their-side-after-all.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted January 31, 2015 Share Posted January 31, 2015 http://consumerist.com/2015/01/30/comcast-is-also-changing-customers-names-to-whore-and-dummy/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 http://knuckledraggin.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/teen-fights.jpg Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted March 5, 2015 Share Posted March 5, 2015 http://www.torontosun.com/2015/03/03/star-trek-fans-told-to-stop-spocking-5-bill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 http://www.bedug.com/pics/Fun3/_81537446_81537445.jpg GPS fail on bus sends Belgian tourists on 1,200km detour A group of Belgian tourists were sent on a detour of close to 1,200km (800 miles) after a GPS navigation error by their bus driver. They were meant to arrive at the French alpine resort of La Plagne for a skiing holiday. Instead, they ended up hundreds of kilometres away, close to France's border with Spain. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-31814083 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scooby Fan Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Must have been using an OEM Subaru Nav system Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonka Posted March 12, 2015 Share Posted March 12, 2015 Virginia woman, 75, chokes rabid raccoon to death in five minute struggle after animal attacks her during botanical garden walk http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2990270/Virginia-woman-75-chokes-rabid-raccoon-death-five-minute-struggle-animal-attacks-botanical-garden-walk.html Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jkaszynski Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 This guy is local http://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/facebook-fraud-suspect-on-the-lam-family-dog-also-missing/ar-AA9HRIJ NEW YORK — A man accused of faking an ownership stake in Facebook to justify a multibillion-dollar lawsuit against its founder Mark Zuckerberg has vanished. Paul Ceglia, who was under house arrest pending his May 4 trial, jumped bail by slicing off an electronic monitoring device and creating a crude contraption to make it seem as though he was moving around inside his home, authorities said. And the search widened Thursday: Ceglia's wife and two young sons and his family's Jack Russell terrier, Buddy, also have disappeared. U.S. marshals were looking for them. "I'm confident in our team up here," U.S. Marshal Charles F. Salina said. "He's got to get lucky every day. We've got to get lucky once." Ceglia's federal lawsuit said he gave Zuckerberg, a student at Harvard University at the time, $1,000 in startup money in exchange for 50 percent of the future company. But a judge dismissed his claims and prosecutors filed fraud charges after a forensic analysis of his computers and Harvard's email archive determined he had altered an unrelated contract and falsified emails to make it appear Zuckerberg had promised him a half-share. Ceglia, who pleaded not guilty, now faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted of mail fraud and wire fraud. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj808 Posted March 13, 2015 Share Posted March 13, 2015 Yup, a true genius here. http://news.yahoo.com/man-rolls-dog-waste-try-avoiding-arrest-plan-162833390.html WILKES-BARRE, Pa. (AP) — Police say a Pennsylvania man dropped to the ground and rolled around in dog waste to avoid being arrested for public drunkenness, but he was taken into custody anyway. Police in Wilkes-Barre (WILKS'-ba-ree) tell the Times Leader officers came upon 45-year-old Maurice Franklin early Monday night after he jumped into traffic. They believed he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. They say he slurred his words and at first claimed he was walking erratically to avoid stepping in the dog feces on the sidewalk. But when officers tried to arrest him, police say he lay down in the waste and told authorities they couldn't arrest him because he was covered in feces. Franklin couldn't immediately be reached for comment. Court records don't list a lawyer for him. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jj808 Posted March 18, 2015 Share Posted March 18, 2015 That's not weird. It sick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted March 30, 2015 Author Share Posted March 30, 2015 http://discovermagazine.com/1995/apr/analysisofatoxic493 Analysis of a Toxic Death A year ago two dozen emergency room staff were mysteriously felled by fumes emanating from a dying young woman. Investigations turned up nothing--until a team of chemists from a nuclear weapons lab got involved. (Not really news, as the article is from 1995, but it's a crazy story.) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wonka Posted March 30, 2015 Share Posted March 30, 2015 http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/302804/Schools+threaten+parents+over+violent+video+games/ Schools threaten parents over violent video games Parents who allow children to play 18+ games may be reported to social services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mbshop Posted April 1, 2015 Share Posted April 1, 2015 really weird considering they do everything but teach. for sure they need to butt out of folks business. http://www.gamereactor.eu/news/302804/Schools+threaten+parents+over+violent+video+games/ Schools threaten parents over violent video games Parents who allow children to play 18+ games may be reported to social services. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted April 19, 2015 Share Posted April 19, 2015 Google Translated... Dankort drew 840,000 instead of 84 crowns Arne Birk, 78-year-old from Havnsoe, had not dreamed of the problems it was to trigger when he went into the Grill House on Kalundborgvej in Snertinge and ordered two sausages, bread and a chocolate milk for himself and a single sausage to his dog King. ... https://translate.google.com/translate?sl=da&tl=en&js=y&prev=_t&hl=en&ie=UTF-8&u=http%3A%2F%2Fsn.dk%2FKalundborg%2FDankort-trak-840000-i-stedet-for-84-kroner%2Fartikel%2F482034&edit-text= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ehsnils Posted April 20, 2015 Share Posted April 20, 2015 At 50, Ring-Tab Beer Cans Are Now Officially Historic Artifacts http://westerndigs.org/ring-tab-beer-cans-are-now-officially-historic-artifacts/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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