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Darwin Awards & runners-up through the years

GAP

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The Darwin Awards salute the improvement of 
the human genome by honoring those who 
accidentally remove themselves from it...

Article Link

A One Track Mind
2008 Darwin Award Nominee
Confirmed True by Darwin
Article Link
 
(16 July 2008, Italy) Gerhard, 68, was queued at a traffic light in his Porsche Cayenne sportscar. Before one reaches the light, there is a railroad crossing, and Gerhard had not let the queue progress forward far enough before he drove onto the tracks. As you might imagine, given Murphy's Law, a train was coming.
The safety bars came down, leaving the Porsche trapped on the rails. According to witnesses, it took the driver awhile to realize he was stuck. Finally he jumped from the car and started to run--straight toward the oncoming train, waving his arms in an attempt to save his sportscar!

The attempt was partly successful. The car received less damage than its owner, who landed 30 meters away. Attempts to revive him were unsuccessful.

The moral of the story? Momentum always wins.
End

Wascally Wabbit
2008 Darwin Award Nominee
Unconfirmed by Darwin
Article Link
 
Snowmobiles and alcohol are a dangerous mix. Then came the rabbit.
After a day spent partying and racing snowmobiles in the wilderness, a group of snowmobilers were headed back to their cabin, when up popped a jackrabbit! They gave chase. Several collisions were narrowly averted, and so all the snowmobiles backed off... except one.

This snowmobiler kept his eye on the quarry and rapidly closed in. The rabbit darted aside to save itself. The snowmobiler closed in again. The rabbit ran toward the road, where there was less snow. Trying to ram his rabbit before it crossed the road, the man accelerated to Mach 1.

But the rabbit had other ideas. It darted into the culvert beneath the road. Witnesses stated that the snowmobiler never even braked. There was a metallic crunch as the accelerating vehicle rammed into the culvert, followed by a blast that shattered the snowmobile into a thousand bits.

This brand of snowmobile had a fuel tank mounted in front. The culvert admitted the tip of the snowmobile, then cut into the cowling, spilling fuel over the hot engine. The body of the snowmobiler was blown twenty feet back into the field.

The rabbit's whereabouts was unknown.
End

Just two of the many examples listed....keep it up folks....we'll get there yet!!
 
Shed Protection
2002 Honorable Mention
Article Link

(August 2002, Netherlands) A 66-year-old Margraten resident wanted to protect his garden shed against burglars. The best way to do this, he decided, was to construct a booby trap. He cobbled together some ropes and a shotgun aimed at the door. Proud of his ingenuity, he demonstrated the effectiveness of the device to two friends by shooting himself in the abdomen and lower arm. An emergency operation prevented him from winning a Darwin Award. Police searched his home, and confiscated firearms and ammo, along with 15 full-grown marijuana plants that perhaps helped him formulate this painful lesson in safety.

The Last Laugh
2003 Honorable Mention
Confirmed True by Darwin
Article Link

(January 2003, Virginia) Paul Powell is not yet out of the gene pool but he will be soon, thanks to his own efforts to enable prosecutors to prove a capital murder charge against him. He had been tried and convicted of the murder of a 16-year-old girl, but his conviction was overturned by the State Appellate Court based on a lack of evidence that he had robbed or raped the woman.

However, due process was not yet done with Powell.

Thinking himself immune to further consequences, Powell wrote a gloating confession and sent it to the prosecutor's office. "Since the Virginia Supreme Court said that I can't be charged with capital murder again, I figured I would tell you the rest of what happened on January 29, 1999, to show you how stupid y'all are." He went on to explain in graphic detail exactly what had happened on the night he murdered the girl.

But Powell did not have the last laugh.

He overlooked a catch. The Court had only ruled that there was not enough evidence for the capital murder conviction, leaving open the possibility of a retrial for lesser charges, or for capital murder should new information surface. The second time around, Powell's boastful letter gave the prosecutors precisely the evidence they needed.

Powell's lawyer "portrayed his client as a bright young man." Bright as a burned-out light bulb! Powell was convicted of capital murder on January 15, 2003.
 
Just a heads-up to those that might not be aware of the hazards

An overheated laptop computer left on a couch caused a fire that killed a 56-year-old Vancouver man, B.C.'s Coroner office has concluded.

The coroner said the fire took place six months ago, but did not release the man's name.

The fire started after the computer was left on the couch, plugged in and turned on. Because of the lack of ventilation under the laptop, less than an hour later the lithium-ion battery overheated and burst into flames, sparking the fire that eventually killed the man.

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2009/08/26/bc-overheating-laptop-fire-death-vancouver.html?ref=rss
 
PMedMoe said:
I nominate him for a Canadian Darwin Award.  ::)

Ok.....I guess they need to start putting warning on the laptops regarding that
 
ruckmarch said:
Ok.....I guess they need to start putting warning on the laptops regarding that

Actually they should....most people do NOT realize that laptops are ventilated from the bottom unlike desktops which ventilate from the front and out the back/sides. My grandson was amazed when I showed him the article, because the majority of his use of the laptop is with it sitting on his bed (he then falls asleep with unit on), the laptop sitting on the couch cushion (still running while he takes off with one of his buds to go skateboarding/whatever), laptop (still running) sitting on the carpet........

Ring any bells anyone?
 
ruckmarch said:
Ok.....I guess they need to start putting warning on the laptops regarding that

Like the warning on a toilet brush that says "Not for personal hygiene"?

I realize that some people may not realize a laptop is ventilated from the bottom, but I mean, seriously?

http://laptopventilation.com/  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1098061/how_to_keep_your_laptop_ventilated.html

Reminds me of a scene from The Green Mile (after Percy screws up an execution):

Warden:  "Percy. Something to say?"

Percy Wetmore:  "I didn't know the sponge was supposed to be wet."

Warden:  "How many years you spend pissing on a toilet seat before someone told you to put it up?"

Apologies in advance if anyone is offended.
 
Ever wonder why they put the warnings not to use electric hairdryers in the bath or shower?

Winnebego had to put a warning in the owners manual that cruise Control was NOT an auto pilot?

There are diretions on the back of a bottle of shampoo.

And apparently a cup of coffee you buy from Tim Horton's or MacDonalds etc may be hot! who knew!

You just know someone didn't know about the above and sued someone so now there is a warning.
 
PMedMoe said:
Like the warning on a toilet brush that says "Not for personal hygiene"?

I realize that some people may not realize a laptop is ventilated from the bottom, but I mean, seriously?

http://laptopventilation.com/  http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/1098061/how_to_keep_your_laptop_ventilated.html

Reminds me of a scene from The Green Mile (after Percy screws up an execution):

Warden:  "Percy. Something to say?"

Percy Wetmore:  "I didn't know the sponge was supposed to be wet."

Warden:  "How many years you spend pissing on a toilet seat before someone told you to put it up?"

Apologies in advance if anyone is offended.

It's an easy fix to avoid litigation. Mickeydee found that out the hard way with the woman that spilled her hot coffee whilst using the drive-thru

Drive-thrus.....don't even get me started on those  ::) Most of the time I look into these outlets, there is no one inside but cars are lined up outside.
 
FDO said:
Ever wonder why they put the warnings not to use electric hairdryers in the bath or shower?

You just know someone didn't know about the above and sued someone so now there is a warning.

Well, nobody's sued yet as far as I know (regarding the laptop) but how far do we go to protect people from their own stupidity?
 
PMedMoe said:
Well, nobody's sued yet as far as I know (regarding the laptop) but how far do we go to protect people from their own stupidity?

Moe....all the way and then some. Leave no man/woman behind and all that  ;D
 
ruckmarch said:
Moe....all the way and then some. Leave no man/woman behind and all that  ;D

Crap.  I thought it was survival of the smartest and all that.  They need to get lifeguards for the gene pool.  ::)
 
Next we'll read about the idiot who is suing "Company X" for eating cat kitter from the container as it didn't state "not for human consumption" on it.

 
Here's a list of stupid warning labels.

Also, the Wackiest warning labels.

"Warning labels are a sign of our lawsuit-plagued times," said Robert B. Dorigo Jones, M-LAW president. "Plaintiff's lawyers who file the lawsuits that prompt these warnings argue they are making us safer, but the warnings have become so long that few of us read them anymore-- even the ones we should read."

A friend made a comment on Facebook today: "recent observations conclude that in this day and age common sense is a super power" and someone replied: "I think you will have better luck finding super powers these days!"

Too sad and too true. 
 
One of my all-time faves:  Years ago International Correspondence Schools distributed promotional penny-match books that had a mail-in coupon on the inside of the covering flap so one could request more information.  And bordering the flap from the rows of matches was the stern warning "Do Not Mail Matches". 
 
FDO said:
You just know someone didn't know about the above and sued someone so now there is a warning.

This may not be ignorance and stupidity in all cases. It may be quite the opposite in at least a few.

I am sure that there are some enterprising people who intentionally seek out ways to abuse products in unforeseen and unforeseeable ways in order to extract money from companies, and more than enough similarly-minded lawyers to back them up.

Pizza is cheap, and genital blisters from stuffing it into one's underwear in the absence of a specific warning to the contrary will heal much quicker than it would take you or me to earn $6.78M.
 
Loachman said:
This may not be ignorance and stupidity in all cases. It may be quite the opposite in at least a few.

I am sure that there are some enterprising people who intentionally seek out ways to abuse products in unforeseen and unforeseeable ways in order to extract money from companies, and more than enough similarly-minded lawyers to back them up.

Pizza is cheap, and genital blisters from stuffing it into one's underwear in the absence of a specific warning to the contrary will heal much quicker than it would take you or me to earn $6.78M.

If you weren't in the CF I would begin to wonder if this is your potential retirement package (pun intended).....on the other hand, if you're not going to use it.......................may I?  ( But it's gotta be rising crust vs thin crust) ;D
 
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