🚀 go-pugleaf

jmh wrote:
> On Tue, 20 Feb 2007 21:30:25 -0500, Don in talk.politics.libertarian 
> confessed to the world saying:
>> "Melanie RockyFord" <spoofeddatnospam@RockyFord.not> wrote in message 
>> news:Xns98DDA6D542FF5spoofedatnospamRocki@216.196.97.142...
>>> "Don" <one-if-by-land@concord.com>  wrote :
>>>
>>>> "Rudy Canoza" <rudy-canoza@excite.com> wrote in message
>>>> news:X8dAh.1558$Jl.1414@newsread3.news.pas.earthlink.net...
>>>>> jls wrote:
>>>>>> On Feb 12, 6:47 pm, Melanie Rocky Ford
>>>>>> <spoofeddatnos...@RockyForda.nat> wrote:
>>>>>>> BDK <B...@twilight-express.com>  wrote :
>>>>>>  [...]
>>>>>>> Is everything that happens to us, someone else's fault, that they
>>>>>>> should be sued for?
>>>>>> Behold.  A wacky strawman argument from a loonytarian.
>>>>> Spot on analysis.  It *is* a straw man.
>>>>>
>>>>> The unfortunate thing is, Melody is doing a piss-poor job of
>>>>> presenting a libertarian perspective.
>>>> Is THAT what she was trying to do?
>>>> Sure seemed leftist to me.
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> Thinking that people should be reponsible for their own stupidity?
>> Is there a particular reason that you think McDonalds should NOT be 
>> responsible for their behavior?
>> They *knowingly* gave this woman and at least 700 other burn victims 
>> scalding hot coffee.
>> Read that again.
>> SCALDING hot.
>> As in 3rd degree burns.
>> That means its undrinkable.
>> Why would they do such a thing? 
> 
> Another question might be why would only 1 in 24 million
> have this problem?

Who knows, or cares?  If the risk was known to 
McDonald's and they failed to warn customers, then they 
behaved recklessly.  Also, the cup was defective in its 
construction, and they apparently were aware of that, 
too.  It doesn't matter if the joint probability of 
accident and serious injury was infinitesimal; the 
conditional probability of serious injury given that an 
accident occurred was very high, and McDonald's knew 
it.  Understand:  this isn't an "ouch!" of a little 
120F liquid splashing on your hand; this is third 
degree burns over a significant part of the body.


> Another, why open the cup when it's in your lap, especially when there's
> someone else in the car? The lids are not that hard to take off and most cars
> have cup holders?

This was in 1992, before most cars had cup holders.  If 
you *knew* the coffee could produce third degree burns 
all over your crotch in three seconds, then yes, you 
probably *would* do it a little differently.  That's 
the whole point.


> 
> Last I'm really amazed at some of the information I've
> just been looking at related to burns and liquid temps.
> I should have had 100s of 3rd degree burn when I was younger
> working in restaurants--then again, I'm suppose to be thick-
> skinned ;-)

I bet you didn't have 185F liquid dumped in your crotch 
at any time.