Looking for a mid-size domestic car recommendation

$25 million? Hey - why not $1 billion. Or why not $10 billion. How absurd.

I have complained to hotels that their bath water was way too hot if turned all the way to "Hot" - that someone could get scalded (and possibly sue). $25 million for that? No way. At that rate, I should get maybe $20k for bringing it to their attention.

Bill Putney (to reply by e-mail, replace the last letter of the alphabet in my address with "x")

Good, McDonald's no longer has hot coffee... what a relief. Why does the judge matter at all? I don't see how that has any bearing on it being a stupid pay out. Obviously the judge thought they deserved it, he approved it. I think that goes without saying. Ultra hot coffee? How hot is that? As far as I have been told fresh brewed coffee is supposed to be between

And he was wrong. The person who put hot coffee between her legs got what she deserved. We shouldn't reward stupidity with cash. It sets a very bad precedent. Look at all of the stupid cases now with respect to Oreos, eating at McDonalds, etc. This only ties up an already burdened court system and means that real issues may have to wait too long to be heard. And it increases the costs for us all. Stupidity should have consequences, and they should be NEGATIVE consequences.

Matt

And we now all get to drink lukewarm coffee because somebody was too stupid to handle hot coffee, which was clearly marked on the cup. If people didn't want hot coffee, they didn't have to buy their coffee at McDonalds.

Matt

_________________________________________________________

I must disagree. Transferring money from one person or group to another person or group does *not* spur the economy. True wealth can only be created by the sweat of one's brow, both personally and nation-wide. Paper shuffles do not do anything of benefit to the economy as a whole.

Sure it can. Transferring money to a person who will invest it in something that increases our GDP is adding to the economy. Someone who just hoards their money under a mattress does nothing to increase wealth. So moving money from a place where it isn't working to a place where it can work, definitely benefits the economy as a whole.

Matt

Maybe you would be interested in the facts of the case. Most of what you know, including the amount involved, is wrong.

Maybe you would be interested in the facts of the case. Most of what you know, including the amount involved, is wrong.

Indeed the result is cooler coffee at McDonald's, albeit at a much higher price. You, the consumer ALWAYS pays for the doings of the shark lawyers. Either the retail price goes up or the company like, Johns Manville and Corning, go bankrupt and go out of business. Their thousands of employees end up loosing their jobs. Come to think of it, that is one way to create more jobs in NC, vote for Kerry/Edwards. If Edwards gets to be VP there will be one less shark there to rob the people that create the jobs there. LOL

Art wrote:

You mean the way Warren Buffit did? ;)

mike hunt

Bill Turner wrote:

I just read the entire article at the site you listed above. It didn't change my mind one bit. This was a stupid lawsuit.

You could replace "hot coffee" in that article with almost any consumer product that is dangerous if missused, anything from a circular saw to a chain saw to a lawnmower. I own a chain saw that can cause much more damage in much less time than spilled McDonald's coffee. If I mess up and cut my leg off should Stihl be liable simply because their product has the capacity to cause harm?

This is the stupidest legal theory I've ever seen, but it is, unfortunately, being applied to many products these days. In another 20 years we won't be able to buy a knife that is sharp enough to cut a sandwich, power tools, etc., because the risk to anyone who makes them will simply outweight the business benefit of selling them.

Matt

I like the Buffit response. Though one does wonder why the Exxon Valdez spill was counted as adding to the GDP the year that happened (or why Exxon hasn't paid yet for the cleanup).

Wealth transfer in some circumstances works. (read a bit on the Plague's effect on the British economy and the effects of war mobilization in some countries, I won't mention the US but...).

I'm just saying that every toxic cloud has a silver lining (even if it is only shiny lead....

_________________________________________________________

Except that nobody "hoards" money except a few hermits up in the hills. Money is always invested, one way or the other.

_________________________________________________________

Warren Buffet did not "create" any wealth, he merely moved it from someone else's pocket to his own. He is richer, they are poorer. The net wealth of the nation is the same.

You're equating money with wealth. In the common vernacular they are often interchanged, but when discussing economic theory they are two different things.

If there were no shark lawyers, McDonalds would still be burning people, wouldn't they? People would still be needing surgery, permanent scars would be created every day, etc, etc.

Serves 'em right. Don't shed too many tears over "innocent" employees would could have and should have stepped in and demanded their products be made safe. When was the last time you heard a union calling a strike in order to make a product safer?

LOL here too. :-)

And how hot is the coffee you make in your house? God forbid I stopped over had a mug and spilled it on myself and had to sue your homeowners for it.

Why? Did his 'work' not effect the GNP? Does he not pay those people that work for him? Are all of those working in the jobs that now exist, because of his products being sold and serviced, not compensated? Or do they not count because they work in air conditioned facilities and therefore do not work up a 'perspire?'

mike hunt

Bill Turner wrote:

I don't believe the workers in McDonald's restaurants are unionized. ;)

mike hunt

Bill Turner wrote:

product safer?