Interesting News Items

[OnmyojiOmn]

Anesthetized Patient Accidentally Records Doctors Insulting Him

Wondering what people think of this. This guy was awarded $500k, and it could have easily been more, because people said mean things about him where they didn't expect him to hear it. No actual malpractice occurred.

Edit:

[bw81]

Dukes of Hazzard star Ben Jones defends Confederate flag as hotrod is redesigned



Even a car is getting into strife over America's divisive Confederate flag: now a toy version of the iconic car from the TV show The Dukes of Hazzard is getting a makeover to remove the image emblazoned across its cabin, with one of the show's stars speaking up to defend the flag.

Ben Jones, who played Cooter in The Dukes of Hazzard (1979-85) is defending the flag as a symbol of the spirit of independence, writing on Facebook that the flag is being attacked in a "wave of political correctness" that ignores its meanings for the rural South as representing courage, family and good times.

Jones, a former US congressmen representing Georgia as a Democrat for four years, joins a passionate debate over the flag's place in contemporary culture following its association with the shooting deaths of nine people at an historic black church in Charleston last week.

Rolling Stone reports that the toy version of the General Lee, an orange Dodge Charger from the TV series, will be re-designed. This follows a call by a former South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, to remove the Confederate flag from the state capitol, a call that spurred big US retailers to promise to stop selling items bearing the contentious image.

A spokesman for Warner Bros. Consumer Products, which licenses the rights to The Dukes of Hazzard merchandise, told Rolling Stone the company had "elected to cease the licensing of these product categories".

But the General Lee will still be seen on television, as The Dukes of Hazzard is still popular on cable networks.

Amazon, Wal-Mart, Sears, eBay, Google Shopping and Etsy have all announced they would stop selling items featuring the Confederate flag but there has been a counter-response: according to the New York Times collectors are surging to stock up on such merchandise before it becomes scarce. The General Lee, emblazoned with the flag, will no doubt become a pricey item.

TO ALL OF OUR FRIENDS AND FANS FROM BEN JONES AKA “COOTER”I THINK ALL OF HAZZARD NATION UNDERSTANDS THAT THE...
Posted by Ben Cooter Jones on Tuesday, 23 June 2015

Jones and his wife own three "Cooter's museum" stores that celebrate The Dukes of Hazzard and its fictional Hazzard County, but they are adamant Confederate items will not be removed from sale.

[Scumhook]

Originally Posted by seamus

Not a new story, but one to keep in mind when talking about Jerry Seinfeld.

Remember When 39-Year-Old Jerry Seinfeld Dated a 17-Year-Old?

What's your point?

Apart from the obvious "well done mate".

[bw81]

Can't remember if this was talked about on the show but with gay marriage being passed in the US, we have idiots like this in Australia:

"Canberra couple Nick and Sarah Jensen had hoped to spread the good word of the gospel when they appeared on the front page of a local newspaper vowing to divorce if gay marriage became legal.

And that they may have achieved that. But not without instigating a backlash that has so far included:

Being uninvited from their friend's upcoming engagement celebration
A reply from Mr Jensen's brother
A massive party in anticipation of the pair's divorce
Fake dating profiles depicting Mr Jensen as a gay man



The Jensens are devout, practising Christians and Mr Jensen is director of the Lachlan Macquarie Institute, a partner of the Australian Christian Lobby. His first-person piece that came to national attention first appeared in Canberra's City News.

"My wife and I, as a matter of conscience, refuse to recognise the government's regulation of marriage if its definition includes the solemnisation of same sex couples," Mr Jensen wrote.

But the public outcry that came in the article's aftermath led to consequences for the defiant couple. One woman, Annie Haggar, discouraged the Jensens from attending her upcoming engagement party. She and her fiance were high school friends with the pair and both attended the Jensens' wedding. But when it came to their own ceremony, they ultimately resolved to inform Mr Jensen that "it was best he didn't come" because he is "better at picking arguments than moments".

"I'm sure everyone already married or currently engaged knows exactly that feeling, and how joyous declaring and celebrating that with your family and friends is," Ms Haggar wrote in a piece published by News.com.au.

"I'm entirely certain Nick and Sarah remember this feeling, too - and it's a happiness Nick has decided some people should explicitly be denied. That offends me, and pretty much everyone I know."

Mr Jensen's own brother penned a reply, published by City News, in which he distanced himself from his sibling's views. But he also criticised the viciousness of the public reaction, saying the debate had "deteriorated" on both sides.

"I disapprove of what my brother has said, but I will defend to the death his right to say it. And your right to respond. But let's do so in a way that is constructive," Soren Jensen wrote.

And it's not just those in the Jensens' close circle that have registered their displeasure.

More than 143,000 people have now vowed to attend a mock party titled "Celebrating Nick & Sarah Jensen's DIVORCE!" The Facebook page for the event, hosted by Canberran Jesse Mount, has been inundated with happy snaps of same-sex couples, along with messages of support for marriage equality and condemnation of the Jensens' stance.

"They [the Jensens] have decided that being married together in a country where it's legal for a man and a man to marry, or a woman and a women, is just too horrible. They'd much rather be divorced and I think we should all support and celebrate in their decision when the date finally does come," Mr Mount wrote in the event description.

"We sure hope there won't be any backing out on their behalf as hundreds upon hundreds of gays and gay rights supporters come to rejoice in the parting ways of these narrow-minded citizens which so many of us are ashamed to call Canberrans."

Elsewhere, attempts to pillory the Jensens have led to an unknown Sydneysider creating a profile for Mr Jensen on the gay hook-up application Grindr.

Someone created a grindr profile for the guy in Canberra who wants to divorce his wife to protest #MarriageEquality pic.twitter.com/t360v87S7e
— mat whitehead (@matwhi) June 13, 2015
"Married man soon to be back on the market," the fake profile announces. "Just looking for NSA [no strings attached] and must be discreet. Live in Canberra but in Sydney for a few days - love this gay city!"

For those playing at home, the profile describes Mr Jensen as a "bear" (gay slang for hairy, larger gentlemen).

Nick Jensen, through a representative from the Australian Christian Lobby, declined to comment for this story."

[seantuck]

Robot kills man at Volkswagen plant in Germany - Telegraph

[bw81]

Bill Cosby admits he drugged women for sex, court documents show

Damning new evidence against Bill Cosby has emerged.

The 77-year-old comedian has strongly denied accusations of sexual assault and drugging from a long line of women.

Now, documents released by a court reveal Cosby testified in 2005 to buying Quaaludes, which he gave to women with the intent of having sex with them.

In the documents obtained by The Associated Press, Cosby admitted under oath, to giving the sedative to at least one woman and "other people".

"When you got the Quaaludes, was it in your mind that you were going to use these Quaaludes for young women that you wanted to have sex with?" lawyer Dolores Troiani asked.

"Yes," Cosby replied in 2005.

"Did you ever give any of these young women the Quaaludes without their knowledge?"

Cosby's lawyer objected to this question and the lawsuit filed by a former Temple University employee was settled out of court.

This year, Cosby who has since been accused of sexual misconduct by two dozen women, has been fighting with AP to keep the court documents out of the public arena.

"It would be terribly embarrassing for this material to come out," lawyer George Gowen III said.

"Frankly … it would embarrass him, [and] it would also prejudice him in eyes of the jury pool in Massachusetts," Gowen said.

Cosby is in the midst of a lawsuit in Massachusetts where three of the women who have made allegations against him are suing for defamation. They say that, by denying the accusations, he has defamed them.

US District Judge Eduardo Robreno allowed the release of the 2005 court case documents.

"Why would he be embarrassed by his own version of the facts?" Judge Robreno said.

Cosby has never been criminally charged with sexual assault.

He resigned from the board of trustees at Temple University in December.

[seantuck]

I'm sure you're all over this but it was just released that Cosby actually admitted obtaining drugs with the purpose of doping someone for sex back in 2005:

Bill Cosby admitted he 'obtained sedatives for sex' - BBC News

[RefusingYouLiquor]

uh oh

Subway and Jared part ways - Jul. 7, 2015

[Paraquat]

US and Japan set for epic giant robot battle

By*James Rogers

Published July 08, 2015

It’s the moment robot fan boys have been waiting for. American firm MegaBots, which builds giant fighting robots, is gearing up for an epic battle against a creation from its Japanese rival Suidobashi Heavy Industry.

San Francisco Bay area-based MegaBots threw down the gauntlet in a*YouTube videolast month, pitting its 12,000-pound Mark II robot against Suidobashi’s Kuratas machine. “You have a giant robot, we have a giant robot - we have a duty to the science fiction lovers of this world to fight them to the death,” growled MegaBots, in a YouTube post accompanying the video. “Prepare yourselves, and name the battlefield. In one year, we fight.”

Described by MegaBots as “12,000 pounds of gasoline-powered fury,” the 15-foot Mark II carries two human “pilots” and can fire 3-pound paint cannonballs at speeds of over 100 mph.

Suidobashi gleefully accepted MegaBots’ challenge in its own YouTube video Sunday. *“I won’t let another country win this – giant robots are Japanese culture,” said Suidobashi CEO Kogoro Kurata.

The fight, however, must be hand-to-hand, according to Kurata. “Just building something and sticking guns on it – it’s super American,” he added. “We really need … melee combat. If we’re gonna win this, I want to punch them to scrap and knock them down to do it.”

MegaBots told FoxNews.com that Mark II will engage in hand-to-hand combat with Kuratas when the robots battle next year. “We are really excited that our challenge has been accepted by the Kuratas team and even more excited by the public's response,” said MegaBots co-founder Brinkley Warren, in an email. “It's clear that the people of the world are hungry for giant human-piloted robots as the future of sports.”*

The Mark II has a size and weight advantage over the 9,000-pound 13-foot Kuratas, which carries a single pilot.

http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2015/07/...-robot-battle/

[Paraquat]

Also this, for a chuckle.