This is a long post, but it is very relevant to my site “Darwin’s Rejects”. The Dear Lisa portion was written when Stella Liebeck spilled coffee on herself when leaving a McDonalds Drive Through, and was awarded a ton of money for essentially acting like an idiot with no common sense. Lisa asked what ever happened to Common Sense and responsibility for ones own actions. Part two was sent by my sister and I have no idea if all the incidents are true, but they are all candidates for this years Stella Awards. I believe we have messed with Darwin one to many times and can expect nature to compensate with a few major disasters in the near future.---------- Dear Lisa, Family, and Friends, I disagree with the theory that Common Sense is dead. A plant, faced with a drought, directs it’s energy into it’s root system and waits for the next rain so that it can bloom again. In a similar fashion Common Sense, as it retreats from abuse and disuse by the masses, roots itself in the hearts and minds of thinking people, biding it’s time until the masses realize that common sense is an important component of every day life. To prove my point I offer the fact that you yourself realize that the women who was awarded a great deal of money for spilling hot coffee in her lap was not the victim of a grand corporate conspiracy, but a simple idiot who tried to do too many things at once. The fact that she was rewarded for her idiocy simply proves that 12 people were convinced by a lawyer that humans, especially idiots, should not be held accountable for their actions. Rather than bemoan the fate of Common Sense, I think we should worry about human interference with Darwin’s Theory. Darwin theorized that evolution favored the smart and strong, and those that failed the test of survival fell by the wayside. We have changed that theory, much to our detriment. If you were to drive down the highway, talking on a cell phone and drinking coffee, and wrapped yourself around a tree, you can not blame the car, the phone, or the coffee. You are an idiot, plain and simple. In fact, according to Darwin, you extinction would improve the human race by eliminating a carrier of the idiot gene. Let us not mourn the demise of common sense, but rather campaign for the revival of Darwin’s Theory. If Darwin’s Theory were allowed to flourish, you would see a quick return of Common Sense into every day life. Peace, Uncle Ken----------From My Sister, who found it on the web----------Time once again to consider the candidates for the annual Stella Awards. The Stella's are named after 81-year-old Stella Liebeck who spilled coffee on herself and successfully sued McDonalds. That case inspired the Stella Awards for the most frivolous successful lawsuits in the United States.---------- The following are this year's candidates:---------- 1. Kara Walton of Claymont, Delaware, successfully sued the owner of a nightclub in a neighboring city when she fell from the bathroom window to the floor and knocked out her two front teeth. This occurred while Ms. Walton was trying to sneak through the window in the ladies room to avoid paying the $3.50 cover charge. She was awarded $12,000 and dental expenses.---------- 2. Jerry Williams of Little Rock, Arkansas, was awarded $14,500 and medical expenses after being bitten on the buttocks by his next-door neighbor's beagle. The beagle was on a chain in its owner's fenced yard. The award was less than sought because the jury felt the dog might have been just a little provoked at the time by Mr. Williams who was shooting it repeatedly with a pellet gun.---------- 3. A 19-year-old Carl Truman of Los Angeles won $74,000 and medical expenses when his neighbor ran over his hand with a Honda Accord. Mr. Truman apparently didn't notice there was someone at the wheel of the car when he was trying to steal his neighbor's hub caps.---------- 4. A. Philadelphia restaurant was ordered to pay Amber Carson of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, $113,500 a! after she slipped on a soft drink spill and broke her coccyx (tailbone). The beverage was on the floor because Ms. Carson had thrown it at her boyfriend 30 seconds earlier during an argument.---------- 5. Terrence Dickson of Bristol, Pennsylvania, was leaving a house he had just finished robbing by way of the garage. He was not able to get the garage door to go up since the automatic door opener was malfunctioning. He couldn't reenter the house because the door connecting the house and garage locked when he pulled it shut. The family was on vacation, and Mr. Dickson found himself locked in the garage for eight days. He subsisted on a case of Pepsi he found and a large bag of dry dog food. He sued the homeowner's insurance claiming the situation caused him undue mental anguish. The jury agreed to the tune of $500,000.---------- 6. A jury of her peers awarded Kathleen Robertson of Austin, Texas, $780,000 after breaking her ankle by tripping over a toddler who was running inside a furniture store. The owners of the store were understandably surprised at the verdict, considering the misbehaving little toddler was Ms. Robertson's son.---------- 7. This year's favorite could easily be Mr. Merv Grazinski of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. Mr. Grazinski purchased a brand new 32-foot Winnebago motor home. On his first trip home, having driven onto the freeway, he set the cruise control at 70 mph and calmly left the drivers seat to go into the back and make himself a cup of coffee. Not surprisingly, the R.V. left the freeway, crashed and overturned. Mr. Grazinski sued Winnebago for not advising him in the owner's manual that he couldn't actually do this. The jury awarded him $1,750,000 plus a new motor home. The company actually changed their manuals on the basis of this suit, just in case there were any other complete morons buying their recreation vehicles.