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Author | Topic: This Years Darwin Awards | |||||||||||||||||||||||
mark24 Member (Idle past 5215 days) Posts: 3857 From: UK Joined: |
Hi all,
Just got this through on E-mail.
Darwin Award Nominees Hard to believe, but another year has passed. Once again, it's time for the Darwin Award Nominees. The Darwin's are awarded every year to the persons who died in the most stupid manner, thereby removing themselves from the gene pool. This year's nine nominees are: Nominee No. 1:[San Jose Mercury News]: An unidentified man, using a shotgun like a club to break a former girlfriend's windshield, accidentally shot himself to death when the gun discharged, blowing a hole in his gut. Nominee No. 2:[Kalamazoo Gazette]: James Burns, 34, (a mechanic) of Alamo, MI, was killed in March as he was trying to repair what police describe as a "farm-type truck." Burns got a friend to drive the truck on a highway while Burns hung underneath so that he could ascertain the source of a troubling noise. Burns' clothes caught on something, however, and the other man found Burns "wrapped in the drive shaft." Nominee No. 3:[Hickory Daily Record]: Ken Charles Barger, 47, accidentally shot himself to death in December in Newton, NC. Awakening to the sound of a ringing telephone beside his bed, he reached for the phone but grabbed instead a Smith & Wesson 38 Special, which discharged when he drew it to his ear. (For whatever reason, residents of Southern states always seem to figure prominently among the Darwin nominees.) Nominee No. 4:[UPI, Toronto]: Police said a lawyer demonstrating the safety of windows in a downtown Toronto skyscraper crashed through a pane with his shoulder and plunged 24 floors to his death. A police spokesman said Garry Hoy, 39, fell into the courtyard of the Toronto Dominion Bank Tower early Friday evening as he was explaining the strength of the building's windows to visiting law students. Hoy previously has conducted demonstrations of window strength according to police reports. Peter Lawson, managing partner of the firm Holden Day, told the Toronto Sun newspaper that Hoy was "one of the best and brightest" members of the 200-man association. Nominee No. 5:[Bloomberg News Service]: A terrible diet and a room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man who was killed by his own gas emissions. There was no mark on his body, and an autopsy showed large amounts of methane gas in his system. His diet had consisted primarily of beans and cabbage (and a couple of other things). It was just the right combination of foods. It appears that the man died in his sleep from breathing the poisonous cloud that was hanging over his bed. Had he been outside or had his windows been opened, it wouldn't have been fatal. But the man was shut up in his nearly airtight bedroom. According to the article, "He was a big man with a huge capacity for creating "this deadly gas." Three of the rescuers got sick, and one was hospitalized. Nominee No. 6:[The News of the Weird]: Michael Anderson Godwin made News of the Weird posthumously. He had spent several years awaiting South Carolina's electric chair on a murder conviction before having his sentence reduced to life in prison. While sitting on a metal toilet in his cell attempting to fix his small TV set, he bit into a wire and was electrocuted. (South Carolina entrants are always perennial favorites.) Nominee No. 7:[The Indianapolis Star]: A cigarette lighter may have triggered a fatal explosion in Dunkirk, IN. A Jay County man, using a cigarette lighter to check the barrel of a muzzle loader, was killed Monday night when the weapon discharged in his face, sheriff's investigators said. Gregory David Pryor, 19, died in his parents' rural Dunkirk home at about 11:30 PM. Investigators said Pryor was cleaning a 54-caliber muzzleloader that had not been firing properly. He was using the lighter to look into the barrel when the gunpowder ignited. Nominee No. 8:[Reuters, Mississauga, Ontario]: A man cleaning a bird feeder on the balcony of his condominium apartment in this Toronto suburb slipped and fell 23 stories to his death. Stefan Macko, 55, was standing on a wheeled chair when the accident occurred, said Inspector D'Arcy Honer of the Peel Regional Police. "It appears that the chair moved, and he went over the balcony," Honer said. Finally, THE WINNER!!!: [Arkansas Democrat Gazette]: Two local men were injured when their pickup truck left the road and struck a tree near Cotton Patch on State Highway 38 early Monday. Woodruff County deputy Dovey Snyder reported the accident shortly after midnight Monday. Thurston Poole, 33, of Des Arc, and Billy Ray Wallis, 38, of Little Rock, were returning to Des Arc after a frog gigging trip on an overcast Sunday night when Poole's pickup truck headlights malfunctioned. The two men concluded that the headlight fuse on the older-model truck had burned out. As a replacement fuse was not available, Wallis noticed that the .22 caliber bullet from his pistol fit perfectly into the fuse box next to the steering-wheel column. Upon inserting the bullet the headlights again began to operate properly, and the two men proceeded on eastbound toward the White River Bridge. After traveling approximately 20 miles, and just before crossing the river, the bullet apparently overheated, discharged, and struck Poole in the testicles. The vehicle swerved sharply right, exiting the pavement, and striking a tree. Poole suffered only minor cuts and abrasions from the accident, but will require extensive surgery to repair the damage to his testicles, which will never operate as intended. Wallis sustained a broken clavicle and was treated and released. "Thank God we weren't on that bridge when Thurston shot his balls off, or we might both be dead," stated Wallis. "I've been a trooper for 10 years in this part of the world, but this is a first for me. I can't believe that those two would admit how this accident happened," said Snyder. Upon being notified of the wreck, Lavinia (Poole's wife) asked how many frogs the boys had caught and did anyone get them from the truck??? (Though Poole and Wallis did not die as a result of their misadventure as normally required by Darwin Award Official Rules, it can be argued that Poole DID, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool.)
Mark There are 10 kinds of people in this world; those that understand binary, & those that don't
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Melchior Inactive Member |
I really liked the "Three of the rescuers got sick, and one was hospitalized." bit, although I have to say the winner, uhm, deserved it.
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Yaro Member (Idle past 6516 days) Posts: 1797 Joined: |
I heard the bulett story on some Urban Legend debunking show on TLC. As I recal, it was debunked as false.
Also, farting yourself to death, I don't belive it.
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1425 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
try snopes for debunking urban myths
Snopes.com | The definitive fact-checking site and reference source for urban legends, folklore, myths, rumors, and misinformation.
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pink sasquatch Member (Idle past 6042 days) Posts: 1567 Joined: |
I'm guessing you realize these are usually entirely made-up?
Most of the "awards" in your list I received in an email at least three years ago. At the time I looked around on-line and found that the entire list was debunked except for one award, which involved a man digging a big pit on a beach in Australia, sitting in it on a lawn chair, and having it cave in on him when the tide came in. Not necessarily all that funny, when you think about it. I did a quick search and here is an example for your list:
Claim: Man dies in his sleep from breathing in his own farts. Status: False. Example: [Collected on the Internet, 1997] A terrible diet and room with no ventilation are being blamed for the death of a man who was killed by his own gas... Not only don't any bona fide news accounts detailing this bucket-kicking exist, but it would be impossible for anyone to die in such a situation. The gas expelled from the body isn't poisonous; it wouldn't kill anyone...
from this site Hopefully I'm not bursting any bubbles by letting you know that your "This Years Darwin Awards" are mostly from 1997 or earlier... The thing that amused me most about your list was that the .22 bullet/fusebox/testicle story was different than the "winner" on the list I received, though my "winner" also destroyed his testicles. I think a racoon was involved... Anyway, the final line was exactly the same, "it can be argued that he DID, in fact, effectively remove himself from the gene pool."
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mark24 Member (Idle past 5215 days) Posts: 3857 From: UK Joined: |
PS,
I'm guessing you realize these are usually entirely made-up? Of course they are, I've seen some before, just a 'lil humour. Mark
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pink sasquatch Member (Idle past 6042 days) Posts: 1567 Joined: |
I figured as much; though you'd be surprised the arguments I get into with people who vehemently defend them as fact - if the internet says you can fart yourself to death, it must be true, right?
There's an "official" Darwin Awards book - I'm not sure if it contains fact or fiction.
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mark24 Member (Idle past 5215 days) Posts: 3857 From: UK Joined: |
Pink Sas,
Yeah, the idea that a cars electrical system could heat a bullet to the point of ignition, too, when most of the time they have trouble blowing fuses (mine excepted). Mark There are 10 kinds of people in this world; those that understand binary, & those that don't
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RAZD Member (Idle past 1425 days) Posts: 20714 From: the other end of the sidewalk Joined: |
book is from the same source
it has the "booster rocket on the car" incident. see http://www.darwinawards.com/darwin/darwin1995-04.html more on: Darwin Awards: Evolution In Action we are limited in our ability to understand by our ability to understand RebelAAmerican.Zen[Deist
{{{Buddha walks off laughing with joy}}}
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