I defer to the litigators in the room, but my recollection is that punitive damages arise for actors that will not be deterred by the actual damages involved. The theory would be that McDonald's is constantly harming people in minor ways that do not rise to the level of lawsuits (small burns) and do not provide an incentive to take a "reasonable" amount of caution. The only way to make them internalize the full cost of their actions is to...
But was McDonalds ever required to lower the temperature on their coffe machines? Was that the goal? Or did labels on the cups and offers to put in the cream in sugar cover it?
As someone else pointed out above, Coffee is supposed to be made with water that is "just off the boil". Would a few less degrees cause fewer burns? Any scientists out there know? But what does lowering the temperature do to the quality of the coffee? Or more important to a business, what does it do to the efficiency of the coffee machine? Do you go through more beans to brew a cup at lower temperatures?
If lowering few degrees doesn't impact the coffee much (or upset customers who like it hot), but it can be PROVED that it reduces the number and/or severity of burns by a signifcant margin, then I can see where the suit has merit if it get's McDonalds to make the adjustment.
I don't know that McDonald's is all that evil for thinking that if you sell a hot beverage, you will inevitably be the cause of some burns when people spill stuff, and to question whether it makes any sense to mess with all the coffee makers to prevent x number of burns, since you probably can't elliminate all burns without taking hot coffee off the menu.
In the grand tapestry of life, there are much worse things the "hot lava" cups of coffee.
For example, I don't think anyone has managed to sue a gun manufacturer over the damage done by their products. I'm sort of neutral on gun control, but you see what I mean.
And why is it even possible to drive a car faster than 70 mph? Why does anyone need to go faster than the maximum freeway speed? There are all sorts of things you could do to cars to reduce accidents and energy consumption. If your car recorded every single traffic violation and ratted you out to the authorities, suddenly speeding and running lights would be less common. Many lives saved, but sales of "sporty" cars might fall.
Think I've gone past "2 cents" here. A Buck-Ninety-Five, at least.
|
And why is it even possible to drive a car faster than 70 mph? Why does anyone need to go faster than the maximum freeway speed? There are all sorts of things you could do to cars to reduce accidents and energy consumption. If your car recorded every single traffic violation and ratted you out to the authorities, suddenly speeding and running lights would be less common. Many lives saved, but sales of "sporty" cars might fall.
In Soviet Russia, CAR drives YOU!
In Soviet Russia, CAR drives YOU!
Huh? Drives you where? You guys got autopilot?
I heard a rumor years ago that in Bulgaria, they could shoot you at the scene if they caught you driving drunk. But I always figured it was a myth.
In Soviet Russia, CAR drives YOU!Huh? Drives you where? You guys got autopilot?
I heard a rumor years ago that in Bulgaria, they could shoot you at the scene if they caught you driving drunk. But I always figured it was a myth.
I do know that in Germany, the Polizei are authorized to take a blood sample (by force if necessary) if you refuse to use a breathalizer when pulled over. It was one of the things they mentioned in the course for a visiting Armed Forces driving permit. They take drunk driving very seriously!
OB Schools.
I think they should add D&D as an elective in the cirriculum, so that it can teach the children companionship, loyalty, perseverence, and trust amongst characters. Oh, and they can have fun looting, pillaging, and destroying while they're at it. >:-)
Well, McDonalds is evil if any corporation is as well as Walmart, but that is neither here nor there as we all just deal with such stuff; now, ifn a girl can light a fire and melt a cup down there; well, this efreeti is intriged :) But seriously, the problem of D&D and its image is a big deal as well as all the social tags you get labeled with just by playing the game. I know peeps who were kicked out of school for playing D&D and peeps whose clubs were shutdown because of D&D and even way back in the stone ages of the game when I started playing; we had to take all our gaming stuff to the local minister as 4 of our group was in his group and 3 others affiliated; that minister read all the stuff; sat in a game or two; and proclaimed it ok and told the congregation to calm down; pretty fair handed of him if I do say so myself; after that our whole group attended services every week and I mean all day cause it was a protestant deal and church service was pretty much all day long. Was a real surprise to me as this was the same congregation that does not allow thier members to go to movies or women to wear pants and most tv is forbidden. I was like, wow, D&D was ok.
I know in many of my art classes, I drew dragons and such things; but am a much more mechanical artist and do not really do well with fantasy. I guess teachers all try to be psychotherapists now as if they can find and alert authorities to psychos in the making; sure didnt work at quite a number of places I could mention. Personally, I doubt anyone with an aberrant behavior would be a very good player; might be a good gm though; hehe.